"Gauri… are you sure you can stay here? For all I know, they are just trapping you here… you don’t need to cure anybody” Dandi pleaded her to be practical.

“You shouldn’t have talked to him like that bhaiyya” Gauri said after a long gap of silence.

Dandi sighed placing a hand over her head “He doesn’t deserve your love Gauri”

The tears she had been holding since the day before rushed their way out of her eyes, flowing without hinderance and Dandi could do nothing to calm her down except holding her in a comforting embrace.

“I am trying to not love him bhaiyya…. But seems like it is not possible anymore… I am too much into the loop that walking away seems to pull the life out of me”

“If you want to forget him… you cannot do that with him coming before you everyday … you brought this on yourself… you should have said a no Gauri”

“But he will be alone…” she said parting away from him.

“Alone? He has a whole family to take care of him”

She smiled “They were there when he turned himself into the man he is now… His soul…, he lost it under the burden of responsibilities which his family impinged on him… They are the cause bhaiyya… not the cure”

“And what makes you think that you are his cure? He detests you”

“I don’t know if I am… but I will not go until I try everything”

“This is foolishness Gauri… you cannot do this to yourself… why did you change your decision?”

“I always believed in my Shankarji…I believed in destiny… I thought if one comes into your life… they will have a role to play in your life"

“Me and Omkaraji … we were strangers..  why did Shankarji bring him to me when I needed help…? Whenever I wished to go out of this house… some or the other problem came up and stopped me… why did my God make me stay for Omkaraji’s safety?” she explained.

“After the way Omkara ji declared that I do not have a place in his life, I decided not to expect love from him… I was on my way out when I was stopped again.. by Anika bhaujai”

“Still, I put the thought to a side and thought of not taking any hint from circumstances this time…. But Omkaraji came to my room last night” she revealed looking at Dandi.

“He did not utter a word bhaiyya… he just took my hand in his and sat down bedside the bed. I could feel his stare on me but I let him believe I was asleep. I… I didn’t want him to close himself off again and so I kept mum. I prayed he would speak something… anything… but he didn’t”

“He left after God knows what time and I slept, telling myself all over again that I should not give in to emotions this time…I needed words of assurance…coz the silence between us cannot be stretched forever….”

“I packed my bags and was just about to call you to inform that I was coming to your place when Jhanvi maaji walked in. I …”

“And you melted… again” Dandi finished for her “You shouldn’t do this Gauri…. he might hurt you again or you will hurt yourself by getting close to him”

“I am trying not to get hurt this time… I will stay away from him… at least I will not bother to remind him that I am his wife… because this time I got my answers loud and clear… He doesn’t want me as his life partner and I am not going to beg him to take me as one”

“How are you going to make him a better person by staying away?” Dandi scoffed in disbelief.

“He was always comfortable being friends when I was Chulbul… may be we should start with it… that way he will not run and I will not have my hopes raised… I can be friends with him”

“I highly doubt that… what if it takes forever”

“I am not going to stay forever… I only have to build a bond with him until he opens up… also, I did not lie when I said I don’t want to be in his debt in anyway… Once that is done, we can be on our own ways… He can marry the person he likes and I can return to my nest”

“Great… you are going to wait till he marries someone?”

“No… I will leave once I am assured that he is a changed man… I can pay him back by staying in the same town too… I don’t have to stay here… in the mansion” she said with a smile.

“Your Omkaraji is so lucky to have you by his side Gauri… sadly he is too foolish to know your worth”

“He is not mine bhaiyya… and you shouldn’t compare Omkaraji to Kaali…. He is not a bad person… if I think back…I realized I never did anything to clear his misunderstandings”

“But… after what you did…. That should be proof enough that you aren’t a gold digger" Dandi protested and only got a look of reproach in reply.

“You say you don’t want to be a wife but you are behaving like one… not having a word against him"

“Bhaiyya please…”

Dandi exhaled a breath of irritation “Fine!! I will keep my tongue in check from now”

Gauri smiled “What about the drama company you joined? What role are you playing this week?” she asked changing the topic.

Dandi decided to temporarily ignore her mistakes and filled her on the details of his life.

Soon, they indulged in a friendly banter forgetting the serious problems for the time being.
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The next morning,

“Bhavya… where is that man you sent from the drama company? I am waiting for him since an hour now. Are you sure he did not back off at the last moment?”

“Rudy… what drama company? … he is an undercover cop like me and he had a rough night yesterday… He must be on his way there”

“Yeah you told me that but I cannot call him a cop right… he has a cover of being an upcoming artist so I need to call him as one. Umm.. by the way… is he going to be strict like you… grumpy and stiff?”

“Shut up… I am not grumpy… it is you who are childish….” she said and he grinned.

“Remember what I told you… Karan is from Lucknow… he just got relieved from a case and is placed in Mumbai for his next assignment… It is merely days he came here”

“I asked him for help since you said this was urgent and because he was free for the moment”

“You already told….”

“He doesn’t know about the great Oberois…” she continued sarcastically. "You need to fill him on that bit…”

“I know… you…”

“To answer your question… no.. he is not like me…He has a few loose screws just like you” she said and ended the call before Rudra could retort.

Is she the only cop who is mannerless and rude or is the the entire police department like her?...he thought glaring at the phone.

A soft knock on the door made him turn to look at the security head who had been working for them since years.

“Sir… a certain weird person has come asking for you….” Khanna informed, a frown marring his otherwise stoic face.

“Weird?... He did not tell you his name?”

“No he said Bhavya mam has sent him”

“Ohh.. okay… send him in” Rudra asked him, relieved that his wait is over and immediately called Omkara asking him to bring Anika to his room.

Not much time later, a tall young man with beautiful honey colored eyes and a heart-warming smile entered the room.

“Hi… Karan Shukla…Bhavya must have told you about me” the man formally introduced himself and Rudra couldn’t help but return the smile, giving a hand-shake.

Whatever made Khanna think him to be weird?... Rudra wondered.

“So.. you know what you have to do right? You are ‘the’ Vikram Rathod… my Bhabhi’s fiancé”

“Yeah.. I have been briefed of the nature of work… I just need to impersonate somebody named Vikram right? Don’t worry I got this right sir”

Rudra raised his eyebrows “You talk of this as a police operation… do you usually speak like this? May be we could be a bit friendly…” he said doubtfully.

With a snap of fingers, Karan shed his mask of professional perfection.

“Ohh.. you want me to be my usual stuff?... I am so glad man” Karan said hugging Rudra, taking him by surprise.

“Umm… the problem is,… I can either be professional or friendly… can’t be both… Mind you, if I am friendly… I tend to overstep certain boundaries so I thought I will stay professional but since you asked…” the man continued his chatter when Gauri walked in calling Rudra’s name.

“Rudy bhaiyya… I was thinking…”

Karan turned around to look at her and passed a low whistle muttering to Rudra “Please don’t tell me she is my fiancé… man… she is so beautiful”

Rudra stared at him, shocked at the drastic change of personality.

Does he have a split personality disorder?...

Karan on the otherhand, took the silence as acceptance and before the former could deny, the man happily walked to Gauri, his arms widely spread to engulf her in a hug.

Gauri was still looking at the phone trying to find the receipe of protien shake Rudra begged her to make for him, when she heard footsteps approach her.

Thinking it to be her brother in law she looked up with a smile, which soon turned into a frown when she saw an unknown man approach her.

Just as Karan neared her, he was sharply pushed back with a force strong enough to make him stumble a bit.

Confused, he took a look at the man who was as tall as him, his hair drawn into a sexy man bun and his chocolate brown eyes turning darker by the second, screaming murder.

Ohh..anger...Is he Shivaay?

Rudra looked at his calmer brother glare at Bhavya’s friend and rushed to calm him down when Karan made matters worse.

“Oh hi are you Mr. Oberoi?”

“Yes… and you are?”

“Right we haven’t met before…umm… I am Vikram Rathore… her fiancé” he said pointing at Gauri who looked at him in bewilderment.

“Kaaa? Rudy bhaiyya… ye kaa bol rahe hai? (What is he saying?)”

“Ohh.. baby… I know you are angry at me… but you can’t say that you don’t know me… oh my poor heart” he said playing his part with conviction, making Omkara take a step forward to punch his face.

“O.. O… stop … please.. he is ... Karan Shukla… the guy I told you about…” 

Anika who walked in at that moment noted the tension in the room and asked about the same.

“Now who is she?” Karan asked looking between Gauri and Anika.

“That… is your fiancé… and this… is Gauri” Rudra clarified and Karan looked at him more confused than before.

“He looked positively fuming..” he said pointing at Omkara… “I thought he is her husband and I went with the act not wanting to take risks… no worries… I got things right now”

“He is my other brother… not Shivaay”

“Ohh hi Anika…” he greeted the lady first and she nodded with a smile.

“You must be Omkara then?” he asked, stretching his hand for a shake when the other nodded, his glare intact, giving his hand a hard squeeze.

“Umm… Mrs. Omkara Oberoi you must be?” he turned to Gauri who cleared the misunderstanding “No… It is Ms. Sharma… Gauri Sharma” she introduced herself.

“Haayye…. You are not married to him?” he asked her in pleasure making Rudra turn heavenwards to save the man from his brother.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Omkara uttered coldly when he got a happy smile in return.

‘I like her man…” he said ignoring the soft gasps from Anika and Rudra.

He turned to Gauri with a charming smile "You madam are too gorgeous for my eyes… I mean Anika is pretty too but she is married right…so… out of my league… ummm… how about we go on a date?”

“What the hell is wrong with him?” Omkara asked his brother. He was one octave away from screaming his lungs out while Gauri looked at the people there confused.

“EE… kaa… bol rahe hai.. hume kuch samjh nahi aa raha hai ... date? Khajoor? (What is he saying? I am not able to understand a thing… why is talking about dryfruits?)”

“Dry fruits? Baby…”

“If you utter that word again…” Omkara said in a warning.

“Okay fine…I was talking about a date… I mean…” he started and stopped in question “You don’t understand English?”

“No… I am not that educated… lekin hum panchvi pass hai…from Bareilly” she said in her signature style and he couldn’t help but awe.

“OMG you are so cute… No problem Gauri… we can talk in hindi too…. Actually…”

“KARAN… beta… what are you doing?” Rudra cried out.

“You have a very long life… we shouldn’t test the devil’s patience more now…should we?”

“What?”

“We are here to discuss our plan of making Shivaay believe that you are Anika’s fiancé”

“Oh… yes…sorry, I got deviated… okay…  we should talk about work” he agreed and just like that he was back to work mode.

“I will come back later…” Gauri said to no one in particular and took her leave making Omkara mutely stare at her retreating figure, his mind in thoughts.

Rudra silently walked to lock the door, while Anika asked the boys to get comfortable.  Once they were seated and ready for discussion, Rudra started to explain their plan while the men nodded their heads.

Anika who remained silent throughout the whole ordeal glanced between Omkara and Karan.

She observed how Omkara stiffened when Gauri introduced herself with her maiden name. The hurt look of him was too evident to not take notice.

Why the hell was he hurt? she couldn’t fathom. Isnt that what he wanted earlier?

Also, she could tell from his stance that if given a chance her brother in law would happily murder her fake fiancé.

Why can’t the great Oberoi men take hints? How difficult was it to understand that they are in love with the one when they clearly aren't comfortable in losing the same to another?

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Hei...how did you like it... let me know.

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Until later, signing off... yours Soujanya.