ShivOmRu SS ~ Cross Connections

Chapter 22

"Yes?" he asked politely feigning to not recognize him.

"Om, not now - this is serious"Shivay replied quietly. Om considered it for a moment and allowed him inside - to say the least, Om was MAD at Shivay. Shivay enetered his house and before anything else first looked around, half hoping to find Anika there - but the house was empty except Om - in fact he seemed to be packing his bags.

"You're going somewhere?" Shivay asked, trying to break the ice.

"Yes, Delhi." He replied.

"Why? Random or.." asked Shivay curiously.

"To attend my girl-friend's sister's roka" he replied.

Shivay was surprised, Mallika's conversation regarding Daksh postponing there roka came to his mind. Didn't she succeed in warding off Daksh? She had agreed for the roka? Did that mean Anika didn't belief him at all? Did she not choose to leave Om even for Mallika's sake? Why was she doing this? Not only was she destroying Mallika's happiness, but also her own future and Shivay's - and as much as he hated Om now - in a way she was destroying his life too, by allowing him to cheat on her and live with the guilt. No he had to stop this madness.

"Om, Mallika loves you! I promised her not to tell you - but truth is she sacrificed her love for you because---"but he couldn't complete, as Om spoke again.

"Because she wanted Anika to have a chance to be with the man she loved. I know. Had you told me this earlier, a lot of madness could be stopped - but now this news fails to make any impact"he replied coldly.

Shivay was shocked, why was Om acting thus? "Om, you love Mallika and she loves you - her intentions weren't wrong - then why do you want to avenge her by wronging Anika? Om she doesn't believe me - so you stop it please - you don't even have a motive anymore - instead stop Mallika and Daksh's roka!!" Shivay tried explaining in vain, to a visibly unperturbed Om.

"Shivay, who told you Mallika and Daksh are having a roka? They are not together anymore." He replied calmly.

"You said your girlfriend sister's roka nah?" asked Shivay agitated.

"And Mallika isn't my girlfriend sister" he replied.

"Oh, so Anika broke up with you?" he asked relief draining him from inside, he had not a worry in the world now.

"Yes, we broke up"he replied curtly.

"Oh. But where is she? I tried calling her all day, her phone isn't reachable" he mumbled, in fact he didn't hate Om anymore - the deep-seated anger he felt for Om seemed to sublime the moment he knew Anika wasn't with him anymore.

"In Delhi" he replied looking at Shivay with pure hate in his eyes.

"Why is Anika in Delhi?" Shivay asked confused.

"Because the roka is happening in her home-town" he replied.

"Whose roka? Wait what is happening? Om please explain!" he gave in.

"Anika's roka. My girlfriend Mallika's sister Anika." He finished through gritted teeth.

Shivay's world collapsed. Anika's roka? If not Om then whom? He wondered aloud.

"Dev. Dev Suri" replied Om, "he is her mother's friend's son. It's an arranged marriage."

"Om but why did Anika agree?? She loved you right?" asked Shivay aghast.

Om looked at him in the eye and took a deep breathe, "As much as I don't care enough to explain this to you Shivay, I still want you to know - so that in future when you repent, you know exactly how big a loser you are."

"Om, just tell me" Shivay pleaded.

"When you told Anika the truth about Mallika that night, she had confronted her and demanded to know why Mallika did such a thing - why she assumed Anika loved me when she never said such a thing to Mallika - turned out Tia had told her about Anika liking me - and Mallika already knew Anika hopelessly loved someone, so she wrongly assumed that was me - but on clarification, Mallika and Anika hugged each other and cried till they made peace - then Mallika and I got back together." he finished.

"So Anika never loved you? And she does love someone hopelessly? Who is it? And Mallika took you back just like that? Didn't she have a problem with the fact that you used her di?" asked Shivay, the revelation had left him more confused than ever.

"So the thing is, Anika and I were never together - it was an arrangement we made - I wanted to make the man who she loves, feel jealous seeing her with me - so that he realized that he loves her too - but I told her that my girl broke up with me, and we were doing this to make her jealous - that's why she agreed to be a part of the charade." He replied, and continued packing his bag.

"What?" that was all he could gasp, he felt weak and crashed on Om's couch.

"But wait, if she loved someone and you did so much to get them together, then why is she marrying this Dev guy? Isn't it an arranged marriage?" he asked.

"Yes, it is - because the fool she loved, doesn't seem to know the difference between diamond and coal. He doesn't love her. I truly pity him and I hate him from the core."he said with venom spitting from his mouth and choler in his eyes.

"Who did Anika love so dearly Om?"he asked, he was feeling revolted from inside, guess he never stood a chance anyway - she loved this unlucky bas***d who never saw her for who she really was - and now she was marrying a stranger - he had managed to be in her wrong books anyway - so he still didn't stand a chance - he was feeling sorry to be disappointing daadi too.

"How does it matter who that loser is" asked Om.

"I want to know" he said dejected.

"You" Om replied quietly, as Shivay's head shot up in shock.