Hello Ladies! Welcome to my under 1500 word series. I promise I haven't abandoned my other stories, but I hope you like this one, too. This drabble series is meant to be short snapshots, if you like, of the reactions of all the people in the Oberoi world to the HUGE revelations during the Shitia wedding.
This is written to celebrate one thing I've waited for-- a start of just Shivika, and an exit, permanently, of Shitia. Leaving aside the fact Navina cant play a vamp to save her life, I've HATED that we've dealt with Tia as the ML's gf/ fiance / baby momma /sauten /vamp for the past 8 months.
And now thats over--its time to handle the Redemption track, hmm? So, in honor of that, since CVs wont give any internal thoughts of the characters, or even reactions beyond Dadi's patent-pending heart attack expression, I decided to do it for them! Enjoy..
PINKY SINGH OBEROI
"YEH Shivaay Singh Oberoi ka mummy hai, right? Pinky Oberoi? Her son escaped a huge scandal, not to mention some random man's love child being raised in his cuckoo nest. That bitch of a girl and her mother! They even managed to get away, kitna bara dil hai, Oberois ka. Mere beta ke sath hoti to mein murder kaar deti, aur isko dekho! Why is SHE sobbing like Tia is her saagi daughter and not the cheating, lying dhokebaaz she has confessed to? Doesn't this lady know how big a scandal they got saved from? Hai hai, koi aise rote hai, jaise uski sara duniya hi jaala hua ho?"
What could Pinky say to the loud whispers of the guests, as she sobbed, her face buried between her shaking palms? No one knew what she had lost, here tonight. Her pride, her self respect, her family, her future. She was the one who had been cheated, more so now, that the truth was out. She had lost so much. And no one cared about her loss. Understood her pain. Not even Mummy-Ji or Shakti had come to her, when she collapsed onto the chair here. They were too busy crowding around Omkara and Rudra, still in the pandit's clothes. Around Shivaay and that girl.
Who had all played such a monstrous game. Allowed her, their choti-maa, his mother, to make a bigger fool of herself than even Tia had managed to go. Discounted her pride, her intelligence. As she planned ceremony after ceremony, as she loved and fussed over the perfect bride she had finally managed to get Shivaay to accept. They had used her. To give the whole pretend marriage a real flavor. Who would not believe the shaadi was real, when the mother of the groom was so happy? Who would suspect the son when the mother blissfully decorated the hall, wrapped the gifts, chose the jewels?
"Don't cry, Maa. You know I am married to Anika, this couldn't have been real without the divorce papers. But thank you. You have been very useful." Shivaay had said so, and Pinky had been too numb then, to slap him, to scream. But she hurt, now. And so she cried, as she watched her dreams and hopes for Shivaay, her own future daughter, walk out of the Mansion. Without a backwards glance at the Mummy-ji who had defended her like a virago against the entire household for three months. Who had swallowed her natural distaste for a baby born without any pheras. Who had taken her son's flinty coldness, her nephews' barely disguised insults, her in-laws' impatient anger onto herself.
All to protect someone else's bride, someone elses' child.
Tia had murmured words that didn't register for Pinky, words she assumed were apologies. Sorry? Tia was sorry? For what? What part? Pinky didn't know, she didn't ask, and in any case, Tia left. Holding her husband. A man who hovered over Tia, who was protecting his child. NOT her grandson. Pinky's loss seemed magnified by the very love and care this.. Dushyant? Robin? Who knew.. this boy was showering onto his wife's small baby bump. That baby. Even ten minutes ago, it had been Pinky's hope. Pinky's dream for a future filled with possibilities. She would raise her Shivaay's image, she would have another chance. It was a culmination of everything Pinky had wanted, from the moment that small tangle of cells had been announced to her. The birth of a new child, a new era, for her.
Dushyant's tender regard, eyes wide, expression of awe as he escorted the mother of his child out of the Oberoi Mansion hurt Pinky now. The loss bit, bit harder, when she remembered how she had begged Shivaay to show a little of this tenderness to this child. How she had despaired of her son showing even a glimmer of this awe. How would Shivaay have given this counterfeit child any of that? He saved all of his regard, his passion and love for the girl dressed like a misplaced bride, standing before the empty mandap. That Anika. She would be the permanent one, then? Because no matter what Pinky said anymore...now, more than ever, she would not be heard.
Shakti was there, over there, by the mandap, pumping that girl's hand, like he was congratulating an Olympic winner. Janvi was hugging her, sobbing relieved tears over her return as "Anika". Tej was slapping Shivaay on the back, grinning at Anika, saying something. Proud. As if this had all been a monstrously good game. Mummy-ji and even Prinku was surrounding her, demanding answers, pelting her with questions, exclaiming, laughing, discussing the whole tragedy like it was the most incredible of comic stunts.
And she? She was smiling-- that girl-- her lips curled slyly up, her eyes downcast, as if she felt shame. As if she could. Shame for pretending, for driving everyone out of their minds with tension. She had somehow been responsible, Pinky knew. Responsible for the lines that bracketed Shivaay's face during this entire farce of a wedding. Item by item, she had clawed back from Pinky things that Pinky once had. Shivaay's love. Her nephews' respect. Mummy-ji's trust. Janvi's patient friendship. Shakti's support. And now she had won. She would be the one Pinky would have to face, across the dining table, in the home,for years upon endless years.
Pinky sobbed louder, her shoulders shaking with mingled rage, baffled fury, and keening loss.
She could not face Anika. She did not want to face her, not as a servant, much less as her Shivaay's bride. Pinky decided it. On this couch. In this moment. She would not lose her self respect, at least. No. Not to that girl. Pinky would not accept, thank, acknowledge her. Anika had taken away the world. Pinky would not forget this. No matter what else happened, what anyone said. She knew it was stupid. Irrational. Yes Tia had turned out to be fake, the baby.. oh god. The baby was not even her son's. Pinky had been living in a dream world, a world where she was important and loved. Where she could love her son's wife, so he would love her too. Where she could be the mother and mother-in-law she often hoped she could be, to a girl she could respect. A good girl, a girl she could admire and even share Shivaay with.
A fake world. But it had been a good world, a world where Pinky was happy, where Shivaay was still hers. Where he allowed her to touch his hair, where he listened to her, where he did what she wanted him to do. Did what was best for him. What her mother's heart told her, was best for him. A fake world, where her son's beautiful eyes did not skip over his mother, on their way to seeking out the girl he could not tear his gaze from. Where he did not use her love for him as camouflage. Where he mocked his mother's joy, all the while planning a cruel game with that girl. That was not who Shivaay had been, in that fake world. In that world, where Pinky was going to have the daughter she wanted, and a son who she so desperately missed. Not this one. God save her. She did not want this one. Pinky had been woken up from her dreams, into this nightmare. That girl.
No. Pinky Singh Oberoi would not forget.
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INDEX OF CONTENTS:
DRABBLE ONE: PINKY SINGH OBEROI (PAGE 1)
DRABBLE TWO: ANIKA AND SHIVAAY SINGH OBEROI (PAGE 3)
DRABBLE THREE: RUDRA SINGH OBEROI (PAGE 7)
Shiv Shakti
