Rikara One Shot Story Collections I

When Love Awaits

Thanks to all for voting and commenting on the previous part

When Love Awaits

- a second chance at love.

Gauri happily walks into the cafe and spots Omkara waiting for her. He seemed upset about something, but she was too happy with her news that she decided to share her news before she asked him what was troubling him. And once he heard her news he would be happy too, forgetting everything else. He gets up seeing her and she hugs him happily kissing him on his cheeks. He hugs her tightly, a little more than he usually does.

"I want to talk to you." Omkara tells her.

"Before that I want to tell you something." Gauri cuts him off happily.

"This is important, Gauri."

"This is more important. I talked to my parents and they agreed for the wedding. Bhaiyya said he will also come for the wedding. Isn't it great?" Gauri tells him excitedly.

Omkara sadly smiles at her hearing that.

"You talked to your parents?" she asks wondering whether they refused and that is the reason he was upset, as they had decided that they would wait till they got their parent's consent before they married, they were bound to have objections as she was a Bengali and he was a Punjabi.

"I did."

"But they didn't agree." Gauri says sobering up seeing him upset.

"My sister is pregnant." Omkara tells her.

"Priyanka? But she is not..." Gauri starts and stops.

"The guy is saying that only if I marry his sister, he will marry my sister." Omkara tells her.

"How can he say that?" Gauri asks angrily.

"His sister it seems has been in love with me. I didn't even know that. They are our family friends."

"What have you decided?"

"When I think of Priyanka, I..." Omkara stops as he tried to get his thoughts right. "I don't care, Gauri. I love you. I want to marry you." Omkara tells her in finality.

"What about Priyanka and her baby?" Gauri asks forced to think of his little sister.

"I don't know." Omkara says desperately. "When I think about her I want to sacrifice my happiness for her, but when I think of you, I just want to be with you. My head will burst now." Omkara says as he held his head helplessly. "My parents and Priyanka expect me to sacrifice you for Priyanka but without you I am nothing, Gauri."

Gauri knew him well, all she has to do was tell him and he would marry her, but then for the rest of his life he would live with the guilt that he ruined his sister's and her baby's life. His relation with his family will be broken. He would live in hell and she loved him too much to see him suffer like that.

"I will always be with you, Omkara." Gauri tells him smiling.

Omkara looks at her hopefully.

"So what if we are not married or we are not together physically? We will be each other's support. We will be with each other in our memory and love. Not every love finds its happy ending. Some remain incomplete." Gauri tells him as she lovingly caressed his cheeks.

"NO!" Omkara says forcefully.

Omkara wakes up sweating profusely. It's been 5 years, but he dreams of that day every single time he sleeps. She had left him, without a trace. At times, it felt like those 9 months with her never happened, but the heart ache made it seem real as if it happened yesterday. He wondered where she was, what she was doing now. Maybe she got married and moved on in life. Wherever she was he wished and prayed she be happy. The sacrifice she had made for his sister had only made his love for her all the more intense. Realizing he was sweating, he removes his seat belt and gets up from the seat and goes to freshen up. By the time he had come out, the seat belt sign was on and the announcement was made that they were about to land. He resumes his seat and pulls out the file he had been studying before he fell asleep. He was going to New York to finalize a merger.