Part 4: Fresh Feelings
Maan was literally
caught red-handed as he was unable to control his urge to kiss that beautiful
face and now he had to pay for it. He had kept his hands near her and while she
turned she had entwined his hands as though clutching her pillow and tucked his
hands under her chin unaware of his presence. Maan panicked scared Geet would
be angry to find him in this position. He racked his brain to find a quick
solution before she fully wakes to find his hands under her chin. He peeked to
see how much of damage his silly urge to kiss her had cost him but found Geet
still peacefully sleeping. He heaved in relief but still didn't know how to
release his hands from her grip. Suddenly it occurred to him, he leaned closer
to her and pat her shoulders lightly. Geet again stirred and turned releasing
his hands muttering something incorrigible in her sleep. He thanked his stars
for letting him slip without getting caught in his act.
Maan decided to
freshen up prepare something for breakfast before Geet got up. He grabbed his
spare towel from the closet and headed to the bathroom for a cold shower. He
badly needed a reality check as his actions were completely getting out of
control and what better way than a cold shower. He had to clear his mind of his
clouded judgment of mindlessly kissing her without her knowledge. The cold
shower cleared his mind well.
By the time Maan was
done with his shower, Geet had woken up and managed to sit up with her broken
leg. She rubbed her face to clear the morning fuzziness and sent a quick prayer
to her Babaji asking for a good day ahead. She heard water gushing through the
shower in the bathroom and concluded Maan would have been probably in there.
She wanted to get some fresh morning air from the near balcony off the room.
She slowly limped to the balcony using the support of the wall, chairs, and
tables on the way. The cool morning sun calmed Geet and she drank the beautiful
sight from the balcony. She was impressed with the layout of the mansion. The
lush green garden on her left carried every kind of exotic flowers from tulips
to orchids and of course roses of every color filled the garden. In the midst
of neatly pruned bushes was a Victorian style fountain portraying two little
angels facing each other and holding a pitcher in each of their hands. It
looked as if water was pouring from the pitcher and ran through various zigzag
pathways before falling into a large pool below them. She was admiring the
natural beauty of the serene nature when she heard a click from the bathroom
door. She turned slowly to look at the person striding through the room.
Maan walked out of the
bathroom in a white towel enhancing his well-toned six-pack abs. his hair was
dripping wet letting water droplets fall carelessly on his clean and taut chest
unaware of a pair of hazel eyes following him. He flexed his muscles, bringing
his hands towards his wet hair to brush few fat drops of water that threatened
to fall off. The sight brought new kinds of emotions in Geet, as she stood
rooted watching every muscle twitch in his body in synch with his action. His
majestic stride oozed confidence showcasing his don't-mess-with-me look. Failing
to get rid off the excess water from his hair, he paused for a second and
quickly shook his head shaking off excess water from his hair. Geet jerked her
head left, tightly closing her eyes as though water had splashed on her face. Few
seconds later she opened her eyes to realize she had just imagined being
splashed and resumed to shamelessly stare at the bare-chested man in front of
her.
While walking to the
door, Maan realized Geet was missing from her bed and looked around the room to
find a trace of her. He looked around to find her staring blankly at him. She
stood leaning on to the railings and her long curly hair dancing around due to
the light breeze. He smiled making her heart flutter and clutch the railings
tighter. He waved her good morning but she simply stood her eyes forgetting to
blink. He tried again to gain her attention with no response from her side. He
walked into the balcony near her and vigorously waved his both hands and
snapped his fingers in front of her face. The snap brought Geet back to reality
with blood rushing to her cheeks. She looked down embarrassed like a thief
caught red-handed in his act of stealing. Maan, totally unaware of the things
going on in her mind, was confused.
"Geet, tum yahaan kya
kar rahi ho? I told you if you need anything just call me," he said with
concern.
Geet bit her lower lip for letting her
mind wander and indulge in such kind of irrational thoughts. She reminded
herself of her aim and brushed away any other thoughts. She looked up to face
Maan with hesitation and tried to explain she had simply come to savor the
morning fresh air with a bleak smile hoping he wouldn't catch her racing
heartbeat. He simply bought her story without a word against it and asked her
to take rest. She started walking towards the bed hurriedly causing her sore
ankle to hurt more. She yelped in pain and stopped to massage her leg. He saw
her in pain and without thinking he gently lifted her from behind. Geet was
taken by surprise by his gesture and initially tried to protest but gave up not
wanting to make the situation more awkward. He walked slowly to the bed and
lowered her onto it making sure he didn't hurt her ankle in the process.
"Geet tum yaheen ruko,
I shall go downstairs prepare something to eat for you so that you can have
your meds," he said turning away from her.
Geet was still dazed
by his sudden touch and failed to catch his words until he shook her lightly by
her shoulder. "Huh? Aapne kuch kaha," she blurted.
"Haan Geet, I told you
to stay put so that I can get you something to eat before you take some
medicines," he said.
"Magar Maan please
don't strain yourself, I think I can manage to come downstairs with you to help
you prepare something," she said.
"Oh come on Geet, don't be silly. Let your ankle
get alright then tum jee bhar ke khana bana sakti ho," he joked.
She smiled at him
wondering what had she done to deserve such a nice treatment from this man. "Oh
actually Maan kya mujhe Horlicks milega? Voh kya haina morning main sirf vahi
peeti hoon," she hesitated fearing he would make fun of her habit.
"Kya? Horilicks?" he
teased.
"Haan, kyun I
shouldn't drink it?" she asked crossing her arms and pouting like a small
child.
"Arre nahi nahi, main
toh sirf pooch raha tha," he said stifling his laughter.
"Aap mere mazak uda
rahe ho?" she said narrowing her eyes.
"Nahi toh, main kyun
mazak udaoon" he said bursting with laughter.
"Hmph! Haan haan
hasiye," she said looking away hurt.
Maan saw her and
immediately bent near the bed and said, "I'm extremely sorry Geet; I was just
kidding. Mujhe please maaf kardo," holding his ears but she still looked away.
He held her chin and slowly turned her towards him. "Geet, look at me," he said
softly, "I was just pulling your leg, main abhi Nakul ko Horlicks lane ke liye
kehta hoon. Teekhai?" Geet looked into his chocolate brown eyes that seemed to
emit the sincerity in his voice. She slightly smiled and nodded at him. He was
happy she smiled and got up to get changed and make breakfast. He informed
Daadima that Geet had woken up so that she could come and visit Geet.
Later, Maan prepared
some buttered toast along with scrambled eggs for Geet while Nakul brought
Horlicks. Once Horlicks was in Maan placed everything on the tray, along with
some black coffee for him and walked upstairs. Geet was skimming through a
magazine from the nearby table when he arrived with the tray. She smiled and
adjusted to sit straight on the bed. Maan gave her the toast along with the
scrambled eggs she thanked him and ate it quickly as she was really hungry
since yesterday. He looked wide-eyed at her hurriedly gulping down the contents
on the plate. He was about to say something but feared she may start crying
after the horlicks incident and decided to keep his mouth shut.
Geet smiled cheekily
with her mouth full of food and saw Maan simply staring at her. "Maan aap kut
nai khaaye," she mumbled with food stuffed in her mouth.
"Kya?" he asked unable
to comprehend what she was asking.
She showed her piece of toast and mimed her hands
in front of her mouth. Maan realized she was asking him to eat too. "Nnnahi
Geet, I am full," he stammered looking at her hungrily stuff more food in her
mouth. She finally licked the last crumbs of toast and scrambled egg and gave
the plate to him.
"Aur doon?" he asked.
"Bas. Mujhe moti nahi
honi," she said innocently.
Maan looked at her
with his wide eyes and mentally shook his head at her declaration. He placed
the plate on the tray and brought the horlicks cup in front of her but found few
crumbs lingering on the corner of her mouth. He pointed his fingers at her
mouth to clear it away but she didn't understand. She looked at him puzzled; he
pointed to his face and back at her again indicating the spot. She rubbed her
cheeks trying to clear it off. Maan shook his head in negative and leaned
towards her, brushing away the crumbs near her mouth. His sudden touch sent an
electric current through her and she slightly cringed and moved backward. She
quickly covered up her folly by cleaning away any remaining bits of food and
looked away uncomfortably. Their awkward silence was broken by Daadima's
arrival.
"Good morning Geet
bete," Daadima said with a huge grin, "how is your ankle? I have asked the
doctor to come just in case."
"Good morning, it
hurts a little but Daadima it is just a sprain. I should be fine soon," Geet
assured.
"Geet bete hume pata
hai that you are almost a doctor, but I cannot tolerate my little bahurani in
so much pain. At least for my satisfaction please ek baar dikha deejiye," she
requested.
Geet didn't want to
hurt Daadima's feelings therefore she simply nodded to keep her happy. Daadima's
eyes twinkled at Geet's consent she hugged her and placed a small peck on her
forehead. Maan just stood in the corner looking at his Daadima and Geet bonding
well and a smile crept in the corner of his mouth. Daadima smiled at him and
left saying the doctor would be here and that she had to go meet up with some
of her friends. The doctor came and checked Geet and declared that it was a
minor sprain and simple painkillers would be fine but complete bed rest was
necessary for speedy recovery. Geet thanked the doctor while Maan gave
instructions to Nakul to but the necessary medicines and to take care of Geet as
he had some urgent work in the office. Geet decided to kill some time by
sleeping for a while.
Maan returned in the
evening to check on Geet and found Daadima with a worried expression on her
face with the Pandit seriously checking the calendar in his hand, calculating
something, and muttering something incorrigible. Geet was sitting on the
opposite side with a morose expression on her face.
alrite my lovely readers... here is the next part... sorry for the delay. hope u like it! hit the like button n comment away for the next update until then take care 😉
