A/N - I'm new to FF, and this is hence my first time publishing a story here. I find it necessary to place some pre notes for prospective readers of this story. While the concept of this story is entirely derived from Jane Austen's Emma (and partly influenced by a Bollywood movie adaption of the book, a film titled Aisha), the physical (or should I say geographical?) setting is in India. To be precise, on the eastern coast metropolitan of India, Calcutta (now named Kolkota). In order to fit that alteration, I have taken the liberty to improvise further by using Indian names for the characters (key provided below to indicate which character name represents which book character from Emma). These names come courtesy an Indian telly show, Geet.

Disclaimer: All copyrights belong to respective owners, as have been mentioned in my note above. I have only played around with the theme and the characters names which are both borrowed.

Key:

Emma Woodhouse: Geet Handa

George Knightly: Maan Singh Khurana a.k.a. MK/Maan/MSK

The other characters will be best explored in the story itself.

A/N #2 - This is going to be a short 3-chapter story. I have already completed writing it out and shall post the consequent chapters at the gap of two days each time. Reviews are not just appreciated, but much needed at this point, when I just step into the world of ''. =)

That said, enjoy reading!

Just Another East Side Story ...

... everybody's got a tale to tell!

Like a hundred guys before me

I fell under her spell ...

(Bryan Adams)

She flicked the length of her fine dark hair, revealing the dusky and slender shoulder frame, bare in her strapless summer dress. Curiously, her honey brown eyes peered from beneath the thick lashes, sideways, to catch glimpse of 'them'. Then, satisfied, she turned around, raising a hand to shield her eyes from the slanting rays of the dipping evening sun. The orange and yellow, and partly pink glow of it could be seen, shimmering and scattering like a thousand gems over the lightly stirred expanse of Hughli waters. She smiled to herself, content in enjoying the natural bliss, and borderline smug with her own doing.

The sight of her distracted Maan, not for the first time, as she stood tall and gay, on his side of the wooden riverboat, daringly close to an edge, balancing on her high heels while eagle spreading her arms in a cheeky Titanic imitation. The last of the day's sun shone like golden streaks through her luxurious brown curls, while a playful breeze, as if trying to whisper and engage the lose strands in exciting girl gossip, got rather trapped and lost in the sheer vastness of them. Consequently, her tresses were ruffled and disarrayed, to him, a portrayal of nature's exclusive affections for her.

Geet Handa was the just the kind of girl to compel and draw unwarranted affections. Her exquisite physical features were a spirited ode to the memory of the woman who had borne her to this world. Her sense of fashion was carefully, and diligently self acquired. Her well attending manners were attributed to the fine grooming Daarji had assured for her, as much as he had ascertained the riches for his precious, orphaned granddaughter. To her credit was good intention and compassion of heart. To her discredit was the vanity of a sensibility he thought her to overestimate in herself.

Maan looked at her for one long moment, unable to keep himself from doing so, before a subtle sign indicated to him that she would turn around. Hastily, with a fair knowing of what was coming, he divested his concentration into cutting a wholesome wave with the strength of the long logged oar, a physical effort that came to him with the grace and ease of one who is well practiced.

"Say MK," she begun sure enough, in a hushed excitement, turning around, "Don't they look delightfully in love?"

Her whisper had an infectious quality about it, but he knew better than to appear encouraging. Maan gave another tug to the oar, affected with greater force than previously, and tsk-ed under his breath. Luckily she missed this reaction, but it aggravated her no less, to not receive a verbal reply from him, much less an affirmation of her good deed accomplished. Damn him, she thought indignantly, to never acknowledge my brilliance! There was the wise option of refraining from further attempts of extracting a compliment out of him, but Geet had never quite acquired the trait of tact.

"Maan Singh Khurana!"

"Geet Kaur Handa?" His tone was bored, and mockingly obliging.

"Wow, so you can actually hear me! And I was beginning to imagine your suffering on account of some untimely, horrible sort of deafness!" She mocked back, her own irritation at his lack of enthusiasm not so much a secret.

"Your concern never fails to touch me," he replied back in sweet scorn, "But my auditory senses, I assure you, are sharp as ever. Despite, " he cocked an eye pausing in meaningful emphasis, "My dire attempts to tune them down... once in a while ..." His implication was obvious. She inhaled sharply to keep herself from responding in kind - a concession to his advantage only on account of their two companions, who although were successfully isolated across from them inside the hooded section of the boat, were not to be disturbed by a foolishly provoked scene. "As for your question," he continued, and transient curiosity brought about a thoughtless revival of hope in her, "Frankly speaking - and only cause you insist upon knowing my opinion - even by your own bizarre standards of mismatching, what are you even thinking setting up... Tasha with Adi?"

Geet was taken aback. Not because his words brought about a revelation, but because for once she had truly not seen this contradiction coming, even from him. She looked at him, mouth slightly open in disbelief, then shot the 'couple' a very particular look, and looked back at him in a rather disgusted way. The lapse of incredulity on her part was brief, cause really, didn't she know him enough to have hoped for any better?

"Of course you wouldn't understand!" she shot back tersely, "If only you'd ever care to look beyond the files in your office ..."

"Why that's what I hired you for sweetheart!" He exclaimed, his disdain stark, leaning the oar against the boat edge for a moment of rest. "But somebody must look at the files or there would be no office, and none of the serendipitous love!"

"Can't you at least pretend to be happy for people?"

"By playing the brainless cupid? No thanks!"

"You're such a... heartless... jerk of a man!"

For all the annoyance that provoked her remark, for all the truth it spelled about the pride he personally placed in this ability to maintain emotional detachment, and most of all for the countless times she had wrecked reproach upon him over the matter - Maan was uncharacteristically hit by her blame. So much that it was at the tip of his tongue to ask her if she really believed him to be so utterly insensitive. If she always had. Instead, he showed slight signs of physical stiffening and with a resurgence of force he cut a turbulent oar through the rather peaceful waters. Then just as abruptly, he stopped short and faced her tensely.

"You're getting this wrong Geet. Very, very wrong! Tasha and Adi ... just wont do!"

"Only because you, the Maan Singh Khurana do not approve?"

"No. Because they're two people so ideally misfit for each other that the mutual discomfort between them... you could cut it with a bloody knife"

"Well I'm sorry you never came to be acquainted with frivolities like initial hesitance and coy demeanours."

"Hesitance Geet? You're not serious! Or are you really that warped with a delusional sense of romanticism!"

"And that goes on to say much about how shallow you are yourself!"

"For godsake, look at them!"

"No you look at them! In fact, watch this'" She cupped her mouth and remarked loudly, "Wonderful ride, isn't it guys? I hope you're having fun!" With an unnaturally revived enthusiasm, they obliged - Adi with his trademark low laugh which was like a lurching scooter engine running on reserve residue oil and Tasha with a vigorous nodding of her fashionably empty head, which caused its high tied pony to bob up and down. Each was an eager picture for their different reasons, and at least the latter was not for her benefit at all. It even looked, for a second, that Adi would get up and approach Geet, but she turned away with a dismissal so apparent, that he sat right where he was. She meanwhile remained conveniently oblivious to any cause except her own. Looking Maan in the eye with a defiance some notches higher than before, she quipped, "See?"

Maan threw his head back and clicked his tongue impatiently. Geet, equally agitated, stomped off, as further away from him as she could get while staying on the same end of the boat, to keep Adi and Tasha out of this. Warily he watched her back turned upon himself now, the distance of a few feet between them posing a rift much greater in terms of ideologies and temperaments. Sometimes he wanted desperately to rid their bonding of this gap, to jostle her into understanding him ... at most other times he was just bidding himself to stop domineering around her life cause she was no longer the little girl he had long known...

His brother Dev Khurana's contemporary, age wise, Geet had spent a chunk of her childhood in and out of his house, which was but next door to her own mansion. She was a constant playmate and accomplice to Dev, and from the shadows Maan would keenly watch her while remaining overtly aloof. More than occasionally, it had been even officially assigned to him, the task of keeping an eye on the mischief making duo, having been the trusted elder child that he was. The dutiful babysitting of those early years had gained blood, going from a compulsive protective habit of sort, to an emotion more ripe, much deeper and involving, and extremely possessive of Geet.

Through her years of school and college, he watched her unassuming charm warm many a young hearts and win them in no time. Each time, like every other before was excruciating to him, although it did take him quite a few mature years before finally confronting and accepting the root of his angst. Still, it was as much a perpetual wonder to him that among the ever increasing counts of smitten males, she had never sought one real lover for herself, as it was an unconfessed relief. By the time she was graduating, he was already making tides in the business world as a youth icon among emerging entrepreneurs. Because Dev and Geet graduated together, Maan had taken them out for a celebratory dinner. The same evening he had taken his chance to propose to her, a job position in the HR department of his own firm. While the elders had thoroughly approved of the idea, it was Dev who had finally convinced her. He had joked about how much good her presence would do in livening up the atmosphere in big brother's dictatorial regime at office, and how since he, Dev, himself was set upon pursuing higher studies, she must be the one to bring about some relief at the Khurana owned 'Concentration Camps'! They had jointly laughed and teased Maan to no end about it, and although outwardly he had worn the indifferent, and even slightly offended facade, her acceptance of his offer had delighted him inside. So much, that the very next day he had surprised Dev by handing him the keys to the latest model of a brand new yellow Lamborghini which had been whimsically demanded of him for weeks. It had been tagged his graduation gift, but although admit he may not have, even to himself, it had been a direct consequence of Maan's secret gratefulness to Dev for bringing Geet aboard his company.

Currently, the ghost of a smirk escaped him at the memory of those years. Unknowingly, he now realized, his eyes had been fixed upon Geet's back all this while, although his vision had traveled back in time. He marveled Dev's foresight in predicting the change she would bring about at his workplace. He thought about the assurance of her constant presence around him, their untiring arguments and the ironic intimacy underlying those disagreements, the countless occasions where wordlessly they had understood each other and handled professional matters with an unbelievable synchronization of thought and action, the many deals they had sealed and celebrated for together... Although there had been much personal motive and little unprejudiced distinction involved in hiring her initially, Maan had to admit more times than not that Geet was an asset, even with her impulsive streak of character. While he was the steady, calculative risk taking businessman, she was usually solely intuition driven., and together they made a team.

Presently, with another look at her stubborn avoidance, he wondered how unrealistic it was for him to imagine their alliance would be forever, and if it would or even could ever be anything beyond itself now. If like this evening, the evening of his own life would find her around or not, by his side or fatefully rent asunder... An involuntary shudder passed through his body, and stiffly blaming it on the creeping evening chill he pulled himself together.

Quietly, the native owner of the boat was beckoned to take up the oar, a responsibility he had been relieved from initially, only cause Maan had decided to humor himself with this primitive physical activity. With resolved footsteps he approached her from behind, then came up to stand beside her and although he was certain she was aware of his advent, and presence, for several seconds neither said nothing.

From the corner of his eye he caught a dark outline of her petite silhouette traced against the sky which had slowly turned inky and the distance between them although significantly covered made him inexplicably restless. Not much further away, the neon lights that ran along the length of the newer bridge over Hughli were beginning to come on, as if in earthly competition to first stars of setting twilight. He ran a stray thumb over his chin, lowering his head so his eyes were upon his shoes, and stood sorting his thoughts in search of neutral grounds.

"MK..." she whispered at last, so softly that momentarily he wondered if his ears had deceived him. His head shot up however, with less than a second's delay, and he found her looking at him, with eyes big and soulful. "I really wish to see a day you would support me." Her solemn appeal had him stare at her for a moment, before he forced his eyes off her and looked at the waters extending ahead of them. It disturbed him, deeply, to be misunderstood by her, unfairly, and repeatedly. Was she never going to realize?

"It would do you more harm than good if I supported your erroneous notions." he replied shortly, keeping emotion out of his voice, with some effort.

"What if I'm not in error MK? Have you never considered placing faith in my perceptions? For my sake? Because your confidence could mean more to me than..."

"Geet please!"He cut her with an urgency which he immediately feared may have alarmed her. But the way she both blamed him and expressed her need of him at the same time, made the matter pathetically complicated and much too sordid for him to simply stand it. Hastily, clearing his throat, he spoke up in rectification before she could respond, "This entire affair you're trying to conjure up, its more complex than you think."

"Love is complex Maan Singh Khurana, but you wont know that." Her words were lofty and patronizing, prompted from her bruised ego at his hands, but if she had had the slightest idea of how much they had hurt him back that instant, it may have shocked her, at the very least. Maan, his head lowered back to his shoes, shut his eyes transiently to force a composure upon himself that seemed so hard to come by at the moment. Then, reminding himself of his purpose for approaching her, he spoke up again, thickly.

"If you're going to listen to me with an open mind Geet, you must know something I've been meaning to tell you for some days now."

"Save yourself the pep talks cause I'm not..."

"Its about Pinky," he said cutting her short, and sure enough it shut her up. She narrowed eyes at him, in a puzzled way. "And Adi."

"Pinky ... and Adi?" she said tentatively, "What about them?"

"Its them. Thats what."

"Them? I ... I don't quite ... understand..."

"You do. But since you're not just simply going to see it, tell me what was Pinky's reaction to this latest matchmaking project of yours - Tasha and Adi."

"I... why she... " Geet begun uncomfortably, "She seemed to be in a hurry for some important calls to transfer..." She paused expecting him to go all 'see-what-I-mean' over her but he stood patiently waiting for her to finish narrating, and on that particular account, inevitably she was struck by a thought. In creeping disbelief she looked him in the eye, before murmuring, "She didn't stay to hear me out completely... and it was almost as if... I'd... upset her. But I thought it was just... you know... like a passing mood or something..." she shrugged in a wrought manner and became quiet in thought.

"You did upset her." He confirmed, in a voice grave but not accusing. "I saw her at the office cafe late last evening, much after everyone had gone, and she was crying by herself."

"No!" Her word was stricken as her expression, and he knew the comprehension that was beginning to dawn upon her wasn't coming pleasant.

"Yes Geet." he continued anyways, cause she had to be told, "And I have good reason to believe it was caused by the knowledge of this particular evening's date that you were so engrossed in planning out, that her misery escaped you when you were laying out details of it for her."

"But I..."

"Didn't have a clue." Maan completed in part compassion, "I figured that."

"Why did she not tell me... I... oh my god! She must be so hurt!"Geet mumbled in visible dismay. "How will she ever understand?" Maan couldn't help but feel bad about the guilt washing her over. Gently, he raised a hand to her cheek and made her look at himself.

"She will, if you talk to her."

"But how must I? How does one apologize for breaking a friend's heart?" He stared at her with a suspicion that was entirely his own creation, searching her eyes, her face, for signs that she was in remote understanding of the implication of the words she had spoken, as he was. Of how they intimidated him, haunted him to become his own story... He swallowed looking away, before returning to her innocent questioning eyes and his heart couldn't help but go all out to her. Instinctively, he pulled her closer and fondled her lose hair, tucking them behind her ears protectively, and replied at last.

"You don't. You just realize your folly and put yourself to making things right. Friends understand in time." He didn't know if he was the friend who would accept her breaking of his heart, be understanding and forgiving ... and forget it all, including her... but he didn't think he ever would.

But, this was about Pinky, he reminded himself.

"You're right!" She exclaimed abruptly, interrupting his thoughts. "I will work upon fixing the mess I've made. I must talk to Pinky about Tasha as soon as possible. She must get over this thing she has for Adi" It took him a moment to absorb her fresh planning. Before he frowned at her again.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm going to help her get over him MK! I'll take her out clubbing every weekend starting tomorrow, introduce her to nice... no, nicer guys who will suit her better and value her more and..."

"WHAT?" He couldn't help the rise in volume, and abruptly letting go of her he stepped back, quite appalled. She looked back at him, equally stumped with his reaction, more so as his expression went rapidly from being soft and considerate to... one of evident fury. What had she done now? "You're really getting me to understand that you know nothing, NOTHING at all Geet!" then because she continued to look bewildered he added in disbelief although fading, "Is that so?"

"Is what so?" She asked uncertainly.

"Adi and... and his infatuation... with you..." Geet's eyes widened, she explored his face with uncanny keenness and then quite suddenly she broke out giggling. Much to Maan's disgust.

"Adi's infatuation with me? Ha ha you're funny MK! And you thought I was bizarre setting him up with Tasha?" Maan looked at her like he was quite beside himself.

"Have you never noticed all that running around he does exclusively to impress you?"

"What?" she squealed in a delight that could neither share nor excuse her for. "He's just a nice guy who helps out his colleagues. Plus, he spends far more time around Tasha if that is your premise after all. In fact he's so smitten by her that I can't believe how Pinky ever imagined he would come around to noticing her, or anybody at all for..."

"Geet! Tasha and Adi are co-heading the financial department for the company. Of course they spend time together, AT WORK! And why are we still talking about them? Its Pinky and Adi we need to talk about."

"Wrong! Its only Pinky we need to talk about, and all the ways we can help her start her life afresh and that's what I was telling you when you ... ha ha MK, Adi having the hots for me, that is seriously funny by the way!" She laughed saying so, but Maan wasn't amused. He looked at her so seriously in fact, that the laugh sort of died midway and she pulled a straight face for him. "Look, you can stop fretting about this. I'm a girl and we know when people like us okay? And Adi... why he'd be crazy to even consider me knowing I'm close friends with his Hitler incarnate boss!" She said the last bit in the lighter tone, to change the furious air about them but Maan only went from one expression of deep frowning to another.

"Close friends Geet?" he repeated, the words coming in a strained hush which had her taken aback, "That doesn't bind you to me. Not for other people anyways."

"MK I'm just saying..."

"And in case you haven't noticed all these years, boys around you fall for you all the time Geet Handa." He closed in, inevitably towering over her such that she had to lift her face to look back into his eyes which had an unfamiliar glint in them. In a whisper with a raw bitterness to it that she knew from no where before, he went on, "And there is very little this 'Hitler incarnate' Maan Singh Khurana can do to keep them away."

"Now you're getting mad at me because people like me?" She was confused, and lost, and his strange behavior was explaining nothing. But Maan, imapssioned beyond his better will looked at her furiously, grabbing her bare shoulders not so gently.

"You think I'm jealous of all those... good for nothing swooning gay men who stalk you around?"

"Maan!" she hissed through her teeth, shutting eyes at his tightening grip. He didn't let her go, until she had opened her eyes and was looking straight at him again. Getting angry herself now, she said defiantly, ignoring the force and pain between, "I should remind you, as you did before, we're deviating from the topic!"

"We're not Geet. This is about Pinky, and Adi, and you."

"Well I assure you I'm fully capable of telling when a guy feels for me like that!" Maan gave a pathetic bitter chuckle at her words.

"No sweetheart," he begun, sounding dangerously sarcastic now, "You're so not! Hell you can't even tell a man who wears his heart on the sleeve for you. You're much too absorbed with weaving worlds of your choice for other people, to fathom their true needs." Abruptly he let go of her, and only as she realized did she wonder about how long she had held onto her breath under his gaze. Before she could gather herself for counter reaction however, he was speaking again, in a flat, low professional voice she was accustomed to hearing between themselves only in his office chambers, "For the last time now I'm going to try and knock some sense into you Geet. So listen to me very carefully. There is Adi who not only does not fulfill the massive requirements of vain women like Tasha but also doesn't care to, because the only kind of perfection he wants to attain is the kind that would win you over. And there is Pinky who in fact seems to understand him better than you and has only kept her own feelings for him a secret so as NOT to hurt either of you who mean so much to her. Tasha is not a part of this picture. For your information, she has been hitting on my brother and your dear BFF Dev Singh Khurana for so long now that I'm rather in shock to find you so uninitiated about the matter. But that is Dev's problem, or his control freak girlfriend Naintara's, or even Tasha's herself, but certainly not yours or mine, because our problem Geet is that... " Maan forced himself to stop. Looked away pursing his lips and hating the vulnerability that charged up inside him so involuntarily, and then turned back to her with the mystery in his eyes deepening, "I just want you to understand the people who care for you, and not hurt them so recklessly." There was more meaning in his words, than he expected her to grasp, and more words he wanted to say than he brought himself to. "There's nothing more I have to say to you Geet. And I'm getting the boat pulled over to the shore now. You can get off too, and call your friends along, or stay if you want. Either way, I've had my share of this evening's entertainment." With that, in two long long strides he was standing next to the boat owner and she saw him indicating for him to pull over.

Out of no where, Tasha sprung up beside him that instant and although she couldn't hear their exchange, when the boat stopped by the shore, she saw her get off it, with Maan without so much as a glance back, much less a greeting in farewell. He did look back at her for the briefest second though, before walking away. And so they were gone, just like that. Geet stood her spot, feeling simultaneous indignation and pity for herself. It was then that she felt a hand on her shoulder. And found it to be Adi, upon turning around.

"Geet," he said, with his typical nervous laugh, "I was hoping to get this moment to talk to you alone."

"Adi I'm really sorry abut Tasha and..."

"Let's n-n-n-ot talk about anyone else Geet. Isn't it a l-l-l-ovely evening? I know you m-m-m-ust already... I mean... he he he... of course you already know b-b-b-ut I can't keep this u-u-un-spoken anymore Geet and..." shocking her, he sprung up to take hold of her hands, "I love you G-g-g-eet!" He stood with stars from above reflected in his eyes and breath abated as Geet quite struck by his confession, despite Maan's warning about the same still echoing inside her head, could hardly believe her ears, before she finally saw the truth.

"WHAT?"

"I l-l-l-ove..."

"STOP IT! Stop it already Adi! How dare you... even... all that time I was setting you up with Tasha and..."

"T-t-t-asha?"

"And poor Pinky who loves you so much and you have the gall to come and tell ME this! Why you..."

"P-p-p-inky? G-g-g-eet please, l-l-l-isten to me, you don't understand I l-l-l-ove..."

"Oh shut up you stammering fool!" Irritated and angry beyond measure she pushed past him to the boat owner who was warily awaiting for his rich dramatic customers to bid him about where they wanted to go next. Angrily, without a second glance, she thrust a big note into his hands, settling his woes at once, and staggered precariously hopping off the boat with her heels not being one bit helpful. Adi remained behind, quite thunderstruck, but she did not look back once. There was something more urgent, more pressing for her to do now, and she could think of nothing else...