Good olden days................

Gauri looked at the lifeless body of her mother devoid of any expression.

It was just two nights ago that she quarreled with her mother when she asked her to come to Bareilly as she was missing her. Gauri could not go because she was to attend the annual day function in her college which was to be held five days later. She had asked her Shiv bhaiyya to go in place of her and now she is regretting her decision.

Only if she had known that it was the last time she talked to her mother she would never have said no............. if she had known that her mother was suffering from a terminal illness which would take her away from her forever....... She wouldn't have asked her mother to let her go out of their village.

What kind of a daughter was she to have denied her mother's last wish to see her only daughter.

Guilt held her heart in a leach-like hold, painless yet sucking out her life and making it difficult to breath. She felt she was in the midst of a room with a screen playing various scenes of her childhood moments with her mother in front of her. She reminisced when her mother congratulated her on coming first in class, when she sang and danced in her school cultural and also when she scolded her when she fought with her classmates. Gauri thought of all those times when she would coax her to eat when she was angry at her Shiv bhaiyya, all those days when she scolded Shivaay for pampering her.

She could hear Shivaay shouting her name at a distance but couldn't respond. "I'm sorry maa" she voiced out before she succumbed to darkness.

Shivaay lifted Gauri in his arms and rushed to their room. She tried to wake her up shouting her name.

After a few minutes, Gauri opened her eyes to look at a worried Shivaay.

"Gauri..... are you alright?" he asked. When she failed to respond he tried again "Say something Gauri.... Please cry it out... Radha maa has left us" saying which Shivaay hugged his sister. Tears which failed to come out till then, now flowed freely..... Her ever brave brother was crying his heart out and Gauri joined him hugging him tighter as if he would disappear if she left him.

The coming days were hard for the brother and sister duo. Shivaay tried to distract himself with work while occasionally visiting his sister and Gauri went into a shell filled with guilt and remorse wanting to return to the time when her mother last called her. She would say that she loved her so much and she would go to her mother the very next day.

Abhay Agnihotri was a classmate of Shivaay and is his childhood buddy. He knew Gauri and admired her from afar. Gauri being the chirpy girl she was, warmed up to him in no time with he being a constant companion to Shivaay. He often played peacemaker between the duo when they had a tiff. Now looking at the two barely talking to each other, he couldn't keep quite doing nothing.

"Gauri, shall we go for a movie tonight? Ek tha tiger is being played in the local theaters... chale? Salman khan to tera favourite hai na...?"

"Nahi Abhi, mera man nahi hai aaj, anyother time" she tried with a weak smile.

Sighing, he sat beside her and took her hand in his.

"Gauri look at me" he said. When she did what he asked, he continued "Radha maa was diagnosed with terminal stage pancreatic cancer a year before you left for Hyderabad"

"Shivaay and me pleaded her to let you know about her illness yet she remained adamant. Do you know what she would say? Meri Gauri ki Khushi mere liye sab kuch hai. Uski ek Muskaan dekh meri saari takleef duur ho jayegi. Whenever the pain becomes too much to bear, I call her to talk to her. When she recites all the events of her day smiling and laughing out loud, I feel at peace." He informed bringing out fresh tears from her eyes.

"Do you really think she would be happy now seeing you distraught cursing yourself over and over for not coming to her early?" he said and Gauri looked at him surprised.

He smiled "Tujhe kya laga... tum kuch bataogi nahi aur mein samjh nahi paunga? Itna to credit do mujhe yaar. I know you since you were four years old. I also know that you are hungry and if you don't eat now tum mujhe kacha kha jayegi" he joked and Gauri playfully slapped his arm.

"Jokes apart, Shivaay needs you too Gauri. You know that you are his everything right? He promised Radha maa that he would keep you happy and blames himself that he failed to do it. Call him and talk to him after dinner. Now chalo mere saath mujhe bhi bhook lagi hai." Saying this he stood up to leave and Gauri stopped him holding his hand.

"I know I shouldn't thank you but still thanks Abhi. Thanks for just being there for us" said Gauri. In response Abhay smiled and hugged her while Gauri returned it with a smile.

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Location: Tiwari house, Bareilly.

The Roka ceremony of Omkara and Gauri ended without any glitches with the relatives looking at the bride and groom in awe who looked like a match made in heaven.

Gauri was dressed in simple pastel colored lehenga and a pink choli. Golden colored jhumkas hung in her ear and a simple gold chain encircled her neck. Her hands were adorned with dark red mehendi, golden colored bangles and a solitaire diamond ring in the name of her fiancé. She had her hair open to one side and a few loose hair strands teased the side of her face as she talked to Ishaana and one of her friends.

Omkara was talking to a few relatives and Rudra while stealing occasional glances at Gauri. His hand itched to tuck those loose strands of hair which seemed to trouble her. She looked more beautiful today with her signature simplicity while he himself looked lethal in his gold and beige sherwani and open hair.

"Acha O, apko ye gaana yaad hai.....Aankhoon ki.... Gustakhiya..... maaf hooo...." Sang Rudra with a huge smile on his face making Omkara come back from his dream land.

"Shut up Rudy, kuch bhi bolta rehta hai tu"

"Kya galat bola meine, kab se dekh raha huun ki aapka nazar Bhabhi se hatega ... aap to nonstop ghoorne mein lage hue hai... yaaad hai do din pehle you were saying I'm just going to see her no need to get so happy mom" he imitated him. "Ab kya hua haaa?" he wiggled his eyebrows.

"Vaise bhi galati aapki hai nahi... its not at all your fault. What reason would you give to reject her? She looks like a goddess, is well educated, she has a heart of gold looking after an orphanage, can cook for the entire family like a pro and I heard she sings well, dances well. You also said she is ready to give you enough time to fall in love with her." he said

"Aise ladki ko reject karenge to log sochenge ki aapko jaldi se mental hospital mein admit hona chahiye...people will assume that looking at dead bodies and solving murder mysteries had driven you insane."

Omkara shook his head in response "Wasn't it you that asked me to reconsider my decision Rudy? Now that I am trying to give it a chance, tu mazzak uda raha hai...Thik hai mein ghoor raha hoon. So what? She is my fiancé and she is damn attractive. Tujhe jo sochna hai tu soch"

"O.M.G did you say 'damn attractive'? Rudra drawled lazily.

"Urghhh Rudy tera kuch nahi ho sakta... tujhe to mein..." Omkara was about to slap his brother when he was greeted by Ishaana.

"Hi Jiju. Shakti uncle is calling you. He said he will be waiting for you in your room." she informed.

Omkara smiled and nodded in response. After she left, he gave a glare to Rudy and started towards his room.

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Shakti Khurana, Deputy commissioner of police CID, is a man of dignity. His professional career had seen cases which gave nightmares to normal people and withstood nepotism and internal politics. During the early days of his career, he and his partner Tej Oberoi was a force to be reckoned with. They were inseparable and invincible together until Tej was promoted to become the then Deputy commissioner. Shakti reminisced his days with his friend and missed him till date. He always considered Shivaay, Omkara and Rudra his sons and tried to help them both personally and professionally and Shivaay's absence in their lives had affected him too. As calm as he was when he dealt with the cases, once irked, his anger was something feared by his colleagues and his subordinates. He always encouraged intelligence but put his foot down where discipline matters.

Today he was happy for Omkara moving on in his life until few minutes back when he got a whiff of the previous day's happenings. He was in a pretty bad mood by the time Omkara reached his room.

"Shakti uncle... did you call me?" asked Omkara.

"Why wasn't I not informed that you found Nisha Jotwani's dead body and asked for an autopsy?" roared Shakti.

Omkara looked taken aback by the question as well as the reaction.

"Sir, I was about to inform you but it slipped my mind. I did not do it intentionally. I am sorry for that" he apologized.

"Have I been that lenient to you that you forget to report to your senior official? Is this your discipline? And why the hell did Abhishek enquire Vikram Bharadwaj? With whose permission did you order him to do that?" he yelled.

"Sir, it was just a formal conversation and nothing else I assure you"

"Omkara, this is a case causally related to the honor of the state's police force. Did you think about the repercussions if the media even got an inkling of the case? It would be a police slaughter. You need to put your brains not only on the case but also the politics involved"

"Sorry Sir. I will keep that in mind."

"The next time I see something like this happen, you would be taken off the case. Mind you. Did I make myself clear?"

"Yes Sir"

"Good. The investigation should be as low profile as possible. Maintain secrecy and before taking any step, you should inform me."

"Yes Sir"

"I want every detail concerning the case both official and unofficial now."

For the next half an hour Omkara briefed Shakti of the happenings of the case in the last two days, apologizing time and again which made him calm down a bit.

"That's a good teamwork Omkara. I appreciate the efforts. I remind you again...keep me updated" he finally said. Omkara nodded a thank you and was about to leave when he was called once again.

"Om!!" Shakti said looking at him "You are going to marry in two months. We are made wise not by the recollection of our past but by the responsibility of our future. A responsible officer not only solves a case but also takes care of his family. Make it a point that you give Gauri and your family the time they deserve. Gauri is more beautiful than what meets the eye. I expect that you are smart enough to realize that and be careful enough not to lose her" he advised.

Omkara nodded and smiled at him "It has been a while that I have been reprimanded. I deserved that, thank you and sorry uncle."

"You know that I would want you to be the best, don't you? You are smart Omkara but you need order and discipline as well. That will make you shine in our field"

"I know Uncle, dad would have done the same" he said with a hint of moisture in his eyes.

Shakti laughed "Your dad would have stripped you of the case and would have grounded you for months" he said playfully which made Omkara chuckle.

"I know you miss him Omkara but remember that he loved you over everyone else and he would want you to be happy" he said patting his cheek and walked towards the room's exit. As his hand touched the door handle, he couldn't help but say what had been his main concern "Om, be careful with Vikram Bharadwaj. Think twice before you take a step forward in the case." Saying so he left the room leaving Omkara in thoughts.

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At night on the same day

Location: Terrace of Tiwari House, Bareilly

Gauri looked at the locket with an S imprinted on it. No matter how much she tried to distract her thoughts, they zeroed in on him. She missed her Shiv bhaiyya.

"Gauri give me that letter back now!!" yelled Shivaay as he chased Gauri.

"Nahi.... Let me read it once bhaiyya... Abhay told me it is a love letter from your classmates so quit lying. I never read a love letter till now ek baar padhne do na please..... requested Gauri still trying to escape and hide from her brother."

"Waah.... kya likha hai 'Dear Shivaay, your eyes are the bluest of oceans and I've drowned in them more times than you think' she quoted still laughing and running away. "I didn't want to fall in love, I didn't want anything... but then you appeared and I started wanting....." she was about to complete when Shivaay finally caught her and snatched the paper from her.

"Gauri, dusro ke letters padhna buri baat hai, samjhi" he said admonishingly.

"Right!! Just wait till tomorrow when I will meet Tarun and ask him the love letter he planned to give me when you and Abhay scared him off. Tab to kuch galat nahi hai na?"

Shivaay looked at his sister surprised that she had caught him red handed. How the hell did she know? Sherni hi nahi ye lomdi bhi hai... he thought amused.

"You will do nothing of that sort. You are not going to go near that idiot. Understood?"

It was already tiring to ward off the male population away from his sister when she looked like a doll. On top of that if she herself parades in front of them, it would be an impossible task. How he wishes he could just lock her up away from them or better make them selectively blind for her.

Gauri looked at her brother with a frown and asked "You either allow me to read your letters or mine"

"Gauri, one day you will find someone who will not need a letter to put forward his feelings but will shout out his love for you. I will find him soon. You trust me don't you?"

"What is your reply to this letter then? a no again?" she asked.

"Yes... it's a no again"

"Why? That letter looked pretty artistic to me. She must have took great efforts to impress you."

"Doesn't matter Gauri....... I am not going to think about myself for now... Not until you get married" he stated firmly.

Gauri smiled reminiscing him "Yes Bhaiyya, I trust you... Kash aap abhi mere saath hote" she whispered clutching the locket to her chest with tears in her eyes.

"Am I interrupting something Gauri?" asked Abhay as he walked towards her and Gauri smiled while nodding a no.

"You are missing him. Aren't you?"

Gauri just hugged him in response. Abhay returned the hug and whispered to her. "Shivaay would be happy Gauri. If he thinks Omkara is the one for you, then he is the one. Shivaay can't be wrong."

"You are not happy" she stated parting from him.

"No Gauri. All I came to know about him is that he sleeps with women without a care in the world and he works like a maniac when he is onto something. That is not reassuring you know. Moreover I don't like this arrangement at all. Omkara doesn't like lies and you are about to do just that... Lie to him that you are not his best friend's sister to whom he was hell bent on not to marry."

"I'm not going to lie to him. I'm just hiding the truth."

"Yeah keep telling that to yourself. What is with the arrangement of you acting like Jagdish mamu's daughter then? Why would he think that you are any other person? Did you even talk to him properly? If I were him, I would think you to be a china doll too fragile to handle and who is too shy to talk which you definitely is not. What if...."

Gauri interrupted him saying "There is nothing that I will be hiding from him other than the fact that I am Shiv bhaiyya's sister because for reasons known only to him he doesn't want to marry me and I need to marry him for our purpose"

"I don't like this Gauri. Not one bit. I'm afraid he will hurt you"

"Let us just hope that we get to our solution soon. Then may be I can come clean to him. Anyways he said he needs time to accept me and I can give him all the time in the world. You know this is necessary. Now stop being pessimistic and wish me luck, remember you did your master's in computer science not psychology. Stop deducing Omkaraji."

"One doesn't need to do master's in psychology to know what your Omkaraji thinks. I'm a man, I know what a man thinks while looking at a woman and he looks at you as if he is love-struck"

Gauri blushed and slapped him playfully "Chal hat... do din mein pyaar? Kuch bhi bolte ho"

"Well, it might be lust for now but we never know when that would turn into love and you will land up in trouble if he gets to know the truth before you tell him"

"Are you coming to Mumbai with me?" she asked

"Do you think I will leave you unprotected? Not going to happen. What if your husband hurts you. You need me to complain against him or better break a few bones. I applied for transfer and it will take a month to get processed. I will be with you by the time you move to Mumbai."

"By the way, when are you going to let him know that you are a lioness and not a cute little kitten" he said laughing.

Gauri smiled as she said "After marriage Abhi... what if he gets scared and ran away if he knew it before marriage"

"Your fiancé is many things; a coward is not one of them" he replied. "But I agree you can get quite scary when in one of your 'moods' and only Shivaay can handle you then" he said slyly.

"I miss him Abhi. I miss him and maa so much today" she said and hugged him sobbing and he reciprocated.

They stood there hugging each other for a while when Gauri spoke to his chest "Ishana is a good girl Abhi, she likes you"

"I know"

"You will be happy with her" she said and he sighed.

"Let's not think about my happiness today, that's a talk for another day" he said still hugging her.

Omkara walked out of his room after his dinner still in thoughts of Shakti's last message. What was that about Vikram Bharadwaj that his uncle wanted him to be wary off? Did he play a role in Nisha's murder?

He walked to the terrace and stopped in his tracks watching the sight before him. His fiancé was hugging her best friend sobbing and he was apparently trying to comfort her.

Was she not happy with the marriage? Did she love that guy?

Anger and disappointment coursed through him and he moved forward to confront them.

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Hola............ there is the chapter 5......

So, the case took a backseat and emotions played their part in this chapter. How did you like it?

What are your thoughts on Shakti warning Omkara?

How did you like Abhay? I loved writing him.

Let me know your thoughts.............

Signing off till the next update............. yours Soujanya.