Chapter 38

Queen0fDarkness

@Queen0fDarkness

MafiaQueen

@MafiaQueen

Chapter 38

Geet internally winced as she handed over the money for the lehenga that Pinky and Neha suggested she buy as she apparently looked stunning in and cannot go for something else. She knew she should really be pocketing every single rupee so when she divorces Maan that she will have something to support her.

She did reason with herself that she was going to ensure Maan paid her alimony for the past year’s mental torture of living with him.

Akhir mujhe toh koi faida hona chahiye, na? she thought.

After their shopping, they’d all popped into a restaurant to grab some food as they were exhausted from the shopping trips.

Maan paced the bedroom as he thought of Geet and Armaan together. Images of them both together, embracing and kissing… That sent a shudder down his spine.

He had kissed Geet and knew how she tasted and how she felt against him. And now… the thought of Geet being with Armaan like that set his insides on fire.

His phone vibrated and he pulled it out.

He squeezed his eyes closed. “Yes, Sameera” he answered.

“Maan… um… Will you be able to come to mine tonight?”

Before he could answer, Geet entered the bedroom. He stared at his wife entering with a dreamy smile on her lips. Her smile faltered when she noticed him in the bedroom. She frowned for a second and walked to the bed placing the shopping bags down.

“Maan” Sameera called his name.

“Yeah, sure” he cleared his throat. “I’ll be there in about half an hour. Is that okay?”

“That’s fine. I’ll see you in a bit” she answered with a smile.

He cut the call placing his phone into his pocket and stepped forward. “You’re dating Armaan?” he inquired standing by the edge of the bed as she pulled out the clothes she’d bought.

“I don’t think I have to answer that” Geet replied walking across and grabbed a couple of hangers and returned to the bed.

“You’re still married to me” he reminded.

“Do I seem like I need reminding, Maan?” she responded nonchalantly placing her new clothes onto the hangers. “As far as I remember, you happily suggested I move on”.

He gritted his teeth having no response to that.

Geet smirked and continued tidying her clothes. “You disappeared for 3 months. You returned on the night of our first karwa chauth and on that same night you tell to give you space. I gave you space and I waited. Yaad hai, Maan I asked if you felt anything for me? Anything at all” she questioned and looked at him. “I told you that two guys wanted to date me but I couldn’t. Your response was we’re separating soon so if I find someone then I should consider moving on. Yaad hai na?” she grabbed the hangers and stopped in front him. “Now that I’m finally moving on, you now are reminding me that I’m still married to you?” she raised her brow. “I will remind you that you told me to move on, so I am. We’re separating soon, right? You yourself said it” she said and walked away. Maan’s eyes followed her. Her words echoed and darted through his heart. He had told her all those things. He cleared his throat feeling a lump forming and walked out of the bedroom leaving her alone.

Geet freshened up and changed before she went to dadima’s room. She smiled seeing Naintara and Dev present making dadima laugh with their stories.

“Shopping karli bete?” Dadima asked as she jumped onto the bed stretching herself out and resting her head on Naintara’s lap.

“Haan dadima. I got the prettiest clothes today” she grinned. “Waise I was a little upset seeing how expensive these clothes are for just one day. But main Maan se yeh paise vasool karke rahungi” she informed. “When we divorce na, I’m going to have to make him give a good alimony” she winked.

Dadima smiled sadly and patted her cheek. “Aise mat kahiye, bete”.

“Aur kya kahu dadima?” she rolled her eyes. “Robot kahin ke” she muttered.

Naintara chuckled. “What did you buy Geet?”

“I bought this really nice lehenga for Diwali. Everyone should be latoo when they see me” she giggled.

“I need to see this now” Naintara remarked.

“Me too” Dev winked.

“You’ll see it on Diwali” she replied.

“Maan veerji ke liya hai kya?” Naintara teased.

“Oh please. Uss robot ko koi asar nahi padhne wala hai” she replied and glanced at dadima. “Dadima…”

“Haan bete?”

“Are you sure Maan isn’t gay?”

Dev choked on his tea whilst dadima and Naintara looked shocked.

“Geet!”

“What?” she sat up quickly crossing her legs and looked at dadima. “Sochiye dadima. He has no feelings, no emotional attachment” she explained. “Kuch toh hona chahiye na?” she asked. “But he feels nothing. He’s only just tolerating me for you, dadima”.

“Nahi, Geet. Aisa kuch nahi” Dadima shook her head. “He was upset that night when he hurt you. He does feel something bete, but he’s… He’s struggling to come to terms with it all”.

“Of course, you’re going to think that. Aap meri dadima se zyada, unke dadima hain” she mumbled.

“Aisa nahi hai”.

“Dadima teek keh rahe hai, Geet” Naintara agreed. “Veerji has always been a man of few words. He rarely shows his emotions. He loves dadima a lot, but do you see him verbally saying much?”

Geet considered her words then nodded. “Okay, maybe. But I still think he might be gay” she informed.

“Bete, I know I am old but I don’t want to die of a heart attack just yet”.

“Being gay isn’t much different. Its just another human with different body parts but their insides are the same. It holds the same organs as a female”.

Dev snorted and burst out laughing. Dadima shook her head. Naintara slapped her hand across her mouth to stop laughing. Geet shrugged and lay back down and shared stories of her outing with them which thoroughly entertained them. She did not tell them that she was getting Armaan to play her boyfriend as she wasn’t sure if it would be so well received.

“Thanks, Maan” Sameera walked him to the car.

“Go back inside, Sameera. It’s colder now” he replied stopping by the car.

“Will you be able to come next week then?” she inquired curiously.

“Yeah, I will” he promised unlocking the door and opened it.

Sameera smiled and stepped forward wrapping her arms around him. Maan tensed for a second before he reciprocated. Sameera squeezed him for a second before she released him and stepped back smiling coyly.

Maan smiled faintly and climbed into the car driving away. In the rear-view mirror, Sameera watched him before she turned and headed inside.

He sighed heavily and drove back home. His fingers clasping the steering wheel hard as his mind wandered thoughtfully.

7 years ago, London

“Have you seen the new girl who started?” Richard asked joining Maan in the library.

“Which new girl?”

“She transferred from Newcastle” Luke informed. “Hot stuff. Sameera something is her name”.

Maan rolled his eyes at his friends as they chatted away softly in the library about the new girl who transferred to their university.

“Are you coming to the party at Paul’s?” Richard inquired.

“Hmm, I’ll come for a little while” he agreed. If he wouldn’t have been called a nerd and cast out swiftly, he would have gladly given the parties a miss. But being in London alone without his family around, these were his friends and the best way to bond with these guys was to go to the parties their classmates held in their studios. Or be treated different and distanced. Nobody likes a social outcast.

Maan excused himself noticing the time for his lecture and promised to see them later.

That evening, Maan arrived with two packs of beer and walked into the kitchen placing it down. He glanced around and found his friends already tipsy and dunking beer after beer. He took a cup from them and placed his lip to the cup pretending to drink and watched as they played pool and placed bets. He placed the full cup down on a table nearby before he picked up a cup that was almost near to the end.

“You’re replacing a full cup with an almost empty one?”

He turned towards the voice and smiled faintly. “Are you going to scream it out?”

She smiled. “No. It’s a good idea, I might steal it and pretend I’ve joined the socialising circle of everyone here”.

“Make sure credit me for the idea” he winked and held out his hand. “Maan Khurana”.

“Sameera Agarwal” she replied shaking his hand.

“You’re the new girl, right? Who transferred from Newcastle?”

“Whenever I have introduced myself, everyone asks the same question” she laughed and nodded. “Yep. The one and only”.

He smiled and nodded his head. “Well, it’s good to meet you, Sameera Agarwal”.

Hope you liked the update. Thank you, thank you for the lovely comments. Amazing to see such replies to this story. Thank you all 🤗