Loving Him Enough (One Shot - OBros)

Omkara

"Oh my darling, you're so hot. I'm head over heels in love with you baby boy!" Rudra flicked his hair as his reflection stared back at him with a sultry expression.

"Rudra? Are you talking to yourself, again?" I fiddled with a paint brush.

"No dear O, it is just me talking to that drop dead gorgeous guy standing right there!" He winked and pointed towards the mirror. My gods, this boy seriously thinks that he is some kind of a raw temptation.

"Rudra, I think that is enough for the next century! Can you at least pretend to be asexual towards yourself? Please?" Shivaay walked in with the grin of the Cheshire Cat.

Rudra pouted.

"Bhai, I do not have sexual feelings for myself!" He whined.

"Sure you don't." I snickered as Shivaay high-fived me and flopped down on the bed beside me. One thing that got me laughing like a hyena on her moon time, was when either of my brothers was being satirized by the other.

Rudra leaned against the door and dabbed a tissue at his artificial crocodile tears.

And as usual, his luck is a bright thing. At that very moment, someone decided to throw the doors open with rash strength. Had it not been for Rudra's fast reflexes, he would have been a trampled pancake on the floor.

All three of us looked up at the person who stood at the door, gaping. Her eyes were wide with horror as her short ringlets bounced.

"I am so sorry, I didn't mean to. I just, um, I just knocked and no one answered so I-UGH! I'm sorry!" She waved her hands defensively, her face contorting into at least twelve different expressions within this short span of a sentence.

Rudra simply stared at her in awe. Shivaay and I exchanged knowing glances.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

"Yes, about that. Miss Anika, this is the second time that I am here with my mother, taking care of her. My mother is the doctor who has been called in to treat her." She smiled lightly.

"You're pretty." Rudra cooed.

"I'm Somya." She giggled.

"I'm charmed." His eyes fluttered but the very next second he realized his slip-up and regained his composure to yell. "I mean, I'm Rudra!"

Shivaay coughed to cover up his laugh and I leaned into him. Rudra threw a weirdly funny yet dirty look our way. "Excuse them. They are in a bit of a frenzy!"

"Anyway, what was that about Anika?" Shivaay prodded, his aura turning two shades darker as if the mere thought about the woman distressed him.

"Oh yes, Mr. Oberoi, your wife-"

"She is not my wife!" He yapped with chagrin.

"I'm sorry, she was mumbling your name in her sleep so I thought-"

"You thought wrong! That middle-class woman with zero sense of embarrassment and no trace of gratefulness or remorse can never be my wife in a million lifetimes!" He snapped yet again.

"Shivaay, would you hold on for a second?" I placated. "Go on, Somya."

"No Om!" He rose to his feet in mortification.

"Shivaay!" I pulled him back down on the bed. "Let her talk!" My voice probably rose up a few notches which shut my furious elder brother up completely.

"Miss Anika is not letting us move further with the treatment, sir. We need to do an overall check-up because drowning is near-death experience. I appreciate that you saved her, Mr, Oberoi!" She looked at Shivaay apologetically. "But this might have affected her emotionally or mentally. Physically, she is pretty much unharmed but her defiance is costing us precious time." Somya voiced, professionally.

"Thank you, we will be there in a moment." I nodded and she left, catching a glimpse of Rudra one last time.

A few hours back, Anika had been a part of one of Tia's schemes, who believed that Anika and Shivaay's daily dose of spats was slowly taking a toll on Shivaay and he was drifting apart from her.

Though that was not the case. Anika had been drugged and unable to swim and since Shivaay felt what I'd probably call a speck of guilt for his 'Take Revenge' mode, had jumped in to save her. And guess what he was rewarded with? That's right, another one of those Shivaay-Anika's legendary fights!

"Shivaay, go and handle Anika." I ordered.

"WHAT?" He raged. "There is no way in hell that I'm begging that insolent woman to get herself treated."

"Oh, so you admit, you do beg, huh?" I raised an eyebrow and Rudra waved his hand dramatically, forecasting my death.

Shivaay on the other hand, was caught off-guard. "I don't! I am Shivaay Singh Oberoi and I don't beg, ever! But I know you Om, and I know your tricks too. Mind you, I won't fall for this one. I am not stepping into the room that impertinent friend of Priyanka's is in."

"Not even if it is your own bedroom?" It was pretty hard to suppress my smirk.

"No." Shivaay grit out.

"Oh damn, bhai, what will you do about this problem?" Rudra hummed, but before Shivaay could answer he jumped up. "Can I help you decorate your new room? We will do it pink this time, please? No one but you would love a pink bedroom done by me, in this house." He pouted.

"No!" Shivaay face-palmed. "That is my room and I am least interested in losing it to the hands of likes of her."

"I agree, you do like demons invading your room more than angels." Rudra smiled innocently and Shivaay gaped. "Yes, O did tell me about your fascination with demons and that is why you don't like Anika di in your room. Fair enough, Tia would grant you more demonic vibes as compared to di. Wow, logic!"

"Rudra!" Shivaay barked.

"And Anika is such an angel!" I beamed.

"Yes, prettiest. On second thought, maybe after Somya?" Rudra muttered, his eyebrows scrunching up.

"Shut up, you two! She is arrogant, foolish, her voice gets me riled up, her laugh fuels my temper and her stupid attempts at comebacks get on my nerves." Shivaay breathed out angrily. Rudra raised a hand, about to say something but Shivaay shrugged him off.

"No, you wait! Have you seen her wild mop of coifs, have you? They look she has never taken the pain to get her ass to a saloon and has chopped them off herself, with a f**king chainsaw. And her sense of dressing, don't even get me started on that. Not that I notice it, but she wears the same pair of denims for two days straight. I might as well have to personally toss her into the pool everyday just so she can change her clothes." He fumed.

"Pool?" Rudra squeaked.

"Yes, pool. You have no idea how it fires me up when she is standing there before me with an inane expression etched into her features. It is almost a nagging urge to do something, anythingto wipe it off her face. Her audacity, standing up to me and looking at me as if I am some pest bugging her all the time. She is the one who makes a grand appearance wherever I go, so why not return the favor?" Shivaay huffed haughtily.

"Shiv-"

"Not now Om, I have a war to win. I am getting my bedroom back no matter what the cost!" He bristled and stormed off.

"Wow that was something." Rudra blinked in wonder.

I nodded.

"What do you think bhai will do, O? Will he really toss her into the pool?" He inquired.

"Nah, Shivaay won't do that. He may not admit it, but he does care. And you know Shivaay, he never treats anyone that way. Not even the poorest of the poor." I smiled.

"Why are you smiling, O? It seems like bhai hates Anika di to the core." Rudra gloomed.

"No, Rudra. Shivaay does not hate her. People just misunderstand him. Throughout his life, he has been the strong one, the superior one, the one who works for things to go his way. And now, when he has met someone who defies all laws in the world of Shivaay Singh Oberoi, he is simmering." I acknowledged the predicament our eldest went through every passing second of the day.

"I don't get it. Why doesn't he ignore that?" Rudra sighed.

"It's not easy, Rudra. What if someone suddenly comes up to you and challenges what you have believed all your life? Would it be that easy to ignore or to change?"

Rudra sat down and contemplated.

"Like, stop believing that I'm the most handsome OBro?" Rudra asked with dread.

"Uh, yeah, whatever helps you sail your boat." I sweat-dropped. "That is what has Shivaay in a tight spot. Owing to what our father taught him about the business and the world, Shivaay believes that you can only be powerful when people bow down to you, that it is not wrong to get what you want no matter what is at stake, that it is important to keep others in line and it is faulty to express your emotions." I exhaled.

"This dysfunctional Oberoi family has moulded Shivaay into an imperfect perfection. Shivaay is a picture which can be viewed from two angles. One, the heartless, cruel, sharp-edged business tycoon with no regrets. And second, the unfailing, carefree, Shivaay who loves his family regardless of the fact that it is just a cluster of few broken people held together by the family name, Oberoi." I patted Rudra's back.

"Don't you see, Rudra? He has picked up everyone's pieces and turned them into a foothold, to keep them steady, that is our Shivaay. From choti mom's money-grubbing to chote dad's indifference. From mom's stoic composure to dad's hunger for power. From dadi's sedulousness to Priyanka's subtle ways at displaying affection, Shivaay has taken it all in. The world is a terrible place, Rudra, you'll learn it with time. It demands things you can't offer. And there comes a point when we simply shatter."

Rudra's eyes moistened and I held him in a comforting hug.

"Shivaay has yet to face that day. The world demands him to put twenty years of insecurities and beliefs behind him, in the past, because supposedly, that is where it belongs. The people want him to change everything that has shaped him up to be Shivaay Singh Oberoi just because they dreamed about him as a picture the world would idealize, not caring about what turned him into what he is today. The perfect Shivaay Singh Oberoi, who has never heard of the word 'flaws'. That is what the world demands, Rudra. Shivaay's transformation into a paragon." My heart broke, telling him all that I had secretly locked away all these years.

"They judge him. They hate him." Rudra shed silent tears.

"I know." I hugged him tighter.

"So, let's protect him, O. Let us tell the world how wrong they are about bhai. Come on, O, let us shield bhai from all this nonsense the world throws at him." Rudra growled. "But how? How will we do it, O?" He sounded defeated.

"There is only one way, Rudra. Shivaay doesn't love himself, he too judges, he too hates, so let's love him like he loves us. I know, it will never be enough, but we can love for all three of us, right?" I whispered.

"Yes. For all that the world is worth." Rudra smiled.

Author's Note: - Well, you have it there. What, as a writer who prides herself for studying characters really well, thinks about the mystery, Shivaay Singh Oberoi. Feel free to disagree, but please PM me in case you wish to bash me. I don't want my One Shot to turn into a place for argument. That is a sincere request.

XOXO
~Red