"Just get out of my sight Gauri!"
"Par hum..."
"I said GET OUT"
"Ab aapne itna sab kuch keh diya hai to hum aur ek pal bhi aapke saamne nahin rahenge. Jab tak aap khud aake humein nahin bulaate, hum aapke saamne nahin aayenge." She said in a curiously calm and poised voice
And with that his wife walked out of their room and closed the door behind her quietly. Omkara might've felt better had she slammed it in anger or out of frustration. He knew he shouldn't have lost his temper at something so small and unnecessary, but he couldn't be bothered to be calm and polite tonight. For weeks, his reactions to her, his emotions connected to her and the insane need he felt to bind her to his side forever had severely tried his patience.
He'd been the peacemaker of their family, the one who brought everyone together, the one who calmed down his erratic brothers and made them see sense when necessary. But his behavior with Gauri had been the exact opposite since day one.
Since the day he met Gauri in Bareilly, he'd been everything that was rude, arrogant and bullheaded. He couldn't explain it, she brought out the worst in him... actually no... she managed to bring out his stronger emotions. He always reacted passionately to anything that concerned her, always with extreme emotions... extreme anger, extreme possessiveness and extreme prejudice.
Even after having cleared everything that was muddled up between them and giving their marriage another go, Omkara found it difficult to control his emotions around her. And the three months she had spent as his wife in OM had given Gauri back the necessary confidence and backbone to stand up to him and give it right back to him with interest. He knew that this was the real Gauri Kumari Sharma coming to the fore. The one he'd encountered in Bareilly for most part had been under highly emotional and unusual circumstances and the Gauri he'd been around in the beginning of the second go at their marriage after Chulbul's reveal, was still a guilty and apologetic version of this one.
But now that she had left her feelings of guilt and regret behind, Gauri had grown freer in her expression and speech, resulting in the Jhansi ki Rani version he saw before him now. To be honest, it felt a lot better to argue with someone who answered back instead of taking it all quietly, which might be what inherently made Anika and Shivaay's relationship tick. Shivaay never stopped needling Anika and she never backed down. Now it looked like this Oberoi brother had a sherni of his own.
Omkara knew he was not like his older brother when it came to matters of emotion and instinct, which was why it was so irritating that he wasn't able to work through whatever this was for such a long time. The unrest he was feeling, the roiling emotions and the plain feeling of loss now that Gauri wasn't in front of him needed to be worked out... it needed to be thought about, felt and internalized.
So Omkara did what he was best at doing. He pulled out a bag of clay, brought it to the right consistency he liked and started shaping it automatically while letting his mind work through all that he was feeling. Without conscious thought, his fingers started to shape the lump of clay into the face of a person... a woman to be exact. He pulled out every bit of emotion he was experiencing, every bit of confusion, every thought, every feeling and just let it out into the act of shaping the clay in front of him. Even as he watched his hands work in an almost detached manner, he could see the face taking shape. It was a close approximation of that of his wife. That had been happening a lot in the recent past.
Most of his work turned into forms of Gauri one way or another. The other day he'd started painting and ended up frustrated because he couldn't get right the exact shade of color for the pair of eyes that started back at him from the canvas. He'd then understood that he was frustrated because he'd been trying to paint Gauri's eyes without realizing it. That canvas was hidden behind a whole bunch of his old art in a corner now. And just two days previously, a piece that an old and important client of his had commissioned of a marble statue of a dancer, somehow curiously turned our resembling his wife. He'd asked his client for some more time and they'd graciously said that they would wait till he was happy with his work, but now Omkara wasn't sure if he could ever part with the sculpture that showed his wife dancing her heart out.
Knowing that he had to get her out of his system, he had started modelling with clay tonight, hoping that the repetitive and soothing process of shaping the lump of soft, giving clay into something would let him work things out, only to have this too turn into her face... and again he was frustrated. Not because he'd tried to paint, sculpt or model Gauri again, but because none of it had satisfied him. He had just not been able to bring any of his art to life when it came to her. To anyone else, they might look flawless and a beautiful depiction of Gauri but Omkara knew... he knew that he had failed to capture the spark, the personality and the zest for life she carried around that brightened her like a flame and drew him in like a reluctant moth.
As he sat with his hand smoothing over imaginary creases on the cold, clay forehead, evening had turned to night and before he knew it, the door to his bedroom opened with a slight sound. Immediately, a drop cloth found its way onto the clay model and he turned to face whoever had entered.
"Tum aaj dinner par nahin aaye to I thought kyun na hum dono saath mein yaheen par dinner karein"
Shivaay spoke as he walked up to the coffee table and set the tray down before turning to him.
Without a word, Omkara nodded, washed his hands and sat down next to his brother who was now looking at him searchingly.
"Woh... baaki sab ne kha liya?" Omkara asked, trying to sound nonchalant
"I think Bade papa wasn't home during dinner to mujhe unka pata nahin..."
Shivaay bit his cheek to stop from smiling as he saw his brother try to control the frown settling on his forehead. He knew that wasn't the person he'd been worried about
"Anika Gauri ke liye khana lekar gayi hai. Don't worry woh uska khayal rakh legi"
"Maine Gauri ke baare mein kab poocha? I am not worried about her"
"Tumhe poochne ki zaroorat nahin hai. Bada bhai hoon tumhara. I understand you a lot better than you understand yourself. Chalo abhi khaa lo phir baat karenge"
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Welp.. that was Chapter 1, This SS is already mostly written and will have quick and regular updates... I expect about 10 parts in all. Please, please comment your thoughts and ideas.. I would love love love to hear from you. As always, any and all feedback appreciated. 😊
