|| Ishkara SS : An Artist and his Muse || Chapter 5 Updated Page 8 - Page 2

wow the feels gurl...😳😳
u were amazing 👏👏👏
its getting so damn intense
i mean am so into this now...😃😳

Originally posted by: mistofshadows

Hello there!

I came across this masterpiece and I am stunned.

This is seriously brilliant.

And the way you have shaped the plot line.

I am eagerly salivating for the next part.

-Niki

PS: Please send me an PM when you update next. i have sent you a buddy's request too. Plz do accept it.

Originally posted by: abshcool

wow the feels gurl...😳😳
u were amazing 👏👏👏
its getting so damn intense
i mean am so into this now...😃😳

Wow
What writing
Pm me please

Originally posted by: coolove

Wow
What writing
Pm me please

Chapter 3:

Regret has a funny way of operating, it haunts you till much later and after the mistakes you actually commit. It almost acts like the interest you pay on a loan, the bigger the loan, the bigger the interest on it, and yet you still have to pay them both up.

Omkara was seated silently with his head facing quite down, concentrating rather too intensely on his drink. But surprisingly the charade of uptight people around him today didn't bother him a single bit. It was minuscule compared to the burn his heart was feeling tonight. As the liquor in the glass decreased he felt a hand weighing in on his shoulder, and just as he looked up to see it was non-other than Shivaay Bahia. His blue eyes clearly heavy with concern, but also carrying a much rather deep regret about completely forgetting that tonight Ishaana was going to be arriving with Rohan.

"I'm so sorry Om," Shivaay said politely.

Om just nodded disapprovingly, "what do you have to be sorry for Bahia? None of this was your fault, so please don't take this out on yourself. If anything its mine, I'm an adult, and I should be treated like one." Finishing he took another swing from his drink before continuing.

"And the only reason I don't get to be treated like an adult is because I haven't given any of you a reason to do so."

Shivaay didn't like the trail Om was walking on, he could feel too much guilt.

"Om please stop, it's not your fault. You weren't in the right headspace back then, our families were far more messed up than they are right now. You were just a victim of this house and you never got a chance to explain that to her."

Om just sarcastically laughed away at his brother's undeniable naivety, one that would last even if he was responsible for murder.

"Bahia, I cheated on her. There is no victim card for that. And to make it worse she walked in on me snorting coke with her roommate sleeping naked next to me. Even thinking about it makes me disgusted at the sort of person I was. After three years of genuine friendship, I had finally convinced her to be my girlfriend, and I took little less than three weeks to break all of it. I'm the only one to blame Shivaay, no one else."

Just as he recounted these lines to Shivaay, Om saw the scene crisply play in front of his eyes, like a film he knew every dialogue off.

He loved Art, yet he was amidst finishing off his MBA at Columbia University. She on the other hand, was a dancer and a performer but studied marketing and finance as her back up in life. They had met in first-year statistics, one of the crossover units they had bot accidently picked, and the rest they say was history. Soon enough they had both realised that they had hidden passions, or more correctly that Om had a hidden passion since Ishaana was quite open about hers, and that inevitably brought them even closer. Om if anything had become inspired from Ishaana, her aura made sure to never to give up on what one really wanted to achieve in their life. If she could still try and pursue both things in life to keep her afloat, they why couldn't he?

And before he knew it he was taking extra and unneeded elective subjects in the arts. He never told his father about this instead, he would lie at home saying that he had failed a few subjects causing him to finish his MBA in 3 years. Little did they know that he was really trying to re-rout his entire career path by lying to his family and actually studying what mattered to him. Om wouldn't say he was as genius a student like his father, or like Shivaay Bahia, but by no means was he just an average student either. He didn't want to be put into Cambridge or Harvard on the basis of a good word by his father; rather he wanted to earn it by his genuine talent. And this was one of the first things that caused a rift between Om and Tej, his refusal to accept Tej's offers to any of his choice's elite colleges.

Rather Om was proud that his personal application sent into Columbia was accepted, on his own terms. At least he was genuinely proud of it if not completely interested in pursuing the MBA. But even after getting accepted little did he know that meeting Ishaana would actually change the course of not only his career, but really his entire life.

As semesters progressed on Om had realised that he had begun to fall deeply for Ishaana, yet he never had the heart to let her know because he knew inside that she did deserve better. But as he became assertive about his decision to pursue being an artist, he also fell into the addictive trap of drugs. What started out as a moment of initiating some belonging with a few of his fellow artists, simply ended up becoming a terrible crutch that was going to descend into his life.

It started off with simple drugs, such as weed and pot but slowly and steadily the expensive stash of cocaine became far more lucrative. And it was definitely much more accessible with the kind of money he already had being sent from back home. Through all this Om tried making sure of one thing, which was never letting Ishaana sense that such a side to him ever existed.

But the last semester of college came rolling down, and Om knew he couldn't possibly stretch his MBA any longer, eventually he had to fly back home to Mumbai. So it was his only chance to confess to Ishaana how deeply and madly had he actually fallen for her.

Just as the memories were playing in front of him, Shivaay pressed his hand once again on Om's shoulder returning him to the present. "I'm truly sorry Om." Just at that moment Anika quickly came running and apologising to Om for borrowing her husband. Om just nudged his brother to go on and actually make himself productive rather than talk to him.

Just as Shivaay left Om asked the bartender for another drink, but a much too familiar voice pierced from right behind him. A voice he would never dare to forget as if it was coated with syrup and sugar, "may I please have another glass of red wine?"

Om's heart sank and his eyes closed at an instant, she came forward stood next to him and Om just prayed that she would leave with her glass and not recognise him.

His head hung much lower, just so he could avoid her gaze, but like all brilliant times his dear' father called him out far too soon.

"Omkara I want to introduce you to Mr Singhania's daughter, please come and stand next to me in 10 minutes," a business tone like usual, his father was never the one to surprise, only ever to shock.

The name was enough for Ishaana to turn her face, it was enough to start feeling the dread that this Omkara was the same one she once knew, and the one she vowed to move on from.

She looked at him, like really looked at him, while his father still awaited for a response. He got none and eventually left before the humiliation of a no reply sank into him.

Yet she stayed still and matched her eyes with his, and it was only then could she see a resemblance. The hair was something different altogether, and his glasses looked off because she never even knew if he wore them. Although the suit was too well fit, and once again oddly enough he pulled it off with his strange new look.

Omkara stared back at her, and noticed all those changes he had once imagined only from far away, but up close she was still too beautiful to comprehend. He didn't know what to say, so the first thing he could think of was just leaving her at peace and respectfully getting up from his stool. He looked into her eyes, though just one last time only to say, "I'm sorry." And then he walked away.

She didn't know where he went, she had no idea who he was related to before that moment, but from seeing Tej she had gathered in a few minutes it was easy to tell that he was the third Oberoi son.

She always knew his surname; she always knew he was quite rich, yet she never thought to connect the dots that he could be one of them. Knowing didn't make it easier, it only just made it more difficult. She secretly hoped that he would come back and give some sort of an explanation for that apology he left with, but he didn't even turn back. As her glass of wine finally came she decided to just sit down on the same stool where he sat before. She just had to contemplate what the hell had happened.

Her thoughts were too fast for her own good, they ran at a speed of their own. She imagined possibilities and explanations for what he did, but the matter of the truth was that he was just a piece of scum who cheated on her, or more specifically humiliated her. Seeing him half naked, and then snorting coke along with her roommate was visual no one should be inflicted upon. Yet she felt weak at the thought of him with her now. He may have been a scumbag but she wasn't going to deny that she never loved him. She did period. It just hurt too much say it.

Ishaana was never the one to shy away from words, but this morning she could help but bring her knees closer to her chest and curl up into sleep. She could feel Om's hands around her waist, his breath hitching at the crook of her neck, his stubble rubbing against her cheek and, a whole lot more she couldn't even bring herself up to say. Om's confession of his love for her had finally allowed her to release the unrequited love she had carried for him but forcefully buried for years. But even then she wasn't sure if he was being genuine, they were just two good friends for such a long time, she didn't know if he could handle this change. But even then she couldn't understand how in one night he had managed to convince her off so much, to the extent that she was ready to give everything away. She knew all these years he was a rich brat, she also knew he was the one to enjoy casual sex, for which she had never judged him yet it stung for all other reasons. And today she was the one laying by his side, a huge pit in her stomach grew thinking what if last night was just any other for him? It didn't help at all that she knew his track record. And it definitely didn't help that they didn't even wait for a few days into their relationship to take it to such a level. She didn't want to say this out loud but she just couldn't help but feel a little regret. He was her first, but would that even matter to him? The answer wasn't comforting from any angle.

As the sun rays slowly started to peak into his room he started to stir, but she still hadn't fallen asleep. She was still, very still and Om had noticed that much about her in his half-asleep state. He could tell she wasn't asleep, but he surely couldn't tell what was going through her mind. His biggest worry was regret, he prayed she didn't regret it. He purposely pulled her in a little closer and then whispered into her ear, "someone's awake I see."

She blushed a little but didn't look back at him instead, she just slowed her breathing thinking hopefully that he would fall back asleep, and then maybe she could eventually leave.

He just encircled his hands more around her waist, and all Ishaan could feel was that pit growing deeper and deeper in her stomach. She loved him too much to have her trust broken, and he couldn't fix that.

He spoke again knowing she wasn't saying much, "you're okay.. naa?"

There was definitely a concern in his voice, "hmm." She replied too low so he could faintly hear her.

He wasn't much convinced, though he still asked, "please tell me you don't regret this."

He paused and then said, "I mean us or last night?"

He put a few things on the platter to choose from, and Ishaana wasn't really sure that if she did actually regret choosing to be with him, or last night. Maybe it was just that she was scared for their future.

Gathering a few words to calm his worry she uttered, "I'm fine and no I don't regret anything. Just go back to sleep." It wasn't as faint as before, but still low enough.

He kissed her neck in return and softly spoke back into her ear, "I love you." And he meant it, and he also waited for her to say it back.

But she didn't she just waited till he fell asleep again so she could leave.

She wasn't sure even till this day that why she never returned it. She definitely did love him then, but she couldn't understand why she couldn't say it to him. It always made her wonder that maybe he was way too ready, and it was her reluctance in the relationship that caused him to cheat? She definitely didn't want to take the blame, but it was just one of those explanations that he never gave her. He just left without even attempting a sorry back then.

Guys just a request, please review and like! Also for updates add me as a buddy.

This was seriously a shock!

This chapter was very good in allowing character development to occur. Om characterisation is quite accurate to someone from his stature but I still believe ishaana deserves more scenes as it would be good to see it from her point of view. Final note keep writing and do pm when you do.

Ohh noo

Your part one gave me goosebumps. Truly amazing.👏
They way you described Om's environment made me feel like I was in his serene studio with him.
Janhvi's actions and emotions were so well written I loved it.
The mom-son scene was so well explained down to the very detail. You write really well.
You ended it with a twist and that was like the cherry on the top.
Over all, brilliant.👏👏

I'll read the other parts later. Do PM me whenver you update or write anything. I would love to read it. You might get this often but I'm really glad to found an awesome writer like you who writes on Ishkara.

Lekha