Starts with Anika’s POV
“Riya? Isn’t she Shivaay’s wife?” I asked them.
“You got that right.” The person with long hair said.
Gosh! I still don’t know their name….. Can’t they first introduce themselves just like Rudra did???
“Ummm….. if you guys don’t mind, can you all tell me your names first?” I expressed my confusion.
The girl, standing next to the guy with long hair, gasped loudly.
“Oh no! I forgot to tell you that!” She said.
True… She did forgot…
“Acha, koi nahi. I will tell you now.” She then introduced herself in a filmy style, “I am Gauri Kumari Sharma, from Bareilly!”
Finally! I got know someone’s name!
“Hi, Gauri!” I greeted her with a friendly smile. She smiled back at me.
“Aur yeh hamare pati, Omkara ji!” She then introduced the guy, with long hair.
“Oh, hi Omkara ji…” I greeted him as well.
I was expecting him to say something, but no… instead he started to laugh. Actually, not just him, but everyone started to laugh! Jeez! Did I say something wrong????
“Actually,” Omkara ji said, trying to control his laughter, “My name is Omkara, not Omkara JI. Just my wife, Gauri, adds ‘ji’ to give me respect…. You can just call me Om…”
“Oh… I am sorry, Om….” I said. I was really embarrassed. Gosh! What was I thinking?
“And my name is Soumya!” The chubby girl peeped in to introduce herself.
“Hello…” I then greeted her.
“Ok, guys, if we are done with introduction, then should we continue with the ‘Riya’ topic?” Om interrupted.
Then, once again, everyone got serious and looked at me. Wow! These Oberois are so good at changing expressions in a second.
“Yeah… so as we were telling you Riya is Shivaay’s…”
“Wife!” I cut Soumya in between, “I know that! But what about her?”
“Well, she is….” Om tried to say, “she is….. d…. de… SHE IS DEAD!”
I froze at my place. Wait a second! Did he just say that Riya is dead? Riya is dead? OMG! She is dead! I know I should be happy because now that my biggest hurdle is gone…. But I
can’t…. Like, something doesn’t seem right… Dead? How can she die? It just doesn’t sound right….
“Well, that’s what the world says…..” Om then continued, making me even more confused.
So, does that mean she is not dead?
“Ok… I know that you are confused… Let me clear everything out,” Gauri said, seeing me puzzled.
Thanks, Gauri!
“So… two years ago, when Riya bhojai got to know that Shivaay bhayia left, she got really depressed and left the house. We thought that we should leave her alone for some time so we let her go….. but that was our biggest mistake….” Gauri started explaining.
“The next morning, we got a call, saying that…” Soumya continued, “… they saw Riya’s car… fall off the cliff.”
Soumya started crying, so did others. I guess they all loved her very much.
“So it means that she is dead…” I said sadly.
“NO!” Rudra screamed the next second, “My bhabhi is not dead! She is still alive!”
I feel so sad for him…. He loves her bhabhi so much that he can’t believe that she died… I mean c’mon! Who can survive after falling off a cliff?
“But she fell off a cliff…” I tried to explain him.
“But they didn’t find her body!” Rudra argued back. “Until I get a proof, I won’t believe that my bhabhi died!”
Is he crazy?! Her car falling off the cliff is the biggest proof! But I guess they don’t understand that!
“So… do u all believe that she isn’t dead?” I then asked.
“No… only four of us believe that she isn’t dead. And we are trying our best to find her…” Gauri answered.
You can only find her IF she is alive!
“Anyways, so how does this all relate to me?” I asked coming to the point.
And the next second, they were kneeling down in front of me with their hands folded as if they were the poor people begging for food.
“Please help us!” Gauri pleaded.
What help? What do they want me to do?!
“Please become RIYA!” Rudra clarified, making me shocked.
“WHAT?!” I shouted.
I think these Oberoi really crazy!
“Yes, didi,” Soumya started to beg, “We can’t tell bade bhayia about Riya Bhabhi. He will die of guilt!”
“But I am pretty sure I don’t even look like Riya…” I reasoned.
“True.” Rudra agreed with my point. “Wait, let me show you how she looks!”
Saying so, he took out his phone and showed me a picture of a really pretty girl. She looked like a village girl. (Guys, imagine Drashti Dhami in the serial Geet.)
“Woah, guys! She is VERY different from me!” I told them.
“Uh… I don’t think so,” Om disagreed, “You both have the same eye color: Cocoa brown…”
“Oh Mr. Jatadhari,” Gauri shouted at Om, “I know that she (indicating towards me) is very beautiful, but don’t notice her too much, ok? Or else, I will cut your hair!”
“When did I notice her?” Om tried to prove himself innocence. “I just told her that she has the same eye color as Riya.”
“Oh really?!” Gauri argued, “Did you ever notice my eye color in these two years?”
“Uh… um….” Om started to stammer.
I giggled. They are such a cute couple!!!
“Guys, stop fighting!” Rudra interrupted this time.
“Yeah,” I agreed with Rudra. “Anyways, having the same color doesn’t mean that I look like her. Plus, Shivaay already knows me as Anika! So no chance!”
“Arre, aap uski chinta mat karo,” Gauri said as if she had a solution. Then, she went somewhere.
After few minutes, Gauri came back with a dupatta in her hands. Then, she covered my face using the dupatta.
“Wow, Gauri Bhabhi! Aap bhi mere tarah smart ho gaye ho!” Rudra said and did a logic sign.
“Bhabhi”, Soumya also praised Gauri, “Really, you are very smart!”
“One second,” I interrupted, “I never said that I am ready to become Riya!”
They all got sad as if I broke their dream of getting million dollars.
“Didi, please!” Rudra started to beg. And then, everyone joined.
Oh God! Where did I get stuck?
“Ok, ok…. Let me think about it…” I finally said, getting really irritated by all the pleadings.
They all got silent and looked at me with hope! Uff! These people!
Anyways…. I think I should become Riya. I mean, if Shivaay got to know that Riya died because of him, then he would feel really guilty, and then I don’t think I will be able to make him propose me in a week. However, if I do become Riya, then I can make Riya bad in front of Shivaay and myself as a good person. Hmmm…. I think becoming Riya would be really beneficial for me.
“Ok fine… I will become Riya!” I announced my decision.
Listening to my decision, everyone got really happy. Rudra even hugged me out of excitement.
“Alright… if we are done with all this… then can I please go?” I asked them.
“Uhhh… not so soon….” Om stopped me.
Ughhh!!!! Now what???!!!
“You need to learn how to act like Riya bhabhi…” Rudra told me.
“What do mean?” I asked, “I mean she was like a normal person, right?”
“Yeah… I wouldn’t really say that…” Soumya expressed her thoughts.
“She was kind of different,” Gauri clarified.
“For example, she had a whole different language,” Rudra explained, “She used words like michmichi, tadi, phail gaya raita, etc.”
“And… she used to call Shivaay Bhayia different names,” Soumya elaborated, “Like, billuji, kanji ankhoin wala bagad billa, SSO, stone singh oberoi, and many other names.”
“Not only that, but she also used to name her things,” Gauri told me, “And sometimes, even talk to them.”
“Plus, her behavior was kind of different. Like, she used to eat food with hands.” Om added on.
Okkk…. Based on what I heard, I am not sure if Riya was actually mentally stable…. I mean who names their stuff? Like seriously? And who eats with their hands? Ewwww!!!! And who uses words like tadi and ka…kanji…ank..ankhoin…bagid… Like, I don’t even know how to pronounce that. And, now I am supposed to learn all that weird stuff! I can’t believe I have to do all this just for Shivaay’s attention….. I just want his attention, Dammit!
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Helloo, peeps!!!! How are you all??? First of all, I would like to say a big thank you to all of you who commented yesterday. Those comments really made my day. Hope you all will keep supporting me like this….. Thank youuu!!!!