Hi guys... so this is for MishtyDoe and Saumya_Jha who tagged me in the prompts suggested by indian_fanfics

Writers... give them a try... the writing prompts are interesting....
So, I was suggested many...but the other ones needed some research and time..which I cannot spare at the moment so I chose the less work one.

Enjoy reading:)

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"I love another man"

"Doesn't matter!" he said sitting back and enjoying the tea.

"Dude, I can't marry you. I have a boyfriend I love to bits."

"Doesn't matter!"

"Are those the only words you know?"

"Doesn't matter!"

Gauri Kumari Sharma angrily snatched the cup form the irritating man sitting before her, who supposedly is her prospective husband. Still glaring at him she seethed "What matters then?"

"The contract!" came the reply.

"Mr. Omkara Singh Oberoi... you are spiking my anger with your nonchalance to my feelings and half cooked answers... can you please elaborate?"

Omkara raised an eyebrow at the pretty little woman before him but decided to answer her not wanting to prolong the conversation.

"Look Gauri... you know I have been working for my company since I was merely seventeen... I have known nothing but business in my entire life... my partner cheated me by selling the details of an important deal with a multi-national company to my rival"

Gauri could judge from his cold look that whoever his partner was, he will not stay happy for long.

It wasn't unknown to the business world that Omkara Singh Oberoi is a ruthless man and anyone who double crossed him never survived in the field for long. He would nip the weeds from their very roots making sure they never grow back... ever.

"Now, the company is ready to sue me. I need your father's help to tide over this crisis and the only condition he put forth in our contract is that I marry you" he explained in a patient tone, not known to him before.

"How much money do you need?...I can arrange it"

"I gave my word to your father"

"And I gave my heart to someone else"

"Then take it back... or stay heartless... I don't deal with hearts anyways" he said in disinterest and she fumed.

"Om..."

"I am not going to back off Gauri... you can do whatever you want to call off this wedding.. I will not come in your way"

"I cannot... papa will be upset"

"Then I guess we will be husband and wife in no time... prepare your mind for it" he said and without waiting for a response stood up and walked off into the living room where her parents were waiting for them to join.

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"Did you just say that you told Omkara... your husband... that you love someone else?... Are you mad Gauri?" Anika screamed at her best friend.

"I told him when he came to meet me three months ago...He wasn't my husband then" Gauri said calmly as she continued to read through the file.

"Why would you do that Gauri? You have been in love with him since you were in your teens"

"He doesn't love me"

"He was going to marry you" Anika said in exasperation.

"I did not want him to marry me for a stupid contract... I could not belittle my love like that... I thought he would back off from that marriage if I said I loved someone else"

"Ranveer was a very good guy... are you sure your father was not behind him in cheating Omkara?" Anika asked in dread and Gauri clutched her forehead tiredly.

"I got to know of it just a week ago... Ranveer was just helping my father in cornering Omkara to marry me" she revealed the fact which gave her restless nights.

"Oh my God Gauri... I went out of India leaving you for merely three months and you messed up so bad"

"I swear if I knew of this, I would have run away from the wedding... I never thought papa would do something like that... and the worst part is that he doesn't regret it one bit.. When I confronted him, do you know what he said?... You both needed a gentle push my girl... and I did just that" Gauri said mocking her father.

Anika held back her smile though she found the mimic extremely funny, knowing Gauri wouldn't like it... She patiently waited for her friend to vent and get the weight off her chest but her mood only turned gloomier by the minute.

"What if Omkara caught Ranveer?... he usually doesn't spare his enemies right?"

"Papa has him under his protection... he won't be harmed"

"But... till when? Your husband must be searching for the guy"

"Omkara... he doesn't care Anika. He seemed to have changed... I don't know if i can say... he softened...On our first night, he told me that I could continue my love affair if I wanted to... while I stayed married to him... He just doesn't care who I..." Gauri said, her voice cracking at the end.

Anika at once hugged her, gently rubbing her back while her friend vented out her frustration, anger and helplessness over the situation.

"You know how much I wanted him... how much I wanted to be his wife... I have all of it now... He is mine, my husband... yet we are so far away Ani..." she said and Anika sighed not having words to console her friend.

"Did he treat you badly?... these two months? You have been imposed on him"

Gauri shook her head in a no "Never... I thought he didn't want to marry at all.. he doesn't know how to treat a woman but he surprised me by staying calm and cool through out our wedding rituals and after. I wish he continued to be the jerk he was before so that I could let him go but no... He had to make it difficult for me by being..." she pondered for the right words

"I don't know how to put it... Anika... He had been a normal person... which was not at all normal for him...Do you understand?"

Anika nodded her head doubtfully and her friend explained "I mean...now, he is not the arrogant frowning person I have known him to be... He was distant in the first few weeks but gradually we began talking.... May be he accepted that I was going to be a part of his life...may be he thought he cannot get rid of me now... I don't know his reasons but we fell into a routine"

"We talked normally over meals although most of his conversations were about his work, of his team, explaining to me what he intended to do with them... but still he tried to converse. He listens if I had to say something... All this is normal for an arranged marriage but it is not normal for him"

"What are you worried about Gauri? If things are going not as bad as you expected... what are you afraid of?"

"Anika... He hates people who scheme and cheat... If he gets to know that papa was behind the leakage of information which would have defamed his company which meant so much for him, he will hate him.... and once he knew of the reason why papa did that... for me, he would hate me. I can live with him not loving me but I cannot have him hate me Ani"

"Shhh... everything will be okay Gauri..."

"How?? Every time I feel like opening up to him, his angry face comes to my mind. We haven't been that close to talk on a more personal ground. He is gentle with me... I agree... but still, he is distant... At this point we are just two people who are stuck together for life"

"We are not even in the dating phase... he hadn't taken time off work to show me around... Do you know he never took me out other than his office parties. There, he shows me off as his trophy wife to his fellow businessmen and we act like the perfect happy couple"

"What can you expect Gauri? He has been alone all his life... His parents died when he was four and he was brought up by his maternal uncle-aunt, for whom he was a mere responsibility. They do not share any rapport...The only thing he found solace in, was his work... you know all that" Anika said and Gauri nodded.

"Moreover why would he want to get close to you when he thinks that you love someone else? Have you considered the possibility that he might be giving you time to move on?" Anika asked and Gauri frowned in question.

"Really? You think like that?"

"Yes...Have you tried to talk to him about this?"

"I haven't... When he tried to ask the details of the person whom he thought I loved, I cut off the conversation. Basically whenever he brings that topic, I get reminded of our wedding night convo. I was angry at him to even think that I would cheat after marriage"

"Offooo Gauri... you should try talking to him or let him talk at least... show him that you moved on and then see if that brings a change in his demeanor" she recommended, leaving Gauri in thoughts.

"But..."

"I rushed to you thinking you were living in a hell life marrying an obnoxious person who doesn't know the spelling of love. But he is not that bad a person people painted him to be and things between you are not as bad. For now just go with the flow... If he takes one step towards you... you take ten. Start working on your relation ship Gauri"

"Thank you Ani... I missed you so much" Gauri smiled hugging her friend, her heart feeling lighter.

Anika scoffed though she hugged her back "Yeah... blah blah... I still can't believe you hid your marriage from me"

"Shivaay asked me to leave you two alone for a while" she mumbled grumpily.

Anika slapped her arm in anger "Very convenient to blame him... isn't it? If you had told him of your situation... you know he would have rushed back himself dragging me along"

"Hmmm...I am sorry Ani... please forgive me" she said cutely making her smile.

"Nakhree hai sab... you know I would have stopped you from marrying him like this and though you say you don't want to be the so called contract wife, you still wanted the wedding to happen.. did you not?" she asked and Gauri looked caught for a second before she shook her head in a no.

Anika narrowed her eyes "Really now?"

Gauri sighed in defeat before she admitted "Fine... I wanted him and that did nothing but added on to my guilt"

"There is nothing wrong in wanting the person you love... you aren't different from your father you see"

"No... I really did not know papa did..."

"Yeah... I got that... you did not know... but what he said was right... you guys need a push... Now we know you will be more than happy to please him but let us see what happens when he is shoved in the right direction"

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Omkara smiled as he watched his wife laughing and talking to her friend. He dug through his mind to get the name of the other girl... his wife's best friend... It started with an A.. what was it?.... Ankita?

Though Gauri's father had been his father's friend, he barely ever had any contact with their family as he was brought up by his mamu in Delhi after his parents' death.

Omkara knew he was nothing but a mere responsibility for his immediate family and he never wanted to be a burden on anyone who did not want him. He was good at academics and he found his love in business at a noticeably young age. He wanted to do what his father failed at... or what his uncle repeatedly insulted him for...... setting up his own company.

Apparently, his father asked his maternal uncle to give surety and help him make his dream true. His parents' sudden death left his uncle in huge debts, he could never pay on his own. Although Gauri's father who himself was struggling to make a career at that time, helped his mamu in covering the expenses, his responsibility was an added burden. Yet, he was given the basic education and bare necessities to get a life of his own though he was denied what he had always wished for in secret... love and a sense of belonging.

He vowed to himself not to hope anything from people...his blood or not... because expectations when not met, brought in hurt. Instead, he focused on what he knew might tire him out but would never hurt him... his work... his dream.

Once he came back to Mumbai and started working for setting his own company, Shakti Sharma had been a mentor. He respected the man for his down to earth nature. Though he hardly ever took help from people, his ego too high to let him ask for it, he never felt ashamed of asking Gauri's father for a favor or two when he felt the utter need.

It was the very reason why he turned to Shakti for help when his company was threatened to bankruptcy. What he did not expect in the wildest of his dreams was a life with Gauri Sharma, who was the darling daughter of his mentor.

True that he never gave her a second look before, when they weren't married but now that she was his wife, he couldn't help but feel an unknown pull towards her. The very thought that she was his wife...his partner and his companion for life tugged his heart in wired ways surprising him.

Didn't he tell himself over and over to not hope? After everything, how could he expect things from a stranger as her...when, he had been trying his best to be emotionally detached all his life due to his past experiences.

But what exactly he wanted from her...he never knew.

Omkara saw his wife for a few times as to his knowledge. That was when he visited Sharma industries where she worked under her father as one of the project managers of the company. All he saw in her then, was a little girl who clung to her father's arms.

What made her look so mature and attractive now, was beyond his thinking.

Perhaps because she never cheated on him despite she having feelings for someone else or because she religiously wore her sindoor and mangalsutra everyday despite the ritual being just a formality to her.

May be since she donned the role of a responsible wife after their marriage, making sure she knew what he liked and how he liked things or because she always made it a point to wait for him at night before she had her meals and went to bed.

It made him feel at home... gave him a reassurance that someone will be waiting for him to return, unlike before... when he came home to an empty house only to rest for a moment after a tiring day at work and wake up to yet another busy day.

Hell, the Omkara Singh Oberoi who never stepped into his house before ten at night, came home before six only to get a glimpse of her smile as an appreciation, when he returned early.

"Hi... you are early"

His wife's voice broke his line of thought and he watched her coming to him with that rewarding smile of hers', her friend tagging behind her.

"Hi Gauri" he greeted back and smiled at her friend.

"Umm Omkara... this is Anika Shukla my best friend and Ani... this is Omkara Singh Oberoi my husband" Gauri introduced them to each other.

"Saxena" Anika corrected her friend with a wink.

"Oh... yeah... she got married four months back and returned to India just the day before. Hence she couldn't attend our marriage" she explained.

"Hi Mrs Saxena" Omkara politely nodded.

"Eww... That sounds too old.. umm... can you call me Anika? I will call you Omkara... if you don't mind"

"Sure Anika" he said in a formal tone and the girls smiled at him with a nod.

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"So, let us hang out sometime?" Anika asked turning to Gauri as she had dinner with the couple.

"Sure" replied Gauri, serving another spoon of mushroom curry to her husband as she knew he liked it.

"Okay... will next weekend be okay? Shivaay will be free by then"

Gauri turned to her husband who quietly ate his food.

"Omkara?" she called him and he looked in question.

Was he supposed to give permission?... but she never asked him before.

"Yes?"

"Will you be free next weekend?"

Oh... he was supposed to go with them?

"Ummm...Okay" he said and smiled when his wife grinned, so happy at the response.

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hhmmm????? let me know your thoughts... I will update the next shot in the evening.