It was about an hour before Shivaay reached the mansion. "Om? Kisine Om ko dekha hai?" he shouted as he approached the worried family members who were waiting in the hall. "Billu, yeh kya..." Dadi made a move towards him but he backed away. "Dadi, abhi nahi. First tell me is Om here?" Everyone looked at each other in confusion. "No...no bhaiyya, O yaha nahi aaya," Rudra was the one to reply. "Yaha nahi aaya? Phir kaha gaya yeh ladka?!" an agitated Shivaay muttered to himself as he dashed through the corridor towards Om's room. No one. He looked around the house, in the other rooms. He asked Rudra to call up the art hub and Om's gallery but the search was futile. No one knew where the boy had disappeared.
Finally Shivaay burst into his own room. "Annika, tumne Om ko..." he stopped short as he noticed the room was empty. While dealing with the day's events he had almost forgotten about her and what she had said in the morning. Now it all came back, and a crushing sense of loneliness almost knocked the air out of his lungs.
She had left.
As he staggered into the room, his mind suddenly numb, he saw the small piece of paper that sat on the centre of his bed. For reasons unknown to him, he felt scared to see what it was. But he had to find out. So he picked up the neatly folded paper. It was a small note, just one line scrawled hurriedly across the page in a child's handwriting. "Aap apna ek bhi promise nahi rakh paye, Mr. SSO."
Just one line. 8 words. And yet it was so powerful that the mighty Shivaay Singh Oberoi sank to his knees as the events of the day came tumbling down on him, hitting him with greater force one after the other, like the waves crashing on the shore on a tumultuous stormy night. Sahil was right, he had failed terribly. He dug his nails into his own palms, as he remembered with dismay every promise that he had made to all the persons in his life. All his words had come undone and there was nothing he could do about it.
Shivaay Singh Oberoi will always protect his family name, he had said. And yet his family reputation was probably being taken a shot at on every popular television channel right now.
Shivaay Singh Oberoi will always protect his brothers, he had said. And yet he did not even know where his Omkara was right now, let alone protect him from what could be the biggest blow of his life.
Shivaay Singh Oberoi will never let Annika go anywhere, he had said. And yet, today he was standing alone in their room.
Shivaay Singh Oberoi will make everything all right, always, he had said. And yet things were wildly spinning out of control and he had no idea how to deal with the mess he had made.
Yes it was his mess, he realised with a jolt. All of this was his fault! Now how ironical was that! He wanted to laugh but his lips wouldn't move. He had started all this. If he had just stayed away from Tia, listened to his brothers, listened to Annika, if he had not staged his wedding with Tia in front of the whole world there would be no divorce today and none of this would have happened. All the mistakes he had made, all the wrong decisions he had taken were starting to weigh down on him, and for the time in his life he felt tired. He felt weak. And he felt shame.
"You are a disgrace to the family, Shivaay Singh Oberoi!" he thought to himself. "You're a disgrace to every person who has known or loved you."
There was a distant knock on the door. Shivaay barely acknowledged it. He wanted to disappear into thin air; he did not want anybody to see him ever again. There was a knock again and he wanted to tell the person to go away but somehow his body had turned to stone and he could not gather enough air into his lungs to put his feelings to words, nor could he move his lips. He was trapped inside his own head, being pelted upon by his own emotions - his soul wounded and fallen and all he wanted was to crouch in the darkness and bear his punishment. This was what he deserved.
"Shivaay?" a voice called.
His eyes flickered back to life as the voice made its way through the haze and registered itself into the depths of his mind. He looked up with all the strength left in his body and saw the smile on the face of the person standing opposite him, which was fading away as he tried to comprehend the look on his brother's face.
"Om? Tu yaha?" he barely managed to whisper, still fighting the numbness, wondering if he was dreaming.
He moved in. "Shivaay tu theek hain?" He spoke with concern.
Shivaay could not understand what was going on. But Om was here. Safe. And he seemed stable enough. That was all it mattered. Relief coursed though his veins and he could feel his systems going back to their normal functions again. He could breathe, move his lips, his limbs. He cleared his throat, stood up and embraced Omkara into a tight hug. He was surprised but he hugged back with equal force. When they pulled back, Shivaay had tears in his eyes.
"Om, mujhe laga tha maine tujhe kho diya hai! Kaha chala gaya that tu?" he caressed his brother's face. "You know main kitna pareshan hogaya tha. Tu theek toh hain na?" he asked, his voice heavy.
Om smiled. "Ha Shivaay, main theek hu."
"But woh video..." Shivaay trailed off, wondering if Mrs. Kapoor had lied to him afterall.
"I know. It was a big shock for me Shivaay." Shivaay was still confused about Om's reaction. So he had seen the video? But then why was he smiling?
"Wait a minute! How did you know about the video?" Om asked, perplexed.
"Woh Mrs. Kapoor ne mujhe bataya tha na, I was there when she recorded it!" Shivaay blurted out and regretted it immediately. Om narrowed his eyes. "You knew about this? And you still didn't tell me?" He asked.
"Woh...woh," Shivaay fumbled for answers.
"Kab pata chala tujhe Shivaay? Why didn't you tell me?" He paused. "Were you...were you ashamed of the truth? Were you ashamed of me?"
"No! No, Om. Don't even think about that. Aisa kuch nahi hai!" Shivaay spoke hurriedly, patting his brother's head. "I just wanted to protect you, believe me. Mujhe inn sab se koi fark nahi padhta. Tu mera bhai hai. My Om. Chahe jo bhi hojaye, nothing is ever gonna change between us. Ever!" He said firmly.
"But why Shivaay? Tere liye toh yeh naam, khoon, khandan bohot matter karta hai na? Fir?" Om asked.
Shivaay paused for a minute before answering. "Mere liye ab un cheezon ka koi matlab nahi Om. Aur hota bhi toh main tere baare mein waise kabhi soch bhi nahi sakta. Because...because when you love someone, when you love someone a lot, like I love you, nothing else matters," he said finally. Om looked at him in surprise. Life has taught his brother so much, he really was changing!
Shivaay saw the sparkle in Om's eyes and felt a weak smile spread across his own face as well. He patted his brother on the shoulder. "Tune woh video dekha? Tu theek toh hain na?" he asked again.
"Theek nahi tha, par abhi hu. Actually that's why I came here, I wanted to thank Annika bhabhi for what she said to me earlier," he said, looking around. "Par woh hain kaha?"
Shivaay was perplexed. Annika? "Ek minute. Annika ko thanks? Kyun? In sab mein woh kaha se agayi Om?" he asked.
"Annika ne mujhe woh bataya jo shayad main pehle se jaanta tha, par samajhna nahi chahta tha," Om spoke. "When I left the farmhouse today I was confused about the video, itna kuch ek sath ho raha tha ki samajh mein nahi aaya kya karu. I left the room and started walking, I was so angry that I did not know where I was going. I was watching the video again to be sure that I had understood it properly when I crashed into Annika bhabhi."
Shivaay raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Annika? Waha?"
Om nodded solemnly. "She read the expression on my face and immediately knew something was wrong. Woh baar baar mujhse puch rahi thi ki andar sab theek toh hai. I did not know what to say. I just wanted to run away. When I didn't reply she bent down to pick up the phone which had fallen down as we crashed with each other but the video was playing and she saw the whole thing."
"Unhone mujhse pucha kya yeh sach hai? Maine bola I didn't know, but it could be. She asked me what I was going to do about it. I said I didn't know. Mujhe kuch samajh mein nahi aa raha tha.
She asked me if I was angry. I said yes. She asked who I was angry at. I said I didn't know.
Maine unhe bola ki mujhe jaane de. She asked me ki agar tu waha hota toh kya tu muhe akele yuhi kahi jaane deta?"
So characteristic of Annika, Shivaay thought. She had her way of trapping people in her words.
"Main kuch bol nhi paa raha tha. Maine bola main sabse door jaana chahta hu. Bhabhi hasne lagi." Om continued as Shivaay listened with an expression of incredulity on his face. "Ha aise hi, mera reaction bhi bilkul same tha," He laughed. "She told me koi apni family se door bhaag sakta hai kya? Maine bola kaunsi family. She said wohi family, jaha meri mom hai jo mujhse apni jaan se bhi zada pyaar karti hai, jaha meri dadi har raat ko mere liye dua karti hai, jaha mere bhai har roz meri pareshaniyan baant te hai. Main kuch nahi bol paaya. Bhabhi ki baatein thi bohot simple si, par unhone mujhe yeh ehsaas karaya ki tumlog mere liye kya ho and main kis cheez se door hone jaa raha tha. Maine bola main yeh sab deserve nahi karta, toh unhone mujhse yeh pucha ki jo main karne jaa raha tha kya woh tum sab deserve karte ho? Mere paas koi jawab nahi tha."
"She told me how lucky I was to have such a loving mom, even though she was not my real mother. She said that is what made our relationship even more beautiful, and that I had two choices. I could leave everything that was mine or I could respect what life had given me. I said I needed some time, and I left her to go for a walk on the beech. I choose my family Shivaay. I choose happiness. You all are too precious to me," Om said, hugging Shivaay again.
"Aaplog firse mere bina hi apna OBro moment kar rahe ho?" Rudra stood pouting near the door. They pulled back and Om started laughing. "Chal aaja, nautanki kahika," he said. The three of them shared a hug for the next minute.
"But Om it's not over yet. Mrs. Kapoor told me earlier that she'd release this video to the media too. Maybe she hasn't done it yet, but what if she does?" Shivaay was still worried about his brother.
"Then it'll be my problem Shivaay, and I'll deal with it. I'm strong enough, and I have you guys," he replied back promptly.
"I wish ki mujhe bahar walon se yeh baat nahi pata chalti," he added wistfully. "Par jo hona tha woh toh hogaya."
Shivaay nodded. "But what was Annika doing there?" He asked, still confused. Om reached into his own pocket and pulled out Shivaay's phone. "She said that you left it at home today." he passed it to Shivaay, "Humlog baaton mein itna ulajh gaye the ki I completely forgot about this."
Shivaay touched the phone and for some reason unknown to him, his hands trembled as he thought about what could have happened if Annika had not been there for Om.
"I'm sorry Om. For not being there for you. You needed me at that time and I was stuck in my own stupid problems..." His voice trailed off heavily. Om shook his head.
"Bhaiyaa aapne woh kahawat suni hai? That since God could not be everywhere so he created mothers?" It was Rudra who spoke. Shivaay nodded. "So?"
"Like that, since the Great Wall of Shivaay Singh Oberoi cannot look over everything and protect everyone at the same time, for that we have our Annika bhabhi - jo aaj agar sahi waqt pe sahi jagah pe nahi pohunchti toh bohot raita phel jaata." Both Omkara and Rudra started laughing at this. But Shivaay couldn't laugh. Rudra's words made him realise what he already had known since a very long time - he was incomplete without her. Annika had always been there for him and his family, and what had he done? His chest felt tight again as Annika took over his thoughts. The brothers were busy making jokes, laughing but he wasn't listening. He felt himself slip away again into his own personal hell.
"Isi ko toh takkar ki jodi kehte hai!" Dadi was at the door. All three of them looked at her and OmRu smiled. "Par woh ladki hai kaha? Subah se itna kuch hogaya, par woh ek baar bhi nahi dikhi?"
Om looked at Shivaay. "Shivaay where's Bhabhi?" He remained silent and looked away, unable to meet his brother's eyes.
"The last night's talk. Did you...Did she...?" Suddenly the realisation dawned on Om. Dadi and Rudra looked on, confused.
"Shivaay are you mad!" Om's face was livid. "You let her go? After all she has done for you? Seriously Shivaay?" Shivaay felt his heart would simply explode from the pain he was feeling.
"She wanted to go," he barely managed to speak. But did she really? His head started to throb as he thought about what he had seen this morning. The letter. Annika. Her words.
"We have a lot to sort out. Our family is in trouble, and we must discuss our next move. Family always comes first for Shivaay Singh Oberoi." Shivaay said again, this time more to himself. But his own voice sounded mechanical to him, somehow he couldn't find that passion in himself any more. It was like she'd left with a part of him. What was happening to him? The throbbing grew more intense.
Om shook his head in disgust and started saying something but Prinku rushed in at the same moment.
"Bhaiyya, the police are coming. They want to ask a few questions about Tia's accusations," she said nervously.
Shivaay had seen Prinku but her voice sounded distant and her words lacked any meaning for him. He felt sick, he thought of going and sitting down on the bed. The bed. Where AnnIka had hugged him that one time when she was having that nightmare, leaned into him for support. Like a flash the memory shot through him. She had looked so vulnerable that night and he had felt good comforting her. He wanted to feel that again.
"The police?" Rudra was speaking. "But why? Because of what happened at the press conference today?"
"Yes, the Kapoors have instigated murder charges against Bhaiyya," Prinku eyes filled with tears. "What are we going to do?"
Shivaay was silent as his mind kept becoming hazy from time to time, making it impossible for him to concentrate. He was looking at the sofa now, where Annika had been sleeping for the past 5 months. Where Annika had opened up to him about her pains growing up as an orphan. He had so much to know about her, he still had so much to find out. And he wanted to do that, just listen to her talk about her problems, share everything with him.
"We can apply for an anticipatory bail," Om was speaking now. "You know, just in case."
"Par Billu ne kuch kiya hi nahi toh police kyu aa rahi hai," Dadi spoke, her voice laced with worry. "Yeh sab kya ho raha hai hamare sath?" Tears swelled up in her eyes.
But Shivaay's eyes were riveted on his cupboard. Oh the cupboard! How amusing it had been, finding her hiding in there amongst his clothes. All his stuff smelled of her beautiful fragrance for days after that and secretly he had loved it. He wanted to smell that fragrance again.
The floors, the walls, the curtains, the pool. She was everywhere. The whole room belonged to her, he could not imagine living in there without her for even a night anymore. What had he done? Letting her go might have been the biggest mistake he had ever made. He felt so restless, so impatient. He had to see her, right now.
"Shivaay what do you think? Shivaay?" Om's voice finally shook him out of his reverie.
"I have to go," he blurted out.
"Go? Go where bhaiyya? The police are coming!" Rudra was surprised.
But Shivaay wasn't listening. Without a word he turned and started towards the door.
"Bhaiyya! Kaha jaa rahe ho?" Rudra pulled his hand. He was worried, looking at his elder brother's face which looked pale and haggard. "Are you okay?" Om asked, his voice also laced with concern.
"Annika...I need to see her." Shivaay pulled away from Rudra's grip.
"Par billu! Is it the right time? The police..." Said Dadi.
"Let him go, Mummyji," everyone was startled to see Pinky come out from behind the curtain and stand at the door. Shakti and Jhanvi were with her.
"Tia ne bas tere upar nahi, Oberois par bhi ungli uthayi hai. Aur hum uska jawab zarur denge. Tujhe akele ladne ki zarurat nahi hai, we'll all fight together," said Shakti.
"Go Shivaay. We have called up the lawyer. He said the Kapoors don't have any proof against you, we'll handle it." Jhanvi said. "When you come back we can discuss what to do next."
Pinky came closer to him and put a hand on his face. "Aaj tak tune aapni family ke khushi ke liye itna kuch kiya hai Shivaay, aaj teri family teri khushi ke liye itna toh kar hi sakti hai. Teri khushi Annika mein hai na?" She looked at Jhanvi who smiled a little seeing this change in her sister-in-law, who seemed to have learned her lesson finally. "Go get her back," she said, turning to him.
"Bhaiyya main aapke sath chalunga," Rudra said.
"Main bhi," said Om, and both came and stood beside him. "All for one and one for all," they said, putting their hands on both his shoulders.
Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah
Tum Se Tum Tak
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
