Rikara Scribblings by Savina

The Trial Honeymoon : Part 12

Omkara sat at the edge of his bed, listening to his father for the past one hour. "I hardly expected this from you, Om! Do you know how hard it is to build a reputation? It doesn't take more than a second to bring it all down." Tej was standing by the window, smoking a cigarette, looking at the view outside. He had been informed by one of his associates about Omkara being spotted with a girl and that the two of them seemed to be quite close. He also learned about Omkara sending a guy to jail on account of molesting the woman. He asked, "Om, do you know what would happen if the media got to know of this? That you sent a guy to jail because he was allegedly molesting the girl; a girl who's sharing a room with you?" Omkara looked up and said, "Not allegedly, Dad. I saw it happen. He was trying to rape her. Did you expect me to do nothing; just stand there and watch her being molested?" Tej turned around at his harsh tone and looked at Om, "Now you're going to argue with me for that girl? Why?"

Omkara frowned, thinking about the answer to that question, as Tej continued, "Look, what you've done is a noble thing. i agree. But, do you realise the impact of it? And to make it worse, the girl is staying in your room! Only you and I know that she's been using the spare bed. But how does it sound, Om? Imagine Riddhima comes to know about it? How would she react, knowing that her to-be husband is sharing a room with a random woman?" Omkara tried to swallow the lump in his throat. Not because he cared about what Riddhima would think; but because he had lied to his father that Gauri had occupied the spare bed, which was only half of the truth. "Look, Om," Tej said as he doused the cigarette in his hand, "You aren't a child anymore. You're going to get married in a few months time. Please don't disappoint me or Riddhima. She'd your fiance, the heir to the Gupta Industries and the future daughter-in-law of the Oberoi empire. We are from well-known families. Don't do any such thing that would end up ruining our reputation. I don't want my son's personal life to appear on the front pages of a gossip magazine, alright?"

Omkara simply started at the floor with no response. "Om..." Tej called out to him, "I'm talking to you, son..." and he nodded, while speaking with a heavy voice, "I heard you, Dad. Don't worry. I won't let anything sabotage my relationship with Riddhima, nor will I disappoint you." Tej nodded, and proceeded to freshen up before he could leave for a meeting with a few delegates. "Aren't you coming along for the haldi ceremony?" Om asked, and Tej said that he couldn't afford to postpone the meeting. "I'll be back quite late, Om. You have fun, and don't forget what I told you. Do whatever you want to; just don't spoil what between Riddhima and you." With that being said, Tej went about doing what he had to, and then left the room.

***

Gauri looked at herself in the mirror. She could hardly recognize herself. Talking over the phone to her mother had made her feel slightly better a while ago, but soon all those thoughts came rushing back to her. That room; his fragrance; his touch... Was this all going to be so painful from now on? She wiped her tears and smiled bitterly, "It's all still so fresh and raw. It will take time, Gauri. Once you leave Manali, you'll forget all about him. Like he'll forget about you..." That made her throat close, as she choked on a hard lump. And to add to her misery, her mind whispered, "He won't wait to leave Manali to forget you, Gauri. You never mattered to him anyway. He's probably forgotten you already..." And with that, she fell to the floor and wept her heart out. She wanted to cry and forget all those memories, that hurt her like pointy shards of glass. If only it would be so easy to forget it all...

***

Omkara reached the venue quite early. Not because he had nothing to do. In fact, Tej had asked him to accompany him, but he made an excuse saying he wasn't really looking forward to working while on vacation. Tej had no choice but to go alone. Omkara was here early because secretly, a part of him wanted to see Gauri Sharma. And when he did see her, he frowned. Walking with a tiny bowl of turmeric paste towards the pandal where Bhavya was seated, Gauri looked extremely gorgeous in her embroidered high-collared backless blouse and a flowing yellow skirt. However, that wasn't what Omkara frowned at. Even from a distance, Omkara could see the purplish scar on her back, which had already gotten three to four women gossiping.