Ishqbaaaz : The Return of Obros

Conflicts.

What Tej didnt realise was that time was giving him a second chance at life by undoing all of his past choice and giving him a second chance for him to choose differently and make better decisions.Now whether he utilizes this second chance or go on making the same mistakes was totally upto him.

Tej's phone rang and he didn't even have to glance at it to see that  it was Swethlana. She had been acting extra clingy from the time he had asked her to temporarily shift out of the Oberoi mansion.Taking a deep sigh,Tej prepared himself to deal with Swethlana's tantrums.As he was talking on the phone to Swethlana, he heard footsteps on the corridor leading to his room.So he oh-so-casually pretended that he was talking to some Mr Chawla about the upcoming business.

Jhanvi had seen Tej slipping out of the hall quietly and out of curiosity she had followed him.As she was walking through the corridors she could hear him speaking to someone on the phone and as she got nearer she could make out that he was on call with Swethlana but when she entered the room the room Tej had suddenly started pretending as if he was speaking to a client of his.

Jhanvi felt a familiar sadness settling in her heart.No,it wasnt because she expected Tej to change not was it the first time Tej had done this.But thinking of the fact that Tej thought that she was so easy to fool was so disheartening. For years,Tej took advantage of her trust and her love and easily hid his affairs from her.In some corner of her heart,Jhanvi knew that her excessive trust and foolishness had also played a part in giving confidence to Tej to pursue his affairs as he knew that he would never be discovered.Keeping her expressionless face intact, Jhanvi walked to the cupboard and pretended to take out something.

"Woh actually I was talking to Mr Chawla.Actually he...."Tej started to explain himself but stopped when Jhanvi raised her palm in the air.

"You dont have to explain your actions to me.I dont want any justifications. You are free to do anything."Jhanvi spoke in a diplomatic voice and walked out of the room.

Tej didnot know what hurt him more.Jhanvi's words or her attitude towards him.Kepping away from Jhanvi was fine all these years buut having her so close and still acting as a stranger was hard.Tej decided.Tej was too immersed in his thoughts that he didn't notice that Swethlana was still on call and that she had heard his conversation with Jhanvi.

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"Om I am telling you someday I am going to get lost in this house.I mean it is so confusing."Om chuckled at Gauri as they turned around a corner into another corridor.

"Dont worry.In a few days you will get used to it."

"I hope so.""Gauri sighed as started noting the picture son the walls of the corridor to identify her way and that was when she noticed that most of the painting looked like of Om's style.When she started dating om,she had zero interest in art and practically knew nothing about it.But as time passed sh e developed a skill t identify and somehow decode the meaning behind each painting.She also realized that there was no fixed meaning to any painting. It all lied in the eyes of the beholder as to how they chose to view that painting.It was not like she had mastered the art of painting or something but she knew enough about her husband's profession so that she could answer some basic questions that people ask her about her husband.

"Did you make these paintings?"She asked him and Om nodded in response. Gauri observed that all the paintings had a thing in common other than the fact that they were Om's.All of them depicted loneliness and helplessness and the emotions that it conveyed were so strong that she wondered whether they depicted Om's state of mind while he drew.Considering his past,she knew that it was likely.She couldn't even imagine that Om, who wouldn't have smiled that gorgeous smile of his,who wouldn't tease her with his impromptu shayaris and lame attempts to joke.All these years ,he never let her think about those depressing times but coming back to the same place where he had spend those dark years of life, of which she had only heard about was terrifying to be honest.Om's past which was just a past story for her now,suddenly seemed too real..Too close.. Too easy to visualize..