"Who is Ridhima?"

"What?" he dumbly asked.

"You heard it right Omkara ji," she confirmed.

Not expecting the question, he simply stared at her, eyes widened and mind anxious as to why she would ask something like that to break the charm of the passionate moment they just shared.

Gauri gave him time to sink in her words but when the silence stretched to an awkward note, she sighed and placed her hands on his arms which still held her close to him.

"You said you will let me in," she coaxed.

"Why?" he voiced out his thoughts.

"Because I want to know you Omkara ji, before everything else," she said.

Before everything else? What did she mean by that?

"Who told you about it?" he asked instead.

"Does that matter?"

He sighed closing his eyes and opened them in a bit to look into her hazels.

"Are you.... are you mad at me?" he asked and she shook her head in a no.

"Why do you want to know about her Gauri?"

"I want to start with the fresh wounds before digging deeper. She seems to be the most recent one. The one, just before you decided you wont think with your heart," she explained.

"Can we talk tomorrow?" he asked and she thinned her lips showing her disapproval.

"I don't know what to tell about her. What do you want to know?"

"Everything that is worth telling about," she said and he sighed again.

"Do you want to sit?" she asked gesturing towards the couch.

"No, I like this much better," he said referring to their position. "Unless you don't want to..."

She looked away to hide the hint of color on her cheeks and he couldn't stop himself from kissing her temple.

"She was my past and I don't have any touch with her Gauri," he cleared first and she nodded asking him to continue.

"We met at an art exhibition. She was a friendly girl, worked for an NGO and understood my craving for art. We went out few times before we decided to give a serious shot at a relationship. We were sort of compatible with each other."

"Ridhima had been very patient with me and I thought she genuinely cared for my feelings. I realized late that she wanted more than what I could give her," he said and she looked at him confused.

"She wanted all the Oberoi shares on my name and she made me sign on the papers joining hands with Mr. Oberoi. That day I grasped that she never understood me. I asked her to go away and she never looked back."

"Did... did you love her?" she asked the question which has been bugging her mind since she heard the name.

Omkara resumed his silence again before he nodded his head and looked away.

Gauri knew it wasn't necessary but she did feel a sting at his confession.

"Y...you never called her back?"

The darkest days of his life flashed before him and he involuntarily tightened his grip on her.

Was he ready to disclose that phase ever? he asked himself.

No, not yet.

He was uncomfortable to talk to her on such a topic but he relaxed a bit when she gently rubbed his tensed muscles letting him know that she was okay with any answer.

"I did but I guess she wasn't keen on forgiving me," he told her the truth and she nodded.

"What hurt you more? Her betrayal or the fact that she left you without turning back?"

"May be both but I realized that even if she did come back, we wouldn't have lasted longer. We had massive trust issues."

"Like?"

"There was this woman who I met, who tried to create differences between us and she was almost successful. It was only by chance that I got to know of her intentions."

"Who?"

"Ishaana," he answered and she waited for him to elaborate.

"I was a different kind of a fool back then. In contrast to what I do now, trusting everyone, empathizing with everyone was my fault that time. Ishana took advantage and tried to make money out of it. She said she has her own reasons but in the end she betrayed my trust."

"If our love were strong enough, Ridhima wouldn't have believed Ishana's words over mine. The result of all this was that I shrunk away from trusting anybody. I saw people so selfish and greedy that they never bothered to hurt anyone for their benefit."

"You know, Shivaay always asked me to be careful but I was the one who saw good in everybody," he reminisced.

"But that changed after Ishana. I began telling myself to be careful to befriend people until..." he stopped looking at her.

"Until?"

Omkara smiled and raised his hand to caress her cheek.

"Until Chulbul," he answered.

Great! And she too betrayed him.

"Omkara ji, I am so sorry" she began.

"You... You hated me so much that there was no way I could tell you my identity."

"Gauri if anyone needs to be sorry for what happened, then it should be me. For everything you did to save my life I should have been more understanding. Instead I..." he sighed unable to continue.

"It is okay," she whispered and he looked at her in wonder.

"How can you be so forgiving Gauri. I treated you like trash."

"You had your reasons."

"But I had no rights."

His guilt ridden face grieved her heart and she melted in no time.

"We are deviating Omkaraji, we are discussing your girlfriends," she said with a smile.

"There aren't so many. You make me sound like a playboy," he said smiling back.

"Should I make a list? Ridhima, Ishaana, Svetlana..?"

"Seriously now... Svetlana?"

"Yes, you decided to marry her."

"That was different."

"Okay what about Mahira, Simran, ..."

"What? Who are they?"

"Your majesty, you forgot the names of girls who wrote you love letters?"

"Gauri, come on. They aren't my girlfriends."

"Phir aapne un letters ko sambhal ke kyun rakha?(Then why did you keep them with you?)"

"I didn't want to be rude by throwing them away and I didn't think of them until Daadi decided to rummage through my things. Whatever made her do that, I still don't know."

Gauri raised an eyebrow, her expression clearly conveying her disbelief.

"What! that's the truth."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You are not as much a gentleman as you portray yourself to be. Shaant dikhne vale shaitaan chirote ho aap."

The naughty glint returned to his eyes and she couldn't be happier.

"Well, I never said that I am a shaant chirota. It is not my fault if you assume things," he said with meaning, leaning closer.

"Uhh... I think we should sleep now. It is late," she said moving her head back blushing, making him chuckle.

"Okay, but when Lalitha daadi pays a visit and sleep denies you, you are free to join the bed," he whispered into her ears and left her with a sweet kiss on her cheek.

Gauri continued to glare at his back while he slowly made his way to the bed, with a silly smile on his face.

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The next morning, Omkara squinted his eyes in irritation as the light through the window directly hit his face. The previous night he expected Gauri to get to the bed seeking comfort for her fear but she did not. Disappointed, he gave in to a deep slumber late after midnight and so the early awakening wasn't a welcome.

The jingle of bangles met his ears and his forehead creased with curiosity.

What was she doing that early? Didn't she do enough bhajan the day before?

His morning blur found her figure in front of the mirror, getting ready for the day. With a lazy smile, he cleared his eyes to get a good view and was rewarded with a delightful picture.

Gauri was dressed in a mauve georgette saree, busily gathering her pleats to perfection. Not only could he see the flawless skin of her back, courtesy of her low back blouse, but her creamy waistline was also put to show through the glass.

What a sight... he thought in glee, shamelessly ogling at her as she gave an assessing look to the mirror. She seemed to have liked herself because she left her current work and went ahead to wear her jhumkas.

Omkara slightly shifted on the bed to get a better look at her face and the movement caught her attention. She turned around with a smile and his breath caught in his lungs.

With a sindhoor filled hair line, a mangalsutra adoring her neck and her hands wearing matching bangles, she looked like a newlywed bride greeting her husband.

"Good that you got up, I was about to wake you," she said and walked to the bed.

She cannot be less beautiful, can she?

When he merely looked at her in a daze, she frowned and snapped her fingers before his eyes.

"Omkaraji?"

"Huh?"

"I am talking to you."

"I am listening Gauri, you awoke me," he muttered, clutching the blanket on his lap.

"What?"

He closed his eyes and cursed mentally before he covered up, "I..I mean I heard you. Are we going anywhere? You seemed to be dressed up."

"Yes, you must be too deep in your sleep that you did not hear to daadi ji knocking on our door. She gave us some clothes and asked us get ready."

"For what?"

"Well, she seemed to be expecting someone today. She said she didn't want anyone to find faults again."

"I don't care what they think about us Gauri. Don't take it seriously."

"I didn't but she was persuasive and I couldn't say a no. Why, did you not like this saree?"

Are you serious? You look like a tempting siren... his heart screamed.

"No, I did not mean it like that. Actually..." he started when they heard a scream from downstairs.

It seemed to be a shout for help and Gauri worriedly looked at him.

"You go downstairs, I will come in a bit," he said and she nodded before rushing out of the room.

************************************************************************************************

"How dare you," Taadaka screeched at the man begging for mercy.

"I am sorry madam ji, I will never repeat it."

"You said the same last time and I did a mistake in letting you go Kunwar," she said and lifted her hand in the air.

Gauri was just in time to hear the man shout again, as the whip landed on his back. She gasped at the sight, covering her mouth with her palms.

Holding the scourge in her hand, Taadaka glared at the person on ground groaning in pain, her eyes showing no ounce of mercy.

The women who welcomed the couple the previous day watched the scene with interest, sitting on the soft cushioned sofas of the living room.

"Please madam ji, I promise I will not do it," the man cried again.

Subhadra scoffed and Gauri looked at the woman in disbelief.

Taadaka bent forward grasping the man's hair as he sobbed.

"The next time I hear your wife complain about you, consider that day as your last," she warned and he nodded his head vigorously.

"Get out of my sight this instant," she growled and let him go with a smack on the head.

"What is happening here?" Omkara who came down by then, asked in outrage.

"Omkara, stay out of this. We are not listening to any lectures early in the morning," said Sarita.

Gauri who was still reeling from shock of the scene, silently listened to her husband argue with the woman lot.

"What did he do that you had to take the whip out? I thought you have become more civil," he accused his grand-mother's friend and Gauri realized that she was the only one newly witnessing such a thing.

"Omie, if you know what he did, you will slap him yourself," she explained as she saw him helping the man stand up from the ground.

"I am all ears daadi," he said.

"He married the village priest's daughter. His wife, the poor girl believed that he loved her and went against her father. In a few months, this man showed his true colors. He would get drunk, gamble and goes home to hit his wife. I warned him before but he didn't change," she said.

"The girl has kept her silence until she found out that she is pregnant. How dare he raise his hand on a woman. Disgusting leech," she glared at the man and he hid behind Omkara.

"When a woman comes with you, trusting you to take care of her, you are supposed to respect that trust. Did you know Omie, this poor excuse of a human threw the girl out of his house when she asked him not to drink alcohol. I would tolerate anything but disrespect against women," she said.

The she didn't refer to him directly, he felt rebuked as he thought of the way he treated his wife earlier. He gulped down the guilt and looked at Gauri who was already staring at him with widened eyes.

"You could have handed him over to the police," he tried to reason.

"Don't talk rubbish. What would they do? They'd accept a bribe from him and let him go free."

"But..."

"The discussion is over," Taadaka raised her voice making him shut up.

"Why are you still here? Want a few more of the lashings?" she scolded the other man and he scrambled off in fear.

"You should have used the crowbar Taadaka," Subhadra said still seething.

"I would, the next time," the woman assured and they nodded in agreement.

Gauri walked to her husband and clutched on to his arm.

"Aree... kitni soni lag rahi hai, I didn't notice you in all the chaos," Taadaka said seeing Gauri, her expression taking a sudden u-turn.

Gauri gave her an unsure smile and she laughed.

"Sorry, you had to see that dearie. Come here, I won't bite," she joked and Gauri looked at Omkara.

He sighed and nodded his head making her go to the elder woman.

"Haaye, kisi ki nazar na lag jayee," Taadaka gushed pulling her into a hug.

Gauri relaxed feeling the warmth and returned the gesture.

"Why are you not ready young man?" Subhadra asked and Omkara rolled his eyes as he went his way to his room.

In not less than half an hour, he returned to the hall and saw Gauri with the group. The elder ones appeared to be in a serious discussion while she occasionally nodded her head in a yes.

"Taadaka madam, a very good morning," a voice greeted from the entrance.

They looked in the direction, to note the presence of a middle aged man with a wide smile on his face, walking into the house, a huge basket in hand.

"Good morning Kamlesh. You are right on time," Taadaka smiled standing up from her place.

The man handed over the basket of sweets to Taadaka and greeted the rest.

Omkara curiously looked on while Taadaka made the introductions. Apparently the man was an old friend whose father worked for his grandfather.

"It is very good to see you Omkara sir, Prithviraaj sir was a great man," said Kamlesh with a warm smile.

"Pleasure," Omkara returned the courtesy.

"I came here to invite you to my daughter's wedding which will be held the day after tomorrow at the Shiv-Parvathi mandir," he explained.

"Oh, congratulations Kamlesh ji."

"You and Gauri madam should come to the haldi and mehendi functions too. We have arranged them in my house, tomorrow. It is a small gathering Omkara sir."

"Of course they would be there Kamlesh. Kalyani has asked me to take them there. Let Omie see a village wedding for a change. If circumstances were any different, Gauri would have been married in a similar manner. Isn't it?" she asked looking at the younger one who meekly smiled.

"Kamlesh I have arranged a few things for the shagun, come and see if you need anything more."

"Taadaka ji, you have already given so much. How can I..."

"Don't worry about it. Shalini is like my grand daughter and it is my gift for her. You people also come with us. Remind if I forgot to pack anything else," she asked her friends and they nodded, following her into a room.

Gauri stared at their retreating backs while Omkara joined her. Putting a hand on her shoulder, he pulled her into a side hug as he bent to whisper in her ears.

"Do you still find her sweet?"

Gauri looked at him with a sad pout and shook her head in a no. He laughed aloud as he walked her into the house and she joined him begrudgingly.

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Wait for the illogical number 2 in the next shot.

Any guesses would be welcome.

Please do vote and comment.

Until then, signing off, yours Soujanya.