Hi, Okay I'm cryingđ, this is it, this is the end. That beautiful journey has reached its destination. As always I hope you enjoy!đł
Chapter 20
Home
"Are you leaving?" The voice startled Sumo. She looked up from packing and met Rudra's gaze. He was leaning against her door, arms folded and head tilted; a ghost of old Rudy peeped through his posture. She smiled and nodded.
"Job chali jayengi, if I don't report back soon." She tried to sound casual. "I said family emergency while taking leave, now they might have come to know that I lied."
"It wasn't a lie," he shrugged. "Emergancy hi toh thi," she couldn't help the increase of her heartbeat at his words. He didn't mean it Sumo. She told herself. He didn't mean to say you're "family". She simply shrugged and continued packing.
"When are you leaving?" He questioned again.
"After the engagement. Ri is my best friend you know, and she doesn't know anyone here. So I have to be there. After that, I'll be taking the next flight back to Delhi."
He said no more, but did not leave either. She found it was the hardest thing in the world, ignoring the weight of his gaze on her.
"Kya baat hai Rudra?" She gave up in the end, and asked him.
"I missed you Sumo." He sounded like a child and her heart warmed a little. "You know what kind of a fool I am, kuch bhi bota hoon aur badh mein sochta hoon. Ab maaf bhi kardo na yaar!"
"Okay done." She said shortly. "Waise, you didn't say anything wrong either. You and I, really aren't made for each other. You were right." Those words burned her tongue with their acidity. But she went on, this was the moment. "I can never match up to you."
"Sumo, you're still hung up on that." He said stubbornly.
"Kya karu Rudra? I was hurt too, you know?"
He reached her in a few short steps, and took her hands in his.
"Toh maar na mujhe, hurt me too. But please Sumo, please maaf kar de na?"
"Silly," she cracked a grin. "Tu dost hai mera, I was stupid that I loved you. It's all in the past now. No hard feelings. I've moved on." She pulled her hands free from his grip and walked past him towards the door. She had to check some arrangements with Annika Bhabi before calling it a day. He caught her elbow and pulled her back, their gazes colliding again.
"But I haven't." His tone was finite. "I don't want your friendship Sumo. I want you!"
She sucked in a breath, her eyes widening.
"Let go of my hand Rudra!"
"Nahi, I won't." he was being stubborn again. "Tu aaj mere poore baat sunengi."
"Okay," she snapped. "Bol de."
"I didn't realize it then, not until you left. When you left, everything kind of stopped. I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep properly, har waqt teri kyaal aata ta. Tuje jaana hai na? Tu jaa, but yeh move on hone ke, dost banne ke baaten mat kar. For god's sake you're my wife yaar! Divorce nahi hui hamari, aur" he said pressing his words. "Hongi bhi nahi. You want to study in Delhi, you do that, you want to work there? You can do that as well. I'll give you all the time in the world, but, promise me you'll come back. I need you Sumo, mujse nahi hota yeh sab."
Tears were flowing, unknown to her. Soumya blinked them away.
"What you're feeling right now is gratitude. You don't love me Rudra!" She chocked on her words. "I don't want to trap you into this relationship. It means nothing, we've decided that together right?"
"If I say I love you, will you believe me?" Soumya shook her head. "Then tell me, what should I do, to make you believe?"
"I don't know Rudra, I don't know!"
"Why don't we find out together, hmm?" His gaze was curious, as he reached in. Her eyes widened a little, watching him approach. He touched her nose with his, and stopped there. His breath fanning her face and lips only a millimeter apart. For a moment Soumya marveled at his self control, and then realized he was waiting for her to pull back. To her surprise she found she could not. Instead her arm sneaked around his neck, her eyes flattering close. Rudra touched his lips to hers, his fingers waving through her hair. It was a soft kiss, an innocent brush of lips. She breathed him in and he smiled against her mouth.
"I won't let you go, remember that." He whispered before kissing her once more.
**
"This is going to be the event of the decade," Ragav was bouncing on his heels. Ri felt a wave of disgust wash through her, as their eyes met. But she forced a smile, to the flashing cameras. The last she wanted was an article on how she was forced into this. The media had huddle around the premises, their questions creating an incoherent hum as soon as they stepped down at the entrance. Her head throbbed with all the pretense and she gulped the knot in her throat.
"You look beautiful," Omkara muttered in her ear, she had not seen him approaching. His hand was already snaked around her waist, steering her inside smoothly. She tried to smile, but it looked as fake as she felt. His eyes were no longer on her, instead he was conversing animatedly with Ragav. Of cause, they had business to discuss. Ri gulped another wave of repulsiveness.
There had been a series of on - going meetings. She had caught bits and pieces of conversations about Oberois taking over some Rivani companies. After all, she thought with that sickening sense of disappointment in the pit of her stomach, it had been nothing but a business deal. The moment they entered, Soumya came to her rescue. She looked flustered, her cheeks glowing. Her smile faltered only when her eyes traveled over Ri's face.
"You're not happy hmm?" Her voice was guilty. Ri said nothing in reply, just squeezed her best friend's hand in hers.
"Just stay with me," she muttered. "I need to go through this without losing it."
Soumya gripped her shoulders.
"Take a deep breath, and forget everything. Trust me, it's going to be alright."
"I can't trust anymore Sumo. I'm tired, I've given up." She collapsed on the nearest chair and buried her face in her hands. "This is like a walking nightmare and I just need to wake up."
"You know what, I was feeling something similar. Coming back here, staying with these people who are almost my family...it was hard. But" she took a breath. "It was worth it. You shouldn't stop believing in people Ri, especially those you love."
"How I wish," she said honestly. "That it was the case."
They couldn't talk more, as the ring ceremony was about to start. Ri did not know half the ladies gathered around her, but then her eyes found a familiar face. It was her eyes, she knew them from the first glance. That young woman brought Omkara, the ring he was supposed to make her wear. That young woman had her sister's eyes. Her eyes misted over, as she watched her walk back to the crowd and stand beside the hazel eyed man who she knew was Shivay Singh Oberoi. Not once she looked at Ri, her smiling eyes all focused on her husband. This was Annika Singh Oberoi, who was once her di. She gulped. World was a cruel place.
"Ri," someone called her back to reality. She was supposed to exchange rings. Sighing she took his offered hand, delaying another moment. She had almost put it on him, when Omkara snatched his hand back.
"Wait a minute," he said, turning to Ragav. "You're phone is ringing Mr. Khanna, answer it, it must be an important call."
Ragav stared at him sheepishly for a second, before reaching in his pocket for his phone. He listened for a long minute and Ri watched his face darkening, for some strange reason her heart started to beat rapidly. He disconnected the call.
"It's nothing," he tried to smile, although his eyes were burning and jaw hard set. Let's carry on."
'Are you sure it's nothing dad?" Jai had walked in, his hands buried in his pockets. "Or was it your PA, fretting over the news that tax officers had sealed your office?"
"Jai?" Ragav's tone was furious. "Shut up!"
"Keep your voice down dad, there is nothing left for you to say." Jai's tone was hard. "You should have thought once, before setting off to destroy my sister's life, before taking innocent lives, including my mother's."
"What are you saying?"
"It was you who planned that plane crash which killed Gaurav Sharma and my mom. It was you dad, who staged the car crash that killed Avantika mom."
"This is rubbish!" the old man yelled. "Where is your proof? Kuch bhi bolte ho! Who told you all those things?"
"That would be me," Omkara cut in, his tone icy. "You know when we were planning the merger, I went through some of your companies old money transections. There were millions that just vanished into thin air. I had to look into them. Then I found out that some of those money went to an underworld gang, the ones who planned the murder of Avantika Sharma."
"This is absurd."
"Actually it's not," Jai pressed on. "Avantika mom had found out what you did to that plane, didn't she dad? She was supposed to take those evidence to the police that day. That's why she wrote a last will to her two daughters and she was planning to hand them over to the care of Chandra Laal Mishra."
At that Annika sucked in a breath.
"That's right," Shivay said, squeezing his wife's hand. "That's Sahil's father. Your adopted father. You were in that accident Annika, with your mom and your sister."
"Chutki," she breathed, her eyes misting over. Her mind drowned in those fragments of memories to which she held on, the ruins of her childhood.
"Chaandra Laal had found you, but you had lost a part of your memory. He missed Gauri, otherwise he would have taken both of you away."
"Gauri," Annika's voice was full of astonishment. "Gauri is my chutki?" She crossed the hall in few quick steps and threw her arms around the girl who was already numb with shock, raining kisses on her forehead and cheeks. "Chutki, meri chutki! Tu teek hai! Tu zinda hai!"
"Di," was all she could mutter, uttering the word again and again as if in prayer, Ri hid herself in her sister's embrace, too shocked to cry or say anymore. The two girls hung to each other with a desperation of ages, making sure this was no dream, that they really had found the last remaining piece of their family.
"It's over dad, you game is over." Jai spoke again. "We found the man who used to work for you at that time, the man you had silenced by threatening to finish his family. He is ready to testify against you, and O had leaked all your illegal dealings over the time, the money you owe the government and also the money that went to the dark pits of contraband stuff. The police would be here any minute. And we have Avantika mom's last will, thanks to a lady called Ishana Patel who kept it safe on O's instructions it has already reached our lawyer in Delhi."
Ri suddenly looked up, with the relief that was now washing over her and Annika's arms still holding her safe in a world of their own, her eyes travelled the hall, looking for him; the man who had made it all possible.
"O was trying to keep you fooled enough that you won't attempt to murder Ri again, issi liye he had to act out this engagement. You had Ri followed, so he couldn't confess this to her either." Jai added, finally coming to stand in front of his step sister. Ragav stumbled backwards and collided with a table, the sound of breaking glass echoed in the hush that had fallen over them. Jai regarded him with a cold gaze and Ri's eyes found the one she was looking for. Omkara watched her, his lips tugging upwards in a faint smile. She let Annika's arm slide over her and made her way towards him. He did not move, instead smiled a little more painfully.
"Tum aazad ho Gauri, this is what you wanted right?" His words took a moment to register with her, shaking her head vehemently she tried to correct him, but Omkara turned and left, before the words left her lips. "Now there's no need to hurt yourself more."
"Omkara!" She called after him, her tone a painful croak. But he did not stop, in a few strides he had already left the venue.
"Chutki tu -" Annika tried to say something.
"He can't leave me again," Ri said blankly and gathering her skirts she dashed after him. Annika made a move to follow her but Shivay held her back.
"Let them sort it out," he muttered in her ear, running a soothing hand down her back. "Those two fools have a lot to confess."
**
He had stolen only a moment from her, Omkara thought to himself. That one memory, where they were together. Pain coiled around his heart, letting her go was excruciating. Doing it again and again was like plunging a knife into his own heart and twisting it there, painfully. Gauri had seeped too deep into his subconscious; he acknowledged it to himself finally. Forgetting her was nearly impossible, loving another was out of the question, watching her go - he sighed. He had to be strong, for the sake of the woman he dared to love. Loving him was painful to her, she wanted to leave, she wanted him to make it stop - that he had to remember.
Nothing else mattered anymore. He had to walk out of her life. End it, for both of them.
He slid down into the cold floor of his dark studio, his head buried in his hand. He had spent many torturous nights there, whenever home started to suffocate him. But even there, he could find no peace. She would go with Jai when he returns to US. He might never see her again - or perhaps - she will visit Annika once in a while. But then, she might find someone, fall in love, get married. The thought burned him when he pictured her with some faceless stranger, cuddling his children, holding his hand, happy with him.
Omkara exhaled a shuddering breath.
She did not love him. She would not love him. That is the truth.
"So this is where you're hiding," a voice spoke in the night. His head jerked up, and in the darkness he could see the outline of her figure, still clad in the engagement outfit, her hands on her hips. "When will you stop running away Omkara?"
The hope, seeping back into his veins startled him. He shook his head a little.
"There is no need to thank me," he said emptily. "You can leave now."
She snorted.
"Yes, I drove like a maniac and came all the way into this den to thank you, why Mr. Oberoi do you think I'm mental or something?"
He stood up slowly, in the dim light she watched him approach her, frozen on her spot.
"Kiyon chali aati ho baar baar?" His tone was bitter. He stopped in front of her, close enough for her to look into his bloodshot eyes and his breath to fan her face. "Why do you mess with my life, my senses? And then when I start hoping, when I start feeling, it suddenly overwhelms you!"
Ri stretched out a hand, gently caressing his cheek.
"Omkara..."
He gripped her hand, snatching it from touching him.
"Enough!" He sounded frustrated and she winced. "You can't handle my love, no one can. It only destroys them, scalds them bad. No one can live in my pit of hell, it suffocates them, kills them gradually. So don't fool yourself into believing you care. You don't, you can't. Just leave, while you can."
Her espresso eyes pooled over and her lips trembled. She pulled her hand which he had grabbed with his and kissed the back of his palm and brushed it against her cheek, her eyes closed. When she reopened them, they burned with a golden fire.
"Mujhe kahi nahi jaana, samjhe tum? My path was always supposed to end in your pit of hell, you said it yourself right?"
He couldn't help his arms from pulling her closer, her soft body against his hard one created waves of currents that made them both heady. Sighing, he buried his head in the crook of her neck, breathing that comforting fragrance of lavender and mint. She held him, her fingers running through his hair.
"I don't want to hurt you," he muttered against her skin. "But I would end up doing just that. Look what I did, I made you a pawn to lure Ragav into a trap, I let you rot in your nightmares just for the sake of it." He broke the hug and cupped her face, making her look into his eyes. "Don't love me Gauri, I'll ruin you."
"Love ruins everyone Omkara," she said softly. "But you don't get ruined alone. I don't want to be alone anymore, a lifetime had been more than enough."
They gazed at each other for a long moment, his hand gently caressing her cheek and sliding down her throat. She reached in and brushed her lips to his. It was a gentle kiss, enough to convey her heart's desire, he pulled her closer his lips capturing hers deeply tracing the outline of her lips with his tongue. Her lips parted in a moan and he touched his tongue with hers, making her defenses crumble down. Her hands tugged at his hair, moving down his nape, wandered over the hard planes of his abs, he breathed heavily in response. His own hand caressed her throat, unhooking her blouse to claim her heated skin, Ri shivered against him.
They broke apart and he looked at her, eyes lit with a dark fire.
"Stay with me?" He breathed, his mouth dipping again to taste the smooth skin of her throat. Her pulse quickened as his stubble rasped over sensuously, his hands wandering over her exposed back.
"Always," she replied, her own eyes darkening to match his. "Always."
**
Aaandd...
Thanks for reading!
We have only the epilogue left to go.
Share your views with me, I'm keenly waiting.
Love,
Sakura
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