With that decision arrived at in the middle of the night, Omkara had since spent the morning thinking of ways to broach the topic with his not-yet-but-possibly-soon wife. And that was when he realized that she had been quietly and very efficiently avoiding him in the intervening couple of days. Now that he wanted to find her and talk things out with her, she either seemed to be nowhere in sight or right in the thick of things with her family members... almost as if she was using them as a shield between her and him.
Well... if she was Gauri Kumari Sharma... soon to hopefully be Gauri Omkara Singh Oberoi, then he'd been an Oberoi all his life. Whatever games she played, he could go one step better. Nodding to himself at the bare bones of a plan forming in his mind, Omkara quickly made his way to their room and pulled out a duffel bag for himself from the closet and randomly threw in a bunch of clothes and other necessities. Glancing to the side showed him where she'd stowed her perpetually packed bag and grabbing that along with his own, he quietly made his way to his car and stowed both bags in its trunk, all the while making a promise to himself that he would provide Gauri with the security she needed to make a home for herself with him, to make her feel that she belonged where she was, enough for her to make her own space in the room they shared.
Then, a short drive provided him with step two of plan GOSO. With a box of packed ingredients ready to be consumed at their will stacked away securely in the back seat, Omkara made his way back to Oberoi mansion, to get his penultimate step of the plan out of his way.
A couple of messages to his brothers had the three of them convening in Shivaay's room about five minutes later.
"What's up Om? Hum donon ko yahaan kyun bulaaya hai?"
"Haan O! Main apni pushups chhod ke aaya hoon... to jaldi bataao kya baat hai?"
"Ek minute... koi problem hai? Kya tum ne Gauri ke saath phir se jhagdaa kiya? Om... abhi bataa deta hoon tumhein ki agar tum ne Gauri se jhagdaa kiya hai to uska bhai hone ke naate main Gauri ke side pe hoon"
"O! Bulbul bhabhi ko kyun itna sathaa rahe ho? Dekh lena wo ek na ek din aap ko ek jhaap mein deewar se sataa dengi..."
"CHUP! Chup... ab ek word aur nahin. Both of you... express train ki tarah bhaagte hi jaa rahe ho! Let me speak guys... Maine tum donon ko yahaan is liye bulaaya hai because I need your help."
"To bolo na Om... We'll do everything we can. Tell us... what do you need?"
"Mujhe Gauri ko manaana hai...aur-"
"Bas! Itni si baat?! Ye to yoon ho jaayega. Aap meri baat suno-"
Rudy's enthusiastic plans were stopped mid-word by his older brother putting a hand over his mouth and forcibly shutting him up
"Shhh... Tum donon mein se koi nahin bolega. Sirf main bolunga. Tum donon bas sunoge. Just nod yes..."
At their obedient nods, Omkara continued
"I already have all the plans I need... Ab mujhe tum donon se bas thodi si cooperation chaahiye. Gauri has been avoiding me for the last couple of days aur mujhe us se baat karke hum donon ke beech ke misunderstandings ko door karna bohot zaroori hai."
At their fervent nods to that, he went on
"I need to take her out for a couple of days or so, so that she doesn't have other people to use as a barrier between the two of us. Also, she might open up more and react better if she knew that there was just the two of us. I don't want her worrying about the family and their feelings about our confrontation or any possible resolution. Gauri ko agar pata chala ki ghar waalon ko uski wajah se koi bhi takleef hui to wo unhein khush karne ke chakkar mein apni problems bhool jaayegi. I don't want to distract her with anything else until all the issues between us are resolved."
"What do you need from us Om?"
"Keep the family distracted and busy for a couple of days. Take care of everything here while I take care of things between me and Gauri. Also... abhi ke liye just find a way to send her out to my car... I'll handle everything after that. Best thing to do would be to tell her that I have to go out for something regarding Svetlana. Can I count on you guys?"
"Of course O! It's all for one and one for all... Hum yahaan sambhal lenge. Aap jaao aur bhabhi ko manaao. Aur haan... bina saari problems solve kiya waapis mat aana... samjhe?"
At Omkara's resolute nod, Rudra pulled both his brothers into a long hug, which both brothers instantly started squirming to get out of
"Rudy... moment nikal gaya. Ab chhod de..."
Shivaay clapped a supportive hand on his brother's shoulder
"Good Luck Om! I am sure ki tum donon saari problems solve kar loge. Believe in each other and that you are meant to be together. Okay? Aur haan... koi bhi problem ho, kuch bhi chaahiye, get in touch with me."
Nodding at Shivaay and quickly hugging both his brothers once more, Omkara almost ran out of the room while Shivaay and Rudy looked at each other and smiled at their brother's newfound enthusiasm and thanked whatever divine force had been responsible for bringing Gauri Kumari Sharma into their brother's life.
While Omkara went and got everything ready for the impromptu trip, Rudy was given the job of convincing his bulbul bhabhi that O was leaving for something to do with Svetlana and might need some help. Rudy stood grinning at his own awesomeness when he saw Gauri flat out running out to the carpark even before he'd finished his story about O and Svetlana.
Omkara's face broke out into a huge grin the second he spotted the Bareilly ki chiraiyya running toward his car... she never could resist a challenge. He hurriedly schooled his expression into something resembling a frown, which is what his face should've been like had there really been a development with the fake Svetlana case, and started his car.
Gauri had promptly forgotten her reasons to avoid her patidev at the mere mention of the words Svetlana and problem. Here she was, running to his car to make sure he didn't leave without her in tow and there he was, trying to be a hero and deal with this all by himself. Omkara had almost pulled out of the lot when Gauri stopped a few yards in front of his car, forcing him to brake in time. What she was unaware of, was the fact that he'd been expecting such shenanigans from her and was happily prepared for such an eventuality.
As she opened the passenger side door, which in itself should've set some alarm bells ringing in her mind, because Omkara never drove his car without locking the doors first, Gauri slid into the seat and put on her seat belt. She turned to her jatadhari with a challenging expression, all prepared to fight him on his decision to deal with the Svetlana problem alone. But all she received was a benign smile from him
"Oh... Tum bhi aa rahi ho? To theek hai... chalo"
With that he quickly drove the car out of the Oberoi mansion lot and they were off.
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