And for the first time, she realised if anything were to happen to him, she wouldn't be able to bear it. Her heart almost stopped at the thought of him getting hurt.
"OMKARA!!!!" The chandelier started shaking more and Gauri ran towards him in long strides. Omkara looked at her with a frown, confused to see her running towards him. The next few seconds were a blur for him and he could make out things only when his back hit the ground and the sound of glass shattering filled the room earning gasps from everyone.
Gauri had pushed him to the ground and due to the movement, she too had fallen on top of him. The chandelier had fallen just so close to them. Had she been just a little more late, Omkara would've been struck by the chandelier.
Gauri almost died at the thought of it. She turned her wide eyes away from the chandelier to below her and saw Omkara looking at her in shock. She smiled a little at him, relieved that he was fine as a tear slipped her eye and fell on his cheek.
"Gauri! Om! Are you both okay?" Shivaay asked as he rushed towards them worried.
All the other family members and even Anika who had been checking on the staff in food section came rushing towards them while Gauri got up from Omkara and then offered him her hand to get up.
Omkara looked at the shattered chandelier lying on the ground in horror as he realised that Gauri had saved his life almost risking her own. He immediately turned towards her and saw her eyes that filled with concern. Taking her extended hand in his, he got up and looked at her as words stopped forming in his head, his view being disturbed as one after another, his and her familes checked on them. He even heard his family thank her for saving his life but he stood there speechless just nodding.
He so much wanted to talk to her but it didn't seem like he could.
Anika had given a huge dose to the lighting department for their mistake. She was horrified by the whole incident and wouldn't stop apologizing to both the families and Omkara especially. Everyone knew and even tried to make her understand it wasn't her fault but she wouldn't stop.
Finally the guests had started to leave one by one and managing to get away without being noticed by his family and friends, Omkara went looking for Gauri. After a little search, he found her talking to Anika. Once Anika left, he walked towards her as she looked at him in relief.
He wasn't sure of what he would ask or tell her but he knew he wanted to ask something. However, his chain of thoughts were broken when he felt two small hands tightly wrap around him.
It took him a moment to process what had happened. She was hugging him! He felt waves of different emotions pass through him at their intimacy.
It was their first hug.
She had hugged him.
His happiness knew no bounds. He immediately wrapped his arms around her little body and held her close to himself, feeling her warmth. He wanted to stop time and be in this moment forever. But then he felt her sobbing.
Immediately holding her by her shoulders, he gently pushed her a little away to her a view of her face. She tried to look away but her overflowing tears were unmissable. His heart broke to see her like that.
Gently, he wiped away her tears and cupped her face. "What happened, Gauri?" He asked in his most calming voice.
Gauri just hugged him tight again and said between her sobs, "I thought I almost lost...you.." Her voice broke as she spoke.
Omkara was surprised to hear it. Unknowingly, a smile made its way on his face knowing that the woman he loved more than his life, cared for him and his life.
Wrapping one of his hands around her, he made her face him using his other hand and smiled reassuringly at her. His arms provided her with a sense of protection that no other arms had.
"I'm not going anywhere leaving you." Omkara said as he attached their foreheads, not letting go of her.
"Promise?" She asked innocently like a child.
"Promise." He couldn't help but smile at her, "And now that you really want me to stay, there's no way I'm going anywhere."
"You better not."
"But what you did today, that dangerous stunt you pulled, it was risky Gauri! What if something had happened to you? You shouldn't have done that!" Omkara scolded her with concern.
"So that it could have come and fall on you?"
"Gauri.."
"I couldn't just stand there watching it now could I?" Gauri asked with a frown.
"But you didn't have to pull that stunt. What if something had happened to you? What would I do?"
"I don't want to loose you."
And those words from her mouth made him feel like the happiest man alive. His happiness took control on his body as he placed a reassuring gentle kiss on her forehead.
Gauri flinched a little at the sudden gesture, but then she felt something warm sweep into her from the spot that he had just kissed. She could feel butterflies in her stomach. She looked at him wide eyed while he looked at her gently with a smile that melted her heart.
"I..um... sorry...mom is calling me." Saying this Gauri runs away blushing while Omkara stood there grinning.
**********
And then came the day of marriage. Both Omkara and Gauri were nervous to the core.
Gauri loved the Oberoi family, every single one of them were sweet and caring. She had started to develop a great bond with everyone there, especially Jhanvi. Omkara turned out to be loved by her family for his caring and humble nature and the way he would always consider her family too. And tonight, both the families would be tied together forever.
"Gauriii!!!" Shivaay called out as he entered the room, breaking her trance. "You're getting married today, so do you have any last wish as a bachelor?"
"Bhaiyaa aap bhi na!" Gauri rolled her eyes.
"So, my dear behna, talk to me."
"About?"
"Anything." Shivaay replied with a smile. "I know when girls get married, they have a lot of things in their mind. So free your mind by sharing some things with me."
"There's nothing like that Bhaiya" Gauri replied. "I was just nervous."
"You're happy with him right?" Shivaay asked concerned seeing her so nervous.
Gauri looked at him in the eye and thought about his question.
Yes, she was happy but will it always be like this? What if things change later on? Her fear questioned.
"Don't fear the future, Gauri. Think about your present." Shivaay said as if reading her mind. "Can you think of a life without him?"
Gauri stared at him wide eyed. She remembered her dream about him marrying someone and the chandelier incident when the thought of something happening to him almost killed her. She shook her head vigorously in no, horrified by the thought of having to spend her life without him. In the last few days he turned out to be more important than he already was and now having to think of a life without him was something she could not.
Shivaay smiled softly at his soul sister. Maybe his sister was finally in love?
"So, he's important huh?" He asked raising an eyebrow.
Gauri nodded her head, too shy to say anything.
"I'm happy for you, Gauri." Shivaay said as he embraced her. "So don't be nervous. Just trust yourself and him. Okay?" Shivaay said breaking away from the hug.
"What are you both brother-sister planning?" Anika asked as she entered the room with many gift boxes. She slowly kept them in the table and then keeping her hands on her hips, turned towards Gauri and Shivaay.
"We were just backbiting about how bad of a friend you are." Shivaay said grinning earning a small bit from Anika.
"I'm really happy that you guys share such a great bond." Anika said hugging them both. "I'm really lucky to get you both."
"That you are." Gauri said proudly.
It was during their college years that these three had grown close to eachother. Shivaay had been a final year student when they had joined college. And since he was a distant relative of Gauri, her mother had asked her to meet him and talk to him in college.
Although she was reluctant to talk to this so called relative of hers that she had barely met before, thanks to her mother's insistance she had to go see him. So on their first day of college Gauri along with Anika went to meet Shivaay.
Both Anika and Shivaay were smitten by eachother right at the start. And the guy whom Gauri expected to be boring and a waste of time to talk to, turned out to be a really good person, a brother she always craved for. And as time passed, their bond grew deeper. She could tell him anything and everything and he would patiently listen to her and give her all the right advices. After Anika, Shivaay had been the closest to her, knowing almost everything about her.
It was still weird how she would call him bhaiya, and he would sometimes call her behna but both him and Anika had refused to be called or to call bhaiya. It seemed weird for both of them so even Gauri never questioned it, until she started noticing their feelings. Seeing them fight like cat and mouse one would never guess they had feelings for each other. Whenever they came infront of eachother, they would taunt the other as if it was a ritual for them.
It was only a few months later that Shivaay and Anika started to realize their feelings for eachother. Gauri had happily played the cupid in uniting two of her most favourite people together.
However they were both unsure of how to proceed with their feelings since they were both total opposites in nature. But with time, they had realised that love was over everything else.
****
Meanwhile Omkara was having a talk with his father as he waited for Bhavya to come and do his pagdi.
"Om, today I would like to tell you something that you should always keep in mind. Something you must never forget." Tej said as he lovingly kept his hand on Omkara's shoulder and gently squeezed it.
Omkara nodded in response asking him to continue.
"Beta, no matter what happens, never disrespect two people in your life. No matter how angry you are, no matter what the situation is, never disrespect them." Omkara looked on as Tej turned a little serious. "One- your mom who went through hell to give birth to you, who raised you up with unconditional love and two- the girl who leaves behind her everything and holds your hand to spend the rest of her life with you."
Omkara smiled softly at his father and nodded, "I'll always keep it in mind."
"Even if you fight with your wife, remember to never disrespect her. Never hurt a woman who loves you with her everything. Never." Tej said, then giving out a low chuckle, he joked, "Never hurt me either."
"Dad!!" Omkara called out rolling his eyes as they laughed together.
But deep down Omkara felt happy to see how his family cared for Gauri. She deserved their love and everything else. And ever since the chandelier incident, he knew that one day Gauri would fall in love with him, that is if she hadn't already.
To be continued...
Hey everyone!! How have you all been? So here's the next chapter! And it's it's little longer than my usual updates😅 Do let me know what you think of the story as far and please vote!
Also the next few updates will be a little slower than my previous ones. It will take 5 days for each chapter to be updated. Sorry for the inconvenience. I hope you understand 😊