Hey guys!! How are you all?
I’m back with another update…hope it’s not disappointing.
In Gauri’s class
Gauri walked in to her class and sat on her seat still not able to overcome the shock she had. Although she closed her mouth, her eyes were shot wide open. She couldn’t even look around herself or remind herself that people are looking at her. For her, it was like the world around had stood frozen in time.
She fliched as she felt someone pat on her back. She turned her head to the person and saw that it was Anika.
“Ri? What happened?” Anika asked a little concerned “You look like you just saw a ghost!”
“Ghost was better than this..” Gauri mumbled to herself as she continues to stare ahead.
“What happened Ri?” Anika asked as she sat down next to her. “I missed bus for one morning and you come to class looking like you just walked out of a horror movie! What’s wrong?”
Seeing that her friend wasn’t going to reply, she took her water bottle and started drinking water to prepare herself for having a word battle with Gauri.
“Omkara proposed me.” Gauri whispered.
Anika eyes bulged out of her socket and she spit out the water in her mouth as she exclaimed, “WHAT!?” Some of the water splashed on her desk while she choked on the rest, coughing as the water entered her system in all the wrong places. Then she looked at her desk with a helpless look as the water spread throughout her desk. Gauri immediately got up and ran her hands through Anika’s back trying to calm her.
“Anika are you alright?” Some of the students around them asked and Anika just absent mindedly nodded at them with an embarrassed smile. She was still thinking about the shocking revealation Gauri had just announced to her!
Then turning her attention back to Gauri, she whisper-asked, “What did you just say?!”
“He proposed me..” Gauri repeated, now feeling nervous.
“What the..” Anika muttered in disbelief. “You mean Omkara? Prinku’s brother Omkara? The-don’t-call-me-bhaiya-wala Omkara? “
“Yeah” Gauri replied, now irritated, “How many other Omkaras do you even know!?”
“Only one…” Anika mumbled trying to overcome the shock, “Paedophile!”
Gauri looked at her friend with raised eyebrows while Anika just shrugged. “He is a paedophile! He’s almost an adult and your so young!”
Although they were teenagers now, for Anika, Gauri was like her little sister, someone way younger than her.
For some reason Gauri wanted to tell her she was wrong, that love didn’t look at all that but then the thought of defending him seemed so stupid to her brain, plus, she had nothing to counter her with.
“I still can’t believe it…” Anika mumbled, “Now I know why he didn’t let us call him bhaiya! All this while he had eyes on you! My instinct was right! He even flirted with you many times..”
When Gauri looked at her in pure confusion, Anika realised that it never crossed Gauri that he tried flirting with her. God! She was too innocent!
“Remember Valentine’s day?” Anika asked recalling the incident. “He was asking you about your date and all, he even gave you a chocolate without Priyanka knowing it!”
Gauri looked on in surprise as it all finally made sense to her. Him teasing her, asking her to not call him bhaiya, the chocolates, the way he looked at her, how he would always try to talk to her….
“What exactly did he say?” Anika asked breaking Gauri from her trance.
Gauri narrated everything to Anika while Anika’s eyes widened in shock, “Look at his audacity!” She grumbled after hearing the whole story. “What will you tell him now?”
To this question, Gauri looked at her surprised and a little confused, “Me? Why should I do anything?”
“What do you mean me? You have to give him your answer right?” Anika asked confused.
“I’m not talking to him again!” Gauri exclaimed. “Besides, he won’t ask about all this if you or Priyanka is sitting with me. And when you both won’t be there, I’ll sit somewhere in the front so he won’t be able to talk to me.”
Anika stared at her friend in disbelief for sometime then calmy said, “You have to give him an answer Ri. It won’t be right otherwise.”
“I can’t face him, Anika.” Gauri stated. “How could he have feelings for me? I considered him as a friend, someone to whom I could talk to and share my feelings and thoughts with, someone I trusted, someone who I could ask advice to. He is Priyanka’s brother, and she considers me as a sister. How could he..?”
Anika kept her hand on her shoulder to comfort her. She looked around the class and saw that everyone was busy in their own little group talks. “Ri, what he did is not right. But if you ignore him, then what you will be doing won’t be right either.”
“But Anika, I trusted him! He thinks of me in some other way that I can’t think for him!” Gauri mumbled, “He broke my trust…I thought he was different..But he is like all the other boys, can’t think of a girl as a friend. I can’t talk to him.”
And just then the school bell rang, announcing the start of the day.
“So Omkara’s is your first love confession huh?” Anika said with a sigh and Gauri just blinked her eyes in shock realising it.
***
“Gauri.” Gauri heard her parents call out. She immediately went downstairs. One look at then and she knew something was wrong. It looked like they wanted to talk.
“Have you decided about the proposal?” Gauri’s mom, Shardha asked. Gauri was about to answer her when her dad spoke up.
“Gauri, you’re 25 now and will be turning 26 in a couple of months. It will be hard to get such a good relation for you after that age. We’re happy with this relation. He’s got everything. He’s educated, well mannered, has a family business, is from a reputed and rich family, and even good looking.” Gauri’s father, Harsh said. “And even his family is very good. I’ve done good background research.”
“But…” Gauri started but was interrupted.
“And Gauri…there’s something we need to tell you..” Shardha said with great worry and Gauri looked at her mom in concern. “Your Dadi is sick…she wants to see you married before she dies..her condition is a little bad…you know…”
Gauri was too shocked to respond. She was very close with her Dadi and being her parents’ only daughter and the eldest among her cousins she had always been Dadi’s favourite.
“What happened to Dadi?” Gauri asked, unable to hide her worry and shock.
“She’s old beta…. right now she’s stable but the doctor doesn’t know for how long she’ll be….with us… We’ll go meet her tomorrow.” Harsh said looking away, trying to hide his pain.
“Think well Gauri” Shardha said.
Gauri didn’t speak anything. She was too numb to speak. How could they do this to her? She wanted to know her partner well before marrying him, she wanted to experience love. But right now the only feeling she could get around him was confusion, although her dream wiped away some of her concerns about whether he was what she wanted, she still wanted to spend time and know more about him. And her dadi? She prayed to the dear Gods that her Dadi be healthy soon.
“Do I take your silence as your yes?” Harsh asked and Gauri absent mindedly nodded her head. “Are you sure?” He asked her again.
“Yes papa.” Gauri replied and
her parents hugged her excitedly. Giving them a small smile, she walked back towards her room.
She closed the door behind her and broke down on the floor. She didn’t even know why she was crying, wasn’t she going to agree to it anyway? Was it because of her grandmother’s health that she was crying? She had to talk to him..but how? And what will she tell him?Deciding it was best to talk to Anika first, she dialled her up.
“Hey!” Anika said from the other side of the phone.
Gauri narrated the whole incident and Anika became shocked and a little furious at her parents for emotionally blackmailing her like this.
“THIS IS WRONG!” Anika screamed “THEY CAN’T DO THAT! GAURI HAVE YOU EVEN THOUGHT ABOUT IT? IS THIS WHAT YOU REALLY WANT? DID YOU TALK TO HIM?”
“I don’t know..” Gauri replied.
“What do you not know?” Anika asked trying to calm herself.
“I don’t know if I love him…”
“But you’re ready to marry him?” Anika asked.
“When I think of it…I’ve never met anyone like him..So maybe yes..but I still have my insecurities and fears..”
“Gauri..” Anika started but was immediately cut off by Gauri.
“I saw a dream..” She said.
“What?” Anika asked confused and then Gauri narrated the whole dream to her while Anika patiently listened. “So you want to marry him.” Anika stated after listening to the whole thing. “Then get to know him better..as a partner..maybe Then he can erase your fears?”
“But…” Gauri protested but was cut off by Anika.
“Call him Gauri, meet up with him or tell him on the phone about everything. Let him know your insecurities, he’ll do what he should. That’s the only way you can know if he is what your heart desires.”
An hour later and Gauri was still pacing in her room debating on whether or not to call him. Finally she decided to call but then saw his name flashing on her screen. Immediately, she picked up the call and waited for him to speak.
“Gauri?” Omkara asked from the other side of the phone and Gauri could feel goosbumps all over her body.
“Yes?”
“You said yes for the marriage!?” Omkara asked her in disbelief. He was trying his best not to get his hopes up.
“I did..” Gauri replied and for a while there was silence from the other side. She waited for him to speak or ask her anything.
“What made you say yes?” He asked finally breaking the silence.
Gauri decided to be honest and told him everything that happened in her house excluding her dream and Omkara calmly listened.
“I can’t marry you Gauri.” He replied when she finished narrating and Gauri stood frozen thinking if she heard it wrong. She felt her heart break into a million pieces. “I’m sorry, but I can’t.”
To be continued..
So how was it? And what do you think is going on in Omkara’s mind?
Also, please let me know what you think of Gauri’s character.
Thanks for reading!
Stay safe!
Keep smiling…