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Chapter Two
Shivaay Singh Oberoi, better known as SSO in the ruthless world of business, walked past the table where he saw Gauri Sharma staring into space while tapping her fingers on a stack of papers she was yet to work on. Shivaay had already heard from Annika all about how nervous Gauri was, owing to the first day of Chhaya's school. To top it all, Annika had excitedly told him how she could literally see sparks flying between her friend Gauri and his brother Omkara. Shivaay had refrained from rolling his eyes at the exaggeration made by his fiance. While at times he found her drama utterly cute, there were certain times he had to force himself to not react, lest she felt offended and he had to spend hours trying to pacify her.
Shivaay kept looking at a lost-in-thought Gauri, in an attempt to read her mind in vain. He had known that Gauri was once married, and that the only good thing that came out of that marriage was her little daughter- Chhaya. That was all that Annika had told him, refusing to say anything else about Gauri. And that part worried him a bit. Why was Gauri such a mystery, so hard to comprehend? And that was exactly why he had disliked Annika's idea of, in her own wacky language, setting up Gauri and Omkara on a random blind date. Not that Shivaay disliked Gauri in any way, for he had seen not just how efficient, dedicated and accurate she was in her work; she was loved by all the staff members due to her soft nature and her sincerity; he had also seen how much she doted on Chhaya as well as Annika. Yet, even if Annika was her best friend, not once had she ever taken advantage of the fact that her best friend was her boss- SSO's fiance. So SSO had nothing but only appreciation for Gauri Sharma. But, on the other hand as per Annika's idea, he was quite apprehensive of introducing his brother to a divorcee. His handsome artist-of-a-brother could have thousands of younger, prettier and unmarried girls lined up for him; so why a divorcee? It wasn't very practical now, was it?
Presently, clearing his throat, he drew Gauri's attention, who quickly and nervously stood up. "Good afternoon, Boss" she mumbled. Shivaay, who was already aware of how worried she was about Chhaya's first day of school, knew better to be gentle with her. After all, SSO was also human who had emotions and empathy, unlike how some chose to believe. "So, today is Chhaya's first day, I heard." Gauri nodded, looking at the stack of papers on her desk. Taking a deep breath, she said, "I know I am sort of over-reacting, Boss, but it's just that Chhaya hasn't gone anywhere without me." Shivaay chuckled, making her look at him, "I understand what you're trying to say. But trust me, she's in good hands. Omkara is good with kids. I'm sure Chhaya wouldn't even notice that you aren't around.
Gauri felt slightly uncomfortable at the thought of Chhaya forgetting about her. But wasn't it for the good? Surely she did not want Chhaya crying the whole day. However, refusing to comment anything, she just smiled. Then, a moment later she said, "I'll finish this paperwork by tomorrow morning, and hand it over to Mr. Mishra before time." When Shivaay nodded and was about to walk away, she spoke again, "Boss, may i leave an hour early form work? Chhaya needs to be picked up..." Shivaay nodded with a small smile and walked back to his cabin, leaving her to continue doing her work.
***
Gauri looked at her wrist watch and cursed her fate. A large group of people were protesting on the streets against some political issue, causing a massive traffic jam. Even the rickshaw driver made annoying faces at Gauri for having to travel in the midst of this block, and Gauri only prayed that she would reach school before Chhaya would panic on not seeing her there to pick her up. Things only worsened when the driver refused to move ahead through the block despite her pleas, thus making her walk for almost four kilometres.
Huffing and puffing for breath, by the time Gauri reached the school, almost all the children had left. Tears welled up in her eyes at the feeling of dread and guilt of how only she was delayed to pick her little girl up. Even the security guard shook his head, almost silently accusing her of being an irresponsible parent towards her only daughter. She put her head down in silence and walked into the premises of the school. Being with Annika here in the morning had helped her since she did not have to ask the directions to Chhaya's classroom, and for this small mercy, Gauri was extremely thankful.
Although the moment she reached the classroom, she panicked on seeing the locked door. She turned to her left, and then to her right. All the classrooms were locked and she found herself standing alone in the quiet passage of the empty corridor. Within seconds, she ran out of the building towards the guard at the gate and asked him if he saw Chhaya around, showing him her picture in her phone. The guard shrugged, "Madam, how can I remember every child's face? When you cannot handle your own child, how am I supposed to know the whereabouts of every child? There are more than one thousand children in this campus. Ab main kis kis ka chehra yaad rakhoon?" Gauri bit her lip as to hold back her sobs. Tears now streamed down her cheek in worry. Where was Chhaya?
***
Fifteen minutes later, a sweat-drenched, tear stricken Gauri found Chhaya under the huge Mango Tree, behind the school building. And she wasn't alone. Her Teacher, and SSO's brother, Omkara Singh Oberoi kept her company. Chhaya hadn't even noticed Gauri standing there and watching her, because she was so focused on something that Omkara Sir was saying to her. The first thing that Gauri did when she found her daughter was to close her eyes and look up at the sky, thanking the Almighty for keeping Chhaya safe. Life had already been cruel to her, and she knew she would not survive if, heaven-forbid, something were to happen to her little girl. "Chhaya..." Gauri called out to her in a shaky and parched voice, causing both, Chhaya and Omkara, to look up at the worried woman standing there.
"Mamma..." Chhaya exclaimed and jumped from the parapet where Omkara had made her sit a while ago. Gauri knelt down as Chhaya ran into her arms, giggling. For the very first time, Gauri was happy as well as sad; Happy because Chhaya wasn't upset or mad at her because she was late; And Sad because, well, it looked like she didn't miss Gauri a lot. Just as SSO had mentioned earlier. Pulling out of the hug, Gauri cupped her little girl's face and kissed her forehead. "I'm so sorry, Chhaya. Mamma left early from office, but was stuck in a traffic jam..." "It's okay, Mamma. I wasn't scared. Omi Sir was here with me..." Chhaya said and pointed at Omkara, who watched the Mother-Daughter duo from a distance with a heart-warming smile.
Acutely conscious of his presence, and embarrassed that she was late to pick her only child on the first day of her school, where the class teacher had to keep her company, Gauri stood up slowly while thinking of explaining the situation to him. "I did try to leave early from work, but..." Omkara held his hand up, asking her to stop justifying herself, "I know. Working with my brother can be very challenging at times." he said with an amused grin. Gauri smiled as the image of a board-room meeting with a grumpy Shivaay throwing files around flashed in her mind, "It isn't that bad as everyone assumes. He's an honest and a hard-working man, and..."
Gauri stopped talking when another thought crossed her mind. "How did you know I was working with SSO... I mean, Shivaay?" Omkara chuckled, "If you didn't figure it out yet, I'd say you underestimate Shivaay too much." When Gauri raised a brow, Omkara nodded. "Shivaay told me to give special attention to Chhaya because she is her Annika Maasi's favourite girl. And you can only guess who made Shivaay do that..." Annika! While Gauri appreciated Shivaay and Annika's gesture, she definitely did not want Chhaya to be favoured just because of Shivaay's recommendation. Almost reading her thought, Omkara said, "But Chhaya would anyway be my favourite one in the class even if it weren't for Shivaay." Pausing for a moment, he looked at the little girl who was busy savouring a chocolate. Then looking at Gauri, he said, "Chhaya is a very well-behaved girl, Ma'am. I must admit, she is way matured for her age. You and your husband have done a great job raising her to be this wonderful child that she is."
Gauri's smile dimmed a bit as the word husband' struck her ears. "I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?" She looked up to see Omkara looking at her intently, trying to read the emotions in her eyes. She shook her head, "Actually, I'm a single parent. Chhaya's father... He's no more. He passed away when she wasn't even born." To say that Omkara was taken aback would be an understatement. However, masking the sudden impact of what she just told him, he nodded in sympathy, "I'm sorry."
Gauri herself was surprised when she had offered an explanation about Chhaya's father. It wasn't like her to keep telling everyone that he was dead. Many, before Omkara Singh Oberoi, had also mentioned and asked about Chhaya's father; but never had she offered an insight into his role in her life. He was dead. he had no role in their lives. It was now that the man's image crossed her mind; a blurry image, whose face wasn't even clear to her anymore, except for his dark devilish eyes. She felt goose bumps all over her skin at his memory. It had been a really long time since she hadn't thought about him who fathered her child. Thinking about the hell he made her go through, she did not even feel sorry for his death. After all that he had made her go through, death was an easy punishment for him. The mere mention about him had made her feel the dull pain all over again.
"Miss Sharma?" Omkara's voice drew her out of her thoughts and she looked up at him, only to realise that the man in front of her was quite a handsome one. His sharp nose, his deep mahogany-hued iris with flecks of gold in it, his lips stretched into a smile that would easily sweep girls off their feet, his thick wavy shoulder-length mane, and that tiny scar across his eyebrow which was probably a result of a thrilling childhood adventure. Gauri hadn't noticed a man up this close in a very, very long time. In fact, the only man that she had ever gotten physical with was Chhaya's father. But Omkara Singh Oberoi sure seemed like a dish worth staring unabashedly at. His tall frame, broad shoulders and a balanced physique only added as a bonus to this complete package of a man. "Gauri what is wrong with you? Ogling at your daughter's teacher now, are we?" her mind argued with her.
"Miss Sharma?" She heard him say again, this time with a mildly amused smile. "Thank you." She heard herself suddenly say in the most genuine and grateful tone. When he raised a brow, she said, "For being with Chhaya and keeping her company. This is the first time she's been away from me for such a long time. Had it not been for the traffic jam, I'd have reached quite early." Omkara nodded, "You needn't thank me, Miss Sharma. I was only doing what any teacher would've done. Our students' safety is our priority. And moreover, I loved spending time with this little one." He bent down a little, and pinched Chhaya's cheek, who looked up at him and gave him a grin with a slight tilt of her head. "She's adorable!" Omkara exclaimed, and Gauri just smiled at the compliment her Chhaya just recieved. "Thank you Omi Sir..." Chhaya said when Gauri nudged her a bit.
"We need to get going now..." Gauri said a moment later, picking up Chhaya's bag and water bottle. Omkara nodded and patted Chhaya's cheek, who happily waved at him. As Gauri nodded with a small smile, and turned around, Omkara called out to her. When Gauri looked back, he cleared his throat and said, "If it's alright with you, I can drop you both home." Gauri shook her head and politely said, "Thank you, Sir, but we'll take a rickshaw" to which he simply nodded.
Omkara pursed his lips into a small smile, as he watched the two of them walk out of the school premises. The little one was saying something excitedly to her mother, and the mother nodded with a smile, listening to each little thing that the daughter spoke. As the two of them boarded the rickshaw, Chhaya turned around and waved out, "Byeee Omiii Sirrr..." she yelled out from the vehicle, causing Omkara to chuckle and wave back at her. Then, his eyes met Gauri's as she peeped out. Looking at his hand still waving out, she hesitatingly waved at him, "Bye, Omkara Sir," she whispered. He waved back at her with a soft smile, and as if understanding what she just mumbled to herself, he said, "Bye, Miss Sharma..."
***
So i finally revived this story. Apologies that I closed down "Irresistible Forces" as it was painful for me to write more on it. Plus the absence of Rikara from the show also demotivated me.
This story is more light-hearted and simple. I hope you do enjoy it,
Buddy me for PM's.
Cricket
Anupamaa
