Hey guys, thanks a lot for all the love 🙂 I’m truly overwhelmed after reading your comments. Anyways, I still didn’t get a lot of links to all the ffs I missed, or maybe it just seemed longer to me than it actually was! 😀 This ff will end in one or two episodes more. This one might seem kinda rushed and the next one might seem like a filler, but I’m gonna add an epilogue at the end too. So that should keep me safe from all the scolding I know I’m gonna get anyways… 🙂
So let’s get to the episode without much delay. Do tell me your views on it in the comments or messages. I’ll be wiaiting. 🙂
Link to previous episodes: Episode 35
LUCKY: EPISODE 36
ISHU’S PERSPECTIVE
I couldn’t look back. No matter how much I loved Om and most of his family, I just couldn’t watch ‘them’ being okay while I wasn’t. But then I had seen Om, Rudra and Shivaay Bhaiya’s glistening eyes and I knew I had to hold myself back. It was true that there was nothing to be done about the past, but it was also true that they weren’t worth throwing away my life for. I parked my bike near the highway dhaba, watching the heavy vehicles pass on the road. It was nearing twenty-four hours since I had had anything and the physical and mental exhaustion were catching up to me. As I scarfed down the parathas, I thought back to the selfies and photos I had collected in the memory card and smiled. I had even left my Mom’s earrings for Anika as a wedding gift and hoped she liked it. My reasoning for leaving my own photos for Om was a little weird too. Just because he said he wanted to paint a portrait of me, I had gone through all the trouble of making faces and capturing them from each angle for him. I didn’t know what kind of picture he wanted to paint of me, so I had clicked all kinds of weird expressions.
While I ate, I imagined his reaction to those funny, serious, cute, wicked, beautiful, ugly, loving, thoughtful, candid, and basically every expression I could pull off! But of course all of this was an excuse. Truth be told, I was kinda scared that he might forget me if I’m not there next to him. It was irrational and I knew it, but it was scary all the same. There was also a small voice note that had turned out to be longer than intended, but thinking about that made me feel embarrassed and awkward. So I pushed it to the back of my head and kicked the dirt in a moment of frustration. It angered me that I couldn’t be with him, but I was also sad I had brought this on myself in a way. As dusk fell around me in a thick, heavy blanket, I kicked my bike to life and sped off away from the city lights.
Around fifteen minutes later, I was lying in a pool of blood on the warm asphalt, near the city borders. The last thought I remembered was Om’s chocolate eyes right in front of me, his full lips centimeters away from mine.
Miles away, unknown to even himself, a lone tear escaped Om’s eyes.
A FEW MONTHS LATER
OM’S PERSPECTIVE
It is my Big Bro’s wedding today. He had finally become one hundred percent true-to-heart Ishqbaaz and the Shivika love story was finally coming to its natural conclusion; not that their Ishqbaazi would end with this. From the looks of it, their Ishqbaazi had only just begun, and it made me feel so lucky to see my family together and happy; a few years ago, that would have seemed impossible. The Oberoi family’s eldest son’s marriage was probably the best thing that had happened in a long time and all the credit for this happiness went to the soon to-be Oberoi daughter in-law. Speaking of whom, she looked fabulous in her unique designer lehenga and the earrings Ishu had left for her. The neck of her blouse had beautiful stones interlaced in the fabric and the quarter sleeves were embroidered in gold, so the only jewelry on her neck would be the simple mangalsutra Shivaay had chosen. She said it seemed like the heaviest of all. In simple words, she truly looked like a Goddess.
Rudra had skipped from one room to the other and teased an exceptionally-patient-Shivaay enough about his tough luck in not being able to see his beautiful bride sooner. He was the most excited one about this wedding but also sad that the three of us will be separated for some time after this most awaited marriage. Shivaay and Anika will obviously be leaving for their honeymoon, Rudra was going to Bangalore with Saumya for some college related stuff, and I was going to London to work on my studio there for young, budding artists. Truthfully, I just couldn’t stand to stay here for longer. My personal depression was getting difficult for me to deal with, so I thought some air would do me good.
I shook off the sadness and laughed as Rudra broke into a dance with Chhoti Maa singing a Punjabi song. Sahil also joined in and they pulled me into the circle too. I did a few steps I had learned for the Sangeet and made my escape. I saw the ladies leaving Anika’s room and went in to see her holding her head. The flowers and more jewelry on her head were already giving her a hard time and she was making faces at her reflection. I laughed loudly, thinking of Ishu’s pics but startling Anika in my thoughtlessness.
“Om!” she complained, while looking into the mirror to check if she had smudged anything. I saw through her careful expression and correctly surmised, “It seems like too much, right?” She was shocked that I said it out loud, but soon her face fell guiltily. Reassuring her, I said, “It is okay. And you look beautiful. Even more than Shivaay!” I added the last part with a wink and that cheered her up. After some time I broached the subject I had come to ask, “Is your family here?” The question made her sad again and I knew why. Anika had invited the closest and only people from her first and second adopted families respectively, but she was worried if they will make a scene, especially her Bua. But Sahil had promised to keep her in check and Khanna was handed her far-far-away-brother’s responsibility, so she was assured about them. The one person whom she truly considered family, besides Sahil, was the one whose absence I wanted to confirm and she was lamenting over. I was always hoping Ishu would come back soon, but seeing Anika’s guarded eyes, I guessed it was still too early for her.
I patted her back in understanding and then we were interrupted by Saumya and Prinku, who, I knew, were sent by Shivaay to make sure his bride ate at proper times. Of course it was no surprise that when she came down, the way he saw her, the whole world could burn down with the fire in his eyes and those two wouldn’t even notice.
The ceremony went by in a blur. Everything seemed to be in fast forward as they promised to stand by each other at all times. But as most of us knew, this was just a formality as those two had already gone through a lot together. Watching them share this beautiful moment made me forget my blues for some time. For a second there, I even felt like Ishu was staring a hole into my back, but when I turned back, she wasn’t there. A few days later, I left for London, hoping to leave behind all the memories haunting me in this land of beautiful, indefinable colors.
AROUND 1 YEAR LATER
It had been a long time since I had turned workaholic. It was more than a week since my return to India, on Dadi’s insistence, I might add. I had come back in regular intervals to be disheartened every time, and I didn’t expect this time to be any different either. My life was falling into routine as I begin my day with looking into my laptop full of pictures from Ishu’s memory card. After breakfast, I try to paint her again, and spectacularly failed each time. It was beyond me to understand why I couldn’t do it when I had accurately made Ishana’s sketch once. Next was a trip to the studio and work there till evening. And back to home for some quality time with my brothers who weren’t free at night nowadays, at least not Shivaay!
Rudra was learning business stuff now, but he was really not cut out for business. In Dadi’s words, “He seems to be more influenced by Om than Shivaay”, as he was leaning towards music. Prinku was doing better on that front as she was slowly overcoming her social anxiety and becoming more talented with business tactics. There seemed to be only one person who wasn’t all that happy with Rudra’s inclination, but I had learned to ignore him now as I had come to terms with how some people can never change, at least not completely. A small consolation was that he was now learning how to treat Mom better, seeing as how she rarely even looked at alcohol now. Chhote Papa and Chhoti Maa were also the same as ever, but they didn’t create any hurdles for anyone now. Saumya was the most academically inclined one in our family now, and she and Rudra seemed to be closer than ever seeing as how he never left her alone! Anika and Shivaay were enjoying their domestic bliss peppered with cute little fights over unbelievably small issues and equally cute patch ups.
I was going through all these changes in my family in my mind while driving back home. The setting sun often reminded me of Ishu’s apartment’s balcony where we would sit quietly and watch as the sun changed colors. On an impulse, I turned the car around and drove to her place. The place was messier today in stark contrast to the way it used to be whenever I visited. I took a minute to understand what this meant and the happiness exploded in my heart as I rushed back home. I only stopped to buy a bouquet of flowers to welcome her back, even though I knew she would prefer food over flowers any day.
I didn’t think much of the two cars already on the driveway and ran inside with the bunch of multi-colored flowers to a totally unbelievable scene. The weird sense of déjà vu washed over me as I stood there watching Ishu dance back and forth, trying to avoid the people trying to catch her. Anika was yelling at her to stop, Chhoti Maa was explaining to Dadi how she had drank Rudra fruit punch which was meant for Saumya and then started acting crazy. Shivaay, Rudra and the guards were trying to catch her, but she easily avoided them while her ponytail swished with her quick movements. Sahil was the only one sitting in a corner while watching everything like the most interesting movie ever. At least the two fathers were nowhere to be seen; I considered that a plus.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” I exclaimed at last and everyone stopped to look at me. Ishu was the first to recover though, and she bounded right into my arms while singing my name in her bell-like voice. I threw away the flowers and wrapped my arms around her. She was hugging me like a baby monkey clinging to a tree, and I spun her around like there was no one else in the room watching us with jaws on the floor. We pulled back once, but she made no move to climb down, so I didn’t put her down either. “I drank juice that tasted funny! And it’s so good to finally see you!” she told me matter-of-factly, all the while grinning from ear to ear. “You’re so late! And it’s great to finally see you too!” I agreed in the same tone as we grinned at each other like a crazy couple for another minute and then hugged each other again.
Finally Mom spoke up to break our little bubble, “Guess we know who can handle her now!” She slid down at last, but I didn’t leave her hand for fear that she would disappear again. We relocated to the sofa with my arm slung across her shoulder and her arms half-hugging my torso. When my heart went back to its normal rhythm, I remembered how she had disappeared last time and my body stiffened next to her. She noticed that and looked up curiously to see what was wrong. At that moment, the two fathers walked in. They were obviously shocked at her presence, but it was clear they were also scared of her. I looked at her protectively and registered a flash of anger in her eyes, but it went away before I could confirm it. I was ready to take them on if they called the guards for her. But she surprised all of us by piping up, “Hello, Uncles. How are you doing?”
‘Is this a being-drunk thing?’ I wondered as I exchanged a confused and worried glance with Shivaay. He seemed to think the same and motioned for me to take her upstairs. I tugged her hand so we could go together, but she shook her head and pouted at me. Oh, how much I had missed that! I raised a questioning brow at her and she raised both her hands in the air like a kid, requesting me to carry her. When it was clear she wasn’t going to budge, I swooped down to pick her up bridal-style, but she shook her head again. Pushing me around, and pulling me down, she gave me a tentative smile as if asking if it was okay. I couldn’t help nodding at her in encouragement and smiling to myself as we left the speechless gathering behind. My heart thumped erratically when she rested her chin on my shoulder and nearly whispered, “You’re not mad at me, are you? And you waited for me, right?”
I turned my head a little and told her, “How can I ever be mad at you? And you have no idea how long I waited! But you’re here now; I’m glad.” She was satisfied with that and sighed, “I’m so relieved and happy. It’s been ages since I felt so calm and happy and nice. You know, this is kinda romantic!” she giggled.
I had never known how piggyback rides could be romantic; and boring at the same time. By the time we reached my room, she had fallen asleep. I pried her fingers away from me and laid her down on the bed carefully. As she used to do before, she clutched my shirt in her fists and slipped into a peaceful sleep. For the first time in ages, I too slept peacefully beside her.
SNEAK PEEK: A glimpse into their happily ever after.
Have a good day guys 🙂