Chapter 11: The
Lord of the Thieves
Geet stood dumbstruck
at the scene in front of her. The mansion was beautifully decorated with
flowers and paraphernalia. It was well lit making it twinkle like a star while
the silvery decorations played a good contrast to the golden yellow flower
strings that hung on the walls from the ceiling. But even before Geet to digest
the sight in front of her a strong pair of hands grabbed her forcefully from
behind. Her eyes widened in shock and she was about to scream when that person
from behind shut her mouth tight with his/hand.
Geet panicked at the
sudden attack by the stranger. Even in the midst of all panic her mind seemed
to be randomly playing the events from a few moments ago. First of all her
house had been already robbed and the thief didn't seem to be present when she
came running out of the outhouse. So all this while the thief was chasing her?
Wasn't it always the public or the police that chased thieves, here it was
totally reversed. Even after totally robbing her of all the things, the thief
was intent on chasing and attacking her! As the stranger slowly dragged her
away from the mansion to a more secluded and dark area, her mind began to
process the next plan of action. She scurried through her brain trying to
remember types of ways to defend oneself when faced with a similar situation.
"Chilly Powder!" Her brain screamed but the next second she dismissed that
thought as she had no chilly powder in possession. "Ugh! Yeh chor agar todi der
aur peecha karta I would have reached the kitchen, aur vahaan saara powders mil
jaati," she though with frustration. Next option, she though feverishly, "Uff
Babaji mujhe plans hi yaad nahi aa raha, yeh mera best weapon, screaming ke
liye options nahi choda varna I would have shown him whose the boss. Knife, not
there, lighter, she didn't know how to work with it, whistle, her mouth was
shut; each and every option she thought of was impossible, either she didn't
know how to work it or it wasn't physically present near her. Her brain was
getting tired thinking of options. She blamed her stupid assignments and tests
that prevented her brain from working in its full capacity. Then like
lightening her favorite man, Jackie Chan, flashed in her brain. Although she
was never really trained in martial arts, she had loved learning quite a few
moves watching his movies. From what she could sense the chor was definitely a
male. And the first thing to attack a man in order to paralyze him was the
knee-crotch technique. She would have loved to test her powers on him, but only
if he was facing her. There was no way she could kick back at his sensitive
part. Just as she was trying to think of another part to attack, she thought
him call her name. Bewildered and shocked, she stopped fighting against him to
listen, thinking she might have heard him wrong.
"Geet," he whispered
gruffly against her ears, confirming her suspicions
"Hey Babaji! Chor ko
mera naam bhi pata hai!" she thought alarmed. "Kya zamaana aagaya hai, chor
homework bhi karne laga hai. Jobhi ho, I need to keep my senses alert to attack
him," she determined. She balled up her fists and was about to strike her elbow
on his stomach, when she suddenly felt the thief release her. The momentum of
her attack, contrasted to his sudden absence was uncalled for Geet, lost her
balance and faltered. Her feet slipped off the ground and her swung in the air,
carelessly. Panic and shock was registered clearly in her face as she
frantically searched to catch hold of something solid to prevent her from the
impending fall. But her instincts took the better of her; she shut her eyes
tightly letting the course of the fall take over. She was certain she would
break a few bones here and there along with other injuries. Instead of the hard
ground, she felt herself securely caught by a pair of strong hands. Her hands
automatically tightly wound around his neck in her fear of falling and she
reveled in the secure warmth he was emanating.
Fearing that she would
have hurt herself he softly called out to her, "Geet, tum teekh toh ho na?" She
failed to respond so he called out again, "Geet?" patting her cheek a little.
As she felt slender fingers caress cheek softly and smiled a little before
fluttering her eyes open. The most handsome and perfectly shaped face of her
husband, Maan, greeted her. He seemed a little fearful and his eyes were laced
with utmost concern. She was about to get lost in those deep chocolate brown
eyes when he patted her cheek again.
"Huh?" she asked
dazed.
"Are you alright?"
"Huh? Oh haan, yes I
am fine," she said still in the same position. Assured that she was fine, Maan
began to straighten her. She stood firmly on the ground yet didn't let go of
her grip around him and kept staring at him in awe. He, who was not aware of
her doings, slightly pulled and loosened her grip on his neck and gently
placing them down. The gush of cold air on her skin in place of his warm touch
brought her back from her trance. Realizing the close intimacy, she moved back
a few steps while Maan missed her disturbed mind.
"Voh I had to get you
here before you met Daadima, varna there would have a lot of confusion," he
said looking worried.
"Ji?" she asked
puzzled.
"Actually Daadima had
called today morning. Tumhe yaad hai aaj voh last day hai. So technically we
are supposed to begin our marital life," he said.
"Oh shoot!" Geet
replied shocked at the revelation and slapped her forehead.
"Haan I knew you would
have forgotten. Daadima ne call ki subah ko telling me this and I am sure she
is up to something even though I strictly ordered her not to make a big deal
out of it and just have your things shift to my room in the mansion."
"Kya?!?"
"We have no choice
Geet, just for temporary purposes hume kuch dinon ke liye adjust karne padegi.
But even before we can get to the room issue yeh dekho everything is decorated
and I think she is planning for some party or ritual," he said looking far into
the mansion.
"Magar yeh nahi ho
sakta hai," Geet said disapprovingly.
"Mujhe pata hai Geet.
That's why I got you here. I wanted to give a heads up aur plan something so
that we can flop the reception Daadima is planning for us."
"Wow Maan!" she said
in disbelief. "Aapke dimaag kya kya chalta hai, shayad mujhe pata hoti."
"Shayad tumhe pata
hoti toh main yahaan nahi hota," he said under his breath before continuing,
"Okay like I said Daadima has something under her sleeve to surprise us and I
totally understand you are not in a state to even go through any of it. Toh
isiliye we need to make sure things run according to what we plan." Geet smiled
and gestured a thumb's up sign. "I am sure Daadima would have invited all her
kitty party friends to introduce you aur us logon ko bhagana bahut aasan hai,"
he said.
"Aur voh kaise?" Geet
asked eagerly.
"Pehli target hogi
Mrs. Kakkad aka Mrs. Annoying. Batein aur khane ke alawa usko aur kuch nahi
dekh pati hai. Well food has a higher priority on her list, so deny her food
and she is out!" he said chuckling.
"Aur next?" she asked
seriously.
"Then you'll meet Mrs.
Malhotra, the I'm-too-good-for-you types. Always lives under self-praise. She
is the modern saasumaa so keep her off the hooks by dressing in something very
traditional and act like you are right out of your village who hardly knows
anything."
"Maan?" Geet
interrupted sternly at his remark about village belles. "Are you trying to say
village girls like me are dumb and don't know anything?" she asked staring
angrily at him.
Maan realized the
remark about village girls and bit his teeth. Oops! He had struck the wrong
chord, "Arre, nahi nahi, I never said that," he said laughing nervously. "Maine
nahi kaha. I just meant you know the innocent village belles. They are not dumb
kisne kaha they are dumb?" he asked innocently.
"Maan stop playing
innocent. Mujhe pata hai, you want to indirectly say village girls like me are
dumb, silly, and bewakoof," she said sounding hurt.
"Nahi meri jaan, maine
aise todi na kaha," he said closing the distance between them and cupping her
cheeks lovingly.
"Aapne aise hi kaha,"
she said pouting angrily.
"Dekho, main kyun aise
kahoonga tum toh itni acchi, susheel, khoobsurat ladki ho. Maine in general
kaha," he reasoned.
"Toh general mein
village girls are dumb?" she said looking shocked.
Maan mentally slapped
himself for letting his tongue slip and noted down never to mention anything
about village girls. "Nahi sweets, I would never say that. Chalo mujhe please
maaf kardo," he said apologetically.
His sweet plea and his
comforting touch had a favorable effect on her. She did mellow down a bit and
sniffed back her tears and smiled weakly. Seeing her smile he breathed a sigh
of relief and smiled back at her warmly before kissing her forehead lovingly.
She wiped her nose
with the back of her hand and asked, "Who is the next person?" Seeing her back
to normal, he moved back and started from where he left off.
"Next target is Mrs.
Gupta. She is our saas bahu serial type. Whenever she meets a new person she
always compares him/her to the serial characters she is watching. And to put
her off track act like the bad girl Lavanya Kashyap voh kya serial hai, iss
naam ka something," he said struggling to remember the name.
"Iss pyaar ko kya naam
doon," she offered.
"Haan vahi," Maan
pointed out while Geet nodded knowingly.
"And last but not the
least Mrs. Kadakia, the bhootni herself," he said looking aghast.
"Kyun?" she asked
curiously.
"She is scared of
ghosts while she herself can be categorized in that category," he said shaking
his head.
She giggled at his
description before adding, "Magar, how do we do that?"
"Simple, take her to
the empty room in the pretext of showing her around the house and the rest I
shall take care," he said winking.
"Oh god Maan, I never
knew you were so bad. How do you know all this?" she asked surprised by his
knowledge.
"This is Maan Singh
Khurana we are talking about," he said arrogantly.
"Acchaji," she said
amused at his confidence. "Toh aapko sab kuch pata hai?"
"Haan bilkul," he said
immediately but stopped.
"I see, do you steal
everyone's mind to know so much about them?" she joked.
"Nahi I am not a
chor!" he said shaking his head in the negative.
"Aap bilkul chor hai!"
she teased.
"On second thoughts
chor toh mein ban-na chahta hoon, magar tumhara dil ka," he whispered loud
enough that she heard.
A slight hue crept in
her cheeks but she quickly admonished it before looking at him wide eyed. "Kya
kaha aapne?" she asked.
"Kuch nahi," he
brushed it off before he got her upset once again. "So tumhe sab kuch yaad
haina?" he asked changing the subject.
"Yes, but how do I
identify the people?"
"Main hoon na tumhare
saath!"
"Oh haan, main bhool
hi gayi!" she said slapping her forehead. "Chaliye hume jaana hoga."
They walked into the
mansion together and found Daadima instructing the servants to keep everything
arranged.
"Daadima!" Maan rushed
beside her and hugged her from the side to her surprise.
"Maan aap aa gaye,
good!" she said smiling.
"Haan Daadima aur Geet
ko bhi layi hoon."
Geet came forward to
take her blessings but Daadima stopped her and cupped her cheeks lovingly and
kissed her forehead. "Jeete raho," she said.
"Daadima we shall get
ready, chalo Geet," he said hurriedly pulling her with him. Savitri Devi
watched her grandson drag away Geet and smiled at herself, indeed her plan was
working beautifully!
***
"Geet!" Maan called
standing outside his room. His dashing and handsome form enhanced by the
traditional black and silver lined sherwani. Having no response from inside he
called out again, "Geet you there?"
"Haan!" he heard her
faintly.
"Geet how long to
drape a saree?" he asked getting impatient.
"Abhi aayi Maan, its
not easy you know," she said finally coming into view. She was elegantly draped
in a cream white net saree with dark red border paired with intricately
designed full arm blouse. Maan looked mesmerized at the sight in front of him
and his eyes traveled from her face all the way to her toes. He involuntarily
sucked his breath in looking at his breathtakingly beautiful wife. Her petite
figure that held the saree delicately accentuated her curves appropriately and
the net material of the saree gave a view of her creamy white bare mid-riff. Only
if he could have his own way, he would replace that thin material of the saree
in few seconds with his own… he let his mind unleash his racy thoughts but the
sound of her bangles brought him back to reality.
"Maan?" she hesitated
at his no response.
"Huh?" he said looking
away with guilt.
"Is this traditional
enough?" she asked doubtfully looking at herself. "Maan!" she whined seeing him
not respond, "dekhiye toh sahi." But Maan knew better, if he once again tried
to look, he knew he wouldn't be able to control his desires. Thus, he headed
for the stairs when Geet forcefully stopped him by holding his wrist. "Aap nahi
dekhenge? Itni buri hoon kya?" she asked with a tinge of hurt.
Did she even know how
ravishing she looked? He took in a deep breath to calm his racing heart and
turned towards her. "Nahi Geet, voh I was just hurrying in case Daadima called
us," he said calmly. He once again got a close look at her but this time he did
find something missing in her face, her maang was not filled with sindhoor. "Geet,"
he said pointing to her forehead.
Unable to understand
she looked at him quizzically. He again pointed towards her forehead, "sindhoor
nahi laga hua hai," he said.
"Oops!" she said
slapping her forehead before rushing to the dressing table to find the little
box with the red vermilion. In a hurry when she applied a pinch of the powder
fell on her nose without her knowledge. She came back to where Maan was waiting
gesturing him to leave while she would follow. As she surpassed him, it was
Maan's turn to stop her holding her wrist. He slightly pulled her towards him
to her surprise but she stood with her eyes closed tightly at the sudden
nearness. He slowly brushed away the pinch of vermilion on her nose.
His warm touch
startled her causing her to open her eyes. He was slowly wiping away something
on his nose and failed to see her stare at him. His touch sent an electric
shock through her spine while she clenched her fingers tightly. He seemed
engrossed in his job while she fought the urge run her fingers on his broad
shoulders. The moment seemed to prolong as he meticulously removed the
vermilion while she stood biting her lips and closing her eyes. New kind of
emotions found a way to enter into her while she vehemently fought their
invasion in her heart.
"There we go, ab
everything is okay," he said stepping back a few steps before smiling at her.
Geet shot her eyes open at his sudden voice that brought her back to reality
reminding her to stay focused in her things rather than revel in these silly
feelings that seemed to rapture her whole attention while he was around her. "Damn!"
she cursed under her breath before hurrying downstairs.
Maan, who was closely
behind her, followed Geet downstairs. They descended the stairs and to the
surprise of onlookers, they looked like the perfect couple descending from
heaven. Everyone, including servants, stood rooted to the spot, their eyes
glued to the scene in front of them. Daadima smiled contentedly as they made
their way down, her eyes a bit teary with happiness. As soon as they came to
stand near Daadima, she swiped her finger under her eyes and touched Geet,
behind her ear, as though removing the evil eye.
"Nazar na lag jayein,"
Daadima said, cupping Geet's cheek and kissing her forehead and repeating the
procedure with Maan. Once the initial exchanges were done, Daadima decided to
put on her acting mode. "Vaise Maan, aap log kahin ja rahein hain kya? You are
both seemed dressed for a party," she said casually.
"Nahi Daadima, we have
dressed up this," Maan said pointing to the decoration around him. "Aap hume
surprise deni chahti thi toh hum bhi sochein ki kyun aapki aashayein todein.
Haina Geet?" he said looking at Geet.
"Ji," she agreed,
nodding her head in the affirmative.
"Magar Maan bete main
toh kuch surprise aapke liye nahi dene wali thi," Daadima said, sounding
surprised.
"Kya?" Geet and Maan yelled at the same time
causing Savitri devi to shut her ears momentarily.
so howz the update guys? keep guessing on what daadima has under her sleeve 😆
IMP NOTE: as u can see my username has indeed changed. so this is going to be my pm list. those of u who wish to continue to be PMed hit the like button. if not u shall be removed. u kno its not easy sending almost 200 PMs only to receive 80 or so. i would rather send it regularly to those who really take the pains to comment or at least hit the like button! i shall put this msg for a few more updates before i seriously start removing people from my PM list so if u wanna be on it PLZ DO HIT THE LIKE BUTTON!!
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