"Omkaraji", she whispered. He smiled at her, feeling a thrill of pride at the way her eyes had widened and her breathing had quickened. His little wife's emotions were worn on her sleeve and times like these made him grateful for that fact. Slyly he rubbed the pad of his thumb over her knuckles and watched with delight as her breathing accelerated.
The thought flashed through his mind that it was well for her that her feelings were so transparent. The one time she had tried to conceal something from him, he had ended up questioning her very character. His mouth tightened.
"Omkaraji?"
It was a question this time-a hesitant, soft question and the tentativeness of it made his heart clench. A wife, his wife should be able to ask her husband whatever she wanted boldly and with confidence-not this, this unspoken fear...He swallowed.
"Gauri... ",he fumbled, trying desperately to find the words he needed. Unnoticed by him, the grip on his hand tightened reassuringly.
"Gauri- woh... what I did...what I said about you and your English teacher-woh- main", the words trailed off and he found himself hoping desperately that she would somehow understand what he was trying to say . He looked up only to meet her pale, serious face which was currently staring at him with an indecipherable look.
She wasn't saying anything. Guilt and disgust battled within him as he absorbed that. Somehow, a part of him had hoped that she would say it was okay, that she would forgive him for his unforgivable act, that she would comfort him and stand by him like she always had. But she wasn't saying anything, only staring at him with that grave, solemn look that both broke his heart and made his insides roil in shame at the same time.
"How?"
Her voice hadn't gone up in the slightest but there was an edge to it that didn't escape him. His face flushed at the unspoken rebuke but he held on tighter to the hand he held in his grasp.
"How could you think that of me?"
It was his turn to be silent. For one long moment he contemplated the green velvet on which the other half of his very being sat.
"I don't know", he said slowly, half formed thoughts finally organizing themselves into a stream of coherent words. He raised his head to look her squarely in the face.
"I hated you in the beginning", he continued reminiscently, pulling back the hand that had tried to free itself at his words. "I hated you even more because of how much you drew me towards you. Every time, every single time I believed the worst of you and every single time I hated myself all the more because I would find myself that much more desperate for you. I hated you for making me want you Gauri and that ...that made me search for ways to justify my hatred for you."
He stopped. She was silent and her face remained unsmiling but something in her expression, something that had made his heart ache, that something had disappeared.
"I hated you because you made me love you so much", he finally whispered, realizing as he said it that this was something he had known for a while now. Known but buried in the darkest recesses of his mind for he had lacked the courage to confront that realization. His mouth twisted in disgust again. Coward.
"Someday I will want to know all about why you felt that way."
Omkara lifted his head at his wife's words. She was smiling now, he realized with a sudden spurt of pleasure. A small, mischievous smile that made him want to do a whole lot of things to her-none of which was even remotely G rated.
"But today I want to talk to you about something entirely different", she finished, her smile broadening.
Om chuckled. "Such as?" he asked tenderly, lifting a hand to tuck a lock of her hair behind her ear. The ensuing blush only increased his feeling of weightlessness.
"Such as...did you know that I had a goat named Lakshmiji when I was a kid?"
He stared at her for one full minute before collapsing to the ground in a fit of laughter
"Omkarajiii", she grumbled, her lips caught between a pout and a smile as her husband rolled on the ground, apparently having a paroxysm of sorts.
"I'm s-sorry", he finally gasped out as he straightened himself. "But seriously Gauri, if anyone can provide an anti-climax to a situation then that's you, he declared", mopping his eyes.
She chose not to reply and instead stuck her tongue out at him causing him to let out another chuckle. With a wicked grin he suddenly pushed her to the side and deposited himself beside her, conveniently ignoring her surprised gasp. The next few minutes consisted of some deft manoeuvring on the part of Mr Omkara Singh Oberoi and horrified gasps courtesy of Mrs Omkara Singh Oberoi which finally ended in her being tucked securely against Mr Oberoi's body . A very safe, secure hold according to Mr Oberoi although Mrs Oberoi clearly had a different opinion.
"Omkarajiii", Gauri wailed, glaring at her evil husband who was currently smirking down at her.
"Gauriji?" Her husband was all politeness and courtesy, redefining the phrase butter wouldn't melt in his mouth'. She glared harder.
"Chodiye humein", she whispered, making another half-hearted attempt at escaping his hold. The effort was unfortunately pathetic enough to make him roll his eyes.
"Why?"
The home question had the effect of making Mrs Oberoi pause. The man had a point. Why should he let her go?
She looked up to find the aforesaid man watching her with a knowing look in his eyes. A look which made her heat up instantly. Swallowing, she raised one hand up slowly to gently touch his face.
"Tell me about Lakshmiji", he murmured, closing his eyes at the feel of her feather light touch on the smooth skin of his face. Half-unconsciously he bent his head into her touch.
"She was a very naughty pet", Gauri mumbled, her fingers growing bolder as the gentle barely-there touch turned into a soft caress. Om sighed in pleasure and she blushed as she felt his hands tighten behind her back.
"She would try and eat the devi-ki-chadars that mum and I made, Gauri continued, tracing the line of his jaw in fascination. A muscle jumped below her fingers causing her to bite back a smile.
Om opened his eyes lazily, mock glaring at her efforts to suppress her amusement. "She seems to have picked up some things from her mistress", he replied dryly causing her to giggle and hide her head in his chest.
"Let me guess-you were the perfect little boy", she retorted from the recesses of his shirt only to feel his body shaking with silent laughter. Hoping that he wouldn't notice, Gauri cuddled a little closer.
"I once ruined Shivaay's birthday party", Om confessed, his voice shaking with suppressed amusement. She frowned at that and lifted her head to look up at him.
"That doesn't sound like you", she said dubiously. His smile grew wider.
"I was 4 and it was Shivaay's 8th birthday party. The nanny had dragged me away from the party because it was my bedtime but I somehow managed to escape my pre-bed bath and ran into the party hall stark naked".
Gauri gave a shriek of laughter at the image of a four year old shaitan Omkaraji eagerly running into his brother's birthday party. What happened then?" she asked eagerly, ignoring the fact that her husband's face was now about two inches closer to her own than it had been a minute earlier.
Om grinned. "Obviously I was thoroughly laughed at. Every kid in the room was howling at the sight of me. I was just about to break into tears when Shivaay couldn't handle it anymore and proceeded to remove all his clothes to give me company."
Gauri couldn't help but coo at this example of brotherly love although the giggles kept coming. "You brothers", she said fondly. "I'll bet Choti Ma was furious."
"Ballistic is more like it", Om replied drily. "But then we Obros have always stuck together", he boasted, his face now dangerously close to hers. Gauri stilled, the urge to laugh fleeing as a different, more insistent compulsion took hold of her.
"Omkaraji", she whispered, conscious that her heart was now thudding uncomfortably fast.
"Hmmm?"
"Woh... baatein". His face was now so close that she could see the evening shadow on his cheeks in high definition.
"Baatein?" He brushed his cheek against hers and she sighed with pleasure at the feel of his rough stubble against her own soft skin.
"You said- you said you wanted to talk", she stammered, her head spinning at the sensations coursing through her. A touch was all it took to make her fall apart, she thought dazedly, leaning into his palm as it came up to caress her face.
Her words seemed to have somehow penetrated his consciousness because he sighed and lifted his head to look down at her in amused disappointment.
"Baatein", he agreed ruefully, the expression in his eyes somehow mimicking her own feelings at the loss of contact.
"And you might want to start talking Gauri because my mind is going down an entirely different direction", he continued lazily causing her to jump and turn crimson as his meaning sunk in.
"Omkaraji!"
A/N-I hope you enjoyed this 😊
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