Whoo hoo, a week's holiday, time to relax - which also means more updates for my FF's 😊 This chapter is dedicated to Iqra, who's finished her exams - have fun relaxing! 😳
Chapter 4 - Cold Shoulder
Maan tore himself away from Geet's penetrating gaze & turned to look at Brij, who had an annoyed frown on his face.
"Don't ignore me," he threatened through gritted teeth.
"So what if I do?" challenged Maan. "What are you going to do about it?"
Brij grabbed hold of Maan's collar, whose patience was now being tested. "Don't even think twice about grabbing my collar again," Maan said, & pushed Brij away with such force that he stumbled backwards.
Darjee came rushing out to the gate, followed by Uncle-ji. Tayyi-ji winced at the sight of her son being injured.
"Oi! What do you think you're doing?" He demanded, helping Brij up.
"I came to talk to you reasonably, but this animal started to attack me."
"What did you call me?" asked Brij, his fists tightening in anger.
Maan simply ignored him & turned back to Darjee. "I've come to talk about the land you have up for sale. Which one of you is Mohinder Handa?"
"Mohinder Handa?" he said, stepping out from behind Darjee's shadow.
"Yes, is that you?" Maan asked. "No... I'm his brother."
"So where is he?"
Darjee stepped closer to Maan & whispered to him so Uncle-ji couldn't hear.
"This is a personal matter, let's discuss it inside."
"I don't have the time to sit inside with you & have a tea party."
"It's much more complicated than you think," Darjee added, trying to convince him.
"I just need to talk to Mohinder Handa, then I'll be on my way."
"I'm requesting you to step inside. I'll explain everything."
Brij was watching the Darjee-Maan conversation with much interest. Uncle-ji seemed curious as to why this man had mentioned Mohinder's name.
Maan gave up & reluctantly agreed to step inside.
Tayyi-ji saw them approaching towards the house & ushered her children & Geet inside before Brij saw them & lost his temper. She didn't want to upset her son.
"Geet, Rajji, go to your room & don't come out until I tell you to. Tito, go & play outside on your bicycle, quickly!"
Geet & Rajji made their way upstairs, with Rajji closing the door behind them.
"Di, who was that man?" she asked.
"I don't know," Geet said quietly, thinking about how he had pushed Brij away.
In her 18 years, that was the first time she'd seen someone who stood up to Brij. Everyone else appeared frightened & intimidated by him.
When she was 7 years old, she had been given a note by the teacher to give to her parents. Geet struggled with numbers & the noted advised her family members to help her out with her homework. When she had got home & given the note to Uncle-ji, Brij somehow got hold of it & took Geet down to the school straight after. He demanded why she hadn't been hit if she didn't know anything, & why she was getting away with it. The teacher, who was disturbed by his violent attitude towards an innocent little girl, had tried to make Brij understand that Geet needed support, not beatings, when Brij had threatened him not to interfere with Geet's learning again. The teacher, whom Geet had always favoured for his kind attitude, ended up resigning from his post the day after in fear of Brij's threat.
"Di?" Geet snapped out of her thoughts, as she felt Rajji's hand shaking her shoulder lightly. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Geet said, & feigned a small smile on her lips, pushing the thoughts of her painful past away.
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Maan stood in the middle of the living area, comprehending what he had just been told.
Mohinder Handa, the owner of the land, had died. The signatures that Maan needed off him would now be impossible to get.
"How do you expect me to buy the land when I won't be able to get his signatures?" he asked Darjee, who stood in front of him, with Brij to his left & Uncle-ji to his right.
Brij seemed interested in the thought of money, while Uncle-ji was disturbed with the fact that Darjee was selling his brother's land off. The land which should now belong to Geet.
"I have a solution," said Darjee. "If we can somehow get rid of this land in another sense..." he trailed off, hinting at illegal methods to get it done.
"What?" asked Maan, annoyed. "If you're suggesting illegal work, I'll already tell you my answer. No. No chance."
"Look, everyone wins. We get the money, you get your land," added Brij.
Maan gave him one of his trademark deathly stares.
"No one asked for your opinion," he remarked, silencing Brij with an evil look, who returned his look with one of his own.
Darjee was getting impatient with this young man's persistence.
"You must be hungry," he said suddenly, smiling at Maan. "Why don't we make you some food?" "Are you trying to bribe me? Sweeten me up so I agree to what you say? You can do whatever you like, but I want this resolved in a legal way."
Darjee couldn't go down the legal way - then it would be revealed that the rightful heir to the land was Geet. And he couldn't let that happen.
He pushed his anger aside as he continued his attempts to win Maan over.
"Brij, call your mother & tell her to prepare the finest food for our guest."
"I don't want your food."
"I insist."
Brij stalked off to look for his mother, whilst Maan was forced to take a seat by Darjee.
"Darjee, can I talk to you in private?" Uncle-ji asked quietly. "Not now," he replied angrily. "I'm busy."
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"Geet!" Tayyi-ji stormed into the room, where Geet had been braiding Rajji's plait. "What are you doing to my daughter's hair?" she asked.
"Tayyi-ji, I was-"
"Maa, I asked Geet di to do my plait for me, like she does hers."
Geet let go of Rajji's hair & stood up to face Tayyi-ji, who seemed annoyed.
"Come downstairs right now & help me in the kitchen, we have to make food."
"Ji," Geet said obeidently, & followed them downstairs.
They got to the kitchen, where Tayyi-ji ordered Geet to start making hot tea for everyone. Geet took to the task & began boiling hot water in a pan. Tayyi-ji left to fetch some spices for the dish she was preparing.
Brij was passing by the kitchen, & stopped. Geet didn't notice his appearance as she had her back to the door.
"Geet."
She almost dropped the hot pan in surprise.
"J-j-ji, veerji?" she stuttered, her hands shaking.
"You need to make a good impression today. A young man is here today, & you must be aware that you need to married as soon as possible."
Geet's heart sank. If her parents were here, they wouldn't allow her to be married off so early. She was still at college. "So there should be no mistakes. Or else I'll slap you so hard that you'll regret trying to undermine my orders."
Geet nodded once, tears brimming to her eyes at her helpless situation as Brij left the kitchen.
Just outside the kitchen, Maan had been listening in. His fists clenched in anger as he realised that he was about to be taken advantage of.
He stepped inside the kitchen, ready to confront the girl who was planning to sink her claws into him when she turned & saw him stood there.
Their eyes met for a brief second, then she dropped the hot pan, with the hot water spilling all over her hands.
"Ouch, ow!" She yelped in pain as her hands turned bright red.
Without even thinking about what he was doing, Maan immediately rushed forward & grabbed her wrists. He placed her hands under cold water, his own face distorted in pain as he looked at her burning hands.
"Is it still burning?" he asked softly as he looked up to see her reaction.
Geet nodded once, a tear running down her cheek.
Maan had the sudden urge to wipe the tear away from her soft cheek.
Then he let go of her hands & jumped away from her like he had been electrocuted. Geet looked up at him, surprised at his sudden action.
He looked at her with such anger that she thought he was about to hit her, like Brij did. She cowered away in fear as he angrily walked off, kicking the pan away from his path before he left.
Geet quickly turned the tap off and forced herself to ignore the pain as she took to the floor & began clearing up the mess. Tayyi-ji came back with the spices.
"What happened here?" she asked angrily, slamming the spices down.
"Ji, I... I dropped the pan, I'm really sorry."
"You will be if this dinner isn't prepared on time. I'm not having my Brij starving himself because of your clumsy mistakes. Now hurry up, we haven't got long."
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Half an hour later, the food had been prepared. The men had now moved to the dining table, with Rajji & Tito also there.
Maan chose to sit away from the family, at the opposite end. He had no desire to converse with any of them, especially that girl...
He gripped the table in anger as he remembered how he had helped her soothe her burning hands.
He had kept all emotions away from himself for the past 8 years, and that wasn't going to change. He had to sort out the issue of the land & get out of here, before he did anything else which went against himself.
Tayyi-ji & Geet appeared with the food. They set it down & Tayyi-ji began serving everyone, with Geet stood aside, her eyes fixed on the floor.
"Geet, why don't you serve our guest?" Brij said, smirking. "It's rude to keep someone waiting."
Maan remembered their earlier conversation that he had eavesdropped on & his anger intensified.
A terrified Geet tried to control her shaking hands as she reluctantly took the food to Maan and began carefully setting it down on his plate. He had been looking away when he noticed her hands, which were now scarred & even redder than before.
Not wanting to, yet still wanting to, he looked up at Geet, into her big hazel eyes, his anger dissolving. She looked straight back at him, scared of his angry glare, but was surprised when she saw nothing but concern there.
He saw sadness & grief in her eyes, along with pain. Physical pain, from her scarred hands. And emotional pain, but he couldn't make out why.
Geet quickly looked away & took the remaining of the food back to the middle of the table. Looking away from him, she placed the hot tea down & left the room.
Maan was curious as to why she hadn't joined the rest of the family to eat. He was surprised at how no one seemed to notice she was gone, apart from her sister, who had been looking at the door that she had just walked through with a frown on her face.
It was only then that he realised that he had let his hard mask slip again. Feeling angry & furious once more, he took it out on the Handa's crockery as he slammed his glass down after his drink, wanting to smash it into his hand, so he could feel the pain. Maybe the pain would block out the concern he was starting to feel for the girl.
Hiii sis Awesome update Loved it Poor geet Feel so sad 4 her Now even maan thinks bad about her H8 brij nd darji Sooo evil Can't wait 4 more Con soon ThanksssEdited by KaSh-Maneet-Fan - 12 years ago
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