Part XXI
That night after feeding her father, Pinky took Maan's help to lift him and lay him on the bed. She then took out a couple of mats, thick rugs and large woollen blankets and laid them out in the adjoining room. She apologised to Geet for not being able to offer them a bed since there was only one in the house on which her father slept. She said that she sleeps on the floor next to him to ensure that in case he needs her in the night, she can attend to him.
"Bhabhi, I know you are not used to sleeping on the floor, but can you adjust for tonight?"
"Don't worry Pinky, we'll manage", said Geet. She then gave Maan a meaningful look, thinking to herself, 'I have enough experience of sleeping on the floor. Had slept on it for a whole month!' However, she did not say it out loud as she had no intention of embarrassing Maan, who was squirming nevertheless, as her look conveyed a thousand words. She gently chided Pinky for calling her bhabhi and making her sound old. After all she was younger to her she reminded.
"Call me Geet, I would prefer that", she said.
"OK, Geet bhabhi", she said and biting her tongue, she corrected to Geet. "Good night, bhiayya. Good night, Geet." "Good night, Pinky" they said in unison and after she left, stretched themselves on the rugs.
Maan proffered Geet a heart-felt apology for making her sleep on the hard floor in their chawl house. Geet waved it off saying he more than made up for that through his care and concern for her well being.
"I must say one thing Geet, you completely took me by surprise today. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that my meek and quiet wife could speak so eloquently and convincingly that the Kapoors catapulted and agreed for the alliance after hearing her! You'll make a good lawyer, you know, Geet", he said with pride.
"Maan, don't exaggerate. I only spoke the truth."
"Lawyers are not all liars, Geet. They do speak the truth, at least sometimes, if not always," he joked.
He then continued on a more serious note. "Even the truth needs to be told in the right way for it to be acceptable to people, Geet. You definitely seem to have the art. Thanks to you, Pinky's wedding has been finalised without a hitch. If it was left to me, the senior Kapoor would have left the house with a bloody nose."
Given Maan's fiery temper, it wasn't difficult to imagine what would have happened had she not intervened .
"All's well that ends well," smiled Geet, repeating Maan's words of the past. Soon they fell asleep, dreaming of waterfalls and mountain valleys.
In the middle of the night, Geet was awoken by the hooting of owls and croaking of toads in the monsoon rains. She flung her arms around Maan in fright, waking him up too. After recovering from the initial shock, he realised that Geet was again frightened by the sounds of nature.
Holding her close, Maan pulled her leg, saying, "Geet, what other sounds, apart from thunder, hooting owls and croaking frogs scare you?"
Ignoring
Geet's dagger look, he continued "You see, if I know what sounds prompt
this pleasant reaction from you, I can be better prepared for your vicelike
hugs, not that I am complaining about them now!"
Geet punched his chest and broke free from him. A few minutes later she yelled out "Cockroach! Cockroach!!!" Now it was Maan's turn to panic and he nearly jumped off his skin. Running to the switch board, he switched the lights on.
"Where? Where?" he shrieked, looking around nervously.
Geet
burst out laughing and said that she just fooled him; there were no
cockroaches. Pinky had earlier told her that he had a morbid fear of
cockroaches since childhood which she found hard to believe. She was only testing
to see whether it was possible for a well built man to be terrified of such
small insects.
"Pinky was right after all", she said with a mischievous smile. Maan looked down sheepishly and turning the lights off, returned back to his rug.
The next morning Pinky insisted on taking them around the hill station. Luckily, the weather was pleasant and there were no rains. Arranging an auto, they visited the Bushy dam, the Lonavala lake and the Ryewood Park in Lonavala and went to Khandala in the afternoon where they saw the Duke's nose which is a cliff shaped in the nose of Duke Wellington, one of the english lords. They also visited a spot called the Tiger's Leap, which gave a beautiful view of the valley. After watching the sun set behind the mountains in the evening, Maan and Geet dropped Pinky at her home and rode back to Mumbai, feeling completely satisfied with their weekend sojourn.
Originally posted by: shivangi783
Congrats for the new thread😊
Lonavala trip has been really good. Didn't know that the quiet Geet could actually speak so much and ease the situation which Maan's anger, for sure would have worsened it.I like how Pinky is independent and confident of herself and just like Maan has full faith on her abilities to run her home and carry out all the expenses herself!
Thanks Shivangi. Posted the next update which concludes the Lonavala trip. Geet can speak when the situation demands. She has a balanced head over her shoulders. Pinky is as independent as Maan. Maybe it runs in the family. Then again Anwesha is more timid. But will she remain that way? Lets see.
Originally posted by: jazzerette
Congrats for the new thread!Really loved how Geet handled the situation. A calm head can always solve the worst of the problems.The line about Lawyers and liars cracked me up! First time I am reading it in a positive manner. I am so used to people quipping Lawyers are Liars...that now I pre-empt people by introducing myself as a Liar! 😆
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