Rikara Scribblings by Savina

The Trial Honeymoon: Part 3

Omkara Oberoi stood at the door of his room, with one hand on his hip, and another hand on the knob of the door, looking at this tiny woman standing at the door with her luggage. When he cleared his throat, she looked up at him, and unexpectedly began her rehearsed speech, with an accusatory glare at him and a dry tone, in a single breath.

"I had no intention of coming back, but the receptionist said that there are no other rooms available, since the hotel is packed. The next hotel is almost four kilometres away towards the city, and at this hour, no rickshaw or taxi is willing to take me there. My other friends are not reachable, and the friend of my friends' boyfriends' staying in this hotel is a creepy man. I had no option but to come back here to this room. But technically speaking, this should have been my room since I was here first, and it isn't my fault that the room that was booked for me was given to someone else. Also, if Bhavya wasn't my best friend, I would have left for Mumbai in the evening itself, without even attending the wedding. So yes, before you taunt me for coming back to the room, I just want to say that I am here only because Rudra and Bhavya asked me to. I'll talk to both of them tomorrow morning and ask to help me find another room or even better, another hotel!"

When she was done, she expected some reaction, but he had that usual wooden expression on his face. She picked her luggage and took a step ahead to go inside the room, but Omkara had no intention of moving away. He stood there, as if glued to the spot, staring down at her. "Will you move?" she asked in irritation, and he frowned at her tone. She rolled her eyes, took a deep breath and with a fake smile, she said in an extra-sweet tone, "Could you please move aside, Mr. Oberoi, so I could come inside the room?" His frown vanished, and he was back to that bland expression. Moving aside, he allowed her to step inside.

Two minutes later, he found her standing in front of the wardrobe, looking at the clothes he had spread out. "Where will I keep my clothes?" she whined, and Omkara frowned again. Walking to the cupboard, he grudgingly made some space for her clothes by stacking up his clothes. He was about to move away, when she moved forward to dump her clothes, and his arm brushed against hers. That tiny contact caused him to look up at her, and he found her gaping at him, again. It seemed like she had felt that electric static too! Choosing not to react over it, even though he felt the jolt, he turned around and settled on the king-sized bed, flipping channels on the TV.

Gauri still stood there, hiding herself between the doors of the cupboard. She had felt that sharp static run from her arm to her toes, and she now found herself brushing her fingers against the point of their contact. She leaned back and peeped to look at him sprawled on the bed, and as if on cue, he looked at her, causing her to gasp and quickly move forward, hiding from his gaze. She took a deep breath and closed the cupboard, while his eyes were still on her with an unreadable expression.

She cleared her throat as she sat on the bed in the corner of the room, that unfortunately for her, faced the bed he was seated on. "By the way, just saying," she said, drawing his attention, even though he continued to look at the TV, "I have a pepper spray in my bag." She knew he heard her because he had rolled his eyes at that. "And I have taken self-defense classes as well. Just saying..." He looked at her with that I-dont-care expression and resumed watching the match. She frowned; if he was going to watch match and hog all of the TV time, what was she going to do? Look at him? Well, he is drool-worthy, her mind said, and he immediately looked at her. For a fleeting second she wondered if she had said that out loud, but was relieved when he looked away. As drool-worthy he may be, he's got an arrogance that is as heavy as his name, her mind said, and this time she frowned.

Omkara, from the corner of his eye, could sense her watching him, with a myriad of expressions crossing her face, and for the very first time, he found it very unsettling to have someone staring at him with utmost concentration. He looked at her to find her frowning at him, and he frowned back at her, only to have a deeper scowl in response. Before the exchange of frowns could continue, he felt his phone vibrating, and he looked to see who it was. He sighed when he saw the caller's name, and picking his phone, he walked out of the room and into the balcony. Gauri had a mischievous smile on her lips when she saw the TV remote lying idly on the bed.