Hlo darlings
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No one knows what might turn up infront of them when they would turn the next corner of their life. What you see is a lie. What you can't even imagine is the bitter truth and that truth leaves you bereft of words and actions, leaves you numb and sweating.
Tej couldn't believe what he was seeing through his widely opened eyes. The deep sleep, that he felt would come to him after he had succeeded in getting hold of the power he always wanted, had flown out of his eyes, leaving those red and filled with terror.
The air-conditioned room suddenly started suffocating him, leaving his face drenched in sweat beads, his hands clammy and his whole body shivering and sweating simultaneously.
His voice had deserted him when he wanted to shout for help at the top of his lungs. He extended his hand to get hold of his phone but his hand was shivering too badly to hold the device, let aside using it.
He crawled backwards on his bed seeing him stepping forward, towards his bed, the mysterious smoke filling the room, making everything else invisible but his shadow. In a swift motion he launched himself near him and tried to suffocate him by pressing a cushion against his mouth.
“Start counting your days, Tej Singh Oberoi. Start. Counting. Your. Days.”
These words were being told to him since last one month, by the same man, on different places. But today his own mansion wasn’t safe for him.
And all of a sudden the force being exerted on his face was gone. As he opened his eyes, coughing and gasping for breathe, he found the smoky mist gone and he was gone too.
Tej looked around himself, searching for him, but it seemed like no one had entered this room other than himself, ever. He held the duvet close to himself, wrapping it around himself as if that piece of cloth around him would save him.
After a few minutes, when he had calmed down a bit and his heartbeat was normal, he ran out of his room into the hall, shouting for help.
The security guards gathered there, to know what this man wanted in the middle of the night. It had barely been two months since he had taken over this mansion and business and their life had been terrible due to his childish orders.
A wise person who has always lacked something would cherish once he gets it. But people like Tej Singh Oberoi would want to flaunt it. In the last two months this man had made unnecessary tantrums about having fifty bodyguards around him just to roam around the lawn, have his food checked before it was served to him, etcetera etcetera.
And now he was demanding of them to bring this man who was troubling him since a month, everyday without fail. How were they to bring this unknown and unseen man without knowing his whereabouts ? Let alone whereabouts, how were they to know if this mad man was even saying the truth or not ?
“Please, Sir, we can’t do anything until and unless we know who you’re talking about. We’ve never seen him, nor we could find any clue about his presence near you whenever you said he was there. So how are we to find him ? Or we don’t even know if you’re saying the truth or not.”
Ranbeer, the new security head after Khanna, said to Tej. The last few words sent his rage to peak and he cringed crazily, shouted amd started pulling his hair in frustration.
How to make others believe him that the man was trying to kill him. He was making his life hell. Every day he sees messages written to him with blood, on the mirror of his room and restroom, letters thrusted in his coats’ pockets, on the windshield of his cars, bones in his dinner, skeletons instead of chandeliers.
His brain wasn’t working completely. He couldn’t think properly. No one had seen him. He was not seen in any of the CCTV footages, nothing was amiss. When he would try to show anyone about the threatening messages, they would find nothing. No blood, no bones, no skeletons, the chips gone or the messages turned out to be something else.
What he should do ? How to make everyone believe that he has an unseen enemy, but who is not unknown to him. How could he make people understand, that it’s not what it seems.
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Life was complicated, peaceful enough but having spots of unhappiness. Anika had everyone with her except for her love, Shivaay. He was so near, yet so far. But she herself was to be blamed for that. Only if she hadn't done that !
But he should’ve understood that she was helpless, her love for him was making her helpless. She couldn’t see his pain, his helplessness and how he was striving to get back the hard earned reputation and position of his grandfather. Not being able to do the same was making him restless and unhappy.
She still couldn’t forget the evening he had broken his phone infront of her, something he hadn’t done ever since he had started having this soft corner for her.
“I don’t know that. What I know is, we won’t fail. We, can’t fail.”
Not that he was talking infront of her, she only happened to listen to the conversation he was having while passing by the lawn. Despite having seen her he couldn’t control himself and broke the phone and when she tried to talk to him, he left.
So much he was troubled that he was going far from her. His ignorance, his avoidance of meeting her eyes, his anger in the form lack of expression of his emotions, everything had taken a toll on her and in the struggle to make everything fine in his life she did the biggest mistake of her life. She chose to visit Tej Singh Oberoi.
"Welcome ! Welcome ! welcome ! My Dreamstress. How much have I craved to see you. To feel you. To have you.
She found herself shaking in fear and disgust already as she entered the mansion. She couldn’t believe this mansion was the same where she had lived with Shivaay. With him it used to seem so secure and warm. Now it was just a building, cold and unsafe, like a jungle with hungry wolves all around her.
The touch of a finger caressing her cheek made her turn her face away and back off. The determination with which she had left the cottage seemed to have seeped out of the soles of her feet.
"I'm- I'm ready to do anything. But give everything back to Shivaay."
The evil less in his laughter was all she got as a response. But that was enough to tell her that she had made a mistake.
"I want you, baby, but I also want power, I need this power. But you don't be scared. I’ll not leave you. You will live with me, till your last breath, you will be my personal baby doll to play with."
Anika squirmed in shame at the disgusting words, she tried to get out of the encircled arms around her person. She felt like a thousand thorns were pricking her whole being. The tears were no help to her at all.
She hoped that atleast one of the security guards would feel pity on her crying self and help her. But they were all standing with their heads bowed down.
“Let’s celebrate our union, baby doll. Let me feel you.”
She shook her head vigorously, trying to keep his face away from herself. She wished death to get at her before this vulture could rob her of her dignity. She wanted to slap herself for taking such a step.
She was fighting a loosing battle. She couldn’t support herself anymore. Her vision was blurry, whether it was due to the tears in her eyes, or was it due to the light-headedness she felt, she couldn’t fathom as she lost the last ounce of energy in her.
What happened after that, she didn’t know. When she opened her eyes, she could see her family around her bed, in the cottage. Dadi sitting beside her on the bed, caressing her hair. She heard Janvi say to Gauri that she was going to bring something for her to eat. Gauri was leafing through the medicines in the medicines box.
She could see through the open door, Om, Rudra, and Shivaay were talking to a man who undoubtedly, was a doctor, she judged by the stethoscope hanging round his neck.
Caring for her health they all might be, but they were holding anger in their eyes. The more caring they were looking, the more she felt they were angry.
She made haste to get up once the three brothers came back into the room and she tried to speak, but Shivaay addressed Gauri before she could utter a word. He ignored to even look at her.
“Give me the prescription, Gauri, I’ll bring it with me when I come back.”
With that, he was gone. And not only him, one by one everyone left the room without talking to her.
She still doesn’t know what had happened that day except for the bits and pieces about Shivaay, Om, Rudra, and Khanna bhaiya bringing her back to the cottage safely. How they did it, it was unknown to everyone else too.
If Anika had any doubts about her action being a mistake, those were cleared with Gauri’s outburst when she had tried to talk to her after a day of that incident.
Even Gauri believed that Anika’s actions were utterly stupid. No doubt the emotions that induced such a reaction by her were pure but the actions weren’t sensible. Gauri, who wouldn’t leave any chance to mock Shivaay on the most trivial of issues, even if she didn’t mean them, was taking his side this time, openly.
“You’ve hurted him a big time. He would like to stay the ordinary Shivaay he is now rather than being Shivaay Singh Oberoi at the cost of your life and...”
It was the first time that Gauri had let her guard off and let Anika see that she had started liking Shivaay better than she initially did and that, no one could be a better person than Shivaay to be her (Anika’s) life partner.
Even after a month of that incident Shivaay hadn’t talked to her. Eventually everyone had come to a decision of forgiving her for she was in love and it was her love for Shivaay that didn’t let her just sit and see him fighting with problems after problems.
She would’ve been glad of a slap or an angry outburst. But she wasn’t glad or even prepared for the icy blankness in his eyes that she encoutered every time she came infront of him or tried to talk to him.
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Gauri found Om in the room he and his brothers are sharing. He was, as usual busy in his paintings and colours. How sinfully hot does he look with black rimmed spectacles perched on his nose, one leg resting on the foot rest of the chair he was sitting on and the other on the floor, one hand holding the colour palate and the other holding the brush and making strokes on the canvas.
She was in love with his paintings would be an understatement. She has the gallery of her phone full with their pictures that she has clicked secretly.
She didn’t have the courage to go and talk to him after what happened the day before yesterday. She was feeling awkward and shy unknowingly.
She was late in getting back after a meeting with her employer. The fashion house she used to work for, had recently opened a branch in Mumbai and she couldn’t be happier because this Mumbai was home for her and after a few requests she had finally got to work in this branch.
She was just praying to get a taxi with a good driver and not some vulture as a rapist. If she got back home late, that she could see she already was, a certain blue eyed man would chop her to pieces.
She smiled as she recalled the protectiveness he shows towards herself and Priyanka. With Anika it’s on another level, though.
“Smiling on your own, Sweetheart ?”
She heard someone say in her ear and she turned her head with such force that she could’ve sprained her neck. The man was reeking of some cheap brand of alcohol, and so were the other three behind him.
She backed off, already trying to get hold of the pepper spray she keeps in the outer zip of her shoulder bag.
It wasn’t one of her good days. The man pulled her towards himself, and her bag fell off her shoulder, away from her reach. She tried to kick his shin with her fist but he twisted her wrist, and damn it was painful.
Whoever was the idiot who said you need guts to fight, not strength ? Her guts got her hand twisted. Now what ?
All of a sudden she was free from the grip but fell on the road in a sitting position with such a force that her bums felt numb.
Once she understood what just happened, she looked at Om as if he was an Avatar landed recently from Pandora. The Om she knew was sweet and loving and caring, to others ofcourse. But this Om was a hurricane, fighting with four men all alone as if he was a professional fighter.
Well ! Those four were drunk. So no need to give him the credit. That was the only consolation Gauri could come up with.
Once he made sure those men were not conscious anymore, he looked at Gauri. If she was expecting to be cosseted like a baby, then she was expecting a wall to walk. Om pulled her up harshly and she was scared, she was ashamed to admit.
“Bachi ho tum ? Time ka koi ata pata nahi hai ? Do you even know what could’ve happened ? Bird-witted girl ! Couldn't you go home early ?”
Gauri being Gauri, couldn’t notice that he was worried and that’s why angry. She just couldn’t tolerate being called Bird-witted and pushed him away.
“I was going to thank you, you monkey, but now I won’t.”
She walked away from him and he pulled her back once again, pointing his arms in the opposite direction, indicating that they had to go that way.
“Do bhai pagal, teesra bewakoof. Aise bhi koi care karta hain ? Chilla Chilla ke ?”
Gauri muttered to herself, but Om heard and smiled. This girl was simply mad. Any other girl would’ve been thanking him or crying, but this one, her mind works in one direction and that is to pick a fight with him.
“Hey ! Don’t tell anyone about all this.”
He heard her say.
“I won’t tell anyone. I will tell family.”
Om spoke, with the one and only intention of irritating her. An irritated Gauri was more entertaining than a Marvel movie.
“You won’t tell anyone okay ? Or else your brother will get the chance to shout at me. And Anika is already going through a lot. So stay quiet.”
So that was that. The little adventure had been decided to be kept a secret. Gauri smiled dreamily, unknown to Om’s presence near her.
Om stood infront of her, with his hands resting on his waist, looking at her as if she was the eighth wonder of the world. In his opinion, she actually was.
“You don’t have to prove your madness to the world, you know ?”
Gauri looked confused as she came back from her dreamland. She had no idea what he was talking about.
“What ? You are standing infront of my room, smiling like an idiot. What do I understand out of it ? Isn’t it obvious that you’re mad ?”
“Shutup, you mad bull. I was here to talk about something serious. But you are a stupid. So forget it. Bye.”
“Why are you so touchy ? And yes, I know what this ‘so serious’ thing is. It is their own problem, a matter between them. So let them solve it on their own.”
“How do you know it’s about them ?”
“Because you only talk seriously when the matter concerns Anika. Or else you keep talking nonsense.”
Gauri gaped in indignation at the way he insulted her, directly in her face.
“You- I don’t talk nonsense. You’re a dimwit who can’t understand me.”
Taking a deep breath, she composed herself. Thinking about Anika helped, and she calmed down.
“Look, I do have the sense to not interfere between two lovers. But to sort out their differences, the two lovers have to talk. How would they talk if they- that brother of yours would ignore her all the time ? So I just want you to help me bring them infront of each other, in a way that your brother won’t run.”
Saying this, Gauri held his hand and dragged him out of the room while telling him to bring Shivaay to the pond behind the backyard.
“Stop ! I can go on my own. And just have some mercy on yourself. What if we’ve to drag you to the hospital after you drag me for so long ?”
Gauri stopped and punched him in the stomach because he was crossing his limits. Om scowled in pain as he understood one thing today. Girls don’t get offended only when they’re called fat !
Bringing Shivaay to the pond wasn’t an easy task. Om had to lie to him that he wanted to talk about something important. And why only near the pond, he had no reason to that. But at the end, Shivaay was there.
The blues, reds and orange of the falling twilight were reflected in the pond water. How Anika wished Shivaay was here with her to see this. She wanted his presence beside her, his arms around her, anyhow.
Shivaay looked at Anika sitting on the tree stump, her chin resting on her knees drawn towards her chest. And he knew she was crying. The tears he couldn’t see in her eyes weren’t affecting him today.
But Shivaay's love was taken over by his anger. He had taken it upon himself, that it was his own fault. He had let her see his troubles and she felt she would have to do something to help him and she did. It made him feel incapable of protecting her.
She didn’t endanger her life that day, she endangered their love. She proved that she didn’t trust his love for her, that's why she thought he would be fine to get his fortunes back at the cost of her dignity, her self-respect and her life. She failed to understand that rags or riches, it had to be with her.
He didn’t want to talk to her, see her in the eyes, because he would melt.
He turned to leave the way he had come but her voice stopped her.
“S- Shivaay..”
He fisted his hands, not wanting to go and hold her in his arms and wipe her tears. The shiver in her voice was so painful. Why fate had to bring him to this point where whether he forgave her or not, it was same to him, painful.
"Shi- Shivaay please- please atleast lis- listen to me. Talk to me, Shivaay. Please.."
It was unbearable for him to stay there. Her sobs were wrenching his heart. He left from there without paying a head to her cries, shedding tears himself.
Anika sat there looking at the wooden gate through which he left, not caring if the twilight had turned into a dark evening. The wall between them seemed to be getting stronger and higher.
The circumstances had created an unseen wall between them. And she didn’t know how to break that wall.
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This chapter might be boring but it was important.
And anyone notice that there were the parts from the promos ?
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