Sorry for the delay....🙃🙃 since I promised a few that I would update early.... here you go...
Enjoy reading:)
Caution: not edited
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It took a few minutes to sink the words in but once she did, Gauri asked warily, "What?"
"The wedding should take place Gauri. Otherwise this family will have to face the consequences. Things are not as easy as you thought."
"The hell I would let that happen," Omkara growled making them glare at him.
"Why would you not?"
"Have you gone mad? How can you even ask that?"
"Who compelled us to do so? It is your wife," Subhadra retorted.
"Exactly. She is my wife why will I allow her to marry someone else?" he shouted again making them gasp.
"Shankarji, Kalyani ka pota pagal ho gaya hai. What are you saying?" Sarita screamed in outrage.
"Omie why will we ask her to marry anyone? I was asking her to marry you," Taadaka clarified making him relax for the timebeing.
"What are you saying daadi ji. How will our marriage change things?" it was Gauri who asked next.
"You and Om will get married in their child's place. Omkara will wear a sehra and you wear a ghunghat. The rest can be looked into later. I will talk with the groom's parents to keep their silence until matters settle down."
"But for the villagers, the groom will be married to Shalini? How will he marry later on?"
"What is the name of Shalini's lover?"
"Praveen."
"Announce it to the guests, tell them you agreed at the last minute. Anything is better than a bride running away from her wedding. We will think of some believable story afterwards. Now there is no time to waste."
Gauri blankly stared at the group, fear clawing at her insides. Can she go through it again? A marriage in which he doesn't have his consent.
But do you have any other choice?... her brain argued.
"I think this is not necessary. Just say something like the bride got ill and we cancelled the wedding," Omkara offered and Taadaka glared at him.
"When you lie, it should be believable atleast," she countered.
"But you are going overboard. This does not give the reason for us to get married Daadi," Omkara rebuked.
"I don't understand your argument Omkara sir. You are already married. Aren't you? Why are you making this into an issue?" Kamlesh asked in confusion.
Oh right! They are married.. why didn't he think of it.
Omkara knew that there was no way he could avoid the drama if he disagreed. But he didn't want to bind Gauri to him for another baseless reason.
Are you even ready for marriage in the first place? His mind asked and he tried to think in the chaos surrounding him.
Slowly, he turned his head to see how she was taking it and found her looking at him anxiously.
"This is the limit. I don't see any other better plan now. Tum dono aise muuh mein ghee jamake khade nahi reh sakte," Subhadra scolded.
"They must be in shock. Otherwise Omkara will not have a problem marrying her for any number of times. Will you Omie?" Taadaka played her final card.
He saw the flicker of hurt in Gauri's eyes before she looked away.
"Wait a minute.. does she think he has a problem with marrying her?... he groaned mentally realizing that he was stuck.
If he married her it would be for the wrong reason and if he didn't she would think he rejected her.
Well played Gauri's Shankar ji... there is no safe way out of the loop.
"Right, why will I have a problem. We are married. I was just thinking of a better alternative," he replied having no other option.
"Good," Taadaka smiled before turning to his partner. "Gauri, let us go to the house and come back soon. You need to get dressed."
Please say no, if this happens, there is no turning back. It isn't just a walk around a match lit fire this time to make it void... her mind advised.
Can you go through another rejection?... it questioned.
He doesn't seem to have a problem... her heart tried to placate.
For the moment yes, but what if?... came the retort.
Shankar ji, do you really want this to happen? Please take care of the consequences, you are the only one I can trust... she prayed in desperation as a tear slid down her face.
"Gauri," Taadaka's called her and she hurriedly wiped the drop.
"Are you coming?" asked the elder one, her voice softer than before and she finally nodded her head, bringing out sighs of relief from everyone.
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The couple silently carried out the wedding rituals in the presence of the elders of the village. Neither of them spoke during the pheras or the recitation of mantras or during the exchange of garlands.
Both were mulling in their own insecurities when the pandit asked the groom to apply sindhoor to the bride and tie the mangalsutra.
As Omkara took the vermillion filled box, he had a mix of emotions which filled his heart with both worry and glee. Should he be happy that she is going to be a permanent part of his life or should he feel sad that it is happening for all the wrong reasons.
How he wished he could read her mind.
Is she happy or is she regretting it already?
With shaky hands, he filled her hair partition with color and tied the holy thread around her neck, testifying their official union as husband and wife.
As the priest concluded the rituals announcing the completion of wedding customs, they stood up from the mandap to take the blessings of the attendees.
"I am so happy for you," Taadaka gushed hugging them both while the rest looked on with happy smiles.
"Can we leave now?" Omkara whispered in the elderly's ears and she nodded with a smile.
"Go and wait by the car, I will just come," she said and walked ahead with her friends.
Gauri just started to follow them when she tripped on her lehenga. Her fall however was prevented as Omkara caught her in time.
"Careful," he whispered, steadying her and she looked at him through the transparent veil.
Though he couldn't clearly see her eyes hid by the chunri, he could see the traces of tears which slid down her cheeks. He released a shaky breath and placed a hand around her shoulder, pulling her to his chest.
How was he supposed to reassure her when he himself couldn't get his mind out of the chaos.
"Let us go?" he asked numbly and she nodded her head.
Taking her hand, he walked her to the car and settled her inside. He was about to call the driver when he realized he gave his phone to Taadaka.
"Gauri, I will come in a minute. I have to take my phone," he informed. Getting a weak okay, he turned around to re-enter the wedding mandap.
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"With Shankar ji's blessings, everything went well," Kamlesh thanked the God while the rest agreed with him.
"I thought Omkara wouldn't budge at all," Subhadra said with a relieved sigh.
"Yeah, everything went just as planned and I would have been terribly disappointed had he disagreed. I had to put in the question as the last resort. I know he wouldn't be able to object then."
"Clever move," Sarita appreciated.
"I felt sorry for the girl madam ji. Did we do right?" Shyamala asked with a guilty tone.
"Don't worry about it. Keep your silence on the matter. It is best if Omkara is not aware of this," she instructed.
"Still, we lied to her."
"This is for her good Shyamala."
"Who the hell are you to decide that!!" Omkara's voice boomed and they turned around in worry.
As he took steps to reach the clan, his anger only increased.
"Was this staged?" he asked with a glare.
Taadaka gestured for her friends to leave and they obliged leaving them alone.
"Just sit there. Calm down first," she said taking his hand.
"I asked you something," he said not ready to cool down yet.
She sighed but then nodded her head in a yes.
"How could you do this daadi? She trusted you. Doesn't she deserve a say as to whom she married?"
"She loves you Omkara, she ..."
"If she loves me, then she will say that to me and we together will decide when we should marry. You are no one to orchestrate the events of our lives," he argued.
"I am sorry if I hurt you but...."
"Oh you have no idea what you did. Do you? I never acknowledged our marriage the first time because we had no choice then. We had a range of misunderstanding between us which are gradually clearing. You had to enter at the right time and play God. We are back to square one now."
"You are not. That time you both did not know each other. Now you have feelings but you are being pulled back by your insecurities. We just thought to make the bond strong so that you won't separate. You can still get to know each other now. There is no...."
"Who is we? You and your friend league?"
"It was Kalyani's idea," she revealed and he sighed closing his eyes.
Once he opened them, he turned around to march away from the place when she caught his hand.
"Where are you going?"
"I have to leave this place. Otherwise, I don't know what I would do. Get the idol packed. We will leave tomorrow morning to Mumbai."
"Omie, you are stretching this unnecessarily. You will only upset Gauri by telling this to her. Please don't do it."
"I will not lie."
"Then just hide the truth."
"Did you see her? She is not okay with all this drama."
"I will talk to her. Let her stay with me today. If you go like this..."
"We are leaving tomorrow and that is it daadi. I don't want to argue on that. We have enough people pulling on the strings and I am tired of playing a puppet."
"I am so sorry Omie, I did it thinking you both will be happy. I had no other intentions in mind. You know that. Don't you?" the elder woman said her voice creaking at the end.
He sighed, feeling guilty for shouting at her. He knew she loved him but he did not agree with her breaching his privacy. Taking her frail hand, he gently rubbed it, while she wiped off a tear with her other.
"Is today's drama, the 'certain thing' you wanted to happen?"
She nodded her head and he hugged her.
"I should have guessed."
"You did not. Dumb as always," she said and he smiled at the taunt.
"You shouldn't have done it daadi. There was no need," he said in a calming tone.
"I understand your anger at the moment but you will thank me later."
"Great, you don't even regret it," he asked and she shook her head in a no.
"I don't know what to say to you."
"Don't say anything then. If you want to leave tomorrow, I will not stop you but let me talk to Gauri tonight," she asked and he agreed.
"Come now. She must be waiting for us," Taadaka said parting from the hug.
Omkara nodded and walked back to their vehicle with her following him.
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Gauri frowned in confusion as she noted her husband sitting in tense silence in the front passenger seat while Taadaka sat beside her.
She was even more confused when he informed her of their departure the next day, which was against their plan to stay till the weekend.
"Is something wrong?" she asked him but he looked away.
Though Taadaka answered her that everything is perfect and there is nothing to worry, she wasn't convinced with his sudden change of demeanor.
Her lack of confidence wasn't of much help when he exited the car in a hurry once they reached the mansion and walked ahead not sparing her a glance.
Gulping a sob, she walked behind, her steps resounding in the silence of the hall.
He isn't happy... that thought reverberated through her head and she couldn't help the tears which started flowing freely by then. So lost was she in her world that she didn't notice him turning back time and again, to take a look at her until they reached their room.
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Night came too late that day, with silence lingering in the corners of their room as well as the dining, where they had food. As Gauri pecked her food, Taadaka gestured Omkara, reminding him that his wife will be staying with her for the night.
Although not happy, Omkara just nodded his head and gulped the tasteless food. He had to make a few calls home, to inform them of their change of plans and so, excused himself while Gauri silently returned to their room.
Freshening up, she changed to her comfy kurta kameez to rest for the night. As she was picking a pillow to make her bed on the couch when she heard him enter the room.
"Gauri," he called and she looked up at him.
"Go and stay with daadi for the night."
She knitted her eyebrows when he explained, "We are leaving tomorrow and so she wants to spend some time with you."
Okay, he doesn't want to be in her presence anymore... she deduced and her eyes glazed over.
Looking away, she stiffly nodded her head and moved to take her phone when he held her wrist turning her to face him.
Gauri had her eyes downcast not daring to look at him though she knew he was staring at her. Her eyes filled so rapidly that she thought she would only embarrass both of them if she did so.
"Look at me," he asked but she remained adamant.
Pulling her close, he gently lifted her chin to look at her hazel eyes filled with moisture. As a tear rolled down, he raised his hand to wipe it away and she stared at him with trembling lips.
The moment he leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her forehead, a sob of relief broke from her lips. Embracing him tightly, she sobbed into his chest, happy to finally let go of her angst.
Omkara let her cry for some time, cursing himself for realizing late that she has been misunderstanding his unhappy stance for rejection.
He has been avoiding her, lest he told her of his grandmother's plan to get them hooked without knowing their consent. He was so angry at the happenings that he decided it was best he stayed quiet and not complicate things by talk.
"I thought you started to hate me again," he heard her say.
He parted from the hug and cupped her face, wiping off the tear stains.
"Why will I? It is not your fault," he said.
"It wasn't my fault the last time too," she said and he felt an imaginary slap across his face.
Mumbling a sorry, he kissed her eyes one by one.
"You didn't look happy," she said as she felt his lips on her nose.
"I wasn't happy but it was because things happened in a wrong way. Not because I blame you for it."
She nodded her head looking into his eyes and he lifted her chin to place the next kiss.
Smiling at the gesture, she raised her hand to caress his stubbled cheek when he leaned down to take her lips into a tender kiss.
Gauri let out a sigh, as he deepened it in the next few seconds, claiming her mouth with a newfound passion. She tried to reciprocate but did not match his vigor and skill. Groaning, she raised on her toes and scoured through his scalp while her tongue continued to fight for dominance.
He trailed kisses on her jaw down to her neck while she encouraged him by bending her head to the other side. When she felt his hands graze her waist, swiftly gaining access through the cut of her kurta, she moaned his name out.
He stopped his act with a groan and looked at her thoroughly kissed lips.
God! those sinful ones... he muttered an incoherent curse before he pecked them again.
"You should go down," he said catching his breath and she nodded with a blush.
"Good night," he smiled kissing her cheek and was surprised when she kissed him back.
She took her phone and turned to him again.
"Good night," she replied and walked out, making him grin widely as he started at her back.
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Good night to you too...
Lots of love to you...
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Until next update, Signing off.. yours Soujanya.