Around 4 in the afternoon, Omkara wandered up to his wife's studio looking for her, only to find her flitting between five different dress forms arranged in front of her, putting finishing touches on the outfits she'd designed for the family members for the party that evening.
Ever since the family had come to know of Gauri's talent at designing, almost all of them were quite insistent on being dressed by her, at least for special occasions. At first, it had been mostly out of their wanting to encourage her and give her the confidence to try and do the same professionally, but soon everyone fell in love with her sense of design and the way she incorporated each of their personalities into her design process. So now, any time someone in the house had a special event to attend or a party to go to, Gauri was the one they went to first. And she delivered... each and every time.
Recently, the Oberois had been seen gracing page 3 spreads on various magazines and fashion blogs more and more and everyone was raving about the mysterious new designer that they'd started to patronize. Gauri being who she was, didn't want any of the limelight and had preferred to stay relatively unknown, not using the Oberoi name or connections to get any leverage in her line of work. But her talent was gaining quite a bit of attention and her little boutique already catered to some illustrious customers including certain A-listers and movie stars.
Even with her boutique taking up much of her time, Gauri always put her family first and really enjoyed designing for them. With the party that evening giving her another opportunity to dress her favorite people to the nines, Gauri was in her zone, her mind flying through different ideas as she pinned something here, tucked a fold there and worked herself up, basically re-thinking every design decision she'd made on these outfits. Almost on the verge of changing pretty much everything on the outfit she'd designed for Anika, Gauri felt herself being pulled back into her husband's warm, solid chest, his arms wrapping around her petite waist and his chin rested on the crown of her head.
"I know what you're thinking right now... Stop. Tumne hum sab ke liye jo bhi design kiya hai, I am sure perfect hoga. Chalo, ab mujhe batao kya tum mere saath aaj shaam ki party chod kar bhaagne ke liye taiyyar ho?"
Sighing as the feeling of being in Omkara's arms and his warmth pervaded through her entire body, Gauri snuggled into his hold, situated her head against his shoulder and pressed a small kiss to the side of his neck in silent appreciation for his understanding and the attempt to distract her from her imminent meltdown.
Om smiled at her, pecked her cheek in return and tucked her back into his shoulder
"Lekin seriously, this is turning into a production yaar... Bahar itna confusion chal raha hai decoration aur khaane ko lekar. I actually heard Anika yelling at some poor soul on the phone a few minutes back. Wo din ba din doosri SSO banti jaa rahi hai. I swear... agar mom nahin hoti na uske saath, to shaayad phone tod deti..."
Gauri giggled, her own hands finding their way on top of Omkara's, effectively keeping him there as she leaned back further, putting all her weight trustingly on him.
"Thank you... Aapne abhi yahaan aakar shaayad sab ko bacha liya aaj... I was rethinking everything aur saare designs ko probably bigaad deti. Phir kya hota Oberois ke izzat ka?"
"Falooda... aur kya?" he snickered
Giggling again, she slapped a warm, muscular arm playfully before pouting at him
"Seriously... We love it when you make beautiful things for us to wear. Magar tumhe itni tension ho rahi hai iski wajah se to we should probably dial it back..."
"Aisa kuch nahin hai... I just want everything to go well today. Aaj bus aapka birthday nahin balki aapke academy ka announcement bhi hone ja raha hai... To aaj bahut important din hai and I just want it to be perfect for you... for all of us."
"Aur tumne aaj tak baar baar ye prove kar diya hai ki tumko apne work ko lekar tension lene ki zaroorat nahin hai. You are amazing at what you do Gauri!"
She turned to kiss his neck again as a thank you, because in this position it was the only part of him she could reach... but her clever hubby captured her lips in his and turned what might have been a simple peck, into a full-blown make out session that ended with Gauri pressed against the wall with her arms wrapped around his neck, her fingers woven thru his hair and his hands on her waist under her kurta, fingers dancing along her soft skin.
Chuckling at her dazed expression and flushed face as he pulled away, Omkara ran his fingers along her waist once more, tickling her back into awareness and savoring the blush that darkened her cheeks once she was back to normal. He was leaning back in to kiss her once more when he ended up kissing her hand which had come up to stop his progress.
"Na... aur aage aapko jaane diya to hamara poora dopahar aise hi chala jaayega. Bahut kaam baaki hai aaj... Ab hume jaane dijiye, please"
"Gauri tum to shameless ho gayi ho yaar... poora dopahar! Kya kya soch liya tumne? Mere jaise innocent ladke ko corrupt karne jaa rahi thi kya?"
Shaking her head at his overacting, she pushed him gently, making him free her
"Aapne Rudy bhaiyya se is hafte kuch zyaada FaceTime kar liya lagta hai. Itni overacting to wo bhi nahin karte"
Walking back to another one of her outfits and fiddling with the dupatta on it, Gauri asked
"Waise... I am appreciative of the fact ki aap upar aaye aur hume distract kiya par aap yahaan humse kuch poochne aaye the kya? Ya kuch chahiye tha?"
"Actually... haan. Tumse kuch baat karni thi"
Omkara held her hand and pulled her gently to a couch situated in one corner of the studio.
"Kya hua Omkaraji... sab kuch theek hai na?"
"Yeah... nothing's wrong. Bas tumse kuch poochna tha... Aaj subeh tum Ishaana se mili"
"Haan... aur humne hi aapko bhi bataaya ki wo aayi hain. Unhone kuch kaha aapse? Aap pareshan lag rahe hain"
"Aisi koi baat nahin hai Gauri... Tumne aaj mujhse kaha ki main Ishaana ko friendship ka ek aur mauka doon. Tumhe Ishaana se milkar kya laga? Tum uske saath comfortable thi?"
"Omkaraji agar Ishaanaji ke saath friendship badhaane mein aapko humari fikr ho rahi hai to aapko bilkul bhi fikr karne ki zaroorat nahin hai. Hume iss se koi shikaayat nahin hai. Hum to bas aapki khushi chaahte hain... hamesha ki tarah. Agar aapko Ishaanaji ke saath dosti karne ka mauka mil raha hai aur aap unse dosti karna chaahte hain, to aapko humare baare mein sochne ki zaroorat nahin hai"
"Mujhe wo sab pata hai Gauri... I am not asking you ki tumhe mere Ishaana se dosti karne se kya lagta hai... Main Ishaana ke baare mein tumhari raai jaanna chaahta hoon. Us se baat karke tumhe kaisa laga? Tum uske baare mein kya sochti ho?"
His wife was looking puzzled at this question so Omkara clarified
"Dekho Gauri... I trust your opinion. Tum logon mein aksar achai hi dekhti ho magar tumhare opinions ki main bahut kadar karta hoon. Mujhe kuch ajeeb si feeling hui aaj jab main Ishaana se mila. Is baare mein maine Shivaay se bhi baat ki. I want to know ki tumhe kya laga"
"Humein to kuch ajeeb nahin laga magar humne unse shaayad hi do minute baat kiya ho... Agar aapko kuch theek nahin lag raha to aapko kuch kehne ya karne ki zaroorat nahin hai. Is mein koi zabardasti nahin hai Omkaraji"
He nodded his head slightly, as if not fully satisfied with her answer
"Acha... agar aapko aisi kuch feeling hai jo aapko Ishaanaji ke saath comfortable nahin hone de rahi hai to theek hai. Hum aur jethji hain na... sab kuch sambhal lenge. Agar aapko thodi si bhi michmichi waali feeling, jaise Anika Di kehti hain... aai, to hum ya Anika di ya phir jethji unko aapse door kar denge."
Omkara still looked vaguely troubled so she decided to distract him just like he had a little while ago
"Waise aap humare hain... poori tarah se. Aur hum aapko aise hi uthaake kisi ke haath mein nahin saunp denge. Hum aapki patni hone ka haq aaj poori tarah se jataane waale hain"
That made him smile a bit and he turned to her with a challenging expression
"Wo kaise?"
"Aise..."
She leaned closer to him, slid a hand into his silky hair and caught his lips in a bruising kiss that had him clutching her to himself quite firmly when she pulled back almost a whole minute later. Satisfied that she still had the power to turn her husband into a dazed but happy mess, Gauri leaned back in his hold and smirked up at him
"Agar tum aise hi apna haq jataati rahi aaj party mein, to main apne actions ki guarantee nahin de sakta. Aur hum dono ko party jaldi hi chod kar wapis aana padega"
"To humne kab kahaa ki humein poori raat party mein guzaarni hai?"
With a smirk, Gauri got up and walked out of the room, leaving her husband with only her dress forms to shake his head at, grinning about his wife's antics.
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That's that for Chapter 8... Hope you guys liked it
Please don't forget to like and comment your ideas, thoughts and opinions on this chapter and any random things you wanna share with me, I always love hearing from you
As usual, any and all feedback will be turned into a protein shake for my soul...
Channel V Dil Dosti Dance
