See if I care - A RiKara FF (Part 17 Updated Pg 55) 29/03 - Page 25

One week later

"Anika Didi, hum kaam ke liye nikal rahe hain. Aap apna khayal rakhna... koi bhi baat ho humein phone kar dena. Hum waapis aate waqt aap ko phone karenge, ghar ke liye kuch saamaan le aana ho to tab bata dijiyega. Theek hai?"

"Chal theek hai Gauri... tu bhi apna khayal rakhna. Aur haan, phone karna mat bhoolna... mujhe kuch cheezein chaahiye jo tumhare studio ke paas ek dukaan me hi milti hain."

With a breezy wave, Gauri Kumari Sharma walked out of the modest two bedroom apartment the two women had moved into with Saahil just a week back. In that week, Anika had restarted her wedding planning business and Gauri had found a job as a seamstress and junior intern at an up and coming designer's studio. Both ladies were on cloud nine that they'd gotten jobs and a decent place to live at, without the usage of anyone's name, power or recommendation even though the Oberoi name and all that it signified, was theirs to command.

Saahil had thoroughly enjoyed having not one but two elder sisters now, milking the opportunity to get double the amount of affection by way of chocolates, cakes and such while allowing himself to give sane advice to the two emotionally clueless women he loved now.

Five minutes after Gauri left, Anika packed Saahil up for school and got ready to tackle the day. That day, she had her first client coming in... she'd used all her previous contacts to set things up once more and it had been a hard task building relationships from the ground up again. But Anika was not a quitter in any way, shape or form and by the end of her first week back out in the real world of middle class life, she'd learned to stand on her own two feet once more.

Gauri smirked into her phone screen as she walked up to her workplace after parking her new scooty, which she'd named Chulbul in fond memory of her alterego and going with her sister's tradition of naming things starting with a C'. Gauri sent that day's quota of candid pictures and a video to the recipient who she knew was waiting highly impatiently on the other end. She'd barely finished sending the video when the person she'd sent them to called, forcing her to stop just short of the studio's back entrance to take the call.

"Hello... aap kaise hain?"

At the impatient answer and a quick follow up question, Gauri smiled involuntarily and answered patiently, knowing she would have to satisfy this person if she wanted to have a peaceful day free of repeated phone calls and angsty conversations.

"Haan... didi theek hain... hum ne kaha na aapse, didi bilkul theek hain. Haan... aaj unki pehli client meeting hai."

"Koi tension ki baat nahin hai... na... aapko kuch karne ki zaroorat nahin hai. Wo log sadhaaran middle class ke log hain jinki shaadi hone wali hai. Koi hum donon ko kidnap nahin karne wala."

"Nahin nahin! Hum bas mazaak kar rahe the. Shaant ho jaayiye. Aapko pata hai na, agar didi ko pata chala ki hum unki jaasoosi karke aapko roz aise photos bhejte hain to kya karengi wo hum donon ka? Aap please pehle shaant ho jaayiye"

"Acha theek hai... aap humein bataaiye... ghar mein baaki sab kaise hain?"

Shivaay Singh Oberoi walked into his corner office and shut the door before replying to the person he was on the phone with.

"Haan... ghar mein sab theek hain. Dadi, Badi mom, Bade papa, Papa, Rudra... sab theek hain"

Gauri bit her lip at the exclusion of two family members from his list. Pinky aunty she could understand he didn't really want to talk about at the moment. But the exclusion of Omkara was vaguely troubling for her. Had the brothers been on bad terms because of her? Was she causing a rift in the famous OBros? Before her brain could caution her further, Gauri's lips had already spoken a question

"Aur?..."

This time when Shivaay spoke, there was a clear smirk in his voice, a sense of smug victory just drifting through the connection from one end to the other, making Gauri understand that he'd clearly been playing her.

"Aur?... Aur kaun? Oh... acha... tum Khanna aur saare staff ke baare mein baat kar rahi ho... wo sab bhi theek hain. It is very sweet of you to worry about them"

"Acha chaliye... hum rakhte hain. Ab late ho jaayenge"

"Theek hai Gauri... thank you for everything. Main tumhein bataa nahin sakta ki jo tum kar rahi ho wo kitna important hai mere liye."

"Are Bade bhaiyya... hum aapki behen hain. Aapko humein thank you kehne ki koi zaroorat nahin hai."

"Zaroorat hai Gauri. Waise... Om bhi theek hai. Thoda silent rehta hai aajkal... busy hai apne studio mein. I'm sorry maine tumhein tease kiya abhi"

"Koi baat nahin bade bhaiyya... Omkara theek hain to hum khush hain. Hum abhi chalte hain... aapse baad mein baat karenge"

"Bye Gauri.."

Both of them finished the call and went about their respective jobs, not knowing that at the exact same time, across town, another very similar call was being made.

Anika had just stepped into her tiny new offices when her phone rang stridently, getting her attention away from the bunch of files, lookbooks and samples in her hands. Hurriedly putting them down on the first flat surface available, she looked at the flashing screen on her phone to smile at the name it showed.

"Hi Om... kaise ho?"

Her smile grew as the familiar deep tones of her husband's brother filled her ear.

"Main theek hoon... Abhi abhi office ke andar aayi... aur tumhara phone aa gaya. Haan... aaj meri pehli client meeting hai"

She nodded to no one, acknowledging Om's best wishes silently... hoping he would get over the pleasantries and tell her what she wanted to hear

Omkara sat in his studio, one hand running a clay texturing roller on a portion of his latest sculpture while his other hand held his phone to his ear. He was hoping that Anika would herself tell him what he'd called her to talk about

"Hmm... to baaki sab kaise chal raha hai?"

All he heard was a frustrated huff from the other end before he put down the roller and concentrated on the call

"Om... kya hum ye sab unnecessary baaton ko chhod kar kaam ki baat kar sakte hain?"

"I'm glad you said that Anika... main bhi kaam ki baat hi karna chaahta hoon"

"Theek hai... to bataao..."

"Main? Main kya bataaon? Bataana to tumhein hai"

"Mujhe? Main kya boloon?"

"Anika... Tum jaanti ho ki main usse abhi baat nahin kar raha hoon... to tumhein hi to mujhe information deni hai na uske baare mein?"

Anika's voice rose in panic, till she was fairly shouting in Om's ear

"Kya? Tum Shivaay se baat nahin kar rahe ho? Kya hua tum donon ke beech? Sab kuch theek to hai?"

"Shivaay?! Shivaay ki baat kaun kar raha hai yahaan? I was talking about Gauri, Anika..."

"Oh... aur maine socha ki tum Shivaay ke baare mein mujhe bataane ke liye phone kar rahe ho..."

Omkara's voice was tinged with a bit of ruefulness at the crossed wires when he answered

"Oh... sorry Anika. I should've understood. Tumhari Shivaay se baat nahin hui?"

"Nahin... wo... hum donon ne decide kiya ki is naatak ke poore hone tak hum ek doosre se koi connection nahin rakhenge taaki kisi ko koi shaq na ho ki ye humara plan hai..."

"I get it... I'm sorry Anika. Tum donon ko in haalaathon se guzarna pad raha hai. I'm sure ki sab jaldi theek ho jaayega. Waise... Shivaay is doing okay. Wo office gaya hai... tumhare jaane ke baad thoda silent aur upset tha... phone todna already shuru kar diya. Uska wo purana waala temper bhi dheere dheere waapis aa raha hai."

"Kya tum mere liye ek kaam kar sakte ho Om? Please Shivaay ka khayal rakhna. Mujhe unki bohot chinta ho rahi hai..."

"Don't worry Anika... main aur Rudy Shivaay ko distract kar lenge. Aur ho sake to main tumhari Shivaay se aaj shaam ya rat ko baat karvaa doonga."

"Thanks Om... tum bohot sweet ho. Aur rahi tumhari baat... to Gauri theek hai... khush hai. Uska kaam use bohot pasand hai aur wo Saahil ke saath khoob saari masti karti hai har roz."

While he was happy she was fine and having fun, Om couldn't help but feel let down at the thought that Gauri didn't seem to care for him or need his presence in her life anymore. She was settling down, enjoying her work and having fun with her life... finally getting an opportunity to live her life the way she wanted. But he wanted to be a part of that life she now lived, a part of her day, a part of her thoughts and definitely a part of her emotions.

Hesitantly, he asked Anika something he knew he shouldn't be asking at the moment but couldn't resist

"Does she... kya wo kabhi mere baare mein baat karti hai?"

Anika felt herself ache just a little bit at the tentativeness in her brother-in-law's voice. As much as she wanted to soothe him and make him feel better, Anika felt a bigger responsibility toward protecting her little sister... the one who'd already gone through so much emotional turmoil because of this man.

"Om... wo... I'm sorry Om. Gauri aaj kal apni life ko phir se banaane mein lagi hui hai. Maine use apne past ke baare mein zyaada baat karte hue nahin suna hai. Haan... agar main ya Saahil us se kuch poochen to wo jawab de deti hai magar humein dikhaai deta hai ki wo un sab cheezon ke baare mein baat karte hue khush nahin hai to hum bhi us se kuch nahin poochte abhi"

The silence from the other end punctuated only by the sound of a deep, shuddering breath was squeezing Anika's insides. She felt the need to make Om feel even a tiny bit better

"Om... suno meri baat. She needs some time to get her life in order. Abhi us se koi ummeedein mat rakho... I'm sure ki wo jab poori tarah se settle ho jaayegi, uske baad us se tum donon ke rishte ke baare mein baat kar sakte ho. Abhi use thoda time do Omkara. Use apni zindagi apne tareeqe se jeene ka poora haq hai aur use ye haq jataane do... magar is ka ye matlab nahin hai ki tum donon ka rishta humesha ke liye toot chukka hai. Agar toota bhi hai to tum use phir se banaa sakte ho... ek naye sire se."

"Thanks for the pep talk Anika... magar mujhe nahin lagta ki Gauri aur mere beech kuch bhi baaki reh gaya hai jise bachaaya jaa sakta hai. I'm losing hope for whatever relationship remains between the two of us"

"Himmat mat haaro Om... tumhein pata hai na ki tumhare bhaiyya aur mera rishta kin haalaathon se guzar chukka hai. Agar hum donon apne rishte ko phir se bana sakte hain to tum donon kyun nahin? Abhi ke liye Gauri ko uske dost ki zaroorat hai. Uske ache dost bano Om... aage jo hona hoga, sab khud ba khud ho jaayega"

This time, the silence from the other end didn't feel as painful as it had just a few moments ago and when he did reply, his voice sounded a lot better than it had before

"Thanks... Anika bhabhi"

"No problem Omkara... Abhi mujhe jaana hai. Main tumse baad mein phir baat karti hoon. Apna khayal rakhna"

"You too Anika... say hi to Saahil for me"

With that the call was disconnected and while both of them tried to get back to what they'd been doing before the phone call, Anika and Omkara found it difficult to concentrate on anything but the memories of what had happened the previous week at Oberoi Mansion.