Chapter Four
> Thoughts are written in italics in single inverted commas.
> You must go through this cast & characters post on page #1 to avoid any confusion and to understand the characters a little better.
****************Dressed in a three-piece suit leaning against the car stood Rudra Singh Oberoi, Shivika's one and only Rudy Cha. He was looking as handsome as ever. Age has matured him very nicely, he now wore glasses but the boyish charm that makes him his elder brother's Rudy boy. As Gauri and Shivika approached him, Rudra smiled in their direction. Seeing him smile at them like that Shivika could feel her eyes growing misty and tears threatening to spill. With great effort she controlled herself. She couldn't let emotions takeover like this. 'Stay strong Shivika, stay strong.' she chanted like a mantra.
"Chachu!!" Gaurika ran the remaining distance into the waiting arms of Rudra. They shared a tight hug before Gaurika moved away to introduce Shivika. Shivika had to blink her eyes repeatedly trying not to cry as Rudra looked directly at her, staring at her as if he could see through her.
"Chachu this is my friend from New York, she's come to learn Indian classical dance." Gaurika said but Rudra kept looking at Shivika with a frown on his face. His stare made her nervous, she was close to completely freaking out. 'Don't tell me that he recognized me. Oh God NO!!!' Shivika started to think about ways to avoid any kind of confrontation. She wished Rudra would not recognize her.
"And Shivika this is my Chachu, Rudra Singh Oberoi."
That caused Rudra's eyes to widen and a hope flared in his heart as he heard the name Shivika. Could it be? He was immediately transported back to the times when he used to tease his elder brother and most favourite bhabhi by the same name. At first, Shivika was the couple name for his bhaiya and bhabhi but soon he and others started to tease them saying that if Shivaay and Anika had a daughter then they will name her Shivika.
He looked at Shivika intently trying to find any similarities between her and Shivaay and Anika. She didn't have his brother's eyes but she sure looked a bit like Anika but still, that wasn't enough for him to come to any conclusion. Rudra then turned to look at Gaurika hoping she would tell him about this Shivika and then back at Shivika with a look of hope-filled surprise on his face, "Shivika?" his voice raspy as if he hadn't drink water from long, "Shivika?" he asked again.
Somehow Shivika managed to reply, "Yeah, Shivika. My name is Shivika Sahay."
The moment she said that Rudra's face fell in utter disappointment. She knows what he was thinking and hoping for. Sahil told her about how he, her Rudy and Omie Cha used to tease her Dad and Mom.
Rudra was remembering the same thing. He also missed all those days when he with Omkara and Sahil used to tease Shivaay and Anika all the time. The only thing that could make his SSO brother blush.
Flashback
"You know Shivu we, I mean me and OmRu used to tease Di and Jiju while discussing about the next Oberoi generation. We used to say that if Di and Jiju had a son then we will name him 'Ansh' Anika's 'An' and Shivaay's 'Sh' and in case the child turned out to be a girl then we will name her Shivika, that is, Shivaay's 'Shiv' and Anika's 'Ika'. That used to make Di and Jiju blush every time! Those days' finding Mr. SSO blushing was rare you know!"
Flashback ends
"Are you crying?" Gaurika's voice brought Shivika and Rudra out of the memory. Both of them were actually teary-eyed but Rudra also looked a bit worried seeing tears in Shivika's eyes.
"No. It's just that something went into my eyes." both Shivika and Rudra said at the same time making Gaurika look at them in confusion. Shivika started rubbing her eyes, wiping the tears not letting them roll down her cheek.
"Stop." Rudra held Shivika's hand stopping her from rubbing her eyes, "Don't rub it like that, it won't help. Here.." he took out his handkerchief and poured water over it. Squeezing out the water he then handed Shivika the wet handkerchief and said, "Rub your eye with this, slowly and softly." he smiled lightly.
He couldn't help but feel the affection, connection and attraction towards his niece's friend. He almost felt as if his Anika bhabhi was standing in front of him that is the reason he was beginning to get doubtful about Miss Shivika Sahay. He will interrogate her later on but for now, he needed to focus on getting to know her more.
"Thank you." Shivika said softly and did as he had said.
"Chachu she's come here for the first time so can we drop her?"
"Yeah of course." He was still looking at Shivika. 'Maybe I am looking familiar to him.' Shivika thought as he pulled her luggage towards the car.
Rudra helped them put their luggage in the car. Gaurika sat on the front seat while Shivika sat on the back as Rudra drove the car.
He cleared his throat before asking, "So Shivika tell me about you. You came to India for the first time for what? Do you have family here?"
Shivika tried not to smile, she thought about what Sahil had told her before she left, 'Sahil mamu was so right! This man is really observant but at the same time he doesn't know how to be subtle.' she thought and then replied "No. I live in New York with my whole family, I came here just for the purpose of learning classical dance."
"Really? So where are you gonna stay? I mean you don't have a family member, a relative here then where are you gonna stay?" he asked in a concerned voice.
"I am gonna stay at the hostel. It is specially built for the academy students so.."
"NO!" he yelled suddenly cutting her sentence in between. That was not only surprising for Shivika but for Gaurika as well who looked at Rudra as if he had grown horns on his head.
"Sorry about that." He said with a sheepish smile on his face, "Actually beta what I wanted to say that you are alone and new here. You don't know anything about the city and it is very easy to get lost in Mumbai. And not to forget the thieves and criminals around here, it is very unsafe for a young girl like you." Shivika covered my mouth with her hand in order to hide the huge smile. 'Aaww...I love the concern my Cha is showing.' she awed thinking about Rudra's concern for her. He is so concerned for her now what will he be like when he will get to know that she is his niece.
Gaurika frowned but Rudra continued, "Why don't you come stay with us at our mansion?"
This made Gaurika's smile to widen and she clapped in glee, "Oh yes of course! Why don't you come with us? Chachu!! You are the best." She said and in response, Rudra did an action exactly like Anika does when she is being praised or does something that shows her intelligence. But Shivika was doubtful about Rudra's intentions.
She knew that he also feels the familiarity between them, the family connection you can say and she knew that he wanted to know all about her and clear his doubt that is why he is suggesting this. 'Wah! My work is reduced; I don't have to do anything now.' Shivika looked pleased.
"But how can I..I mean.." she didn't agree easily because well it will surely make his doubts to grow, so a little action was necessary.
"Of course you can Shivika. You are my friend and a friend, I have got to help you. Come with us, please. Please please please!!" Gauri said in an almost pleading tone. 'Oh joy!! I think that this is what God wants, this is what my destiny is. That is why whenever any problem arises it gets solved on its own without any hard efforts from my side.' Shivika did a little dance mentally as she said;
"Okay." she controlled herself from not letting her little smile grow to a huge grin as she saw how happy Gaurika and Rudra looked. But Sahil was right, her Rudy Cha is the one she should stay aware of. But for now, she was gonna revel in happiness.
The ride to Oberoi Mansion was a short one of 20 minutes but to Shivika it kinda felt so long that by the time they were outside the main gates Shivika's heart was palpitating. 'Oh my God! Oh bloody freaking shitty cow! This is hell! This is bloody hell! In just a few moments I am gonna face them all, gonna meet them all! Damn! This is making me nervous!' she was literally sweating in nervousness. It was one huge step for her and she hadn't seen this part of her family ever so being nervous was allowed.
She rubbed my forehead wiping away the beads of sweat as she prepared myself to stay strong and not dissolve into a nervous-emotional mess. Oh GOD!!
Rudra stopped the car in front of the main door of the mansion. He and Gaurika went out first while she remained seated trying to gain her confidence back. Through the car window, she noticed her Gauri Chi standing there with the aarti thaali and a huge smile on her face. Behind her stood Omkara, her Omie Cha, his long hair tied at the back. He also smiled seeing his daughter.
Gauri did Gaurika's aarti and Shivika heard Omkara say, "Gauri our daughter has returned from a fun-filled trip and not from war field!" that made Rudra and Gaurika chuckle but Gauri stood unperturbed as she finished doing Gaurika's aarti. And just like that, the dam of Shivika's emotions broke and tears spilt out flowing down her cheeks.
"Mom I brought a guest, a friend actually. She's inside the car. Can we keep her?" Gaurika said in a flow, Gauri gave Omkara a concerned look but Rudra added, "She came to India for the first time and has no family here so I suggested that she should stay with us."
They all turned in Shivika's direction waiting for her to come out. Shivika quickly wiped her face using the handkerchief that Rudra had given her and stepped out of the car only to be greeted by the same looks of familiarity that Rudra had given me earlier.
"Hi guys." she said waving her hand a little. All this felt like a K3G (Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham) moment. The family recognizes the family, the connection of the hearts. But thank God that he gave people minds as well not only to grant them the ability to think wisely but also doubt the matters of the heart.
Gauri placed a hand on Shivika's cheek and lightly caressed it, "What's your name beta?" she asked.
But before she could tell her her name and introduce herself Rudra spoke up, "Shivika" he said just that shocking Omkara and Gauri. Shivika felt like laughing! Both Omkara and Gauri stood there still because of the shock looking at Shivika as if she was an alien. Well, of course she understood their situation, after-all the name "Shivika" held a very important place in their lives. Gauri was close to crying as she looked at her with hope and happiness, similar was the case of Omkara as he came up a bit close to Shivika and looked at her as if assessing her.
'Thank God it's me who's here in this position and not Anay or Ansh because both of them look exactly like Dad especially Anay with the eyes of the same color as our Dad's. Because if they were here then the family would have recognized him easily.' Shivika thanked her lucky stars for the same.
"Rudra bhaiya, Shivika?" Gauri looked at Rudra with questioning eyes. This time she spoke up first, "Yes, my name is Shivika Sahay."
Gauri turned to look at her while Omkara turned around and went back inside with Rudra following him but Shivika was still standing there with Gaurika beside her as Gauri did her aarti as well, welcoming her. Gaurika held Shivika's hand and dragged her inside the mansion with Gauri following them looking dazed.
Shivika let out a huge sigh, 'Finally home.'
****************So Shivika is finally at home! Did you like the chapter? Did you like Rudra and Shivika's meeting?? Please tell us via your comments, it makes us really happy reading all your comments <3
And we are super glad that you liked Siddhant and are happy with the pairing ;) So we have decided to give the ship a name. How does "SiddhIka" sound? It means Lord Ganesh though :P
Precap : Meeting the family ;)
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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