Chapter-10 Manav kept on staring at her and she looked at his eyes,he gave a strong glance at her,he often

gave this glance which made her weak and her feet scrampled.he held her hands and took her to the main function,introduced her to everyone and everybody teased Manav and she got more shy so to make her comfortable he took her away and climbed up the staircase of the old mansion nearby. Both sat there silently and finally Maira spoke,"Mujhe maaf karna Mannu main thodi si pagal ho gayi thi tab aur ghar chali gayi",and smiled seeing which Manav felt relaxed and said,"Shukr hai tum thik ho Mairu mere liye yahi sab kuch hai aur tumhari hasi",he winked and smiled at her and she hugged him tightly at once.She hugged him like a baby and Manav held her close to his chest as if he wud never let her go.He caressed her hair and she said softly,"bohat khubsurat hai yeh lehenga Abbu ne bhi pasand kiya jab mein yeh peheni mujhe laga kitum mujhme sama gaye".Manav said,"Aare baba Abbu ko bhi pata chal gaya ab mujhe pitai to nahi paregi"and he winked at her again.She said,"Pagal Rehan ke muh se nikal gaya maine bhi sab kuch bata diya woh tumse milna chahte hain chaloge mere saath,"She looked at him and asked with her innocent eyes like a baby.Manav held her closer,caressed her hair on her forehead and kissed her brows and said,"haan Mairu main chalunga abbu se milne shayad unme mujhe mere bauji dikhai de",he said smiling gently.This bought tears to Mairas eyes and Manav said,"Hey meri highwaistmati tu ro rahi hai maine to aaj jaan bujh ke tujhe lehenga ke saath lambi blouse di bach gayi tu".And she began hitting him again and brusted to her infectious giggle again which drove him mad.He hugged herclose to his heart again and kissed her forhead,he noticed the red aabir still on her parting of forehead which bought tears on his eyes but he hid it. They finally reached home but Manav suddenly stopped on the way and went somewhere,he asked them to go and that he wascoming back in fifteen minutes soon.Finally he came after 20 minutes.Maira was excited and a little scared too,she opened the door and to her surprise she found Manav with loads of snacks and sweets for her Abbu."Mannu yeh sab,yeh sab kyun??"Manav said sshhhhhh.He handed the packets to her and as soon as he saw her Abbu he touched his feet and her Abbu was so glad that he hugged him tight,he saw something in Manavs eyes at once which ade him

realised that this boy loved his daughter truly.And Maira and Rehan was too happy seeing that.Time passed by Maira was busy preparing dishes for them in the kitchen and she looked through the curtain and was pleased with the scene,Abbu told Manav everything about Mairas childhood,what hardships she had to go through after her mothers death and how she is transformed into this happy chirpy girl all because of him.This made him teary eyed and he held her Abbus hand and consoled him.Maira cried silently seeing that she wished she finished her studies soon so that she can start this beautiful family.Finally the time came for him to go,they bade him till gate even though he asked them not to come.Maira closed the door but she didnt realised that Manav was still silently and hidingly staring at her.She turned off the lights in her room and lit up a candle on her table,which was adjacent to the window.The candlelight made her face look even more beautiful,her long open hair glowed and eyes sparkled it made him passionate and drove him made with love and finally he fell off his cycle and the sound strucked her she peeped through the window as she sat to write her story and brusted out in laughter seeing that and he slowly went away smiling. The next day it was 5 am in the morning and her Abbu was waiting for the train Maira was emotional agian,she hated the sounds of train,it bought the signs of separation and pain for her.Her tears were visible on her eyes.Her Abbu rubbed it put his hands on her head and said,"Beti man laga kar parhna bas tu thik se college pura karke apne pairon pe khari ho jaye phir main arram se tujhe tere Manav ke paas saup sakta hun".She hugged him tight and said,"Apna khyal rakhna Abbu".He kissed her forehead and said "tu bhi meri bacchi be strong beta".And just then Manav came running with a tiffin on his hand and handed it to her Abbu and touchedhis feet and he hugged him tight and said,"Mere bacche yeh sab karne ki kya zarurat thi Maira ne to mere liye sab kuch de diya tha tumne ne itni subha subha kyun takleef uthayi?".Mana then said,"Abbu sirf apki beti hi apke kiye sab kuch kar sakti hai apka beta nahin?" This words almost bought tears to his eyes,he now was fully relaxed that his daughter was not alone now,that his family was complete.He blessed all three of them and the train left.Manavlooked at Maira,she was trying to hide her tears he picked up Rehan on his lap and hugged Maira close to his chest and took them home. Time pass by so soon,soon one year wasabout to end and within these years their relatoinship became more strong,more

beautiful,more close than ever.But she was stil the same shy Maira and he was still the same naughty Manav.They still played the game of hide and seek of glances at class and still went to their favourite place of courtship "Anand Lake".It was the annual day function of their college and Manav had gifted a surprise gift to Maira the previous day,a red saree to wear it at the annual day function,he wanted to see her drenched in his colour.Finally she arrived making his heart bounce.She looked more beautiful than ever in the saree with her hair kept totally open and small red jhumkis,she came near him and everybody teased them indirectly,they coughed, they sang love songs which made Maira shyly giggle softly out of nervousness and his friends did that willingly because they just loved Maira that way,they couldnt wait for them to get married because they knew how much they loved each other.Even Jaspreet was no longer insecure of her she very sweetly wished them all the best for their future and Maira became really good friends with her.They soaked in each others warmth at the whole function while holding hands together.Finally they went to the side of anand Lake when the function was over.It was autumn again and the sheuli flowers were all over the grass by the side of the lake.Soft evening breezes and beautiful scent covered the whole place. Manav lay his head on her lap and she sat in the shade of the sheuli tree.She caressed his hair and asked,"Mannu aaj college ke sab kuch khatam ko gaye,tum bhi ja rahe ho training ke liye phir main akeli kaisi rahungi?''she asked in a childlike tone.Manav held her closely around the waist and looked at her up and said,"Bas kuchi dino ki baat hai Mairu bas yeh jung khatam ho jaye phir main tumhe aur Rehan ka le aaunga tum dono ko mujhse koi alag nahi kar sakta,duniya ka koi bhi takath nahin!",he kissed her hands saying that.And she gave that loving smile which meltedhim always.And he kept on giving that intense and passionate look to her eyes,which shivered her whole body and soul inside.Suddenly the wind blew strong and it took away the pallu from her shoulder.Maira was shivering out of shyness infront of him like that and made that childlike expression on her face. She looked so adorable that Manav couldnot resist his love and held her waist tighty and doged hid head inside her soft belly.It tickled her and she cried,"Aahhhh Mannu kya kar rahe ho mujhe gudgudi ho rahi rai,aahhh tum bhi na bohot badmassh ho".He was too naughty to leave her and listen to her he poked his nose inside her navel and it tickled her whole body,she

brusted into her infectious giggle and ran towards the lake away from him and he got hold of her and both fell to the ground she was feeling too shy to looked at him and she hugged him annd doged her head inside his chest like a baby.He hugged her like his baby and gently slid his hands inside her pallu and caressed her belly gently.It thumped her heartbeats and gave butterflies in her stomach she held his back srongly,the wind was blowing his kurta and she caressed his chest and they both kept on staring at each other for hours without speaking a single word soaked in the warmth of their love and finally he kissed her gently he kissed her feet,her belly,her chest,her neck,she was almost numb with the warmth of his kiisses,she shivered inside which made her feet rub against his feet strongly and finaally their lips locked against each other,they kissed keeping the beautiful witness"the sunset".And the beauty and warmth of their first kiss both tears in their eyes.