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Shivaay stood rooted to the spot with shock.He couldnt believe his eyes.He had always imagined his reaction when he will finally meet his brothers after a span of seven years.He had visualized it to be a happy emotional meet with smiles and cheer but he had certainly not expected the happenings and the hurt of that fateful day to come back to him.
"Hum jaante the ki tere liye business important hai, but tu iss had tak gir sakta hai yeh maine sapne mein bhi nahi socha tha"
"yakeen nahi hota ki tu humara bhai hai"
"Aaj tak jis insaan ko bhai kehne mein garv mehsoos kartha tha,aaj usse bhai bulane mein bhi sharam aa rha hai"
Shivaay's breath felt short and he felt like he couldnt get enough air while breathing.
Shivaay slid down to the floor with his back to the door. That day was like a storm in his life which washed him into the endless sea with nothing to hold on to. But then like sunshine in the darkest of times, destiny had given him a second chance at life-Anika. She was his second chance. A chance to live,to love and to get loved in return.But today he felt like was being pulled back to the dark pit of memories of the past which threatened to pull him down with it.
As the flashback continued to play at the back of his mind he felt as if he was still in the Oberoi mansion, listening to those words.The words, the harsh tones, the accusation,the lack of trust-every detail from that day was so fresh in his mind and was continuously playing in a loop in front of his eyes.
'No Shivaay don't go there.You are supposed to be happy to meet your brother after so many years.Just forget everything...Let it go'.He tried to convince his mind to let go of the past and make a new beginning but probably for the first time in his life, he couldn't control his thoughts.He couldn't stop himself from repeatedly remembering the memories of that day and reliving the hurt of that day.An internal war was going on inside him between his brain and his heart.
On one hand he wanted to let go of the past and make a new beginning but on the other hand his heart was shielding itself against further hurt by repeatedly reminding him of the pain he had experienced on that day.
When Anika saw Shivaay slide down the door gasping for his breath,she knew what was exactly going on in his mind.He was recollecting the happenings of that day and she knew it for a fact seeing his expressions. The unfocused,glassy green eyes reminded her of the broken Shivaay he had been when she had bought him home on that day.
NO,No..shivaay don't go there.Intending to help him pull out of his memories,Anika kneeled beside his shaking form and held his arms but Shivaay didnot react to her touch.This was the first time he had not reacted to her touch and Anika could feel him slipping from her hands.He was shutting everyone out to hide his inner turmoil,including her by putting up the mask of cold indifference.As his better half for the last seven years,she had known his deepest fears and darkest memories. And now when he was suddenly alienating her from himself,Anika felt as if somebody had slapped her.
Shivaay could sense Anika kneeling down beside him and her hand reaching out to his shoulder.He knew that she could sense the battle that was going on beneath him but now all he wanted was some solitude to sort out his muddled up thoughts.He didnot want to do say or do anything in the heat of the moment only to regret it later.
Ignoring the hand on his shoulder he stood up making Anika also stand up with him.He could see that she was hurt by his action of ignoring her but right now he himself was too muddled up to apologize to her.
'I need to get out of here.'The tense atmosphere of the room was suffocating him.He rushed outside the room.As walked through the corridor he could see Khanna approach him with a worried expression. Shivaay put up his hand to stop Khanna in his tracks.
"GO."A single word from shivaay was enough for Khanna to step back.Perhaps it was the coldness in his tone or it was his red-rimmed eyes,that made Khanna step back but whatever made him do that,Shivaay was thankful because right now he didnot want anybody near him.
It was already dark and the temperature had dipped down to a comfortable level.Walking into the hospital gardens,he took a deep breath.The cold environment and the peaceful environment were a stark contrast against the whirlwind of emotions inside him. Sitting down on one of the empty benches,Shivaay bend his head into his hands and finally let the tears flow which he had been holding in for so long.
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Gauri was stupefied to say the least.This was not something that they had expected.She turned her head to see Om frozen to his place.Gauri reached out to Om's hand and gently pulled it to bring him out of his gaze. When Om turned she could read the utter confusion in his eyes.
"Voh......Voh Shivaay tha na?"Om questioned Gauri,still not being able to come to the fact that he had just met Shivaay.
Gauri nodded her head.Om suddenly sprung into action as if he was waiting for someone to just confirm that he was not dreaming.He rushed out of the door leaving Anika and Gauri in the room.
Om ran down the corridor to catch up with Shivaay but the hospital had so many corridors and each one was leading to different parts of the hospital.
Where could Shivaay be?Parking lot?He rushed down to the parking area and searched around but was only dismayed.After running and searching about th hospital for almost 10 minutes for his brother who suddenly seemed to have vanished,a fear was growing in his heart.What if i loose him again? No I have to find him out.With his resolve more strengthened than ever,Om ran back into the hospital to continue his search.
Turning around the corner into a passage,he saw Khanna standing there with 2 other security guards.Om rushed to Khanna and pleaded him to tell him where Shivaay was.
"Khanna please,This is very important.Please tell me."
"But sir.."
"Khanna please.This is my last chance to set things right.Please Khanna."
Seeing the amount of desperation that Om's voice held,Khanna agreed to help Om.He led Om to the hospital garden and pointed to the lone figure sitting on the bench in the dark.
Om took tentative steps towards the bench to see shivaay sitting there on the bench with his head bend over his hands.As soon as Shivaay sensed his presence he tensed up and sat up straight leaning against the backrest of the bench. He walked forward and put a hand on his tensed shoulders.
Om walked ahead and sat beside him on the bench.One look at Shivaay's face and Om knew that his brother was crying.Om was guilty for hurting him.
As he sat beside Shivaay he could see Shivaay school his expressions into a normal business like but his eyes were giving away the intensity of his pain.Om knew that Shivaay was bracing himself against further damage to his soul.Om felt his heart bleed for his brother.
"Shivaay.."he started."Shivaay whatever happened that day we got to know of the truth after two weeks.And do you know who did bring out the truth?Priyanka...Humari Prinku pehelwaan."
Shivaay let a small smile at that statement. He always wanted Priyanka to be confident of herself and he was proud that no matter what,his absence had at least encouraged her to shed her nervousness and face the problems.
"It was all Mr Oberoi's ploy,Shivaay.He could never be trusted.He was the one who ensured that the documents go missing from the police station and he even hired a girl to do all the drama in the Oberoi mansion that day.All he wanted....."Om turned to Shivaay only to see him look back at him with an expressionless face.
He had expected Shivaay to show some reaction after learning about what happened after he went but was thrown off guard to see the lack of emotion on his face.
Shivaay is not reacting means he already knew the truth of what happened that day.And even after knowing the truth if he still distances himself from us then it is definitely not good news.A deep anxiety tied a knot in his stomach.He knew that he was treading into dangerous water still he needed to find out the reason why his brother was away from them for so long.
"Shivaay you already know the truth?"
"Sach toh mujhe hamesh se pata that ki meine kuch nahi kiya hai."
"Still you do not want to come back home.Why Shivaay?Ab sab theek ho jayega na.Then why?"
Shivaay took a deep breath to calm down.He didnot want to shout at his brother but on second thoughts he felt it was better to sort out the issues for once and for all rather than brushing them under the carpet each time and waiting for it to come and spread unrest in their lives after some time.
"Really Om?You really think that it is this easy.Baath kabhi sach ki nahi thi Om.Baath barose ki thi.The fact that bade papa played with our feelings never hurt me as much as it did to see you all turn against me.I was really not joking when I said that you and Rudra are my pillars of strength.Aur jab tum dodno mere khilaaf khade ho gaye na tab mein kammzoor pad gaya tha.That moment I felt as if I had no strength left in me to fight.To justify myself."Shivaay's voice cracked and he paused a bit before continuing.
"Kyun Om?Kyun?Itna bharosa nahi tha apne bhai par.Did you really think that I am that monstrous enough that I will destroy hundreds of lives just for my benefit.I admit that sometimes the lines of right and wrong blur for me and I take some routes which may not be accepted by you,to get my job done.But Om all that was when the matter was something related to you,Rudra or The Oberoi family.I would never do that for my own gain.Never."
"Shivaay mein..."
"Om let me complete."Shivaay cut him off.
"You said that you were ashamed to call me your brother.....You said that you were ashamed of the fact that i was your brother.....How..How could you say that Om?You know me from the time you were born.We stood by each other through every twist and turn of our life no matter how hard it was. But then suddenly you believed a random girl over the brother whom you knew since childhood.Where did our trust and brotherhood go Om.?Kahan gaya sab?"
"Aur voh batein aaj bhi mere kanoon mein goonjthe hai Om.I can still here those words.They keep replaying in my mind and never stop Om and each time it happens I wonder where did I go wrong as a brother that you didnot have enough trust in me .Why didn't you trust me Om why?"Shivaay's voice softened till the end and the mask of indifference that he had stubbornly held onto slipped and finally Om could see the impact that his words and that day's happenings had on the great wall of Shivaay Singh Oberoi.
It was rightly said that words cut deeper than words and he had damaged the very soul of the brother,who had stood up for them always as the great wall of Shivaay Singh Oberoi.
"Shivaay mein.."Om placed his hands on Shivaay's shoulder but he flinched so hard that Om felt like someone had stabbed him with a knife. Ignoring the gesture of rejection,he sat down stubbornly near Shivaay.
He was an Oberoi too and Oberois never quit.This was the chance that he had been waiting for for the last seven years and this time he needed his brother to see his side of the story well.
"Shivaay listen to me.I trusted you that day Shivaay.Of course I did.I have always told you to listen to your heart when you brain and heart are at odd but when the time came for me to choose,I choose to listen to my brain rather than to my heart and that proved to be the biggest mistake of my life. When that girl laid down the proofs in front of us I knew in some corner of my heart that my brother would not do something as inhuman as this thing but my brain was reminding me of my own words from the past that If i had to ever choose between my family and the truth i would choose the truth.On that day,the truth was on the other side.probably for the first time in my life,even if it is unknowingly, I helped Mr Oberoi's ploy to win over your innocence and I regret it till today."
"when I came to know of your truth,I tried to find you Shivaay.I tracked down all the companies where you could possibly apply for a job,but till then you had vanished.It was like in two months you had wiped out all the traces that could lead us to you.I still had a hope that one day I will meet you and apologize for all that had happened.That day is today.We all need you Shivaay,Please come back.I know that whatever we did was unforgivable and no amount of sorry would compensate for all that had happened but Shivaay I can assure you of one thing,that this will never happen in the future.I promise you that no matter what happens or no matter what proofs are presented,the Oberoi family will always stand by you.I can promise you that."
"Om,mere ek sawaal ka jawaab doge tum?"Shivaay asked breaking the silence.
"Haan bolo,Shivaay."
"If Priyanka had not bought out the truth then would you come to search for me Om.Kya tum apne bhai ko dhoothe?"
Om was taken aback by the question.For a moment the was tempted to lie to Shivaay and say the answer that both of them wanted to hear.But who was he fooling?Not him not Shivaay.Both of them knew very well that he would not have put in the same amount of efforts to locate Shivaay if the truth hadn't come out.
Seeing that Om was lost in his thoughts,Shivaay stood up from the bench and straightened his coat,"Don't tell me your answer Om.I know you better than you know yourself."
Shivaay had enough of emotional confrontations for today.Now that he knew that Om was somehow related to Anika's injured employee he could very easily find out Oms contact numbers. He would call him up tomorrow to discuss everything with a cool sorted mind.Shivaay stood up to walk ahead but was held back by Om.
Shivaay was surprised to see Om kneeled on the lawn holding his hand,"I need my brother back Shivaay.I am tired of fighting alone.I need my brothers beside me.I know that whatever happened was not right but shivaay I cannot change the past,I can apologize to you and assure you that it will not happen again.I can only hope that one day you will find the will to forgive and forget everything and come back.But Shivaay I am tired of fighting.I need the great wall of Shivaay Singh Oberoi.Please Shivaay please.I am sorry Shivaay.Please..."Om rested his head aginst his hand which was holding on to Shivaay's and let his tears flow freely.
Shivaay looked at the hand that was holding on to his.He was transported back to the time when he had met Om for the first time.His badi maa had stayed in London for six months even after om was born.So the firs time Shivaay met him was when Om was six months old and he was just a two year old.Though he himself was a baby at that time,he could vividly remember the first time he had met Om.He along with his mother had made a welcome card for the new baby and had waited patiently for his arrival.But as soon as he saw the little baby wrapped up in a blanket in his Badi maa's arms,the welcome card was soon forgotten and felt a special connection to the little baby wrapped up in layers of blankets.Even the first time they had met,the baby had curled its tiny fingers around Shivaay's small fingers and held on it with such a force that even the elders were surprised. And today he looked back to the same hands holding on to his ,pleading him to stay back.
Shivaay sighed.How easy was it when they were kids.They would mess up each other favorite toys and sometimes even broke it.Great world war scaled fights would occur but at the end all of the matter used to be solved by a simple sorry.No conditions apply.No matter how angry or hurt he was but he could never tolerate tears or sadness in his brothers' eyes.Shivaay kneeled down along with his brother and enveloped his younger brother in a tight hug.He didnot know whether he would be able to forget that day fully but he just knew that now that his brothers was also by his side,he would definitely be able to cope up with it.
Om sat still for a moment and then hugged him back. And that was what both Shivaay and Om were. The two brothers, who had been the older heirs of an empire, put in constant competition by their parents, who had ignored their parents to support each other but had been torn apart from each other by lies, sins and conspiracies had found their home. For them, home was not the glittering mansion but each other. Everything was complete but a piece of the obros was till missing-Rudra.But of course,he too would join soon.
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To be continued.......
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I know that this update was full of emotions but I promise you that i will make up for it by making the next update a light hearted one. :)
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Next update:07 November 2017