Omkara helped his father in bathing and fed him the breakfast.
He was about to go to the Kalyank mills to look after the accounts as it is weekend, when Jhanvi came to the room.
"Om. Shivaay is here. He wants to talk to you" Jhanvi said
"Shivaay? I will come now"
"He looked worried about something" Jhanvi said
Something happened to Gauri? Was the first thought that came to his mind.
Omkara hurried downstairs and saw Shivaay in the living room, having a casual talk with Priyanka.
"Shivaay" Omkara called out as he took a seat next to Shivaay
"Om. Are you free Om? I need to talk to you about something important" Shivaay said
"Ofcourse Shivaay. What is it?"
"There is no easy way to say this. It is about Gauri" Shivaay said uneasily
Omkara stiffened as he heard her name.
"What happened to her?" Omkara asked
"I don't know whether you have noticed or not, but Gauri is very fond of you" Shivaay said awkwardly.
Omkara looked down with a sigh and Shivaay got his answer. Omkara was aware of Gauri's feelings.
One look at Jhanvi and Priyanka's face, he knew they too know.
"I'm sorry Om. We had no idea" Shivaay said
"I understand Shivaay. I never encouraged her Shivaay. I want you to know that. I always tried my best to keep away" Omkara said
"I know Om"
"She is very young. Don't be hard on her Shivaay" Jhanvi defended Gauri
"We are not being hard on her Jhanvi aunty. We are just worried about her. The whole village knows. Now she is the talk of the village. And she is so adamant on her stand." Shivaay said helplessly
"I don't know what to do anymore" Omkara said
"Talk to her Om. Tell her that you don't feel that way. That's the only way she will understand. I don't want her to keep her hopes up and end up broken hearted. The earlier the better" Shivaay said
Jhanvi looked at her son accusingly.
Priyanka was also giving her brother looks of reproach.
"I will Shivaay" Omkara said
"Thank you Om. This is affecting her largely. She barely passed her twelfth. Anika had forced words out of Richa and came to know that Gauri had wiled away her time day dreaming instead of studying. If we let this go on, she will do the same at college too." Shivaay said worried about his sister
"I understand. I will sort this out" Omkara said
As soon as Shivaay left, Jhanvi and Priyanka turned towards Om.
"She is such a sweet girl. I would love to have her as my daughter in law" Jhanvi said
"I like her too." Priyanka supported her mother
"Maa. Gauri turned eighteen just a few months ago. She just finished her schooling. What are you even talking about" Omkara said in exaserpation and left for work.
***
The next day, Gauri was watching TV when Vasundhara dropped the bomb
"Omkara wants to talk to you Gauri, he will be here now" Vasundhara said
