Rikara Scribblings by Savina

The Trial Honeymoon : Part 7

Later, Omkara had found Gauri on the beautifully decked up open-terrace of the hotel, standing with a group of people. Rudra and Bhavya had just performed a beautiful waltz and were now posing for pictures onstage. Standing at a distance, with a almost-empty glass of white wine after three refills, he saw Gauri giggling at something that the two other women said to her. They probably were Annika and Tanya, he thought as he took a sip and asked for yet another refill. And when he saw the two women stick to two other men, he knew they were their respective boyfriends. And then, the creep was trying to make a conversation too, which Gauri tried her best to avoid. Surprisingly, none of her four friends noticed the way Ajay tried to constantly flirt with Gauri, and how uncomfortable she had looked while he made vain attempts to get her to dance with him. It was during this exact moment that Gauri looked at Omkara, and he immediately knew she needed some help to get out of there.

Omkara was about to walk to her to pull her away from the creep when another thought struck him. Why did she matter so much to him? Who was she to him? Why did he feel so protected towards her? Yes, that kiss happened, but it did not mean anything! Nothing at all! Last night wasn't supposed to be a big deal. It was just a kiss, a mind-numbingly-scorching-hot one though, between two consenting adults, that happened in the heat of the moment. So what? It was just a normal simple attraction expressed between a man and woman, who'd spent the day together! It wasn't like she was supposed to mean anything. She did not mean anything but a roommate to him. It wasn't like he owed her anything! And why should he help her? Didn't she have her four friends? And why should she reach out to him? She can help herself! He didn't need to be a saviour to her against Ajay. In fact, he shouldn't even be bothered even if Ajay is flirting with her or not. Why should he care? It's her life, and she is nowhere connected to him. He shouldn't even be thinking or looking at her. Omkara was starting to get irritated and angry with himself, as to why the thought of Gauri was beginning to plague him so much. Hell, he hadn't even thought about his fiance as much as he was beginning to think of her. This needs to stop, and it stops right now, he said to himself.

Gauri, who was looking at him in hopes that he would at least help her get away from Ajay, felt hurt at the way Omkara ignored her silent plea. Ajay was sticking to her like a leech, and despite her constant rejection, he kept trying to hold her hand and get her to the dance floor, despite her refusal. She expected Omkara to understand her plight; after all, he had helped her yesterday, by stating that she would be accompanying him for sightseeing, after he had noticed the way Ajay was making her uncomfortable. Gauri was close to tears when she saw Omkara had ignored her and had begun to speak to a drop-dead gorgeous lady, who within a few seconds kept touching his arm and chest, and whose company he seemed to enjoy as he flashed his heart-stopping grin at the clingy woman. Somehow, Gauri felt an unexplainable wave of sudden irritation when the woman kept giggling and leaning against Omkara.

"Seems like your roomie has an interesting company tonight..." Gauri heard Ajay's voice, as he offered her a glass of bright orange juice. Gauri, who was watching Omkara and the woman, took the glass from his hand, and looked at it suspiciously. "Annika asked me to give this to you; she was a little upset after watching you stand here alone in the corner..." Ajay said again with a sweet voice. Gauri looked at Annika, who smiled at her, unaware that Annika was clueless about the glass of juice. Gauri smiled back and took a sip; well, at least it didn't smell of taste of any alcohol, and so, she began to drink it down. Ajay smirked; all he had to do was to get her to drink it all, then he could coax her into spending some quality time with him.

Omkara stole glances at Gauri. It now seemed like a bad idea to him to not help her out of the sticky situation. Not only had Ajay offered her some drink, which he was sure was spiked with something, but he himself was caught in a conversation with one of Riddhima's friend, who also happened to be Bhavya's senior manager. The woman kept sticking to him like glue, and he didn't appreciate it one bit as the woman started to make him feel suffocated with her presence. He couldn't even concentrate on what the woman was saying; more than half of the time, his focus was on another woman; his temporary roommate. He kept looking at Gauri, time and again, and then, suddenly felt panicky when he didn't see her around. "Excuse me, erm... Miss...?" he said looking at the woman in confusion, who frowned feeling insulted, "The name is Rebecca." Omkara nodded awkwardly and excused himself as he hurriedly walked away.