Ishqbaaz FF: Consequences. Chapter 15 on Page 39 (02/08/17) - Page 5

~~[CHAPTER THREE- T H E N & N O W]~~

[T H E P R I N K L A D Y]

I wish, just once, someone in this godforsaken family would take a moment out of their day to ask me how I'm doing. How I'm feeling. Just because I don't talk about my feelings doesn't mean I don't want to.

I'm not really surprised. That's just the way it is in Casa del Crazy. Everyone's in pain but nobody talks about it. They're all so wrapped up in their own problems they don't have the time to even consider that others might have some too.

I decided to go down to breakfast today because I was going crazy and I thought maybe seeing Rudra Bhaiya and Soumya flirt-fighting would cheer me up, only to discover they were both gone. The atmosphere was so tense I thought Shivaay Bhaiya might literally explode if I asked where they were. But I need to know where they've gone because I need to know when- if- they'll be back. This house is like a funeral home with or without them, but at least with Rudra Bhaiya and Soumya it's more like the fun kind from Pushing Daisies. Still full of dead people, but there's a little bit of brevity to keep me from actually dying.

Maybe Rudra Bhaiya's computer will have some clues. Hmmm. His password is ridiculous. I mean that literally. He asked Shivaay Bhaiya what he should set as his password and Shivaay Bhaiya told him "Just don't make it ridiculous." And so Rudra Bhaiya did just that.

His password is literally 'ridiculous'.

Prink Lady Peacing Out

x

COMMENTS

[ACuriousPerson] How are you feeling?

"[ThePrinkLady] Oh haha.

""[ACuriousPerson] I'm serious.

"""[ThePrinkLady] Of course you are.

""""[ACuriousPerson] You said 'everyone's in pain'. That means you're in pain too. If you can't talk to your family about it, maybe you can talk to a complete stranger on the internet about it instead. That is why you write this blog, right?

"""""[ThePrinkLady] I don't know where I'd even start. Every member of my family is a complete and utter mess.

""""""[ACuriousPerson] Start with you.

"""""""[ThePrinkLady] You really do live up to your name, don't you Miss Curious?

""""""""[ACuriousPerson] I find you fascinating and I want to know more about you. And it's Mister.

[ThePrinkLady] has signed out

""""""

It had started, apparently, as a Visa thing. Jhanvi had held a British passport from childhood and consequently so did all of her children. When circumstances conspired to place Anika and Omkara in each others' paths, both with the sole desire to get as far from the Oberoi household as was physically possible, Omkara had naturally therefore suggested Britain.

Anika however had had no passport, and was unlikely to get anything beyond a temporary travel Visa to the UK even if she applied for one.

There was also the matter of Sahil. Anika would not go anywhere or do anything which took her away from him. Omkara, of course, did not want her to either.

It took them some time, but they managed to determine a plan of action.

First, they moved to Delhi.

Omkara had always kept money he earned from his art completely separate to the rest of the Oberoi money. It had been a sentimental thing. Any money which went into the central Oberoi coffers was up for investment and while Omkara knew that had he let Shivaay or his father and uncle put his money into the stock market he could have multiplied his fortune exponentially... he had not wanted to. He sold his art for what he felt it was worth and that was what he wanted to keep.

Then, they got married.

It had been an efficient, almost clinical event with only Sahil in attendance. For witnesses, they had asked their new landlord and his family. Mr Choudhury had been a little confused by the request, but had complied when Anika had charmed him with a cheeky tale of how she wanted so desperately to get... intimate... with her boyfriend, but had restrained herself from even kissing him because she wanted to do things right. It had made Omkara laugh at a time when he had genuinely wondered if he'd ever feel like even smiling again.

They had gone home and slept in separate rooms, but neither had taken off their rings.

Their wedding had meant two things. 1) They could now adopt Sahil. They had put in the papers within the week and though it had taken a few months, it finally went through. All three had cried that day, Omkara by that point privy to the truth about Anika's past. Omkara loved Sahil dearly and with an affection as strong as it had been unexpected. But then, when had Omkara not loved his brothers in this way?

Omkara missed his family, he missed his Dadi and his mother and he missed Priyanka and Rudra. And he missed Shivaay. He desperately missed Shivaay. His heart hurt to imagine how much Shivaay must also be missing him, but he knew that returning to that house and seeing Shivaay live out cold, meaningless days lost in a thinly veiled haze of misery would drive him to insanity and only cause them to clash again and again. No, it had been best that he left when he had.

2) They could now move to London. With Omkara's British passport, he could now easily take his wife and adopted son anywhere in the British Isles. But of course, they chose the hellishly overcrowded but not-quite-as-grey-as-it-looks-in-the-pictures city of London.

Rudra slammed his glass down on the bar, unable to think about any of it anymore. He had listened silently as his brother and Anika had explained how they had met again in India and all that they had done to come to London. He had smiled pleasantly as Sahil had finally made his way down for breakfast, been ecstatic to see Soumya, but then had hurriedly darted out of the house because he was going to miss the school bus. And he had excused himself and Soumya very politely by saying that he needed some time to think and that if it was possible, he'd like to meet them again tomorrow.

And then he had taken Soumya back to their hotel, gone to the hotel bar and proceeded to get absolutely hammered. He didn't need time to think, he needed to not think. He wasn't even really sure what he was drinking, just that it was alcoholic and it was getting him drunk enough that his thoughts were fuzzy and his heart stopped hurting.

"-isstupid," he slurred at Soumya, "Siv- Sivya- Siv-eyeee." And this, he pointed to his own eyeball and giggled. "Lovesss her. Bu- sowhat?" he held up his palms in a helpless gesture. "She married O. Thought-" he swallowed another drink, "- thou- she loved Shivyay too." He shrugged. And then giggled. "D'you think she wouldda married me?"

"Right." Soumya snatched Rudra's glass away, earning herself an angry glare. "You've had enough. Excuse me, could you bill this to room 507 please? Thanks. Come on, let's go."

"Don' wanna!"

He pouted his lip and it was such a cute expression that Soumya ended up softening. "Come on, Rudra. Please. Let me take you back to your room."

"Oookayy," he sang as he put and arm around Soumya's shoulder, "there'ssa minibar."

Soumya rolled her eyes and began the arduous process of getting him to the lift.

Soumya closed the door to Rudra's hotel room and looked around. He had disentangled himself from her and gone to lie down on the bed, his arms and legs splayed out like a starfish. She went to the minibar he had mentioned and found a bottle of water. She took it over to the bed. "Rudra, sit up and drink some water. I don't think any amount of hydration is going to prevent a hangover but this might at least let you function tomorrow."

"Head hurts," a quiet murmur from the bed.

"I bet it does, drink this. It'll help."

To her surprise, he did just that. He sat up and downed the entire bottle of water in one go, then when Soumya offered him another, he drank half of that as well. He then got up and went to the en-suite. Worried he was about to throw up, Soumya followed. Instead, he splashed water on his face, rubbing his eyes and then running his damp fingers through his hair.

He scrubbed his face with the towel and then stumbled back out of the en-suite, going back and sitting down on the edge of the bed. Cautiously, Soumya sat down beside him and placed her hand on top of his. "It'll be okay, Rudra."

"How?" he looked at her, and to her shock she saw that he was crying. She pulled him into a hug and just held him while he sobbed into her shoulder, his hands clutching her so tightly to him that she almost couldn't breathe.

When he finally started to take the shuddering breaths which indicated he had cried himself out, Soumya tried to unlatch his fingers from where they were digging into her waist, but this seemed to cause him to instinctively tighten them. He slowly lifted his head from her shoulder and looked at her.

The look soon turned into a stare, one which he proceeded to sweep down her body and then up again. Soumya felt herself blushing. "Rudra, let me go."

He obeyed her instantly, but didn't take his eyes off her.

"You're beautiful, you know that don't you?" his voice was low, gravelly from the tears. It brushed over her like a sweep of velvet, causing the hairs on her arms and the back of her neck to stand to rapt attention.

"And you're completely drunk, you know that don't you?"

He shook his head. "No. I'm not not drunk, but I'm not out of it anymore. Do I sound drunk to you?" he asked, and she had to admit that no, he didn't sound like the slurring mess he had been.

But that didn't mean he was sober.

"If you weren't drunk you wouldn't be hitting on me. It's me, Rudra. Sumo?"

"Don't call yourself that!" he sounded angry, which surprised her.

"Why not? You always do."

"That's affectionate. You're putting yourself down. And I'd kill anyone else who called you it."

Soumya laughed, "You're completely insane."

"For not making a move on you earlier? I know. You're beautiful. You're beautiful inside, I always knew that. But you're beautiful outside too. I just never noticed because you're always there and you're my friend and..."

"I'm leaving."

She stood up to go, but Rudra wrapped his hand around her wrist and she found herself unable to move. "Rudra, let go."

Again, he let go as soon as she asked.

"Please don't go."

The whispered words were so unbearably sad that Soumya couldn't have left him even if he had preceded the request with an insult.

"I used to sleep next to Shivaay and Om whenever I was lonely or sad or angry, but after Shivaay got married I couldn't do that any more. I was so sad after Shivaay married Lady Baba that I used to sleep next to Om every night and the one night I didn't was the night they fought. I've always felt as though if only I hadn't slept alone that night, if only I'd been with Om... maybe he wouldn't have left. Maybe none of this would have-"

"That is possibly the stupidest thing I have ever heard you say and considering this is you we're talking about, that really is saying something. Of all the self-centred, narcissistic, idiotic things to blame yourself for, that's the one you go for? You really think Om Bhaiya wasn't going to snap at Shivaay Bhaiya at some point? You really think you could have prevented that? You stupid, stupid manchild! Gah! I'm so angry I could-"

But Rudra didn't hear what she could have done, because he had in one smooth movement risen to his feet and pulled her into his arms, cutting off the rest of her words with a kiss.

Soumya was so startled that for a moment, she froze. Then her brain clicked into gear.

He's drunk.

No he isn't.

Yes he is.

You shouldn't be doing this.

He wouldn't be doing this if he wasn't drunk.

How do you know?

Stop.

Stop.

STOP.

But it feels so good.

So... good...

Chapter Four- Father & Son

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Thank you all so so much for all your amazing comments and feedback, I am so happy everyone's all aboard the AniKara train- I'll keep you in suspense re: where the story's going but I love them both so I promise you all that neither is going to be steamrolled and used as a tool just so the other can get a solo HEA. Apologies for all the back and forth with the characters and viewpoints in the story, but it's the only way I can think to advance the story without literally just TELLING you all everything which would be very very boring. For all of us. 😆