Chapter 11: What's
Cooking?
Geet
walked out of Khurana Constructions saying a weak bye to Pinky and Adhi. On the
way out, she called Arjun to pick her up as she was done with the interview.
Within few minutes Arjun's car zoomed into Khurana Constructions and Geet hoped
into the car. Geet looked a little pale and dejected. Arjun wondered why she
looked worried and thought probably they rejected her, but she was one among
the best, how could they reject her after selecting her in the previous
interview in the college. He looked at Geet who was staring at the passing
traffic outside the window. She seemed lost in deep thought, which was not her
usual self.
"Geet,
is everything alright?" he asked with concern, "how was the intereview?"
She
was still lost in her thoughts and did not hear Arjun asking about her
interview. Finding no reply from Geet, he shook her a little bit to gain her
attention. She came back to her senses, "Huh? What did you ask?"
"I
asked if everything was okay. Why do you look dejected?"
"Woh,
actually," she faltered thinking of a best way to explain the predicament she
was in. If Arjun knew that she had encountered the same man in the airport, who
now had challenged her to work as his secretary cum junior architect, he would
be concerned for her. Maan Singh Khurana's motive seemed pretty clear, he
wanted set his scores straight with her for behaving rudely with him in his own
office and accusing him of following her around. But if she voiced her fear,
Arjun would never let her work under him, for what she knew he was very
protective of her and would never see her hurt. She remembered the time when
she was in second grade; Arjun had punched her teacher for the mere act of
scolding her. And if he knew that this man was going to extract revenge from
her, god knows what he would do. And that would be the end of her dream to work
in Khurana Constructions. No, she would not let him know of Maan's challenge
because it would just mean she is too weak to fight him. She was Geetanjali
Handa, a girl who never backs out of challenges and was ready to fight Maan
Singh Khurana. Too keep Arjun from getting too suspicious she decided to act
normal.
"Woh,
haan abhi yaad aaya mujhe bahut bhook lag rahi can we please stop by some
restaurant?" she asked putting up the most innocent face.
"Accha
bhook lag rahi hai? Teekhai I shall stop by your favorite Saravana Bhavan. God
I still cannot understand how you eat those idli vadas. But pehle yeh batao,
how was the interview. Are you in?" he asked.
"Of
course Arjun, Geetanjali Handa jo hoon, of course I am in," she said lifting
her collar a little, "Pata hai they have asked me to join tomorrow itself. So I need to buy some clothes and also
inform Pappa and Amma about the new changes. Pappa expected me to come back
before I finally join, he shall be disappointed now," she said feeling bad.
"Oh
really? Congratulations!" he said patting her head a little. "Don't worry
Arvind uncle se main baat karoongi. Anyway he needs a break from his boring
court schedules so he can wind up and come here with Anu mamma for a few weeks
to spend time with all of us here."
"Arre,
yeh to main nahi sochi. Good idea!" she said sounding excited.
They
arrived at Saravana Bhavan and Arjun went to get her sambar vada and paper ghee
roast while Geet sat in the car. There was long line so the wait was long.
Finally Arjun managed to get the food, Geet happily munched down while teasing
Arjun to eat some of it. Although he hated the food he was quite hungry too and
the constant act of Geet bringing the food to feed him made him want to eat it.
Forgetting his resolve to not eat South Indian food he took a few bites as Geet
fed him a few pieces. They decided to stop by the mall to pick up a few formal
pants and shirts for Geet and then head home. The mall was unusually crowded to
suffocation that day but Geet finally managed to pick up a few things for
herself and brought a shirt for Arjun as it had been really long since she had
brought anything for him.
They
finally arrived home, exhausted by the day's events. It was dinnertime and
Gowtam Uncle had sent a message that he would be late due to some meetings and
asked them to eat. Geet dropped her bags and papers in the room, refreshed, and
headed down to the dinner table while Arjun too went to freshened up. They had
a sumptuous dinner; since the weekend was approaching soon, both were
discussing about places to visit.
Geet
finished her dinner and headed to her room to call her parents and inform them
of the new change in schedule. She knew her dad would be disappointed but she
had no other go but to convince him. Her mom picked up the phone and was elated
to know that Geet got the job. She told that she always knew her little angel
would definitely fulfill her dreams. Once the initial greetings were done, she
finally broke the news about having to join the company from tomorrow itself so
she would not be returning soon but promised once she was settled in the job
she would definitely come there for a few days. Her mom was a little
disappointed, she could understand Geet's predicament and wished her all the
very best. Next her dad spoke; Geet had dreaded this moment. Once she told him
that she won't be coming soon, he seemed very dejected. When Arjun dropped by
her room, she was crying on the phone with her dad. He quickly took the phone
from her and talked to Arvind Uncle and suggested him to come while consoling
Geet to compose herself. It took a while to convince both father daughter and
finally Arvind Uncle decided to come in a week's time. Arjun ended the call
with a promise to call everyday and looked at Geet who was still silently
sobbing. He hugged and while soothing her to calm herself. He told her that if
she broke down then who would console her dad. Soothing words and a lot of
cajoling took Geet to finally calm down. She sniffed, wipe down her tears, and
gave a weak smile to Arjun. To make her laugh he instantly offered to wipe
tears and nose if it would make her feel better. Since childhood she would
always run to Arjun and cry if she was stuck in any problem and end up wiping
her tears and her watery nose due to crying and run away. Arjun would run
around to punish her for her act but never would never really punish her
because she was his kiddo, he would do anything to make her happy. That did the
trick; Geet smiled at his offer and willingly wiped herself before smiling and
running away. He was glad she finally smiled and told her to sleep as it was
already late and promised to wake her up tomorrow for her office. She thanked
Arjun for all his help and wondered what she would do without him. She bid
Arjun goodnight and retired to bed forgetting all her pains.
By
morning the mist in the air and the dewdrops on the leaves gave and expression
as though they were laughing at the first rays of sunlight. Arjun found Geet
sleeping with a smile on her face. She looked calm and serene and the morning
rays of sunlight were brightening her already beautiful features. Wishing that
she always smiled like that, he went to wake her up so that she would be on
time to office. She woke up after quite a number of pleadings and warnings and
went to the bathroom to get ready for her first day.
Geet
finished her morning rituals and whipped up a professional look finishing it
with a small bindi and a streak of vibhuti (sacred ash) on her face. She
greeted Gowtam Uncle who reading the newspaper and nudged a quick good morning
to Arjun who was sitting beside his dad. Gowtam Uncle asked about the interview
and congratulated her as he had heard from Arjun about her job confirmation. He
wished her luck and headed to the office. Arjun and Geet finished their
breakfast in silence and Arjun went to bring his car so that he could drop Geet
off in her office.
Geet
arrived right and time, bid bye to Arjun and ran into the office fearing her
new boss, Maan Singh Khurana. She was greeted by Pinky with her signature
banana chips. Geet greeted her back and went inside to find Adhi waiting for
her. He showed Geet her new cabin that was situated adjacent to Maan's because
she was his secretary cum junior architect. The cabin was accessorized with
minimum furniture of an office svivel chair, a table with desktop and printer
and a small side table at the end of the room. Geet like the fact that it was
simple but it was too colorless for her taste. She would find a way to make it
seem more colorful more with life, but right now she settled herself in her
seat and made herself comfortable. She heard Adhi tell her that Maan was
already in the office and that he was in a meeting with the clients. Adhi
wished her luck and told her to feel free to ask if she needed anything. Geet
thanked him and assured that if she needed anything she would certainly ask
him. After that Adhi left Geet on her own and got back to his work.
Geet
was busy setting up her table when the phone rang. She jerked at the sudden
noise and picked up to find Sasha on the other side. Sasha asked her to meet
her in two minutes as she had a new project coming up. Geet answered in the
affirmative and hung up to go see Sasha.
Geet
saw a woman in her late twenties, grim face and dull features sitting in her
desk and seriously looking at the file. Geet knocked before entering and went
and stood near the desk and Sasha looked at her. Although she didn't seemed too
pleased with Geet's presence she didn't seem too unfriendly. She asked Geet to
take a seat to discuss about the upcoming project for Mr. Yash Kapoor. Geet
carefully listened to what Sasha had to say and noted down the necessary
details for the project. She was asked to make a small presentation with some
basic designs and other details for the project. Geet exited the cabin once she
was done discussing with Sasha.
It
was not a bad day after all, she thought. She was given her first project and
by her Muruga's grace there was no trouble brewing. She came back to her cabin
and saw that Maan had returned from his meeting and was immersed in his work.
She quietly sat down in her chair avoiding gaining his attention. She didn't
know Maan had already seen her walk past his cabin and walk into her cabin.
Maan pretended to look into the
file while he actually observed what she was upto. He smirked at the fact that
she quietly sat down in her chair without any fuss and had avoided looking at
him. He wanted to irk her a little therefore, as soon as Geet settled herself,
he called her.
"Geet, come to my office," he
ordered.
"Abhi sir?" she asked innocently.
"Nahi, kal," he chided.
"Teekhai sir," she said not
catching the sarcasm in his tone.
She was going to keep the phone
when she heard him bark at her, "Geet, when I say come to my office that means
right now!" and the line went dead.
Geet peeped through the blinds to
see if he was looking at her before she cursed, "Paavi (bad fellow), when I
asked if he wanted me now he could say that politely right, but no, he has to
bark. Muruga what have you gotten me into!" She quickly dashed to his cabin to
find him immersed again in one of his files. She knocked the door and entered.
He never looked up so she cleared her throat to make her presence known to him.
"Geet, get me a cup of coffee," he
said without looking at her.
"Kya?" she asked loudly.
"I said get me a cup a coffee," he
said slowly but firmly.
"Main tumhari cook hoon kya?" she
asked forgetting he was her boss.
"Geet," he fumed, "main tumhari
boss hoon, call me Maan sir, samjhi? Aur haan you are my secretary, so you are
supposed to make me coffee. Ab jaldi se jao and get me a cup of coffee"
Geet realized her folly and
apologized for her reply but still was dazed that he had asked her, Geetanjali
Handa, to make coffee. Did he even any idea that he was making her make coffee
when she did even have the need to boil hot water back home. She was fuming inside,
not entirely for the fact that Maan had asked her to make coffee but also that
she had no clue how to make one! Maan noticed that she stood unmoving and
looked up with his eyes questioning her motive. She gave him a nervous smile
and slowly turned around hoping that she could find Pinky to help her make
coffee. She walked out in search of Pinky, unfortunately Pinky had stepped out
and was not scheduled to return anytime soon, Adhi was busy, and everyone else
seemed occupied. Luck was playing a cruel game on her. She cursed her bad luck,
now she had no option but to ask Maan himself on how to make coffee. She slowly
walked into him cabin hoping he wouldn't fire her over such a small issue as
coffee. Seeing her come in, Maan extended his hand as if expecting his coffee
cup. When he received no cup he looked up at her to find her nervously making
hand patterns.
"Geet, where is my coffee?" he
asked sounding clearly annoyed.
"Sir, woh, I mean,"
"Can you please cut the nonsense
and get to the point"
"Sir, coffee kaise banate hain?"
she blurted and looked at him.
"What? Don't you even know how to
make coffee?" he asked quite surprised.
"Actually sir, woh kya hai na, I am
the only child in my house, aur mere ghar main to mujhe," she started when she
was rudely cut by Maan.
"I do not want to hear your
chatter, I'll just tell you how to," he sighed afraid that she would begin her
nonstop chatter.
Geet was happy that he wasn't mad her
and in fact was willing to help her. She gave him a wide smile and looked at
him eagerly to give her instructions.
"Pehle, heat the milk up for about
1 minute in the microwave."
"Sir, athan theriyume (I know
that)" she said forgetting Maan couldn't understand her. Looking at his puzzled
reaction she hit her head, "I mean I know that sir."
"Teekhai, phir take a small
teaspoon and measure a spoon of the coffee powder"
"Oh I know that sir"
"Toh phir do you what to do next"
"Ah! Only after that I don't know
what to do," she said looking at him innocently.
"Next add the powder to the milk"
"Sir, I know that sir"
"Do you know what to do next?"
"After that only I don't know sir."
Maan was losing his patience by her
insistence that she knew what to do when told yet when asked what she would do
next she had no clue. He was right she was strangely insane. "Next, take a big
spoon of salt and add it to the milk, and come and pour it on me!"
"Sir? Kyun sir, aap gusse main ho?"
clearly not understanding the situation.
"What else do you expect? I am
trying to help you here by taking you through step-by-step and each time you
say you know that but when asked what to do next you have no clue. Do I look
like a fool to you?" he shouted. "Now shut up and listen to the whole thing. If
I here you speak one word, mujhse bura koi nahi hoga samjhi tum?" Maan again
explained the whole thing and she listened with her mouth shut. She went to the
kitchen and prepared as per his instructions. He had insisted only one spoon of
sugar. She carefully took one spoon of sugar that was mounted like a huge
mountain, and mixed it and took it to him.
She handed him the coffee and
turned around to leave when she heard him spit the whole mouthful he drank.
"Geet! What is this?" he roared
"Sir, coffee."
"I asked you to make coffee not
sweet. How much sugar did you add?"
"Like you said one spoon."
"Accha? One spoon?" he asked his
eyes red with anger. "Can you do anything properly? You can't even make a cup
of coffee how the hell will you function properly as a junior architect? You are
unable to follow simple set of instructions and here you want to work as a
junior architect. I was right; you have proved that you are fit for nothing
except talking."
Geet's eyes were brimming
with tears, threatening to drop any time soon. He had called her useless and
fit for nothing. How did making coffee have anything to do with being a junior architect?
He had no right to judge her designing skills when he himself was a selfish,
arrogant, obnoxious, man with absolutely no sympathy for others. She abruptly
turned to leave when something tugged her from leaving.
here is the next chapter. please ignore any grammatical errors as i didnt hv time to check it.
i see that that half the people i am sending PMs to dont even bother to click the like button. 😭 guys ur comments n likes only make me write if u guys give up on me then i hv no option but to not write. please do comment (i do welcome criticism) or at least hit the like button.
Edited by Maaneet_09 - 13 years ago
comment:
p_commentcount