Ishqbaaz FF: Consequences. Chapter 15 on Page 39 (02/08/17) - Page 6

Shivaay could not sleep.

Tia had called him a few hours ago. "I'll be out tonight. Just tell Pinky Aunty I'm at an overnight spa with my friend. It's lovely and I'll be sure to take her with me next time." Tia had never called Pinky "Ma", it seemed disingenuous to her to force such a personal relationship with Pinky when she could not even forge one with her son.

He had told her to have fun and hung up. He still had to check through the details of a contract before he went to sleep and didn't have time for distractions.

But now he was in bed, no distractions. And he could not sleep.

He hadn't felt like this in a long time, he didn't usually get into bed until he was completely exhausted and so was asleep almost before his head hit the pillow but tonight, there was a lump in his chest which kept rising up into his throat. He recognised it for what it was: Shivaay was not a man who expressed his emotions, but as he had once whispered to Anika in a dark room so long ago... that didn't mean he didn't feel them. Over time those unexpressed emotions built up and up until eventually, the pressure became too high and demanded an outlet.

That outlet had always been Omkara.

In the past two years, he had needed Omkara so often that it physically hurt not to have him there: Shivaay often felt odd pains in his chest, in his arm or shoulder, in his stomach and sometimes even got splitting headaches so terrible he could barely open his eyes. These were always preceded by an incident or event he wanted to share with Omkara. Tonight, his entire body was aching and his mind was spinning.

While with Omkara he had always been able to vent directly about exactly what was troubling him, out of necessity over the past two years Shivaay had learned to slowly siphon off his worries in a more roundabout way to Rudra. This kept him ticking over but as Rudra's response was to joke it off and move on, as opposed to Omkara who would bluntly tell Shivaay the harsh truth, it was never really the same.

And tonight, he had no one.

Feeling as though he was about to either scream or suffocate, Shivaay got out of bed and walked out of his room. He didn't know what to do.

For a man supposedly so strong he could hold up the weight of the entire Oberoi Name on his shoulders, Shivaay almost laughed at how pathetic he was now that his two main pillars of support had been knocked out from under him. He knew Rudra's trip was temporary, he knew it. But some small part of him was still terrified.

It was probably the same part of him that had 'known' two years ago that Omkara would come back after a few days of cooling off time...

Struck by a sudden idea, he walked towards a door he had not approached in months. He knocked, gently at first and then more firmly. A blind panic seized at him and he almost barged down the door in his hurry to open it.

Empty.

The room was empty.

Priyanka too was gone.

Shivaay stumbled backwards and clutched at the door for support, his knees feeling ready to buckle. He was alone. He was completely alone. They had all left him. Everyone had abandoned him.

He opened his mouth to let out the scream.

"Shivaay?"

He jumped as a firm hand was placed on his shoulder.

"Dad?" his heart still racing at the sudden shock, he turned to face his father.

"What are you doing in Priyanka's room?"

"Where is Priyanka?" he asked, ignoring the question.

"She decided to go to the same event Rudra and Soumya went to in London. We were all a bit surprised but since it's the first time she's wanted to leave the house in over a year, we thought we'd let her go."

"Alone?"

"Well just for the flight. Your uncle took her to the airport and she says she'll be meeting up with Rudra and Soumya as soon as she lands."

"Oh."

Silence stretched out between them as neither knew quite what to say to the other. "Come and talk for a while, son."

Shivaay could not remember the last time his father had ever wanted to just talk to him and so stared at him, confused, as he proceeded to walk through Priyanka's bedroom and open the sliding door to access her balcony. He took a seat on one of the wicker chairs outside, beckoning with his hand for Shivaay to join him.

"I know you'll probably disagree," he said, staring out across the dimly lit gardens of the Oberoi mansion, "but we're actually very alike."

Shivaay raised one perfectly arched eyebrow. "And what on earth gives you that idea? If anything I'm an almost carbon copy of Bade Papa."

Shakti smiled and wrapped his shawl more firmly around his shoulders. "I thought you might say that, and I agree, if I were you I'd probably choose him as my role model over someone like me: the reticent younger brother who most people think is only kept around because of nepotism. But that's not really true, is it?"

"Isn't it?"

"Do you think a man like your uncle would really keep me around if I didn't serve a purpose?"

Shivaay pondered that for a moment. No, Tej Singh Oberoi would have just as ruthlessly cut his own brother out of the business as he would any other ineffective employee.

"I play the long game, Shivaay. I let Tej be the public face of the company so I could work behind the scenes to strengthen the foundations and diversify our interests without the nonsense hand-shaking and arse-kissing Tej wasted most of his time doing until his own arse became big enough to be kissed in turn."

"I always thought that was Dada's dream?"

"Not quite. Your grandfather wanted to become the best in one field, have the Oberoi name become almost synonymous with it. I dreamt bigger. Why do you think I married your mother while Tej married the outwardly societally perfect, Jhanvi?"

Shivaay could not have been thrown more off-kilter had his father asked him to dress up in Priyanka's clothes and jump off the balcony.

"Fhat the wuck?"

"I fell in love with Pinky and I remain happily married to her today. No we don't have a Bollywood romance and I know that even you might look down on us... but Pinky is a wonderful woman who to date has never made me anything but happy. She supports me and she loves me and I love her. Whether we are happy or sad or angry or confused- we are there for each other. Perhaps that's not the passionate whirlwind you think love should be, but it is what enduring love truly is."

Shivaay was feeling acutely uncomfortable at the sudden turn in topic. "I er-"

"It means I don't have to wander around at 2 in the morning trying to find someone to talk to while my wife spends the night at a so-called 'spa'. Shivaay, I am going to ask you an important question and I want you to answer me honestly. Why didn't you pursue a relationship with Anika?"

"Wha-?"

"Was it because you thought it would upset me or your mother? No, we wouldn't have factored into it. You thought it would upset Tej and Jhanvi? I married Pinky because she understood me and I her, and I continue to benefit from that decision even today. Tej married Jhanvi because he thought everyone else would think of her as the perfect Oberoi Bride and it has brought the two of them endless misery."

Shivaay's jaw was hanging open. This was perhaps the longest and most candid conversation he had ever had with his father and absolutely none of it felt real. Perhaps he was dreaming? Maybe he had fallen asleep and this was just a bizarre dream?

"Or did you perhaps think that it would affect our business? Do you really have such little faith in me and your uncle? Such little understanding of our business? Why do you think I forced Tej to diversify into so many industries when he was happy to continue with the ideas of our father? Why do you think the vast majority of our business is in ground level resources and services, even when the returns would have been better if we perhaps moved further up the supply chain? Shivaay, my son, I have made Oberoi Industries as close to indestructible as it is possible for a company to be. Without us and without our products and services, entire industries could collapse. We can afford to take a few hits here and there because when we fall, we take so many others with us that they quickly get their act together to help us recover. We fall last and we rise first. That is what Oberois do."

"Dad I-"

"Your decision was selfish, Shivaay. You hurt Anika. You hurt Omkara. You continue to hurt yourself and every member of this household. You, just like me, play the long game. You thought that marrying Tia would work out in the long run, but it hasn't. You played the wrong move. And you lost. You marrying Tia didn't bring anybody happiness other than Tia's sociopath of a mother. Your own mother has been descending further and further into despair seeing your state and if you think for a moment that I appreciate that you've done this to my wife, you are grossly mistaken."

"I don't know what to do anymore, dad."

Shakti Singh Oberoi stood up and walked over to his son, placing a hand on his shoulder. "There's always a longer game being played, son. You just need to figure out how to buy in." As he turned to leave, he suddenly stopped and turned back to face Shivaay. "Might I suggest you start with Rudra's computer? Priyanka spent a considerable amount of time on it prior to packing her bags and booking herself on the next flight out."

As Shakti Singh Oberoi walked away, humming a tuneless song under his breath, Shivaay found himself completely stunned. Shivaay Singh Oberoi was not like his father, but it struck him that for the first time in his life, he wished that he could be.

Chapter Five- Fate & Choice

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I know, I know. Everyone wants to know more about AniKara and RuMya... but I just had an image of Shakti and Shivaay talking- really talking- to each other and, well, this happened. I hope you enjoyed the slight diversion, but on the plus side- it's going to get Shivaay to London. 😆