Ishaana's nervousness at being back inside OM was obvious by the way her hands wouldn't stop fiddling with her phone as she sat on the simultaneously grand but somehow comfy couch in front of Dadi, Jhanvi aunty, Priyanka and Shivaay's wife Anika. It had been a quirk of fate that Priyanka Oberoi and her sister-in-law Anika had seen her when they'd been out shopping.
That Priyanka had been the one to call out her name and walk up to greet her politely, was a such an astonishing turn of events in and of itself, that Ishaana had not even thought to walk off before they could approach. She was trying to convince herself that it was unfortunate that she'd been back in Mumbai and in that mall just when the two Oberoi women were, but who was she kidding? There had not been one day in the intervening three years that Ishaana had not thought about one Omkara Singh Oberoi and wondered what if.
The Omkara she'd tried to con but had ended up falling for had spoiled her rotten for other men. Every man she looked at in the days, weeks and months following her departure from his life, Ishaana found lacking in comparison to her praannath' as she'd jokingly called him. He truly was the best of them... Caring, sensitive, truthful, inclusive and very romantic but at the same time courageous and so unique, that Ishaana knew she wouldn't find anyone better even if she tried.
It didn't hurt that he was easily susceptible to emotional entreaties and appeals to his softer side. Omkara Singh Oberoi had been the perfect target for her, if only she hadn't been so stupid as to fall for him in return. She had tried to move on, don't get me wrong, but it truly hadn't worked. For better or worse, Ishaana was stuck on Omkara Singh Oberoi.
And now that an opportunity such as this had been dropped into her lap, she knew she had to capitalize on it. She just wasn't sure how... Though all the ladies in front of her had been unfailingly polite to her, there was a definite awkwardness in the air. But the fact that Omkara's younger sister had invited her to OM herself, Ishaana wanted to take that as a sign that she, if not the rest of the ladies, wanted her there... maybe even back in her brother's life?
Telling herself that nothing ventured meant nothing gained, Ishaana took a breath and tried to make an attempt to reconnect
"A lot has changed since I was last here..."
It was Dadi who answered...
"Oh yes... It had been about three years now beta. Lots of changes have come and gone... and some are here to stay" she said with a slight smile on her face, glancing at Jhanvi, who also smiled back.
Failing to understand the rampant subtext in that statement, Ishaana could only look on in a puzzled manner
"Yes... Shivaay and Anika got married soon after you... had to leave beta. They have a darling little one named Shubham. And my Rudra also got married to Saumya, you know her, right? They're both in the US now, pursuing their higher studies. Oh... Tej and I have separated."
Ishaana could only stop herself from gaping at Omkara's mom as she spoke about the huge changes in their lives as if discussing the weather and managing to get a subtle dig at her at the same time
"Oh... Congratulations Anika... and I'm sorry about you and uncle...Aunty.. I didn't" she stuttered, thrown off completely
"There's nothing to be sorry about Ishaana. You couldn't have known... besides, there's nothing to actually be sorry for. It is not the ideal situation but there are lots of families that are not ideal but manage to still remain happy."
The matter of fact attitude from the usually emotional Jhanvi further confused Ishaana while another issue worried her... there had been zero mentions of her oldest son. No one had in fact spoken anything about Omkara. With her heart in her mouth, Ishaana looked around, trying to figure out if something had happened to him. She knew that Omkara was emotionally sensitive and easily affected or manipulated... and that she'd probably left him broken from the inside when he found that she'd been conning him.
"And... Everyone else is doing okay?"
This time, it was Priyanka who pipped up
"Oh Choti maa and Chote papa are out on another of their vacations..." she giggled, causing everyone to smile indulgently at her
"And I'm currently helping Bhabhi here run a charity... We run a charity that benefits underprivileged women and children"
"That's great... Priyanka."
Ishaana couldn't stop herself from low key trying to look for any signs that Omkara was still in OM
"Do you need anything Ishaana? You're looking for something... Or someone"
Anika, who'd spoken, looked at her with a knowing smirk while her voice sounded as innocent as a lamb's
Ishaana couldn't stop herself from flushing uncomfortably while she fought against bending her head down in embarrassment
"Oh... ummm... O..Om..kara... I was just wondering about Om.. kara"
"Oh yeah! We haven't even mentioned him since you got here... Om..."
Anika was deftly interrupted by Jhanvi, who turned to her with a slight smirk on her face
"Om is doing... well, he's become very different from back then Ishaana... you see he's-"
Book Talk
Cricket
