Maan pulls aside Geet in HP and then..note-pg 14 - Page 3

 

Geet is frozen in place...

Ab kya hua tumhe......Maan takes Geet's hand again and  drags Geet in with him .

He looks around the room, lets out a small sigh of relief and turns , closes and locks the door.

The sound of the lock snapping shocks Geet out of her stupor and she starts looking around with burgeoning panic on her face.

Maan finally notices Geet's behaviour and is taken aback.He approaches her and reaches out with his hand..

kya hua Geet?...Geet...shakes her by her shoulders.

Geet looks at him..a look of relief passes on her face...Maan...Sir...aap?

Maan arches his eyebrow at her quizzically....

Geet suddenly realises that they are in the room together and gets all flustered...Sir...Maan ...aap ..yahan...hum dono...mera matlab hain....aapne aisa kyun kiya?

Maan getting noticeably agitated with Geet's ongoing ramblings....maine tumhe bataya tha na..jab hum gaadi main the..phir...ab kya hua?

Geet slowly backs away and suddenly turns around, her eyes fall on the bed and she checks her forward movement. Slowly turning, with her back still towards Maan, takes in the other few pieces of furniture in the room...a battered desk with a small wooden chair and a chest of drawers.

 

Hum dono yahan...starts Geet practically inaudibly..

Kyun ...koi problem hai...Maan now practically toe to toe with her...eyelock..

Geet  first to come to her senses starts backing up..

Sir ...aap...

 Loud knocking at the door...

Both jump in shock ...

Kaun hai...Maan practically growled..

Sir jee main hun, said the manager...main puchna to bhul hi gaya...kya aapko khana bhijwa dun....par sirf desi khana milenga...paratha sabji aur dal chawal..

Hearing about the food , Geet's stomach practically growled and she looks beseechingly at Maan 

Haan please bhijwa dena  aur saath main peena ka pani bhi.....Maan fleetingly dips his head at Geet in affirmation.

They heard the sound of the man's footsteps fading away....suddenly the atmosphere in the room turned awkward again...

after a few tense moments...Maan jumps up...Main gadi se saman lekar aata hun..tab tak tum fresh ho jayo...par haan..mere aane tak kissi ke liye bhi darwaza mat kholna...

Maan goes to his car and picks up his carryall and her small thela...starts towards the room, but then decides to give Geet some time alone and decides to wait till the food arrives and then go in.

Meanwhile Geet is thinking about the last time she was here...and the result of which was now a part of  her and which now had to be the sole reason for her life...and her sole responsibility..she could not let herself  lean on anyone...not let anyone take care of her, not let Maan sir  smooth away all her troubles,...

 not let Maan fight for her, her battles

...not let  Maan tell her what his eyes always do...nor acknowledge that there is something inside of her which wants Maan to do all this and more for her and which wants her to just go ahead and rest her head on his broad shoulders....just to let her defenses down just once and  let him take care of her......

Noooo...what was she thinking...she cannot be weak...she knows that Maan..no Maan sir cares about her....she has seen that in his expressive eyes, in his behaviour towards her...all said and done he always looks out for her and that is why he is in the predicament that he is in today...with that ..that Rasika Rathod.

A look of determination passes on her face...I will go with sir tomorrow and do whatever I have to , just so that I can get Rasika Rathod to take back the complaint that she has made against Maan Sir and then, ...then I will have to start looking for another job...I have to leave or else it will be too late....I dont want to cave in ..I have to be strong and go far away...

 

Maan sees the man come back with a covered tray and a bottle of water and makes his way to the door before he could knock on the door..

Yeh tray mujhe de do...

Nahin sir..aap rehne dijiye..main rakh deta hun room main..

Maine kahan na...mujhe dedo...

the man still standing around dithering after handing over the tray...

Ab kya hain...Maan asks impatiently..

Kuch nahin saab..

To jao...

Maan waits till the man is out of sight and then knocks on the door...

Darwaza kholo....main hun...

Geet slowly comes and opens the door, staying out of sight all the while.

Her stomach growls again...both laugh..Geet a little embarassed..

Maan lifts off the cover and finds that it was the only plate... they would have to share their food from the same plate..or he could go to the desk and ask for another one.

Both remember the time when Maan had eaten a bite off Geet's plate....

 

Geet looks at him and says..."aap mere thali main se kha sakte hain"

Both sat down...Geet on the bed and Maan on the rickety chair he had pulled up and started eating...both didnt know what they were eating...they had eyes only for each other...but then Maan bit into a chilly without realising and started coughing..breaking the spell.

it took quite a few gulps of water before his eyes stopped watering..

They busied themselves with washing up after the meal and putting the remnants away outside the room..

after a few awkward moments...

geet ab bahut raat ho chuji hai..ab tum so jao...

Geet moves toward the bed, then turns...aur aap..aap kahan...

tum so jaao...main yahin so jaonga..so saying he sits on the chair and tries to get a comfortable position..

seeing Geet still staring at him...so jaon Geet..raat bahut ho chuki hain aur mujhe neend aa rahi hain.....Maan gets up and switches off the light and takes off his shirt just leaving his vest on.

Geet pulls up the comforter and tries to close her eyes..but she is acutely aware of the man trying to be comfortable on a chair way too small for him...Maan tries to put his head down on the desk and sleep that way...but that is not comfortable either.

 

Aap yahan so jayye..

nahin main theek hun...tum so jao..

Nahin..aap yahan so jayye..

.switching on the light...

maine aap se kahan na...main....

Main kya...tum yahan bilkul nahin so paongi..raat bahut ho chuki hai..so jaao

aap iss tarf so sakte hain...

Geet looks at him  and gestures with her eyes to the spot to her side on the bed...

Maan taken by surprise.....raises his eyebrows in query......

as if to say...are you sure?

Aap iss taraf aake so jayye ..kaafi raat ho chuki hai aur kal jaldi bhi uthana hain...

...Seeing Maan still hesitating...

Maan ..mujhe apne aap se bhi jyada aappe bharosa hain..ap kuch sochiye mat aur so jayye.

Hearing this Maan's face softens and  he stares lovingly at Geet...Geet soon gets flustered and closes her eyes abruptly ,pulling the covers almost over her head.

Maan comes to the other side and lies down on top of the covers with his back to Geet..

Goodnight Geet...he softly whispers and closes his eyes with a small smile.

 

The soft rays of the rising sun slowly crept into the silent room and over the sleeping faces of Maan and Geet both of whom had turned towards the other during the night

Maan wakes up first....and looks straight into  Geet's angelic sleeping face and his mouth automatically curves into a smile...keeps looking on till she changes position and turns on her back and her eyes start fluttering

Maan snaps out of his trance and  jacknifes out of the bed , when he realises that something was embedded in his vest. looking down at it, he sees the same taveez that has haunted him ever since he had met Geet.

His mouth curving into a  smile, Maan starts releasing the Taveez when he sees Geet starting to wake up and quickly goes into the bath room.

 

Geet slowly opens her eyes, awareness gradually enters them and she turns immediately to her side, seeking Maan...She sees the imprint of his head on the other pillow and the disturbed sheet on which he had slept and almost unconsciously her hand goes out to carress the imprint...she remembers how even after she finally convinced him that it was ok to sleep on the other side of the bed , he had insisted on sleeping on top of the covers so as to maintain the maryada between them.

She remembers Dev's betrayal, how he had taken her innocence in this very guest house, even though he knew that he would be abandoning her the very next day after he had taken all the money ...he didnt care what happened to her later, he had just wanted to use her , which he did without compunction.

And here was Maan , who had always helped her in her time of need, who had always shown her the way, albeit in his rough, mocking way..who had chivied her into standing up for herself..who had saved her life......

She thought back to all the times that Maan had always helped her protected  her modesty ...at the party when her saree was torn, at the launch party when he had come in to the room where she was getting ready..and most recently when she had bumped into Rasika Rathod...

Geet snaps out of her musings....Rasika Rathod....Babaji ...today Maan and I have to meet her ..Please help us..

With that quick prayer, Geet jumps out of bed and starts looking for a clue to Maan's whereabouts., when she hears the sounds of water running in the shower...