TUM SE HI (MG) Thread 1 - Page 87

TWENTY FIVE

Two hours later, Maan left the kitchen with another big bowl of popcorn, then stopped in the doorway of the living room.

He looked at Geet curled up in the corner of his extra-long sofa, her eyes riveted on the television screen. His gaze swept over the room.

Geet has said that she had liked his apartment and he had no reason to doubt her sincerity. He'd decorated in earth tones of brown, and tan, with accents of orange and yellow. The furniture was heavy, dark wood.

There had been many women in this room during the past, coming in and going out. But this was the first time he was so acutely aware that it felt incredibly right to have a woman in his room in his home. Not just any woman- Geet.

He had, to his own amazement, counted down the hours of the seemingly endless day until finally it was time to pick up Geet.

Sine he'd awakened that morning her image had hovered constantly in his mind. It was so vivid he felt he could reach out and gather her into his arms. When she'd opened the door of her house, he'd registered a sense of completeness, a mental sigh of relief that he was once again with her.

Maan Singh Khurana, he thought, get it together. Geet was his assignment, and he wasn't doing particularly well in changing her mind-set about work. He was caught up in the magic spell of the woman, instead of concentrating on the mission on hand.

Well, hell, it was easy to understand. Geet was fantastic. She was intelligent, fascinating, fun, and had a great sense of humor. And when they made love, it was like nothing he'd experienced before. It was though they were uniting with their hearts, minds and souls, as well as their bodies.

But he knew they were looking for different things from life. Geet was adamant in her stand that she prefers to live alone, just as she wsa doing. The problem was, he just knew  that she would view the future differently if she could put the ghosts of her past to rest.

Maan frowned as he continued to stare at Geet.

One of Geet's major concerns had come across loud and clear in each of her novels he'd read so far- the importance of trust. That message was Geet's voice, her beliefs and values. She had trusted him enough to tell him of her lonely childhood. She trusted him with her very essence each time they made love.

But there was a section of herself that she protected. She hadn't shared her past pain, or the details of what had destroyed her brief marriage. He needed her to take that final step, he really did.

Before he could completely believe that Geet wanted a solitary existence, wanted to concentrate almost totally on her work, he had to be convinced that the past wasn't dictating her future.

Why was he so determined that Geet should trust him enough to reveal her ghosts? Of course, how else could he complete his assignment in the proper manner if he didn't have all the data he needed? There, that made a perfect sense.

"Yeyy," Geet said, clapping her hands. "They solved the mystery. I love it, I love it. The butler did it. Can you believe that, Maan? The butler actually did it."

Maan crossed the room and put the fresh batch of popcorn on the coffee table. Sitting down next to Geet, he pressed the button on the remote to rewind the movie.

"Let's take a break before we watch the next one," he said, "All right?"

"Sure," she said, reaching for a handful of popcorn. "You're a terrific popcorn popper, Maan."

"That's good to know. If things get slow at the office, I can take the job as a popcorn popper." He paused. "What did your husband do for a living?"

Geet's head snapped up and she frowned as she met his gaze.

"Where did that come from?" she said, a slight edge in her voice.

He shrugged. "I was wondering, that's all."

"Why?"

"Because Geet, we are today the sum total of all we have been. You were married, but it didn't work out. It stands to reason that it was painful time in your life. I've learned so much about you since we met. We've talked for hours. But that section of your life is closed off, kept behind a protective wall."

"I prefer not to discuss it."

"I realize that, but it leaves a piece of the marvellous puzzle that is you, now, missing. I don't know if this makes sense to you, but it's important to me." He continued to look directly into her eyes.

No, it didn't make sense, Geet thought. Maan was talking like a man who was in a committed relationship, wanting to know all and everything about the woman he loved. That wasn't remotely close to what they were together. He wanted love, marriage, a family. So what difference did it make if some of the pieces of Geet...the puzzle, as he put it...were missing?

You're not being fair, she admonished herself. She'd gathered her data about Maan, found out what she needed to know before declaring him to be The Project. Who was she to stand in judgement of what details were important to him?

But, Babaji, he was asking so much of her. She'd buried it all so deep, refused to allow the pain to touch her again. If she dragged it all out into the open, she'd feel stripped bare and vulnerable. She would be trusting Maan with a raw wound that might never totally heal.

"Geet?" he said quietly. Trust me Ah, Geet, please just trust me. "Will you tell me about it?"

She drew a breath. "Do you have any idea what you're asking of me?"

"Yes. I am asking you to trust me."

"That's exactly it. That's the issue...trust."

"And truth, honesty, respect. Do you trust me Geet?"

Yes, her mind whispered.

There were no voices beating against her, no doubts, no fear. There was simply a warm, peaceful, whispering word: yes.

"My husband was ..."