"Tu is duniya ka sabse stupid person hai! How could you do this Om?"
"Haan O! Aap aisa kaise kar sakte ho!"
For once in his life, Omkara Singh Oberoi stood there and took it. He knew he deserved everything that was being thrown at him by his brothers. He'd fought with his chiraiyya over something that he didn't even remember now and she'd left the house in anger... once again.
Over the last year or so, this had become standard practice for them. Omkara would invariably f**k up in one way or another and Gauri would just up and leave for an hour or two till her temper was under control. Omkara might not have been an expert in relationships but he knew when and how to manaaofy his lovely wife. It was quite well known in the younger generation of the family to never disturb Om and Gauri when they were making up unless you wanted to be the target of their combined ire and suffer from blinded eyes in the process.
But this time, things had gotten a tad bit out of hand. The fight had been about something of passing importance and Om had already planned his repentance, but what should've been a normal two hour long tiff had now extended beyond a day and as the irresistible cherry on top of this disaster sundae, Gauri'd left the house.
This time, instead of coming back in an hour or so snuggled in her husband's arms, Gauri had left a letter that enlightened her highly emotional state and her decision to leave Mr. Dumbo Singh Oberoi for a while. And she hadn't really left a forwarding address. She hadn't taken a single item of clothing with her, not even her emergency bag that remained squished between extra comforters and his emergency bag at the bottom of the closet. Omkara couldn't understand how she'd managed to vanish without a trace, having simply walked out of Oberoi Mansion which was pretty much riddled with security cameras after one too many kidnapping attempts, successful kidnappings and of course, Anika's pregnancy.
"Accha hua Anika ko abhi tak pata nahin chala varna teri life ki koi guarantee nahin... wo tera O My Mata karke hi chhodti"
"Sach kaha aap ne bhaiyya... agar Anika bhabhi apne Bulbul bhabhi ko dhoondne lagengi to humari to tain tain phish ho jaayegi"
"You're right Rudy... main jaake use distract karne ki koshish karta hoon... Om! Fix this... fix this now"
With that Shivaay walked out of Omkara's room which had become a design studio, art studio cum bedroom over the last year or so. Having discovered her bahu's stellar design capabilities, Jhanvi Oberoi had persuaded Gauri to start working professionally at one of her friend's boutiques. Gauri was now one of the associate designers for Indian wear at AR, one of India's most famous fashion houses at their branch in Mumbai. Now, ArtistKara shared space with DesignerRi in his studio at home and in their bedroom where both of them liked to work while relaxing.
Now, looking at the controlled chaos that was Gauri's work area, spilling with fabric samples, her favorite pencils and a half a dozen sketchbooks in various stages of destruction, Omkara missed his wife so much he could feel it in his bones.
With a quick nod to his younger sibling, Omkara made his way to the security office at the other side of OM.
"Khanna... I need you to-"
But before he could complete his sentence, Khanna had cut in neatly with the exact information he needed
"Gauri Bhabhi is in Kasol sir"
That took him by surprise... Both the fact that she'd chosen to go to Kasol and that Khanna already knew exactly what he was there for. With a grateful nod to the often beleaguered security manager, Omkara walked out of the house, calling their pilot and informing her that he would need the chopper prepped and ready to make a trip to Kasol. On the way to the helipad where the chopper stood ready, he conference called his brothers to inform them that he was going to Kasol and might be a couple of days in coming back with his precious cargo.
With teasing best wishes ringing in his ears, Omkara climbed into the prepped chopper and within a minute, they were off to the lower Himalayas. It was a long flight, almost two hours long before he felt the helicopter descending... he pulled the earbuds out of his ears and stashed the sketch pad he'd pointlessly doodled on, his thoughts already full of his little chiraiyya. The chopper landed gently on the helipad adjacent to the property on which his house sat. Thanking the pilot, Omkara was out of the cabin even before the machine had fully settled on the pad.
Within a minute, he'd sprinted to the front door and in an impatient gesture, he fished for his keys, flung the door open and made his way quickly and quietly to his studio cum bedroom. With anticipation of finally seeing her again, Omkara snuck inside the massive room with a bed on one side and a huge art studio on the other, only to find it entirely empty of anyone, let alone the one tiny woman he'd been so expectant to see. Not only was there no Gauri, there were no signs of the room having been used recently.
His anxiety rising, Omkara quickly checked the remaining rooms she might've staked a claim on, only to come upon well-kept but obviously unused rooms all around the house. On the verge of losing it, Omkara ran into the hall
"Prakash kaka! Anand... kahan ho sab log?"
Hearing their boss yelling for them, the four caretakers of Omkara's house ran into the hall, surprised that he'd showed up like this, with no prior information... that too looking like he hadn't even packed anything and suddenly yelling up a storm in the middle of the house. While they were employed by Omkara Singh Oberoi, through the years they'd worked for him, the two couples had come to understand the young man pretty well and all of them could see that something was seriously bothering him at the moment
Prakash and his wife Nirmala were the year-round caretakers of the bungalow, with the younger Anand and his wife Nidhi, coming by to help around when necessary, especially during the winter months. Now, in October, all four of them had been in the kitchen, showing around the new boy who'd come to help, when they'd heard their usually calm and collected boss yelling for them.
"Are Omi baba! Aap yahaan? Aap ne to humein bataya nahin ki aap aa rahe hain... Bataya hota to hum aap ke liye saari taiyyaariyan kar ke rakhte"
"Sorry Prakash kaka... yahaan aane ka mera koi plan nahin tha abhi ke liye... ye trip actually ek emergency ki wajah se hai. Gauri yahaan aayi hai kya?"
"Nahin to! Humare bacchi ko dekhe to arsa ho gaya hai. Wo theek to hai na?"
"Sab kuch theek hai kaka... aap chinta mat karo. Maine socha ki Gauri shaayad yahaan aayi hogi. Koi baat nahin... mujhe kuch calls karne hain. Main wait kar raha hoon chopper ke refuel hone ke liye... Next time aane se pehle aap ko inform zaroor kar doonga."
"To theek hai baba... aap ke liye chai bhijwa doon tab tak?"
"Thanks kaka..."
With that Prakash and Anand walked back to the kitchen where they found Nirmala and Nidhi chatting excitedly with the new boy who'd started working with them just the previous day. He seemed like a good kid, dedicated to his work and always in good cheer.
"Nirmala... zara Omi baba ke liye chai bana do... wo baahar baithe hain"
Within ten minutes the piping hot tea was made and set on the tea service, ready to be taken out to Omkara when the new helper boy stopped Nirmala before she could step out of the kitchen. Even as the four of them looked at him with questions written on their faces, the young lad quickly broke a couple of glucose biscuits into the cup of tea and stirred it in with practiced ease.
"Ye kya kiya tu ne Chulbul?! Ye Omi baba ki chai thi! Ab phir se banaani padegi"
"Nahin nahin auntyji... hum jaante hai hum kya kar rahe hain. Aap ye waali chai Omkaraji ke liye le kar jaayiye"
"Aise kaise..."
"Hum bol rahe hain na? Kuch nahin hoga... aap ye chai un ke liye lekar jaayiye"
With a completely unconvinced expression on her face, Nirmala took the tea out to Omkara, waited for him to acknowledge her, gave him the cup and stood by waiting for his reaction. And he definitely didn't disappoint. He'd barely taken a sip when his eyebrows shot up, he looked at the cup like it was from Mars and without saying anything, he took another healthy sip. This time, his reaction was entirely different. His lips twisted into a knowing smile, his eyes filled with an emotion Nirmala really didn't want to define and his whole body relaxed into the chair. Quickly picking up his phone, he made a call
"Reyna... yeah. Change of plans... I will be staying here tonight. Take some rest... we'll fly out tomorrow. Thanks"
Turning to a nervous Nirmala, he asked
"Chai kisne banaayi hai aunty?"
"Wo... baba..."
Knowing that he'd sounded a bit abrupt, Omkara tried to tone it down with some flattery, which wasn't really untrue... the tea was good, in fact, it was quite perfect... just the way he'd come to like it.
"Bataayiye na... acchi hai"
"Wo chai to maine hi banaayi thi... magar..."
"Is mein glucose biscuit kis ne milaaya?"
She looked up at him, shocked that he'd known that
"Wo..."
"Koi naya aaya hai kya yahaan?"
"Wo... ek ladka aaya hai... bol raha tha ki sahabji ne humari madad karne ke liye use bheja hai. Us ke paas saare papers theek the to hum ne use rakh liya"
"Kal aaya?"
"Ji"
Without any warning, Omkara turned toward the kitchen and yelled
"CHULBUL?! Baahar aa!"
Inside the kitchen, the three regulars were astonished to see the new boy shake his head mulishly.
"Hum nahin jaayenge... Aap... aap un se keh dijiye ki hum nahin aa sakte"
Anand and Nidhi gaped at the cheek of the new kid while Prakash just shook his head and pointed at the door that led to the porch.
"Omi baba bula rahe hain to tujhe jaana hi padega"
"CHULBUL! I said come out here dammit!"
"Ab jaldi jaao... humare Omi bhaiyya ko zyaada gussa nahin aata magar jab aata hai, toofan ki tarah aata hai... To jaao jaldi nahin to wo gussa ho jaayenge" Anand advised the boy who was by now just fiddling with his cap
"Humein acche se pata hai us jatadhari ka gussa... hum nahin jaayenge. Keh diya nahin jaayenge to bas... nahin jaayenge un ke saamne"
The three caretakers looked at each other in astonishment before all of them decided they needed to act and fast. Grabbing the boy by his arms, all three of them pushed him out of the kitchen, right into the wrap around porch where Nirmala stood next to the surprisingly happy looking Omkara Singh Oberoi.
As the young boy stumbled onto the scene, all of them saw Omkara automatically get up from the couch. If they expected the boy to be nervous about seeing their boss angry at him, all four servants were destined to be disappointed on two counts. Neither was the boy anywhere near nervous and surprisingly, after all that yelling, nor did Omkara look angry. He looked happy if anything, which was already quite different from the way they expected this to go.
And just breaking the bank on surprises, they watched in astonishment as Omkara fairly ran to Chulbul and gathered the boy to himself in a tight hug. Even more astonishing, was the fact that the boy seemed to be struggling in Omkara's hold, hitting their boss with his tiny fists repeatedly
"Chodiye humein... Let me go dammit! Stop..."
"What the heck were you thinking! You didn't say anything to anybody... Aise koi karta hai? Do you know how everyone is worried sick about you? Your bade bhaiyya almost killed me today!"
Prakash and the rest of their audience spared a thought to the bade bhaiyya who could intimidate Omkara Singh Oberoi and almost dismissed the thought altogether before reconsidering when the drama unfolding in front of their eyes continued.
"Accha hua bade bhaiyya ne aap ki class ki... bhaujaai kaisi hain?"
"Oh... so you don't have time to worry about me but you're worried about Anika?"
"Of course... aap pregnant thodi ho?"
"Ok... acceptable. Ab um chalo mere saath. Let's go home"
"Nope... not happening Mr. Oberoi. I left for a reason..."
"I know... I'm so so sorry my love. I... believe me this won't ever happen again. I promise you that my darling. Tumhare bina ek din bhi nahin reh sakta... Please... aa jao ghar. You know I can't... just... please come home"
Omkara's voice broke toward the end, his eyes pleaded with Chulbul and the figure clad in its usual jeans hoodie combination could feel his frame wracked with tiny tremors. Gauri could understand just how emotionally fraught he was and just melted at the sad picture her distraught jatadhari made.
Nirmala, hearing her Omi baba call their new kitchen boy his love, almost fainted. Nidhi's face was just three O's. Prakash and Anand looked quite green around the gills. Prakash's anger, which was very slow to climb, was going to make an appearance. He could accept a lot of things but not anything that hurt his Gauri beta. If their Omi baba was even looking at anyone other than their Gauri, even if Omkara was their boss they wouldn't stand for it.
But before he could say or do anything, Chulbul, who'd been struggling in Omkara's embrace so far, stopped and sagged against him. His slim, boyish arms went around Om and in a trice, the two were hugging each other tightly, as if separating meant letting go permanently.
"The next time you lose your temper and say something like what you did yesterday, you won't find me so easily... got it?"
She smiled in affection as he pulled back from their hug to nod earnestly like a child at her. A slim hand came up to caress her jatadhari's face, reveling in the feel of his stubble under her fingers and her smile grew when she felt him sigh happily at the simple touch and felt his whole body relax against hers. His hand came up to thread with hers on his face, both of them sighing at the contact.
His eyes, which had closed automatically at her first touch, opened to stare lovingly into hers and Gauri looked right back, letting him see the amount of love hers held.
"I love you my chiraiyya"
"I love you too my jatadhari..."
Without wasting a second more, Omkara leaned down and fit his lips over hers, in a mind-numbing kiss.
They would've kissed for far longer had their haze not been abruptly disrupted by four outraged and scandalized gasps sounding nearby. In the rush of their emotional confrontation, Om and Gauri had both forgotten that they had an audience.
"Omi baba! Ye sab kya ho raha hai?! Ye ladka kaun hai? Aap iske saath kya kar rahe ho? Humari Gauri bitiya kahan hai?"
For the first time in a while, Om's entire face was suffused with a deep shade of red as he felt himself blush hard. His fingers entwined with Gauri's as he felt her squirming beside him, blushing as hard as, if not harder than, he was. While these two were blushing because they'd just made out in front of Prakash kaka, Nirmala aunty, Anand bhaiyya and Nidhi, the other four thought they were reacting to being caught out.
"Wo... wo actually..."
Again another first, Omkara seemed to be at a loss for words.
"Wo, wo kya kar rahe ho? Theek se batao humein ki ye ladka kaun hai? Aur aap ise kaise jaante ho? Aur aap to Gauri bitiya ko dhoondhte hue yahaan aaye the na? Wo kahaan hai? Uski koi parvaah nahin hai aap ko?"
Hearing the long time caretaker light into her husband for his supposed negligence and possible cheating, Gauri knew she had to smooth the situation over.
"Prakash kaka.."
But was stopped by his hand coming up to gesture her to stop
"Stop. I don't want to hear a word from you... I am talking to your boss. I will speak to you later"
Prakash kaka was obviously angry, if his clipped tone, the stony expression and his rigid stance was anything to go by. She didn't want her Om to unnecessarily take the misplaced ire of his loyal servants, who seemed a lot more loyal to her than him... smiling affectionately at the group she was faced by, she squeezed the fingers that were trapped in hers and stepped forward.
With a single gesture, she pulled off her glasses and the characteristic Chulbul wig, to let her long locks swing free and let them know just who she was.
As four pairs of eyes gaped at her, Omkara, who'd seemed to have become temporarily mute, regained his power of speech, only to take away everyone else's words.
"Is it okay with you guys if I make out with my wife now?"
With a cheeky grin and an arch expression, Omkara pulled Gauri to himself and wrapping a proprietary arm over her shoulder, casually walked up to the bedroom.
Turning before closing the doors in their still astounded faces, Omkara's voice sounded mischievous
"Prakash kaka... jab bhi aap is state se baahar aayenge, tab ke liya bata raha hoon... main aur Gauri yahaan par aaj ke liye rukenge. Magar please... feel free to go about your day as if we're not here. Humein kisi cheez ki zaroorat nahin padegi. What I need, I already have right here in my arms"
The doors to the bedroom slammed shut and remained so for the rest of the day... and fortunately for the four long term, super loyal servants, the bedroom was entirely soundproof.
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