Part 2: Beginnings of the End?
Maan couldn't believe what he just
heard. "I'm sorry?" he asked.
"I said stop the car!" she screamed
once again startling the driver and Maan at the same time. Her loud scream
brought the car to a screeching halt in the middle of a deserted highway. Geet
immediately got out of the car closely followed by the worried Maan.
"Are you alright Geet?" he asked with
utmost concern.
"Do not come near me," she stressed
each word loud and clear.
Maan was confused by her behavior,
just a few minutes ago she was crying her eyes out and now she was acting as if
nothing happened. She forcefully untied the cloth that was tying them both
together and took out her flower garland and threw it in the car. Maan simply
stood rooted confused why she was behaving so strangely. Geet then gave an
angry look at Maan who seemed to not understand her dilemma and was simply
staring at her. She cleared her throat to gain his attention but he seemed to
be too engrossed in looking at her. She tried to go near him and snap him out
of his thoughts, but tripped due to the heavy lehgha that wrapped her petite
figure. Her arms helplessly flayed in the air and she tightly closed her eyes
readying herself for a nasty fall. The next instant she found herself engulfed
by a strong pair of arms hugging her waist preventing her from falling and
causing her to hang in the mid-air with her arms tightly clutching his sherwani
while her legs where half crossed. At that moment she opened her eyes to find a
deep chocolate brown eyes staring at her as if assuring her she was in safe
hands. The suddenness of the fall and the warmth of the hug stopped Geet from
straightening herself. She was lost in those deep brown eyes and each nerve in
her body responded to the tingly sensation running through her whole body. Maan
seemed to be not bothered by the closeness in fact he was enjoying it while
drowning in the hazel eyes with a hint of emerald streaks. Her innocent almond
shaped eyes spoke volumes of fear as well as anger.
He tried to read her eyes further but
was distracted when she knotted her brows and scrunched her nose to speak, "Hello
mister, could you please tell me why the hell are you hugging me like this?"
she asked with her nose flaring in anger.
Maan was a little startled by her
question, "But Geet you were going to fall, so I wanted to catch you so that
you don't hurt yourself."
"Maine aapse help maanga kya?" she
asked still in his embrace, "nahi na, ab aap please isi vaqt mujhe chodiye!"
she squeaked.
"Kya?"
"I said leave me damn it," she said
hitting his chest. Geet's sudden attack made him instantly leave Geet. The lack
of support led her to fall on the ground with a thud while she screamed, "Ouch
Babaji!" holding her back and looked at Maan smirking at her. "Monkey, donkey,
khote, billi," she cursed flinching in pain.
"Geet tumne hi toh kaha tha mujhe chod
toh, isiliye maine vahi kiya," Maan said crossing his arms and closing his
mouth from laughing out too loud. "Vaise bhi main tumhari pati hoon, aur ek
good husband ki nishani is listening to his biwi's words," he mocked while
extending his hand to help her up. She refused his help and pushed his hands
away and tried to get up but fell again. she cursed her luck and tried to get
up but found she had badly sprained her ankle in the process. The pain the
ankle was throbbing and her eyes welled up with fresh tears due to extreme
pain. Maan noticed her pain and rushed to sit by her side to help her ease her
pain. This time Geet didn't resist him lifting her and gently placing her on
the cement ledge on the corner of the road. She closed her eyes tightly hoping
to ease her pain while fat tears rolled down her cheek. Maan placed her legs on
the slab to get a better look at the sour ankle when Geet shoved his hands away
declaring, "I am a doctor, and I know how to care for myself, aap please
hatiye."
"Magar Geet please let me take a look,"
he tried to reason in vain to see her massage her sour ankle with difficulty. She
gave him an angry stare for dropping her and continued to mumble curses at him.
She kept massaging her foot while thinking of a way to bring the topic of this
marriage.
Geet cleared her throat, "Actually the
sprain has not hurt me as much as this marriage," she said breaking the awkward
silence. Maan's head shot up at Geet's confession while his eyes reflected a
deep pain in his heart.
"I, I thought you married me with your
full consent," he said his voice cracking.
"Hmph! I wish," she said
sarcastically, "marriage was not in my books for another 2 years," she said
looking away.
"But you father assured me that you
approved of me when I asked him specifically if the girl was willing to marry
me," he said dejectedly.
"Oh please, he forced me into marrying
you because he didn't want me to continue my education. All these days it was
hard for him to marry me off but with my mother gone, he easily accomplished
his task threatening to commit suicide if I objected," she said with tears in
her eyes.
"I am sorry Geet, mujhe pata hota tho
mai[n]," he was cut off with her hand gesture to stop talking.
"I do not want you sorry, nor do I
want your sympathy. I want you to know that there is in no way I am looking
forward to becoming your wife. I would like to continue my medical school as it
is my last semester while I simultaneously take 3 licensing exams in the US to
get my MD," she said coldly. Not getting any reply from him, she continued
taking a deep breath, "and for all this to happen I need my freedom. I want
divorce," she said with finality.
Maan fell hard on his knees; he had
expected a lot of surprises on his wedding day, but this was the least surprise
he had expected for it was more of a shock. His bride in front of him was
asking for a divorce on their wedding day, what better gift could a wife ask
for he thought ironically. His heart shattered into thousand pieces at her
declaration, he had imagined all sorts of things today from his beloved woman
who stood stunning in front of him, but all his hopes and expectations came
crumbling down. During the pheras he had promised God that he would fulfill
every desire and demand of his beloved wife and here she was testing the strength
of his promise. He chuckled at his plight and looked at Geet who looked
determined to accomplish whatever she wished to do.
Geet looked at Maan whom seemed to be
breaking down at her declaration but chose to ignore it and continued, "I am
sorry that this is not what you expected but I cannot live in a relationship
that I don't approve of. I have an aim that I am working towards and would not
like any thing to come in between. Anyway, its not like you fell in love with
me and wanted to marry me," she joked.
"Actually I did," he whispered looking
down.
"So please, I hope you understand my
point of view and allow me to do what I want independently," she asked hoping
the man in front of her would approve for he seemed to be a nice person.
"Voh" he tried to speak instead only a
gasp of air escaped from his mouth. He weakly cleared his throat and tried
again, "Voh, actually I absolutely approve your goal and aim. You are
absolutely welcome to pursue your goal and career and I shall never be a hurdle
to it. But can you not carry on without a divorce," he pleaded.
"Nahi Mr.?"
"Maan, Maan Singh Khurana"
"Nahi Mr. Khurana it's not possible, I
don't want to give you the wrong ideas. I want to accomplish things on my own
and this marriage demands a lot of responsibility from my side that I am
unwilling to do. Please try to understand Mr. Khurana," she said.
"Please call me Maan," he said
bleakly.
"Teekhai, Maan please understand," she
pleaded once again in the verge of tears.
Maan didn't want to see his beloved's
tears, thus he ignored the stabbing pain in his heart to agree with her
demands. "Magar ek shart pe," he said trying to hide his tears. "My Daadima has
been anticipating my marriage for a long while and to let her know about this
divorce would break her heart. So I suggest you live with me," before he could
continue he heard her gasp in shock. "Don't worry you don't have to live and
sleep in the same room as me, I shall tell Daadima that I want to live in the
Outhouse of the mansion so that you can have your own room. I shall manage with
the divorce procedure; once the divorce is finalized you can leave to America
as you wish," he said hoping his voice didn't give away the pain he was
experiencing.
Geet beamed at his suggestion and
instantly agreed to his condition. Her eyes reflected her happiness and joy.
Maan looked at her genuine happiness dancing through her eyes and felt content.
"So that's a deal Ms Handa," he said
as professional as possible.
"Of course that's a deal!"
"Well then, if you could please come
now as Daadima would be waiting for our arrival," he said extending his hand
for support that she willingly took as she knew she was not alright to stand by
herself to walk to the car.
Maan helped her sit comfortably in the
car without hurting her ankle and walked around the car to sit beside her. He told
the driver to start and take them home when he felt her hands squeeze his. He looked
questioningly at her while Geet gave him a huge smile and mouthed a thank you
for his big help. Maan squeezed her hands back and gave a weak smile and looked
away before his eyes gave away too much.
alright my lovely readers. i know i am going to get a lot of jhutis n all sorts of rotten veggies. i think i shall probably be even a victim of maar peet 😆 (from my dear dia n jyo darlings) but its a gentlewoman promise that next part shall have a [good] surprise.
Edited by Maaneet_09 - 12 years ago
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