SS|Omkara. Ishana| Looking too closely// Chapter 2 Pg3 - Page 2

LOGIC of LOVE don't follow the equation of maths

Originally posted by: -Sarcy-

This piece was crisp and perfectly in character of the ObBros! I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. The part about Ishana was like a surprise element but very well woven into the story. With her background, I see a potential to build this story further. If you continue, I'd love to read it.

The best part for me was Rudr's gyan to Omkara about their parents' relationship. Such words of wisdom from the goofball. 😆

Very well penned!

Thanks a lot! The ObBros are life of the show, so how could I resist highlighting their bond in this OS.
Since many are requesting I might just make this a short story!

Originally posted by: -Panda-

This. This is the kind of Ishaana I wanted.

A badass ruthless conwoman who goes about in an unapologetic manner. The dark grey shades of her character that she's accepted.

I loved the story.

Great work

Thank you so much!

"Thank you Jiya. I appreciate what you did for me." Ishana fell back onto the plush seating, folding her legs. "I know there are questions lingering in your eyes but trust me...I would never jeopardize your well-being. You're the only family I have left."

"Ishana, I won't ask you any question except one. What do you hope to gain?"

"Nothing. I hope to gain nothing." Ishana picked up her mug of coffee watching steam rise only to reluctantly dissipate. "Jiya, sometimes it's not about loses or gains, but to equal the scales."

Jiya knew Ishana was far too deeply involved in her web of lies to find a way. "Whatever happened in the past...why can't you seem to let go?" She reasoned not resigning to watching her best-friend obliterate her own future for the past.

"Can we not talk about them, please, I spend all my day racking my brain thinking---anyway tell me when are you and Yash shifting into your new house?"

For now she allowed the conversation to be diverted. "By the end of the month. You should come by the apartment, anything you want it's yours."

Ishana looked around her small, cozy apartment, mostly barren filled with minimal furniture and even lesser mementos. The plain white walls were unadorned, but they kept her safe, even listened to her secrets when she had no one to share with.

She was only twenty when she began renting the apartment, now at twenty-five she owned it. Her second home, her only home after the one her parents had built for her.

"I should get going now. Yash should be home anytime now." Jiya picked up her purse, presenting a USB to Ishana. "This belongs to you." She recalled the Tej Oberoi story she had leaked to her own news channel through an anonymous tip. As a reporter pieces like these were exactly what made her career, but seeing her friend's greed to tear apart a family muddled her conscious.

Ishana saw the concern in her friends eyes, immediately reached out for her hand. "I'll be okay."

"You have been saying that for years. I never could get myself to believe you."

"Do you believe me now?"

"Not a chance!" Jiya sighed. "Ishana, what exactly is your plan?"

"If I tell you.. it would mean you are a part of what I'm about to do, and I don't want you to be complicit. "

"Still... "

"Any link is weakest at its foundation, I only want to shake up their foundation. The rest will happen on its own."

Jiya shrugged inwardly stunned to see the gleam in her friend's eyes. "Are you sure about all of this? You won't only hurt them but yourself as well."

"I am sure. Now go before I have to kick you out."

Ishana closed the door after Jiya left. Turning to the small living room she strode towards the far end where her single bed lay, and across from it sat her macbook on a wooden table. She flipped it open, ready to listen to any recording she hoped her small hearing device had accumulated while she had been at work.

She went through the clip listening to the brother's conversation after she had left their table. Their relationship seemed genuine, filled with love for one another. Even a blind person could sense their bond.

Shivaay being the eldest was the crudest of the three, his words restricted to the stature that boasted of arrogance of the Oberoi name. He was the one she needed to be vigilant of as he fed on his prey like a hawk looking after his younglings. Omkara was vigilant and quite, afraid of being understood. But she knew those who chose silence as their weapon were more powerful than those who used words, for silence was never-ending it could lead its own deafening existence. Lastly, Rudra Singh Oberoi, the youngest and a cheerful personality, perhaps the weakest link in the group. She recalled his gaze wavering whenever a girl came into his view.

All three different as chalk and cheese, but still held together by an unwavering tie.

She quickly went through recording until she came upon the silence, it was then she understood Omkara had her hearing chip. She heard the bristles of his footsteps against the polished floor as if he was trotting from one end of the room to another.

She had wanted the chip to be near Shivaay because he handled most of the business proceedings, but she did not allow that to dampen her spirits. Even Omkara was a equal shareholder in the Oberoi stocks, it was another fact that he did not concern himself with his own position in his own company.

She knew he was a renowned artist, his sculptures and paintings were spread all across India. Yet, unfortunately, all that fame could not erase the tag of being the black sheep in the family. His own father called him useless, and a waste of a son.

Nothing like a wound left open for too long, just ripe enough to be poisoned without having to scorch the upper layer.

---------

Omkara peered out into the moonlight, the glistening oval shape was the only source of light in the dark, insipid night. Arrogance, the moon prided itself on its importance, even with the specks of star strung across the navy blue blanket like glitter on a child's painting. How was it possible for the lone moon to hold together the entirety of an night, yet he faltered on a daily basis.

How long could he blame his parents for his own failure to move forward? Possibly, the child in him still longed for the day when his parents would sit down to eat together, or play with him. The days when his father would come home early from work just to take him and Shivaay to the park were one of the few memories he kept hidden in the deep recesses of his heart.

It was always hard for him to understand how a doting father could change all at once.

"Omkara..." Kalyani Singh Oberoi walked into her grandson's room aware he would be going without sleep tonight after the charade in the morning. He was the most lovable one out of the three not because she loved him more, no she feared he hadn't been loved enough. "I just can't seem to sleep tonight."

Omkara helped his grandmother sit down against the bedpost, helping her feel comfortable on the bed. He joined her by placing his head in her lap. "Missing Dadu too much?"

"There isn't a single day, or hour when I don't miss him enough." Kalyani reminisced. "Whenever I would not be able to sleep, he would take me out to eat gol gappe."

"Dadu's love was pure for you, unlike my philandering father..." He trailed off bitterly not wanting to worry his grandmother.

"Love can turn bitter. Time changes people."

"Dadi, that is exactly why I am against the idea of marriage. Love seems like a insane concept driven by storybooks made to help people deal with reality."

"Your father loved your mother very much. It was an arranged marriage but they built a great relation. He committed a grave sin...I know...I wish I could tell you what went wrong in their relation, but that is not the case for all. Not every man is a Tej and not every woman will be a Jhanvi."

"Greed. My father's greed got in the way." Omkara replied. " I think true love is a concept which only suits in books."

"I can't tell you if love exists but I can say this, your soul-mate is not supposed to make you happy, they will cause you great heartbreak...even with all the bitterness, you'll feel incomplete without them. Because you will realize that person is the only one who truly understood, who made you seek yourself even when it hurt to look at your own reflection."

"Dadi, you should start writing. I think you will be a great writer." Omkara shifted and stared up at his grandmother. "I'll even support your first book."

"My love, don't take love so lightly...it has been known to infiltrate even the hardest hearts." Kalyani prayed Omkara found a girl who could color his loneliness. "Omkara, what happened today don't worry about it too much. There comes a point when you can't do much except sit back and watch."

"How does a child sit around while his parents tear each other to pieces." He asked, forlornly.

"You cannot change them. Every person is responsible for themselves. Your father will have to mend his ways."

Omkara closed his eyes trying to forget the image of his father and Shwetlana intimately sitting on the bed. "Dadi, I am okay. Don't worry too much about me."

"Dadi is allowed to worry for her children." Kalyani patted his head lovingly. "I worry about you Om, lost in those sculptures and paintings, you have built a wall around yourself."

"I am okay. Plus my classes are starting up tomorrow that will keep me busy." He turned around in her lap, hugging her by the waist. "Shivaay said he is working on finding who leaked the clip."

"Shwetlana." Kalyani said without hesitation. "She is waiting for the moment when she can set herself in this house and this orchestration opened the doors of Oberoi mansion wide open for her."

----------

Soothing the crinkles of her peach-colored dress, Ishana stepped onto to the pavement lugging around a heavy bag filled with art supplies. She knew nothing about art, but she knew everything about the man who she was about to come across again.

Omkara Singh Oberoi ran seasonal art classes for beginners. He worked alongside another instructor leading a two hour class on the basics of painting and sculpting twice a week.

Pushing aside the glass door, she stepped inside. It was a small class and most of the students were already present. She took her seat setting down her bag, and listened keenly while all the instructions were made.

Today they were supposed to paint a fruit. She chose a pineapple.

"Don't grip the brush too hard."

Ishana looked up startled by the voice. "Art and I are cold-blooded enemies."

"Art is very accepting. It doesn't judge." Omkara smiled. "Here--", he took her hand, gently touching the bristles against the canvas. "You just have to relax. It'll come to you."

"My friend suggested I take these classes to feel relaxed but I am starting to rethink my decision..."

"Don't be so quick to judge." Omkara quipped, looking around the class. "Everyone is a beginner here."

Ishana looked down at her disfigured sketch. "So, you aren't judging me right now?"

Folding together his arms, he watched her. "Should I be?"

"You are Omkara Singh Oberoi, the famous artist. I am..." She stopped instantly.

"I know who you are."

If she felt threatened she didn't allow her expressions to fall into his trap, instead she waited for him to speak.

"You're the waitress from blue haze." He remarked. "You served us drinks?"

Ishana felt the tension ease away from her shoulders. "You remember. Yes, I am Ishana."

"Ishana, don't stress too much. To master anything you have to try, try as many times as it takes you to get it right."

"How long did it take for you to achieve your success."

"Years. Strangely, art wasn't my first option, although it is what made life easier to cope with" Omkara glanced at her, uncertain, what it was about her that made him want to continue talking. "When I make a sculpture...I can't see anything but the image in my mind. But it also the thing that brings me peace when I feel restless."

Ishana watched him walk away on the pretext of helping another student. She stared hard at the ignorant strokes she drew on the canvas, her mind already planning her next step.

[YOUTUBE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFwmgfINKa8[/YOUTUBE]

Inspired by this song!

Good going yaar...the story is fascinating...ishana of your story is a strong and sharp- minded person...unlike her serial counterpart...ishana and Anika are going to be related ...

Ishana is ready to hit the bulls eye except she still needs to garner an entry into the Oberoi's lives. Could that leeway be Omkara? I won't guess right now because I feel like you aren't letting on more than you want us to know. If Ishana knows that Shivaay handles the business, and Rudra is the weakness among the trio...why would she choose Omkara?

Om & Dadi were super sweet. I like how you have maintained the original characters. It is the best part about this story.

Glad to see Omkara doing something other than hanging out with his brothers. He runs art classes and Ishana has found her way there.

Who will be Ishana's pawn...it is hard to tell because apparently she is hitting from every angle. The fact that she sent the clip to the media will have its repercussions I believe sooner than later.