"Paris?"
"Huh?"
"Paris... the city of romance."
"Aap kya baat kar rahe hain humein samajh mein nahin aa raha"
Omkara chuckled at the cute clueless expression on her face and dropping a kiss on her nose continued
"Humare honeymoon ke liye... Paris jaana chaahogi?"
Gauri made sure he was looking at her when she shyly shook her head no.
"Agar aap bura na maanein to hum kuch kahein?"
"Tumhein aise poochne ki zaroorat nahin hai Gauri... jo bhi kehna hai, just say it"
"Aap ko to pata hai... hum abhi abhi aap logon ke saath English bolna seekh rahe hain. Agar aap bura na maanein to kya hum honeymoon ke liye koi aisi jageh jaa sakte hain jahaan humein aap par poori tarah se bojh banker nahin rehna padega?"
"Tum mujh par kabhi bojh nahin ban sakti Gauri... aur agar bani bhi to main itna kamzor nahin hoon ki tumhara bojh nahin utha paaoonga. But I understand where you're coming from... Theek hai. Mujhe kuch plans banane do. Tum jaake pack karo"
"Packing? Abhi?!"
"Haan... humein aaj nikalna hai to pack to karna padega na? Ya phir honeymoon pe kapde lane ka iraada hi nahin hai? Wo bhi accha plan hai Gauri!"
Gauri blushed furiously at his smirk and hit him on the shoulder playfully
"Hum aaj hi nikal rahe hain? Aisa kaise ho sakta hai? Ghar mein kisi ko bataaya bhi nahin... aise kasie jaa sakte hain?"
"Honeymoon ke liye jaa rahe hain Gauri... koi teerath yatra nahin hai jo ghar ke sab ko bataakar jaayein. Waise bhi, main Shivaay aur Rudy ko inform kar doonga. Don't worry... tum bas pack karo jaake"
Gauri walked up to the closet reluctantly, while Omkara walked out of the room with a phone in his ear and a slightly mischievous smirk lightening up his countenance.
Three hours, four phone calls and two and a half arguments later, Gauri's little strolley, his rolling duffel and her cavernous handbag that an entire galaxy could fit into, were packed and ready. Gauri was still miffed at not knowing where they were going but seeing her usually mature husband acting like an excited teenager at leaving her in suspense made her want to laugh and pull his cheeks, so she went with it, his excitement sort of rubbing off on her.
Omkara was busy moving their luggage to the front door where his car sat idling for them and Gauri was having some last minute conversation with her Shankarji when Om heard his Dadi's voice behind him
"Omkara?"
"Dadi?! Aap ghar par hi hain? Maine socha aap bhi mandir gayi hongi sab ke saath"
"Haan puttar... jaane to waali thi magar nikalte waqt teri Choti Maa phir se Jhanvi ko chidhaane lag gayi. Donon ke beech mein phir se tu-tu-main-main shuru ho gayi aur uski wajah se mera jaane ka man nahin kiya. To maine sab ko bhej diya mandir aur main ghar par hi reh gayi."
By the time she finished explaining to her grandson, her grand-daughter-in-law was also there, taking aashirwad from her.
"Jeeti raho puttar... sada suhagan raho"
"Dadi Maaji, hum ko bula liya hota... hum aap ke saath waqt bitaate aur aap ka timepass bhi ho jaata"
Kalyani Oberoi only smiled mischievously as she looked at her grandchildren.
"Are... tumhein kaise bulati puttar... Tumhein bula leti to ye mera Omkara akela nahin ho jaata? Aur tum donon ko to is poore hafte mein sirf aaj subeh ka time mila na ek doosre ke saath bitaane ke liye. Waise bol Omkara puttar... tu meri Gauri ko honeymoon pe kahaan le jaa raha hai?"
Kalyani had the unique pleasure of seeing her most mature grandson look at her in shock and then blush like a teenager. His wife next to him was faring no better, trying as she was to become a puddle of embarrassment, both of them looking anywhere but at her or each other.
"Wo... dadi... wo"
"Are! Wo, wo kya kar raha hai? Bataa na jaldi!"
He looked conflicted for a second but leaned forward and whispered something in her ears. Kalyani Oberoi acted suitably impressed at the secret pronouncement, making Gauri even more curious about their destination and plans.
"Waise Dadi... aap ko kaise pata chala?"
"Kya?"
"Wahi ki hum donon... honeymoon... wo... honeymoon pe jaa rahe hain?"
Kalyani Oberoi had seen her grandsons in many different emotional states, this one more than the others. She still remembered fondly of when he'd gotten high off of painkillers and professed love to a pink cushion for hours as he lay on her lap. She'd also seen him on the verge of breaking down because of his broken family and the influence of drugs. But the Omkara she saw in front of her now was a very different version of that man. He was much happier, much freer and acted his age instead of the prematurely old soul he'd become after his parents' marriage woes. Kalyani looked affectionately at the petite woman standing next to him, watching him with her love clear as day in her eyes, and knew that it was all due to her one way or another.
This girl had managed to bring her Omkara back to her and for that, Kalyani would always have a big soft corner for Gauri. Now as she looked at them standing next to each other, no hint of misunderstandings or anger between them, she sent up a prayer of thanks to her god and affectionately stroked both their cheeks.
"Are... tune bataaya nahin to kya? Tum ne soch liya ki dadi ko pata nahin chalega? Tumhari Dadi ko sab pata hai Omkara. Is ghar mein jo bhi hota hai, us sab ka khayaal main rakhti hoon. Mujhe tum donon ke baare mein bohot pehle se pata tha aur main samajh bhi gayi thi ki tum donon thoda waqt chaahte ho apne liye, isi liye maine tum logon se kuch poocha nahin. Rahi honeymoon waali baat to zaahir hai... suitcase hai, gaadi khadi hai aur tum donon ki nayi nayi shaadi hui hai... to aur kya ho sakta hai?"
"Sorry dadi... wo.. we just wanted some time to get ourselves comfortable with each other. Humara family se kuch chupaane ka koi iraada nahin tha"
"Maine tujhse kuch kaha? Ya kuch poocha?"
At Omkara's slow shaking of his head, she continued
"Ab chalo... dhyaan se drive karna. Aur Gauri ko chopper mein baithaane se pehle sab kuch theek se samjha dena. Aur Gauri... tu ne garam kapde liye hain na?"
"Ji Dadiji... Hum aap ko akela chhod ke kaise jaa sakte hain? Hum..."
"Chup... koi mujhe akele chhod kar nahin jaa raha. Poori staff hai yahaan... gharwaalon ke aane tak Khanna rakh lega mera khayal. Bohot samay se sab ke baare mein soch soch kar tum donon ne apni zindagi jeena chhod diya... abhi kuch dinon ke liye bas apne baare mein socho puttar."
With that she shooed the two of them into the waiting car and waved them away happily.
Later, when the rest of the family contingent returned, she'd murmured something non-committal about an art conference to Shivaay, who'd in turn, conveyed the news to whoever had asked about the missing middle brother and his wife, later.
For a week, almost no one doubted the reason for Omkara and Gauri's trip. But after having tried reaching their brother and being unable to, Shivaay and Rudra had started growing antsy. Their brother wasn't the kind to just up and leave for something without getting in touch with them. Of course, they did have a couple of messages from Omkara on their phone dated that Saturday morning that he was leaving for a workshop and taking Gauri with him... but till now, even when he was away on workshops or conferences, he'd call or at least take their calls. With no way to get in touch with him now, they just had to wait it out and hope that everything was okay with their brother.
They waited for any news from Omkara or Gauri for another whole week when frustrated with the silence, Shivaay traced the credit card payments on Om's card and found the last few payments to have been made at Kasol, near where he knew Om has his private retreat. Though very tempted to just drop in on his wayward brother and drag him back by his ear, Shivaay stopped himself from doing just that because he didn't want to make Gauri sad or angry with him.
So Shivaay called the landline of Omkara's house in Kasol and heard it ring almost the entire cycle without any reply. He was just about to give up on the idea of being able to reach his brother this way when he heard the phone being attended
"Hello?" came the quizzical voice of his absentee brother, who sounded quite distracted.
"Om! Tu-"
"Shivaay?! Tumhein kaise pata chal- Oh! I can't believe this Shivaay... you tagged my credit card?! What the heck dude?!"
"What the heck? Ye tum pooch rahe ho Om? I should be asking you this question! Tum almost do hafte pehle gaayab ho gaye. No phone calls, no information, not picking up even one of the hundreds of calls Rudra and I made to you! You sent us one damn message that said nothing other than that you and Gauri were going to some godforsaken art workshop. What the heck Om!"
"Calm down Shivaay..."
"Don't f**king tell me to calm down Omkara. I want answers and I want them now!"
Before Omkara could answer, another voice intruded upon the brewing argument.
"Shivaay bhaiyya! Who're you talking to? Kya O hai line pe? O! Kahaan ho aap? Main aur Shivaay aap ke wajah se kitne tension mein hain aap ko koi idea bhi hai? Main do din se gym nahin gaya hoon! Where are you O? Aur humare hazaaron messages aur phone calls ka jawaab kyun nahin diya? Bolo O... What is happening?"
"Rudy... tu bolne dega to main kuch boloonga na?" came Om's almost too calm voice from the other end
"Haan to theek hai, abhi bolo..."
"Okay... first things first. Shivaay jaanta hai magar Rudy tumhare liye keh raha hoon, main abhi Kasol waale retreat mein hoon. Tum donon yahaan aa chuke ho aur tumhein yaad hoga, yahaan koi cell service nahin hai. Isi liye tum donon ke messages aur calls ka jawaab nahin diya. Simply because I didn't receive any of them. Okay?"
There was a discontented silence from the other end and Omkara sighed. He couldn't even get a couple of weeks away without enduring a repeat of the Spanish Inquisition?
"And I let both of you know where I was going and that I was going to be gone for a couple of weeks. What's with the inquiry guys? Haven't I ever left for weeks on end before? Tab kabhi aise react nahin kiya tum donon ne."
"Tab tum humse almost roz baatein karte the... at least contact mein rehte the. Tab kabhi aise react karne ki wajah nahin di tum ne. We knew what was happening with you then Om... abhi do hafte ho gaye hain. We don't even know ki tum kahaan ho, kya kar rahe ho ya kaise ho."
"I'm not a child Shivaay... And I'm not alone here. I can take care of myself and I can definitely take care of Gauri"
His voice sounded smug and suspiciously like he was trying to control his laughter... something that confused the heck out of his brothers.
"Par-"
Om cut off his brother with a question of his own
"Shivaay... teri aur Anika ki shaadi ke baad, maine tujhse kabhi poocha ki tu kya kar raha hai, kahaan hai and all that?"
"Wo... no... I don't think so. But what does that have anything to do with this?"
With a long-suffering sigh, Omkara shook his head and gripped the phone a little tighter in frustration
"Nothing Shivaay... absolutely nothing at all"
The sarcasm in his tone was clear to both the brothers listening on the other end. Rudra was still quite clueless as to what was going on but Shivaay had a glimmer of understanding. That coupled with his previous smug comment about taking care of Gauri and things were starting to click in the Businessman of the Year brain. He quickly took his phone off speaker mode and started to ask a question
"Om, tu-"
Just then, there was the sound of a door opening from the other end of the call, and a soft voice speaking
'Om'
And the rest of the sounds coming from the other side were distorted after there was a loud clacking noise. Shivaay heard some hurried footsteps walking away from the phone, which he understood was on the floor now, he heard his brother's voice sounding gruffer and more hoarse than he'd ever heard before
'You know what the sight of you in black does to me...'
And a soft feminine voice that he'd identified as Gauri, answered.
'Why do you think I wore black then?'
This stunning pronouncement was followed by a light laugh from her and a happy squeal echoed the room five seconds later. Then blessedly, a door banged shut and he heard no more.
Heaving a sigh of relief at having been cut off from hearing more than he needed to, Shivaay dropped his phone down on the coffee table in front of him like it was on fire and stared at it contemplatively, trying to figure out if this relationship development had come out of the blue or if they'd all just missed it happening right in front of their eyes.
Rudra tried to ask his older brother about the confusing conversation a couple of times but having gotten nothing from the thoughtful Shivaay, he got tired of the subject. Knowing O was alright and with bulbul bhabhi had taken a load off his mind and he was happy with the amount of knowledge he had. What they were doing was nothing to do with him and he didn't care about anything other than their happiness. With no other thoughts about O or his other brother, Rudra finally went to his gym, intent on rebuilding the muscle mass he was sure he'd lost in the last couple of days.
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