Hello all. This is Niki. Here's a small OS from Karthik's pov. Hope you all enjoy it.
Other YPNTKH works :
Only You {Sidushka/ Karpur FF} - Ongoing ---
http://www.india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=5004768
Nausea
Maybe it was the sophisticated environment and the relatively posh surroundings that he had always belonged to, that kept him from cursing like a potty-mouthed sailor in frustration. However, he still managed to swear a few words at the sight in front of him after he surreptitiously made sure that no one was within earshot.
"Bloody Mr. Perfect!"
A singular fissure of anger and frustration weaved inside him that grated at his nerves and made him feel suffocated at the familiar cream walls and arched hallways that were now adorned with yellow curtains and vivid flower ensembles. It was just like a fairytale palace. Yet every time he heard someone gushing over it, he had this vehement urge to push them off the second-floor balcony.
It was all yellow and it caused him a headache.
The shrill sound of his wife's laughter met his ears and his feeling of light-headedness made a return appearance. He felt nauseous and was very glad that he was male. Had he been a female, he sure would have doubted pregnancy with the amount of time he felt nauseated in these past days whenever he had to be in her proximity. He wondered if every man felt this kind of distaste for their wives; if it was normal or he was different.
All his life he had seen many closely twined couples. His parents were the classy, sophisticated power couple; his Anna and Riddhi Bhaabi were so well suited like two halves of a whole and of course, he had seen Prabhakar Sinha with his wife. That stern man's eyes used to soften whenever his eyes fell on her and he had noticed how all the tension used to disappear from her the moment her eyes fell on her husband.
And then there was his relationship. The Perfect Pair, people called them. From the gossip columns to the social gatherings, all of them spoke of how Karthik Reddy and Nupur Srivastava were the ideal pairing. Both highly educated, smart, cultured, well-groomed and rich! Their marriage equating to a profitable deal for their business was an added plus. Everywhere people saw them; they saw the fairy tale perfect union.
And Karthik continued to feel nauseous.
He sighed and sipped at the cool lemon water trying to concentrate on the tangy liquid travelling down his chest. With all his illusions on marriages broken, he felt only one emotion for it disgust. And of course it really did not help that coupled with his own unstable relationship with his wife; his twin sister was also getting married into the same family, his wife's family.
His dearest wife, who was out there cackling somewhere with all her pretension dripping around her in gallons. While he, the poor husband of the bridegroom's cousin and twin of the unfortunate bride was stuck to drinking lemon water to cool his head from concentrating on the yellow decor and his sister's jaundiced future.
Yellow was the colour of vomit too and all of a sudden his nausea increased.
What the hell was she thinking; he gritted his teeth as his tortured eyes took on the yellow Nehru Jacket his soon to be brother-in-law wore. That perfectly smiling, perfectly tempered, perfect future PM was yellow. And he hated yellow.
And of course, that yellow fool was not a good choice.
Stupid Anushka! He grouched as he took in another sip. She could have had anyone. There was no abject pressure for her to choose that idiotic doping restrained smile with eyes flitting around as if to notice if someone was trying to jump on him with a camera on the next second. Unlike in his case, a different decision of Anushka's would not have hurt their father. After all, it was not a secret that she was his favourite child and he would not have batted an eyelash even if deals went down the drain due to her. Yet that idiot had chosen Vedant Srivastava, the yellow facade of perfection and sugary sweetness that made him feel like going to the clinic to get himself checked for diabetes.
It was not like Vedant had done anything antagonistic to him. Had he done anything, he would have throttled him like an annoyance as he was and thrown him somewhere off the grid.
Unfortunately, the distaste had to do more with the fact that his twin showed no sign of being the blushing bride that she should have been and had the air of someone being led to the altar for sacrifice. Of course, people would say that he was being ridiculous and way too melodramatic but he knew better. He was her twin and they had a bond that allowed him to bypass the smile she wore, the enjoyment she pretended, the eagerness she depicted and the happiness she faked. Even if his eyes got played, nothing could remove the tightening sensation in his chest, the feeling of someone holding the heart in a tight grip and slowly strangling bit by bit; all of it transmitted over from the twin bond for as their childhood experiences had often shown, they could feel sensations of each other's emotions but at times of great distress.
So for all the frustration, the abhorrence and the suffocation that Anushka felt for her marriage with goody shoes Vedant, the same feelings expressed themselves in Karthik with the frequent bouts of nausea. Thereby it was not a huge surprise that Karthik despised the bland yellow cucumber.
Wiping the sweat on his brow, he tried to imagine a double date situation with Anushka and Vedant and immediately shuddered.
"Are you ok, Karthik?" a voice asked.
It was like the calm splash of cold water that downed his senses and diluted the yellow. Grateful, he turned around and saw Siddhant looming at him, and a sigh of relief left him. There was a time he had detested the guy with his cocky behaviour and no care for authorities but right now he would prefer him any time in comparison to the yellow. At least he did not cause a headache. He was like cold, calm blue and all of a sudden an image of kohl lidded laughing eyes flashed in his mind.
He shook his head and Siddhant shuffled awkwardly.
"You fine Karthik?"
"Yeah, yes... just a headache."
"'Hmm."
They stood awkwardly for some time and then unable to bear the silence and his creaming thoughts, the words tumbled out of his mouth.
"S-She is making a mistake. Not right for her. Too yellow."
Siddhant startled and looked at him with wide eyes. "W-What!"
Karthik cleared his throat, embarrassed. "I don't like him. That Vedant. He is not for her."
Siddhant wordlessly stared at him and then murmured. "He is a good person and will keep her happy."
Karthik nearly rolled his eyes. "Just like how I am happy, right? Anyway forget it, you won't understand."
Siddhant blinked and something flashed in his eyes. He looked at Nupur standing on the opposite side of the room and looked back at Karthik.
"I-Is," he swallowed, "is everything fine with Nupur?"
Karthik looked at the last remaining bit of his lemon drink and gulped it in one swallow. He looked at Siddhant and for the first time in his life decided to be truthful. Later, he would wonder the reason for it but would always just reach upon the same conclusion that Siddhant's eyes were warm and for some reason very familiar.
"Nothing is fine Siddhant. Nupur and I don't match." There, he said it and then heaved a sigh. "I am not saying I am biased towards Vedant due to Nupur but I have this feeling that Vedant is not the right person for Anu. I mean look at her, she looks positively miserable and withered. No to-be bride looks like that and for God's sake," he looked at Siddhant miserably, "he is yellow. Too yellow."
Siddhant blinked.
Karthik blinked.
And all of a sudden a shrilly voice interrupted them.
"There you are Karthik. Tell me how this looks?" Nupur sauntered to where Karthik stood with Siddhant and smiled thinly.
Karthik turned to look at his wife and nearly groaned at the mustard yellow ensemble. His headache returned two-fold and something churned in his stomach.
As bile rose up to his mouth, he did the only thing he could.
He puked.
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
CID
