The revelation of the truth-Part 2
The trees shook with the loud rumble of thunder. "Dev…???" Maan questioned shocked beyond belief. The storm had begun bearing down upon them.
The winds were lashing out at the trees. The rain was pouring now, heavy drops of water wanting to bring down the fury of the wind with them. Thunder played its part, while the Devil was enjoying himself as the earth stood alone bearing the brunt of it. "Dev…" how could that be, Maan thought. "They have never met before. Or have they?? But how could they have met before?? Dev lived in Canada and Geet was from hosiarpur. Dev is married to Naintara. Dev is his younger brother, with whom he had grown up. Dev was someone for whom he cared deeply. Dev was someone whom he looked out for." He was confused, his mind had paralyzed in shock. Flashes of his childhood with Dev whizzed past. He couldn't understand what was happening and he desperately hoped his train of thought was wrong. He looked up at Geet trying to read her eyes, hoping that they contradicted his question.
Geet watched the different emotions play out on Maan's face. At first it was absolute shock, the look of utter disbelief that someone so close to your heart could have done something so wrong. It was then replaced by confusion. Confusion about how this could have even occurred! He seemed upset and lost. She wanted to help him but she did not know what to do to. He looked up at her, his eyes seem to be begging "Please tell me I am wrong. Please tell me this train of thought is misjudged! Please!!" She felt helpless. She could not bear to look into his eyes and say "No, you are not wrong." She knew the only way out was to escape his eyes. She looked down.
Maan knew the answer to his question when she looked away. "Dev…!!!" Maan exclaimed as the question answered itself in his head. He saw Geet look up at him and her eyes were beginning to moisten again. "Geet.." his hand went out to touch her face again. Geet was turning away from him. He stopped her by holding her and tilting her face towards him and forced her to look up at him again and meet his eyes. He could read her eyes now. "Please..I am finding so hard to do this. Don't ask me questions, which I find difficult to answer. I cannot go through all that pain remembering everything. Please..I beg you. Read my eyes to find your answers", they seem to be pleading. As the realization dawned on him slowly, he remembered moments from the past which had been hanging as open ended questions in the air, answer themselves. "Geet fainting in the field and him carrying her home as her aunt came running saying "What happened to Geet? She was married, what happened to her?"; Geet refusing to sign the document papers and saying "I am sick of listening to people about what to do and being used by people, I will do what I wish from now"; Her coming his room in the night to ask for the agent's information in return for her co-operation; Her attempting to meet someone at Amritsar and that person not turning; Her trying to kill herself in front of the car; Her brother Brij trying to kill her and her pleading for her life; him meeting her in front of the Canadian embassy; him asking Dev how he solved his money problems and Dev's vague answers; Naintara looking for Geet's file in the office; Naintara getting worked up when he tells her to stay away from Geet; Him finding out the whole truth about Geet's pregnancy, how she was lead into a sham of a marriage and used for the sake of money; her having Dev's Canadian number in her hand before they left for Manali and her being unable to answer his questions at that time; Dev coming to talk to him time and again about something; Her coming into his room saying she met Dev; Her shock on hearing that Dev was his brother".
Geet could
see anger slowly replacing the shock and confusion in Maan's eyes. He seemed to
be breathing hard trying to control his emotions. His hold on her was become
tighter and tighter. She could feel his fingers digging into her skin. The
storm raging around them was reflected in his eyes. Fury was slowly building in
those eyes as his temple nerves began to flex. His jaw had set firm, tight into
a determined knot as he literally ground his teeth. She felt scared. She had
never witnessed this side of Maan. She had seen him angry many a times before,
angry with her, with people at work, with her brother brij, but never before
had she felt this fear. How could one feel extreme passion and fear for the
same person within a matter of minutes. It felt as if the red fury building in
his eyes would lash out uncontrollably and resident devil would rip her apart.
There was another flash of lightening, loud thunder and a branch of a tree in
the clearing next to them fell down. Geet jerked in response, her fear visibly
audible in her gasp. Maan got distracted. One moment he had been shocked, the
very next confused. As the pieces of the puzzle slowly fell in their places, he
had felt the anger building in him. He felt infuriated that his Geet had to go
through all this pain and hurt and the person responsible for this was right
under his nose all the time, his younger brother Dev. He felt so much anger
that he wished he could smash something right now. All the self control that
tai-chi had taught him had evaporated leaving him feeling more and more unrestrained.
But Geet's gasp brought his focus back to the present situation. He had let
himself get so carried away in his anger, that he was literally hurting Geet
physically. His fingers were wrapped tight around her skin and he could see the
pain and fear in Geet's face. He was shocked at himself.
Maan removed his hands from Geet. He could see the visible finger imprints on Geet's skin. He cursed him. How could he do this to her? He was supposed to be taking care of her. The doctor's words echoed through his mind. "Mr Khurana, Yeh aapki responsibility hai, ki aap apni patni ka khayal rakhen", and here he was unable to take care of her. He couldn't read her eyes, she had had to confront her past all by herself, when he had promised he would stand by her side always. She had left the house walked away into the night being her irresponsible self and he had no idea where she went and now when he found out the truth, he was hurting her physically. He wished he could hurt himself for having been so careless. He looked around, the storm was yet to cease, and they were soaked to skin. Was he ever going to learn?
Geet could sense the irritation in his demeanor. One moment he was shaking with fury, the very next he was irritated with himself. Now what had caused that? Was he upset with her that she hadn't told him the truth in the very beginning? Was he upset that she had walked out? Maybe she should try explaining her point of view. "Mujhe nahi pata tha. Mujhe laga ki yeh meri ladayi hai aur ise mujhe kudh akele ladna hai. Aapko isme shamil karke, mein aapko aur takleef nahi dena chahati thi…Mein….". "Chup…bilkul chup"…Maan interrupted, "And there was that voice again. The voice that had the ability to make herself lose in him. Why did he do that?" thought Geet as she looked up at him surprised, as Maan brought his fingers to her lips, holding them there.
Maan looked into Geet's eyes. "Geet…tumne jo kiya, usse mujhe koi farak nahi padta. Mujhe afsos sirf is baat ka hai ki mein apna vaada pura nahi kar paaya. Mein tumhari aanken nahi pad paya. Aur jab mujhe tumhare saath hona chahiye tha tab, mein tumhare saath nahi tha. Mein apni khushi ke aage aur kuch nahi dekh paya", Maan countered. "Humara yeh saath zindagi bhar ka hai, aur is saath mein, hum dono har aane wali mushkil ka saamna milkar karenge…., kyunki mujhe is zindagi mein tumhare aur tumhari khushi ke siwa aur kuch nahi chahiye. Haan Geet.., Chahe is zindagi mein mujhe tumhare liye apne bhai ko hi sazaa dilwani pade". Maan could feel the anger rush into him as he thought about Dev. He could feel himself start to shake again, but he had to control himself for the sake of Geet. He did not want her to feel any sort of pain or upset because of his actions. "She had suffered enough in her young age and he was never going to let anyone or anything upset her again, Maan swore to himself. Dev needed to be punished and he would be taken care of when they got home. Right now all he cared for was Geet and he needed to make sure she felt safe and comfortable.
Geet looked up at him, her eyes ready to spill the tears ready to fall any moment now. She always knew deep within her heart that Maan would support her, because she was right and Maan's belief in the foundation of truth was strong. But she was worried, "Would she break a family in the process? Would he be able to live with that?" Maan immediately sensed her thoughts and responded, "Geet..tum meri fikar mat karo. Maine hamesha sachayi ka saath diya hai.. Aur humari is sachayi ki ladayi mein, Main apne parivaar ke khilaaf khade hone ke liye taiyar hoon. Isliye tum abhi yeh sab sochna band kardo." As he spoke, Maan brought his head to rest against Geet's and pulled her by her waist to hold her against him.
Geet let herself be pulled against him. She needed this comfort. She wanted to feel the safety of his arms around her. The day had presented herself with many unforseen experiences and she had faced all of them with courage, but her strength was soon giving up on her and she felt emotionally drained. She had felt scared, alone and lost when she had left the house earlier. She had been worried about how to tell Maan the truth and whether she was doing right. She had wondered about Maan's reaction. But now, as the storm had raged through their lives, they had stood fighting it, holding each other's hands and she felt reassured. She was back where she belonged at last, with her Maan. "Maan ki Geet" she thought, as she let the tears fall and a small smile played up her lips.
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