~innocent~ maaneet ff- UPDATED PG 75 10/25 - Page 16

She shuffled in her bed yet again not being able to sleep a wink. Her sobs were muffled now, though the tears were still making their way out through her eyes, soaking her pillow. She looked at clock and it was four A.M now. She took comfort in the fact that in few hours half of the population in India would wake up and would lay staring miserably into the darkness, 

Worrying about everything from "Will I be laid off?" to "Will I ever meet?

Someone who really loves me?" to "Am I pregnant?"

But it was no comfort.

Because she felt as if she was in Hell.

.

And comparing it to someone else's Hell didn't make the pain of her any less.

 Shifting on her right side she again patiently waited for the sleep to take her in its warm embrace. When this didn't happen even after waiting for half an hour more she threw off her covers and went into the balcony. Outside the wind was now blowing with a greater ferocity and it had begun to drizzle. The mellow rustling of the leaves and the fain chirping of birds calmed her senses. The slight drizzle patted away the trails made by her tears and she marvelled at nature's capacity to engulf a person in its warm cocoon and soothe him.

 Though it did nothing to obliterate the memory of her face off with dev

It had taken up loads of nerve to knock on his bedroom door only to get no response whatsoever. Left with no choice she had entered inside rather tentatively only to find the room empty. Disappointed, she was about to leave when dev had emerged from the bathroom wearing his track and black vest. She had smiled rather brightly at him only to get a disturbed smile from his lips, which she didn't like a bit. After the customary 'hi' they had lapsed into an awkward silence which screamed of bad omen. Finally when she could no longer hold it she had blurted out all that she had seen in the office.

He had looked startled but not a least bit offended or mad as she had expected.

'Geet i don't know what to say ...except that i am sorry' he had finally stuttered going totally red on his face, while she had looked at him dumbfounded.

That was not the response she had been expecting at all. She had expected him to get angry at her for doubting him, for coming at wrong conclusions without consulting him, for accusing him of cheating on her...she had expected him to assure her to that whatever she had seen was not true, that he loved her and only her. She had expected him to be angry, infuriated, hurt, shocked, and anything but...guilty and shame faced.

'Geet please don't cry...i didn't mean to hurt you. I know you deserved to know the truth but i just couldn't bring myself up to face you. i know I have betrayed you but seriously it wasn't intentional...i am really sorry geet'. Dev had pleaded seeing her unshed tears..

'How long has this been going on?' she had asked constraining her sobs.

Dev was silent for a moment before he had answered haltingly. 'about a month...i had met her in a business conference two months ago...we just well got closed over time and then last month I realized that I loved her...and that she loved me too''

She had just nodded her not believing that all this has been going on for a month and she was ignorantly, blissfully and moronically in love with him while he was having affairs all around the world.

'You mean you don't love me anymore' she had asked in the end with a sinking feeling while he had only looked a lot guiltier. Grasping the answer in his silence she was about to leave when he had said that he still wanted her to be his friend, that he wished her to forgive him and that they could revitalize their friendship once again. She had nodded at his request and left the room, only to cry a river once she was in the safe chambers of her bedroom.

The break of dawn brought her back from her reverie as the first rays of sun hit her face. She let out a deep sigh and went inside her room to catch some sleep as her eyes were stinging from lack of sleep. Once in the bed she was again trapped in the dilemma. Dev has asked her to remain her friend. He wished her to forget their relationship, his betrayal, her pain... everything and bounce back to being friends all over again.

Wasn't he aware of the general rule that two lovers can never go back to being friends specially if cheating and betrayal is involved?  Did he assume her to be so selfless?? Ofcourse she wasn't. She couldn't pretend everything to be hunky-dory when her heart burnt with pain of losing both her love and a friend.

Right now she was in need of a friend and she had no one to turn to.

Except one.

And then like dawn of time it hit her.

 Pinky. Yes she needed pinky

She needed a girls talk.

She needed bitching, complaining, crying, and a shoulder to cry.

She needed pinky.

                         ***************************************************

'Dadima what happened to my car...' she came running inside after not finding her car in the garage only to get another blow. Everyone was sitting around the breakfast table...dadima, maan, dev and that WOMAN!!!

What the hell was she doing here, in her house, with her family, with dev? She looked at dev whose face was clouded with discomfort and woebegone.

'kya hua bete aap itne gusse main kyun hain?' dadima asked but geet didn't replay as her gaze was transfixed on dev and that women. Following her gaze she realized that geet wasn't acquainted to the woman.

'Bete ye naintara hain...dev ki business associate. Inke rehne ka intezam kahin ho nahi paa raha  tha islie dev inhe yahan le aaye. Aur naintara ye geet hain, humari poti aur dev ki dost' dadima introduced them and naintara smiled at her while geet mind reeled with disbelief.

Dev was making the women stay in their house! How could he be such an insensitive jerk? This was not his friend. This couldn't be her dev.

'geet kya hua  bete?' dadima's question broke her thoughts

'Nothing dadima actually i need to go to pinky's house but i can't my car in the garage'. Geet said in a rush wishing to leave the room at its earliest as she could feel the tears making up their way.

'Oh! Actually i have sent both yours and mine for servicing. Dev could have dropped you but he needs to leave for a meeting in gurgaon. Can't you visit her tomorrow?'

For the first time in her life she felt relieved that dev was not coming with her.

'No dadima i need to meet her, it's for an important college project. I will take a cab.' Geet said hastily and urgently, praying she would allow her.

'No you don't need to take a taxi. If it's important you must go. Maan will drop you.  Dadima asked maan with a tone of finality, who until now was immune to his surroundings and deeply engrossed in his blackberry.

He looked up at geet whose face mirrored his expression of discomfort and perplexity. He waited for her to refuse but when she didn't he knew he had no other option but to oblige.

They drove silently as geet kept looking out of the window. Last night was like a holiday romance for maan. Something beautiful and refreshing but temporary and uncertain. Something which wasn't meant to last forever or to repeat itself. Now, once again coming in direct proximity with her made him uncomfortable and he knew he could say the same for her as well. He stole another glance at her discreetly and found her still staring outside. The tiny flicker of pain and hurt wasn't missed by him as he contemplated if he should start a conversation or not. Before he could decide geet asked her to stop as they have already reached her destination.

'Should I pick you up too while going back' maan asked as he stopped the car in front of pinky's house.

'No its okay, I will ask pinky to drop me home' geet replied emotionlessly.

He nodded his head in assent in drove off, feeling a bit disappointed.

                                                   ************

Soon after she had arrived at pinky's house she had let out a long suppressed cry. Till last night dev's perfidy was in a somewhat virtual world, she didn't have to see or face it. But today not only she was made to face but, very cruelly asked to live with it as well. The woman who has taken away her love, her best friend, everything that she and dev had built over the past ten before she could even blink, was now going to live under same roof as her. That woman was going to be constant reminder of what all she had lost, a reminder of her failure, a reminder of her loss.

After listening to her,like a true friend pinky at hurled all the possible profanities. 'kutti, kamini, dayan, bitch, chudail' for naintara and kutta, kamina, behen-da-taka sala chor' for dev. However it hadn't comforted her but she had nonetheless enjoyed listening to her hindi swearing. As pinky would put it 'there is nothing better than Indian gaalis', she too agreed.

'Geet will you stop crying over insensitive bas***d' pinky reprimanded baffled at geet for shedding tears over dev.

She cried harder.

'Look i am sorry...i know i was a bit rude...but you should understand it's no point crying over him'. Pinky said in apologising handing her another tissue and then continued, 'darling you will get someone much much better than him. He isn't even worthy of your friendship let alone love. That Bloddy cheating bas***d.'

She again cried harder.

'You don't get it pinks. That guy... i have been with him for ten years...for ten damn years we have been together...as friends and then as lovers. Our relationship...it wasn't supposed to be so weak...it was suppose to strong and firm. Not only have I  lost my love but also my best friend...and that too a girl who isn't even three months old in his life...' she had between her sniffs as pinky took her in a big bear hug, comforting her.

'And do you know what is more hurting...that he didn't trust me...if he would have told me about him and naintara three months back, when it had all started, i would have let him go. I swear i wouldn't tried to hold him back...i love him more than that...but he didn't pinks.. .' geet continued wailing as pinky patted her back soothingly, allowing her to let it all out of her system.

Geet continued rambling for some time before she got too tired to cry anymore.  She felt exhausted yet relieved. God knows for how long she has kept it bottled up inside her, now letting it out felt good and comforting. In pinky's embrace she knew things would be all right sooner or later...and even if it didn't she will atleast have someone to turn to.

'Are you fine now' pinky asked after sometime.

'Yes i am now' she said breaking from the hug, wiping away her tears. Pinky got up and went into the kitchen to get her some water and chocolates. Men turn to alcohol to fight depression while woman turn to chocolates...atleast eighty percent of them.

'Okay now we need a plan' pinky said handing her the chocolate.

'What plan?' Geet asked with an incredulous expression as she nibbled her chocolate.

Yummm...Heaven.

'See either you forget all about dev...And i mean it...or hatch a plan to get him back from that bitch's clutches'

Geet frowned. She actually didn't want to do either of them. Forgetting dev was next to impossible and planning and plotting was not her cup of tea.

'Err pinky, why would i do either of them?'

'Because you HAVE TO' she said very importantly and for one second even geet gave it a thought, but not for too long.

'Pinks i still don't get it...'

'ufff...ok see...i can't see you crying...specially for such a person...infact i would be happy if you forget all about him and move on...but then i also think that you should not loose him so easily...specially after giving ten years to your relationship...i mean we don't even know if he really loves that bitch or not ...maybe it's just an infatuation...maybe that girl is an imposter...there are so many possibilities...and you haven't even tried once getting him back...if you really care for your relationship you should fight for it and not let it go so easily...so now either you are going to fight for your love or forget all about him and make new start sans him.'

Pinky's word compelled her to think. After finding out the truth she wasn't concerned with anything except crying and mourning. She didn't want to forget, not that she could even if she wanted neither she have thought about winning him back. She wasn't the person who would, because she held of the opinion that if something was mean for her it will come back to her eventually. She didn't need to make special effort for it. But now that pinky has brought a new light to the whole situation she couldn't help but wonder. 'Should she try winning him back', maybe he still loved her? It was all so confusing, overcoming with so many different possibilities.

But above all of it shouldn't she first try find out why he left her? She has not once given thought to it. Now that her mind was more clear she couldn't help but wonder why did he left her.

'Pinky i don't know' she said helplessly. 'i don't even know why he left me'

'Fine, so let's begin from here...we will try to find out why he left you ' saying that pinky disappeared from the room and returned after few minutes holding a notepad and a pen.

Geet raised an eyebrow seeing them.

'Ok now we are going to think of different reasons as to why he left you' she said briskly opening the notepad, 'and we will write it down here'

She wrote 'top five reasons why dev turned out to be sick cheating fella' and underlined it thrice. Geet couldn't help but smile at her friend. Pinky always managed to make her smile no matter how dire the situations were.

'So now you give me all the possible reasons that you can come up with, and then i will give mine' pinky said looking expectantly at her.

Geet thought for a while, and came up with only two reasons.

'umm i think he got bored of me...you know we have been together for ten years...okay not as couple but still...and other reason might be that naintara is actually quite beautiful... so  maybe found her more beautiful than me...' she trailed off.

'Fine..though i won't agree with on second point but still...now let's move on to mine...my first reason would be a little modification of your second reason...that is she might be having  bigger tits, longer legs or rounder ass' pinky said grinning while geet gaped open mouthed. Before she could conjure some reply pinky continued 'or maybe...' she waited for a dramatic pause and continued ' he wanted sex, which i am sure you two were not going to end up doing, so he turned to another girl'

Geet mouth fell wider, if it was possible. She wondered how pinky could come up with such bizarre reason. Ofcourse dev wasn't some nymphomaniac who died for sex.

'Pinky...have you lost it...i mean how could you come with such horrible reason...i know dev is not like this' geet said somewhat hysterical after finding her voice.

Pinky tch-tched at her innocence, ' geet you are so naive...now listen to me very carefully...every guy...and i mean EVERY GUY out there just crave for one thing...sex...and this has been proven scientifically, sex is the most dominant thing that rules the brain of a man...some make it obvious others don't...some will force themselves upon you while others , the little sophisticated ones, will wait for any sign which would give them the green signal to go ahead and do it' pinky said as if it was some sacred truth coming straight from bible.' And considering yours and dev's case i am sure you wouldn't have given any signal and he would have been too sophisticated too force you until you were ready' that made geet feel a little better, she always knew dev wasn't a pervert who would force her. Pinky however continued, not finished as yet. 'but but but...that didn't stop him from looking out for other girls to satisfy himself...and here my first reason would have played a part...naintara could be having any of the three things i mentioned : rounder ass, bigger tits or longer legs.'

By the time she finished geet face was appalled with shock. She couldn't summon up a reply. 'Is she right '? She thought 'is dev that shallow. He has proved himself to be insensitive enough; it wouldn't be a surprise if he also turned out to be lecherous pervert '?

'I know what you are thinking but this might actually be true. You never know with guys...actually do...it's just that you figure it out late,' pinky said consolingly

'I hope you are not suggesting that i should go and shag him'

'of course no you dumbo'

That relieved her somewhat.

 'Alright pinks...maybe you are right...I don't know' she said resignedly. 'Oh by the way what is your third assumption'?

'Oh yea. Well my last assumption would again be a modified version of your first reason. I think he hasn't got bored, but more likely to have ignored or overlooked to your importance. You know what they say about that sometimes we don't realise the importance of what we have until we have lost it.'

'well kudos then, he has lost me now and i don't think that has made him realize my apparent importance'

'Now you see...this is the problem. It's not like you have walked away from him. He has found another girl while you are left crying and alone. You didn't leave him, he did and that's why he doesn't know what it feels like when the person you love the most walks away from you for someone else' pinky said in urgent tone.

Geet was again left dumbstruck. Pinky was right. Dev knew nothing about being cheated or left. While she was mourning over him, he was busy snogging another girl. He has never seen her with any other man, while she had seen the worst. But what can she do now? He has already left her and she could do nothing to change it.

'Pinks i am getting your point but we can't do anything about it. I mean i can't turn back the clock and dump him so that he would realize my importance. Can i'? Geet again said despairingly.

'ofcourse we can't do that, but we can still make him jealous can't we'? Pinky said winking at her but geet couldn't get what she was implying. Noticing her confused expression pinky continued. 'See its still not too late. We can still make him jealous. All we need to do is find a much smarter, taller, muscular guy and then flirt with him, in presence of dev that is. He has never seen you with anyone other guy apart from himself. So when he will see that some other guy is taking his place i am sure he would burn in jealousy and then maybe realize how special YOU are'

Geet resisted, unconvinced. She knew playing such games were not her area of expertise besides dev knew her far too well to fall for it. He knew she was not the one who would go on flirting with any random guy. And to make him jealous it was important to get spotted with that guy and for heaven's sake she wasn't in some movie where she could go on stalking dev everywhere he went. And above all this, where was she going to find a guy. obviously  someone wouldn't appear magically saying 'at your service maam.' The plan had too many loopholes.

But pinky was adamant and she had to finally succumb meekly.

'But pinks the main question still remains, where i am going to find a guy'? Geet asked exasperated.

'For that my friend' she said pulling her up from the bed.'We need to go out'

'Go out? But where?'

'Ummm i think a club would be the best place'pinky said grinning cheekily.

                                                              part 8

                         ************************************************************************

ok friends...this is it,,,hope you liked it...though very little of maaneet scenes but this part was quite crucial from story point of view...but i promise there will be more maaneet scenes now.

do hit the like and button and comment.😃

After listening to her,like a true friend pinky at hurled all the possible profanities. 'kutti, kamini, dayan, bitch, chudail' for naintara and kutta, kamina, behen-da-taka sala chor' for dev." ( for the record I don't believe in mouthing such gaalis but NT & Dev so deserved it 🤬 " ) 👏