Part 93: Closure - Per Se Update 1
She
was fuming that their impromptu dinner plan was not impromptu at all when she
found out who she will be riding with. Prinked up she was to go out with her
brother and sister-in-law for a night of dinner and possibly late night
partying. However, her mood had colored soon after they were at the garage and
her brother had waved to Rishabh who had just come out of the elevator.
There
weren't many things she was thankful as she sat beside him in the passenger
seat, but soon she was, for the silence that had followed after the initial
exchange of greetings inside the car. She saw him eye her from head to toe, in
her plum pink ruffled dress which got her to bare her shoulders, in the way she
remembered was a turn-on for him. He wasn't bad himself, with an attire that
came very close to what her brother had donned for the night, which being a black
gloss shirt and pants along with an Armani blazer to go with Salvatore
Farragamo shoes. She had to give it to him for taste, but she knew better than
that to give him an open mouthed compliment, when he hadn't mentioned a word
about her own. For the entire drive, he didn't bother messing with the radio or
attempt to make small conversation and it was beginning to frustrate her that
he was keeping up his side of the deal: not to force her into
anything she wouldn't want to do. Before she was about to start counting
minutes, they were at the restaurant and was relieved her family would be there
soon.
***
"I
liked it when you called me luv" She mused aloud leaning on the glass window as
Maan steered his way around New York traffic.
"And
then..." He asked for which she made yet another revelation about what she had
liked. It had become their new normal to discourse on a few intimate details.
He thought it was his sense of personal achievement that soared when they were
at that, given his wife was shyness itself personified. He was her undoing, and
at times he heard her acknowledge that as a tease but not in so many words. And
so when he heard her call it out loud and more directly at him, he couldn't
help taking his eyes off the road for a moment and look at her.
"I
don't think I would be the person I'm in our bedroom, had it not been for you..."
She looked as if she was at peace with something "I mean you have been so
patient with me"
But
almost the same instant he saw her features scramble to portray a sliver of
worry.
"Do
I...I mean...Have I ever made you feel" she closed her eyes quickly for a second
and then faced him with an insistence, that told him she was indeed serious
about what she was about to ask him.
"Do
I satisfy you?" He saw her lips tremble with uncalled for anxiety and her eyes
ready to read every emotion that was to pass through his face.
"More
than you can imagine, if you really want an answer that is" He smiled, unable
to meet her gaze that instant as he kept his on the road. However, when they
came to a stop and just before the valet came to take the keys out of his hands,
he leaned inside to cup her cheek. Drawing her close, he took his time to give
her a deep kiss on her lips and said "But I rather, you see it in my eyes every
time I'm with you". Like clockwork, her eyes brightened and her lips curved
into a smile that came from the comfort of his words. She looped his hand with
him at his elbow and made a dash to the entryway with a pride that matched his
own.
***
Geet
saw Naini and Rishabh standing by the door and met them with a smile. Rishabh
was busy checking something on the phone, when Naini stood chatting up someone
from the line outside the door. They didn't have a reservation, but they didn't
need one either. It was Rishabh's doing for the night and not her husband's.
There was little difference in the way the men of the house brought their
showdowns and tonight it was at 'Per Se'. She taunted Rishabh over his choice
of restaurant given French was also Naini's favorite beside her husbands.
Turning to call on Naini, who was far out from where they were standing, she
walked towards the line.
And
just like that the smile on her face disappeared into the thin air of the
night. She felt queasy and her bones turned liquid below her knees. The world
echoed in her ears and the next instant they all quieted down to a buzz in the
background with a thin spread of green over the images that she saw in her
head. Fazed with a stumble, she
straightened once again. But a film began to unwound in her head, with a will
beyond her stubbornness to shrug the emotions aside and she saw the lone window
she stood many a night, waiting for any soul to return home...her rabid, aimless
running in the airport and then she saw Maan yanking her behind the column...
At
first she thought it was unfair for life to throw this at a time she was not
prepared nor had expected. But then again, she remembered her husband words, questioning
her long ago, if there was ever a time, she could be prepared to meet out such situations...life's
uncertainties and that it didn't matter if she was going to mess up her
reactions at first go. That they were meant to be fu**ed up, to serve as a
reminder for another time. Drawing in a deep breath, she saw him notice her and
with no time to falter in front of him, she decided that the situation called
for in difference and nothing less.
Naini,
grew nervous seeing Geet near them, but as seconds passed by, she realized she
had expected nothing less of her sister-in-law as she saw Geet approach her
with the same smile, that she had perhaps known it all along and was worried
for no reason at all.
"Let's
go, I'm so hungry" Geet said, ignoring everyone else.
"Bhabhi...I
didn't mean to. I mean I only came to say hello"
"Bhabhi?"
She heard the question from him as expected, mentally chuckling that the idiot didn't
get to the trouble of finding out about her, nor his friend. He was indeed
keeping up his status quo even after all these years, she thought.
"Are you kidding me Naini? We all have our
circles and we never let them come between us" Geet said, taking in Naini's
guilty eyes and then she turned to him "I believe you are still behind in your
homework Dev. Let me help you there"
She
extended her hand to him and he was as stumped as he was the first time he unexpectedly
laid his eyes on her "Geet Maan Khurana"
Maan
and Rishabh felt the women were taking in a bit longer than they were supposed
to and came to check on them, when they saw Geet trying to get a man to accept
her handshake. Maan thought it was rude of the man to make her wait, but his
doubts grew in number, when he saw the shock etched in the man's face.
"Oh!
Here they are...This is Maan...Maan Singh Khurana" Pointing at her husband and
instantly took his arm by her side.
"I
don't know if you have met Rishabh...Rishabh Oberoi, Naini's husband" She introduced
him as she saw Naini keeping her silence and Dev's confusion as Rishabh joined
them.
The
two men were about to shake his hand in some order, when she announced the
mystery man to them.
"This
is Dev Khurana...Let's just say he is an acquaintance" She said, feeling Maan go
stiff under her hold. The hand that would have normally risen to greet, when
being introduced, remained to his side and instead found his pocket. She couldn't
watch his face or meet his eyes, given that they were to each other's side and
she didn't want to make anything obvious out of it. However, she knew her
husband was nothing short of blowing a fuse that instance and so she
interrupted again when she saw Dev extending a hand to greet the men.
"We
should go" she said, leaning in to grab Naini's hand, on the far end of the
semi-circle they had formed, and the stance came as if she was blocking Maan
and Rishabh from going ahead with whatever they had in their volcanic state of
mind. It was a surprise even to her, when she saw Rishbh's livid features grow
molten the longer they stayed there. No words were exchanged and they left for
their table, leaving Dev behind with disgust, as if the last few minutes had
never happened to begin with. Geet was getting to worry about their evening
course. She didn't want him to take any more time out of her life, when five
years had been gruesome enough.
As they walked in she felt Maan throw a possessive
hand around her waist.
"Are you ok?" He asked, making her look up
from the ground she was intently lost in.
"Of
course...and you don't have to doubt it" Her pain naked, in her eyes and her
words not quite standing up to cover it all. Maan didn't say anything, for he knew
it had to weather its course and matched his steps with her in disturbing
silence.
The
couple sat facing each other and Geet thought, Naini was still purposefully
avoiding Rishabh, from the seating arrangement. She wanted to crack a joke or
say something explicit to prove she was cheerful, but all she could manage was
a plastic smile. When her anxiety grew more from sighting Dev being seated in
the far corner of the restaurant, she got up from her seat abruptly.
"I
have to use the ladies room. But when I come back, there better be some conversation
brewing here and some food" She placed an assuring hand on Maan's shoulder "I'm
tired and hungry Maan". She threw a quick look at Naini to see if she was
joining, but when Naini didn't look up from the menu, she left to the restroom
by herself.
***
"Shit...shit...Shit"
Was all he could manage when he saw her come towards her. He had never imagined
being nervous to the extent he thought he would pass out in public, before that
instant and the two men had not even made it into the picture. She was not intimidating
at all by any means, but the thought of getting slapped in front of dozens of
people and his guilt had made him delusional at that time. Seemingly he still
wasn't clear what it was about the image of Geet that had made him feel that
the timid girl would assort to impropriety of that kind. She still looked the
same, or maybe not, he amended the thought.
He
scrunched his eyes on his way to the table, trying to picture her face once
again. Her hair was the same, but it had a sheen that came from expensive
conditioners, he figured. Of course, how stupid? He thought. Conditioners, make-up
and the knee length black dress had nothing to do with the changes he had in
mind at all. She didn't waver for one second, he remembered now and neither did
she feel affected by his presence. It was the coldness that he concurred had
given the rightful blow. And it was indeed downright frigid that he almost
pictured her walking over his dead body, without so much as a whimper even if a
truck were to pass right through him that second.
Somehow
he was hurt underneath that he didn't matter to her anymore owing to his
misplaced sense of affection he had developed for her in those five years. It
just happens, when you live with someone, he pondered. Had it not been for
that, he knew he never would have done the unthinkable of leaving her that morning,
over a phone call, to begin with. But it was strange that he was also feeling
redeemed from his unforgivable action and from the way her life was set up for
a family and happiness with another person, whom she probably truly loved, he
assumed. After all, she still didn't know he had deceived her a long time ago
and his abandoning her was only his way of making up for a sorry five years of
marriage he had exiled her in.
***
Naini
had of course been aware of Geet's silent invitation, but she was raging with a
compulsion to divulge everything to Maan. Right after she saw Geet was at a
safe distance from hearing what she was about to say, she lurched forward and
took Maan's hand.
"Bhaiya,
I never knew anything about Dev personally, all the time I was in Canada. He is
a business partner and he never really brought up his family at the times we
talked" Her pulse was racing and she couldn't help looking at Rishabh surreptitiously,
when she expelled, what she felt was necessary for her brother and for her 'husband'
to know.
"Not
until Geet had asked me about Dev and told me everything that had happened
since she met you. I didn't connect the dots until then. Even now I only had to
say hello out of formality" She stressed the last word, directly glancing at
Rishabh "I mean he is still taking care of my clients back in Canada" Her eyes
came back to Maan as he placed his other hand on hers.
"You
don't have to explain" He said. She wasn't convinced, but she didn't know how
else she could have helped the situation.
"I
have never really met the man himself. I didn't entertain her partners when I
was there. I would have stopped her from moving in that direction, had I known
the man she was chatting up in the line was the bas***d himself" Rishabh said
for his part surprising Maan. It made Maan curious why Rishabh had such adverse
reactions to the man. Something told him, there was jealousy lurking in the
words that he had spilled in impulse, but then he wasn't entirely sure. The name
calling had stirred up his rage once again. He never thought he would confront him
at the time, he had driven her to Canada, but today after he was more involved
with her, he felt there were some answers that she deserved. Or it was just
him, but he knew exactly what to do next. He was certain Rishabh wasn't a man
who needed explicit directions when it came down to opportunities such as the
one they were facing tonight and so he chose his words to be as candid and
cryptic as possible.
"I
think the mood for a fancy dinner is all gone...Let's just head back home. Order
take out, Geet knows my usual. I need Absinthe and I don't think some lame ass wine is not
going to cut it for tonight" He said, looking only at Rishabh.
"Here
drive Geet home. I will ride with Rishabh. But first, we need to make a pit-stop at the liquor
store nearby" he threw the car keys to Naini, who caught it with a slip. She sensed
one of those instincts that told her, all was not, what was meeting her eye,
but this was her brother was god's sake. And when she saw him, solemn and firm
and speak with a tone that was going to make the table crack, she knew better
than to speak up questioning his intentions. Perhaps, it was just her,
imagining things, she thought.
Before
Geet made it to the table, the men were gone and she saw Naini scurrying to get
Geet's handbag and hand it to her.
"We are leaving..." Naini informed her of the change of plans and just what she was meant to
hear. Her confessions were held back for another date. Hearing Naini, the anxiety
and disconcert she had struggled to flush out in the wash room returned without
a need for warning. Her eyes instinctively shot to the side of the room, she
had originally seen Dev being seated. Until that moment, she had not been eager
to even see if he was accompanying anyone. She didn't recollect seeing a woman
by his side. But now when the image vanished and the lone table began to come
into focus, she couldn't persuade herself that it was only a mere coincidence,
that he had left the table the same time, her hot headed husband was gone.
To be Continued...
Me till disappointed with the few souls, who are onto the like button but not wanting to comment. 😒. So how about an extra minute acknowledging the hours I take to write? People its what is essential to keep anyone writing an FF going. But of course, I cannot fail to THANK everyone who have been doing that diligently. THANKS to all those dearies who have been writing up comments and lovely ones at that.
The whole part was meant to be summarized in one line in the Epilogue, but with Azmatazz's request, I'm writing this up in detail. Hope you all liked it.
Edited by 6thElement - 12 years ago
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