Hello everyone, here is the new story.
Thanks to all for voting and commenting on the previous story.
Gauri always went with her instincts, and her instincts were telling her to have nothing to do with this man. There is something seriously wrong with him, he seems distant and hesitant- in short, he didn't look interested. He hardly spoke the one hour he was here, only replied if he was directly asked something that too in monosyllables. He didn't speak much when they were left alone by their elders to talk privately, if anything he seemed more uncomfortable. She was getting strong negative vibes from him, she felt like just getting up from there and leaving. But she had no choice other than to sit through this whole charade. After another excruciating seventeen minutes, his family said that they will get back to them with their reply soon but Gauri already knew what the answer was going to be when she noticed him jumping up from his chair immediately.
The moment his car left their compound her sister pounced on her "So what do you think?"
"I don't know." Gauri replied evasively.
"Don't know? Does that mean it is a yes?" Bhavya teased her.
"He is so quiet." Gauri said with a frown as she wondered why her family was smiling at her expectantly.
"Aren't you the one who wanted a serious guy who spoke less?" Bhavya asks confused.
"Yeah! But this guy... he was too... I don't know. He didn't feel right." Gauri says as she looked at her parents who were exchanging confused and upset looks at each other.
"He is a nice boy, Gauri. He is qualified, polite, well spoken, good family, and good looking too. Then what is the problem?" her mother asked her gently.
"He didn't talk to me, he felt so uncomfortable."
Harsh starts chuckling hearing her "That's because you are the first girl he is seeing; the first-time people tend to be nervous and uncomfortable. You do remember how you were when you met Mukund, right?"
"I don't know, Papa!" Gauri says dejectedly as she hugged her father.
"Why don't you sleep over it and tell me your decision in the morning?" Harsh asks her as he hugged her lovingly.
"Okay." Gauri replies and goes to her room followed by Bhavya.
Gauri was lying on her bed as she flipped through the magazine distractedly as her mind was on the impending decision, she was to make the next day. She hears the door opening softly and looks up to see her mother at the door.
"Didn't sleep?" Vasundhara asked her.
"No." Gauri replied.
"Do you want to talk?" Vasundhara asked her daughter lovingly.
"Did you like him?" Gauri asked her.
"Yes." Vasundhara replies as she sits next to her daughter "I didn't see anything wrong with him. He is from such a rich and influential family still he is so down to earth. Whoever we asked, they all said that we will never find a guy better than him for you. Everybody has only good things to say about him. I know your problem is that he didn't talk much, it might have been because that he was nervous or that so many people were there."
"I feel they will say no." Gauri tells her.
"Why do you feel like that?" Vasundhara asks her shocked.
"I don't know... he didn't seem interested."
"Is it because of him not talking much?"
"Yeah." Gauri said, not wanting to tell her about him jumping up from his chair so fast, making her feel that he wanted to leave quickly.
"Anyway, they will call tomorrow, that time we will see. And I felt that they all left very happily."
Gauri couldn't help silently agree with her, he had looked just too happy to leave.
"I feel he is the perfect man for you."
Gauri nods her head and then turning to look at Bhavya who was sleeping next to her, she says "hmmm then there is Bhavya also."
"What?" Vasundhara asks confused.
"Only after I get married can Bhavya get married."
"So? You will make compromises with your life?" Vasundhara asks her angrily.
"No... I didn't mean it like that."
"You better don't. We want to see you two married, but not with someone you are not happy with. There is no hurry, Gauri. You take your time and make a decision." Vasundhara advised her.
"I will, mama." Gauri promises her mother.
Soon after kissing her daughter goodnight Vasundhara left the room. Gauri went to bed thinking whether her parents were right, and she was reading too much into the whole thing.
Next morning, Gauri woke up to Bhavya's screeching. "They said yes!" Bhavya excitedly informed her.
"WHAT?" Gauri asks shocked.
"YES! They said yes. And they asked about your opinion and Papa was feeling too embarrassed to tell them that you were still sleeping, so he told them that he will call back. So, get up and come down fast."
Gauri was completely awake hearing the news, and she quickly got up from the bed and was about to rush out, when Bhavya told her to brush her teeth at least. Gauri ran to the bathroom as she tried to understand why he said yes.
Later Gauri came down to meet her parents and they were busy talking, seeing her they stopped talking and gestured her to come towards them. As she settled down next to them, Harsh informed her about their reply.
"Did you make a decision?"
"Papa, you feel he is a nice guy, right?" Gauri asked her father.
"It is not necessary what I think of him, Gauri. What you think of him is important."
"For me, it is very important what my parents think of my husband."
"Okay...we think he is very nice." Harsh tells her.
"Then it is a yes." Gauri says smiling at her father.
"But Gauri..." Vasundhara tries to talk to Gauri, but Gauri stops her "I know you both will never ask me to marry a guy you both were not sure of. And I feel he is good, just a little reserved and serious."
"And Gauri finds serious guys sexy." Bhavya chips in from behind Gauri.
Gauri turns to Bhavya angrily, while Bhavya starts laughing. "I will kill you, Bhavya!"
"Then what will you do when I tell Papa and Mama that you also found him hot and handsome?" Bhavya asks laughing while Gauri turned completely pink, seeing her parents grinning at her Gauri runs behind Bhavya who was laughing loudly as she ran into their room.
The next few days Gauri was so busy with the preparations for her engagement that she hardly had time to breath, but that didn't stop her from thinking and wondering about her so-called marriage. What she had expected or imagined would happen after her marriage is fixed is completely different from what is happening. She had expected her fiancé to call her or meet her, so they could get to know each other, and here she doubted whether he even thought about her. She couldn't help wondering again and again whether she was making the right decision in marrying Omkara Singh Oberoi. Finally, Gauri decided to make the first move and called up Omkara Singh Oberoi.
"Hello?"
"Is this Omkara Singh Oberoi?"
"Yes. Who is this?"
"Hi... I'm Gauri."
"Er... hi Gauri... ermm... how are you?"
"I'm good... how are you?"
"Good."
They remained silent for a while then Omkara asked her "Ermm... why did you call?"
"Er...er... simply... just thought I will call and talk to you."
"Oh okay."
"Are you busy?"
"No...no... You tell me."
"Hmmm... finished your shopping for engagement?"
"Almost done."
"Even me."
"Okay."
When he remained silent, Gauri decided to hang up. "I guess I will hang up now. Talk to you later?"
"k."
Gauri was about to hang up when he says "Gauri... wait"
"Yeah?"
"I forgot... I wanted to ask you, the engagement ring, what do you prefer?"
"Huh?"
"I was wondering what type of rings you like. I don't even know what you call these things... stones? Gems?"
"Emmm I don't know. Whatever you pick is fine by me, just not something too big."
"Okay and what's your ring size?"
"I think six." Gauri says confused.
"Okay."
"Okay... bye."
"Bye."
Gauri kept the phone her feeling of Omkara Singh Oberoi being reluctant doubling. Even when he asked her about the rings, she didn't sense that excitement she had felt when her father asked her to pick the ring for Omkara Singh Oberoi, it rather felt like a chore for him.
Gauri didn't speak to Omkara after that, and with each passing day Gauri started worrying whether she made the right choice in marrying Omkara Singh Oberoi. The night before her engagement, Gauri decided to talk to Omkara and clear out all her confusions, with that in mind she called him up on his mobile.
"Hello."
"Hello, Omkara. This is Gauri here."
"Yeah I know... I have your number saved. How are you?"
"I am good... how are you?"
"Good. Then..."
Taking a deep breath she asked "Omkara, I really need to ask you something."
"Ask me something? What?"
"Are you not happy with this marriage?"
"Er... er... why are you asking such a thing?"
"Because I feel that you are not happy with this marriage."
"Gauri..."
"Please be honest Omkara, we are talking about our whole life."
After a pause, he says "No... and it has nothing to do with you... its me."
Even though she had expected this answer from him, it still hurt. "Is... is... there someone else?"
"No no... there is nobody else you are the only one." He hastily replies.
"You didn't like me? But if that is the case then why did you say yes?" Gauri asks getting slightly angry.
"Please it is not that. It is me. It's that, I am not ready for marriage. I am so sorry, Gauri but I am not ready for marriage right now." Omkara says guiltily.
"What? You are not ready? If you are not ready, then why did you even come to see me?" Gauri asks confused.
"Please let me explain." Omkara pleads.
"Okay tell me." Gauri replies angrily.
"You might know that I didn't join my family business and have started restaurant business. "Omkara starts.
"I know that." Gauri says impatiently.
"I had taken a loan to start my business, and I want to pay it back before I get married because I don't want to get married when I am in some kind of debt, I don't want to think twice before buying my wife a gift, or worry about the expenditures of a holiday with my family, or worry about having a baby but my family wants me to get married right now and have been forcing me for a while to settle down, and I just couldn't keep fighting them." Omkara explains sadly.
"Why didn't you tell me this when we met?"
"I never thought you would understand." Omkara says after a pause "My family doesn't understand me, they asks me why I'm so bothered about a small loan which I can just finish off with a single cheque, a single signature but that is not what I want, I want to stand by my own, whatever I achieve I want it to be mine alone. But my family they don't understand all this and finally I had to give in, and when I met you, I didn't have a single reason on which I could reject you."
After listening to what Omkara had to say, Gauri was lost in her thoughts trying to digest everything that Omkara just told her.
"Why are you not saying anything?" Omkara asks her.
"Omkara, I can really understand your helplessness and also understand why you don't want to get married, and that is the reason I am going to call off this wedding. "
"But..."
"I'm not doing this for you; I'm doing this for myself. I want a husband, not an adha-adhura one. I don't want my husband to ever regret marrying me." Gauri says gently.
After a pause Omkara says "You are right Gauri, you don't have to or need to compromise with your life"
After that there was a deafening silence between them, finally Omkara asks "How do you think your family will react to this? If you want, I can come and meet them, I owe them an apology."
"No don't come, you don't worry I will manage. My parents have told me that my decision is the final regarding my marriage. I'm just worried about your family."
"They are going to blow up." Omkara chuckles.
"I will have the rescue team on standby." Gauri jokes.
Omkara starts laughing then he sobers up "I think we should hang up now and inform our family about the decision."
"Okay. Bye Omkara."
"Bye Gauri... it was nice knowing you." Omkara softly adds.
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- Lazy