The Burnt – Chapter 26

The survey results were out, and none of the feedback individually resonated with Maan. While the survey itself was great and would undoubtedly aid in designing the app, Maan realized that it wouldn’t be just any dating app floating around. It was intended to define depth and change the youth’s perspective on relationships.

Of course, the research team had a diverse group of people, including married couples, youth, and people from different age range. Maan found the answers interesting, but he soon realized that they all reflected their personal situations. Therefore, he concluded that he couldn’t rely on this survey for his own personal situation, especially not for Geet.

Maan understood that he had to be himself, genuine, and organic in his approach. He knew that Geet deserved that. He also realized that he couldn’t delay any longer. She had already waited too long, and he had taken enough time—years, actually.

######

That night, after tucking Adhvay into bed and spending a storytime with him, Geet noticed Maan pacing down the hall.

Maan felt like a teenager about to confess his feelings to his crush. How ironic! Geet, the one he had taken for granted, was now struggling to express his heart to her. And when he knew she was eagerly waiting for his confession, or even a small step forward.

Geet’s initial reaction was fear—fever. But according to the doctor, it wouldn’t surface for at least a couple of more months. That’s why she had given him time and was playing along, waiting for his confession. She had a plan: if Maan still delayed, she would be shameless and pull him to her room. His health was her top priority, and she was ready to be twenty-four seven with him in such a situation. But what if it has appeared before expected…

“Maan, ” he turned to her, sensing the urgency in her voice. Geet, without a word, touched his forehead, hands, and cupped his face, forgetting all about her game.

“Geet, what happened?” he asked.

“Are you okay? You don’t have a fever?” she asked in return.

“No. Why do you think so?”

“Then what is making you pace around the hall like this?” It sounded less like a question and more like a demand for an answer.

Maan fell silent for a moment. “I was thinking of asking you something…” he trailed off.

“What?” The urgency in her voice hadn’t softened.

Noticing the worry and nervousness etched on her face, he shook his head lightly. “Let it be. Some other time.”

“No. Tell me now… what’s going on?” She caught his hand and guided him to sit on the long, elegant sofa in the hall. Once again, she brushed her palm against his forehead and then his hands, checking him.

Maan stopped her mid-motion and held her hand. “Geet, I am not sick. I am fit enough to take on ten goons alone if they try to look at you,” he said instinctively, trying to ease her concern.

But before he could gather himself, a teasing smile curved on Geet’s lips. There it was – the real him, the one he kept buried deep inside. And she knew… she would have to bring that Maan out.

“I know that…”

Maan hesitated. “I mean…”

“I know,” she cut in softly. “I feel protected when I am with you. I know very well who the real Maan is. But speaking of physique… do you even realize the effect it can have on girls around you?” Her tone turned teasing. Hmm… someone had to take a step.

“I don’t want it to have an effect on any other girl, but…” He stopped abruptly. Damn, what is he even saying today?

“But…? What but?” she pressed.

“I mean, I just work out to release stress. I like fitness… discipline. That’s all.”

“I know all that. An entire book could be written about your discipline,” she replied lightly. “But answer me from where you stopped.”

“What?”

“That part… about not wanting an effect on any other girl. Who exactly is not included in ‘any other girl’?”

Why was it so hard to get words out of him? Was this the same man who, in the past, had spoken and acted with her exactly as he pleased, never caring about the consequences?

Maan simply kept looking at her.

“You know the answer, Geet.”

“How would I know?” she challenged. “What have you ever said or done for me to just know?”

What was he supposed to say — that somewhere deep inside, he wanted his presence, his strength, his very being to have an effect on her?

She had waited long enough. She deserved the truth.

“It’s you… and only you,” he finally said.

“I don’t want half-spoken answers. Leave it,” she said, turning to go. But Maan immediately caught her wrist, stopping her. He rose to his feet.

Geet smiled faintly, though she didn’t turn back.

“Geet, it’s true.” He stepped closer. “You are my world. You have been… from when I do not even remember.”

Geet closed her eyes, letting his words sink in. It was the first time he had truly spoken his heart. The setting wasn’t dramatic, not a picture-perfect confession — but none of that mattered to her. Only his words did.

Maan took another step forward. Geet could now feel him right behind her. Uff… this effect he had on her – and this slow, deliberate torture of his. Her heartbeat quickened, pounding louder in her ears. Yet she refused to turn.

Then she felt his palm rest gently on her shoulders. Geet closed her eyes, surrendering to his touch. His hands trembled slightly against her skin, speaking volumes of emotions and desires he was trying so hard to suppress.

Maan slowly turned her around to face him. “I know I have been terrible to you, but—”

“I don’t want to talk about the past,” she interrupted softly. “We both know what it was. We have a present now. That’s what matters to me.”

He swallowed before speaking again. “You always had… and you always will have… the ability to touch that hidden chord in my heart — the one no one else could ever reach. I behaved horribly because I was trying to protect myself from how deeply you affected me… from how you entered a space I had never allowed anyone to enter. And now… I was trying to protect you from myself. What I feel for you, the intensity of it, Geet, it can consume… it can burn.”

Geet lifted her face and looked straight into his eyes.

They held a surrender. They held love. They held honesty so raw that it had the power to melt away her old wounds, soothe her scars, and make her bloom again.

“I’m ready to burn in your love,” she whispered. “Because I know you’ll be there to protect me. Burning in your love will heal the pain I once felt burning in your hatred. I need you to heal me, Maan.”

His voice grew firm, almost desperate. “I will do anything to heal you… to take away every bit of pain I caused.”

Geet soon sensed that he was drifting back into that dark place of guilt, pulling her along with him. Gently, she stepped back, creating a small distance between them, grounding both of them in the present once again.

Geet pulled herself out of the emotional haze he had created and deliberately changed her tone.

“In one straight sentence, without twisting words, complete what you meant about ‘the effect.’ Or I am walking away.”

Maan smiled. She looked breathtaking when she took charge, when she bossed him around like this.

A slow, beautiful curve formed on his lips. Perhaps she was seeing this version of him for the first time. How effortlessly handsome he looked when he allowed himself to feel.

His smile widened as he finally began to confess.

“I don’t care if any girl is affected by my physique or anything about me… but I do wish, somewhere deep down, that I affect you. I mean…” He shook his head lightly and corrected himself. “I care that you don’t lose interest in me.”

There. He had said it.

“Hmm… and yet you were ready to send me away?” she countered, stepping closer. She placed her palm against his chest, right where his heart thudded. She had always known she had that right over him. Today, he had simply sealed it.

“Thank you for confessing,” she added softly. “A strange and very unique confession, I must say. But as for losing interest…” Her gaze deepened. “You have done everything possible to test that. And yet we both know that can never happen. My love for you is that stubborn.”

He exhaled, almost embarrassed. “I never thought of such a shallow confession.”

“The only girl you care to affect with that physique?” she teased gently. “That doesn’t sound shallow to me. Especially coming from someone like Maan Khurana. It makes me feel… very special.” She paused, her eyes locking with his. “But…”

He waited.

“It cannot be this easy for you,” she continued calmly. “Even this confession, I had to pull out of you. So…” A mischievous glint sparkled in her eyes. “It’s cancelled.”

“Cancelled?” Maan was confused. He has broken all his hesitation, pulled all his guts to say his heart, and she cancels it?

 “Maan, you’ve hurt me deeply. Not because of the past, but this time. By stepping away when you should have stepped forward. By trying to fix me with someone else when you should have fought for me… for us.”

She held his gaze, unwavering.

“I want you to win me back. Properly. With your foot forward. I won’t take the first step like I did today. I won’t help you this time. You have to begin from scratch. I may not respond. I may not make it easy. However, you have to fight for our relationship. You have to bring me back into it.”

Her voice grew softer, but firmer.

“Show me that you want me…”

“…and this relationship — for yourself. Not just because I want it. Not just because it makes me happy. Make me feel that you need this… that you need me… like you need air to breathe. Only when I feel that this is your choice, your desire, your necessity — only then will I accept us.”

For a moment, silence stretched between them.

Then his lips curved ever so slightly. He turned his face a little, glancing down over his left shoulder.

Oh… there it was again.

The second smile.

Dangerous. Rare. Disarming.

“You deserve far more than what you’re asking for,” Maan said quietly. “What you’re demanding is actually very little. I will try my best to become worthy of you.”

Just then, Geet remembered how restless he had seemed earlier.

“Tell me,” She asked softly, “what was troubling you? You looked so worried. It scared the hell out of me.”

Maan let out a small laugh, shaking his head.

“I wasn’t worried. I just… didn’t know how to ask. But you’ve made it easier now.”

Geet kept staring at him.

He can laugh too?

Why would someone hide something that makes them look this irresistibly handsome? The thought lingered in her mind, but she kept that quiet admiration to herself.

“What is it?” she prompted.

He hesitated again. “Umm… I know it’s a bit late, and we both have office tomorrow, but there’s this very popular local farm ice cream parlor about an hour’s drive from here.”

Geet didn’t interrupt. She simply watched him, waiting for him to complete.

Maan drew in a deep breath. He had to say it plainly. No retreat.

‘I may not respond‘, her earlier words echoed in his head.

“Geet… the weather outside feels beautiful tonight. I was thinking… maybe we could go for a long drive. Spend some time together. Have some ice cream.” His heart was pounding wildly. He had never asked her like this before.

It was simple. Basic. He knew he had to do much more than this.

But maybe… this could be his first step.

Geet didn’t answer immediately. She lowered her gaze to her palms, lost in thought, letting the silence stretch just enough to make him wait.

What was she thinking?

Maan’s heartbeat quickened with every passing second.

Geet finally looked up at him, as though carefully shaping her answer before letting it out.

Just moments ago, she had been playful, pulling confessions out of him, teasing him effortlessly. And now… she was calm. Thoughtful. Controlled. Maan couldn’t read her.

“The weather outside is definitely pleasant,” she began softly. “And a long drive with you… just the two of us… that sounds nothing less than a dream.”

Maan exhaled deeply, relief already beginning to settle in his chest. But before he could even thank her for accepting

“But…”

The single word halted him.

“This invitation,” she continued gently, “is coming after a lot of thinking. More than a desire, it feels like a decision. Like something you added to a checklist. It feels as if you want to do this for me… because you think I would like it. Because it seems like the right step.”

She paused, inhaling slowly before speaking further.

“Maan, it will always be a yes from me… when it comes from your heart. When the wish to spend time with me becomes your need — not a step toward fixing our relationship. When being with me isn’t effort… but instinct.”

Silence settled between them.

Maan stood still, absorbing every word. No drama. Just clarity.

After a moment, he nodded faintly, a small accepting smile touching his lips, accepting her decision.

“Good night, Maan,” she said softly, offering him a gentle smile before turning and walking away.

####

Maan sat alone in his room, a glass in his hand, staring into the amber liquid as if it held answers.

It wouldn’t be easy.

And why should it be?

The way he had fought to push her away every single time… the stubborn pride, the harsh words, the calculated distance — he had shown relentless passion in hurting her and then pushing her away.

She deserved to witness that same intensity now.

No… more than that.

The passion had never disappeared. The truth was, it had only grown. It wasn’t just passion anymore — it was a quiet, burning fire he had kept restrained for far too long.

And now, it was time.

Time to stop holding back.
Time to stop calculating.
Time to stop protecting himself.

If she wanted him to fight, she would see what it meant when Maan truly fought.

A slow, determined smile touched his lips.

“You asked for it, Geet,” he murmured to himself. “Now I will be myself. And I’ll win you back… my way.”