Rikara Scribblings by Savina

The Trial Honeymoon : Part 17

On his way home, while getting caught in a traffic jam, Omkara had a lot of time to ponder over a few matters. Like, why did Pinky Sharma say something along the lines that his father had called Gauri by certain names that no woman would ever want to hear and be labelled? What did his father say to Gauri? Would his father actually do that? And if he did, why hadn't Gauri spoken to him of it. He heard his inner voice laugh cruelly, "Like she would come and talk to you about your father, when you pushed her away by telling her she didn't matter..."

He had done that, hadn't he? He had pushed her away willingly, all because he was too scared to break his promise made to Riddhima Gupta, to her family, to his father. He was scared of that disappointment he would see in Tej Singh Oberoi's eyes. He was scared of being labelled with a character that was certified against Jhanvi Singh Oberoi's name. Despite all that fear, he had rushed to see Gauri when he had heard she was hospitalised. He could still visualise the coldness in her eyes as she asked him to leave. Had he pushed Gauri so far, that now she refused to look at him in the eye, or even tolerate his presence? Did he succeed in making her hate him to an extent that she did not even wish to look at him anymore? His phone rang for the umpteenth time; missed calls from both, Tej and Riddhima. However, at this point, he couldn't care any less for either of them. Right now, he needed some answers to his questions. And only one person could give him the much-needed answers; a person who could throw some light on the road he was about to trod on.

"Omi..." Amma squealed happily, peeping from the tiny window, when she saw Omkara step out of his car, and open the rusty iron gate to enter the old compound. Omkara looked around and smiled; memories of his childhood flashed before his eyes when he used to come over to Amma's house as a child, and play the whole day in the compound. Flashes of climbing that huge mango tree and eating raw mangoes on its branches during the summer- it brought a broad smile on his lips. "Omi..." he heard and smiled when she came running to hug him. She could barely get her arms around him- after all he wasn't that little lanky kid anymore, but the moment she did, she pulled away. "Something is wrong, Omi." It was more of a statement, than a question. Omkara felt his heart ache; this woman may not have given birth to him, but she was dearer to him than a mother. She was the only mother he'd ever known. And she knew too well to hide anything from her. Omkara didn't deny her statement; instead, he said, "Can we go inside and talk?" She nodded, slightly worried, but led him into the house anyway.

An hour later, Omkara found himself resting his head in his Amma's lap, lying down on the floor. His tears were soaked into the pale cotton saree she wore, and she too had tears in her eyes after listening to Om, her little boy, wailing his pain out. "You love her..." she said with a gentle smile, with a loving caress on his head. He hiccupped and wiping his tear, he said, "A lot, Amma. I love Gauri a lot. I cannot lose her..." Then, sitting up, he held her hands and looked at her in the eye, "When I heard she was hospitalised, nothing mattered to me. Neither what I promised Dad, nor Riddhima. All I wanted to do was... was to make sure she was okay." He now had fresh tears welling up in his eyes.

"When I saw her on that hospital bed, I felt like I had been stabbed... here..." he said, placing both his palms flat against his chest. "She looked so... thin and... so... lost. She broke down completely, Amma, when she learnt that she has a risk of breast cancer. At that point, all I wanted to do was run to her and hold her tight; hush her and tell her that she need not get scared; I wanted to hug her and tell her that I am with her, no matter what..." He chuckled sadly, "But she didn't even want to see me there. She simply asked me to leave; to go, and never come back to her..."

Omkara looked at his Amma as she wiped his tears as she shook her head, asking him to stop crying. "I don't want to lose her, Amma. I love her..." Amma smiled at his simple confession, with tears in her eyes. "You say you love her, you say you cannot lose her. Then why are you letting her go, Omi? Why aren't you running after the girl you love? Why are you marrying Riddhima?" Omkara released a breath of frustration, "I cannot... I have promised Riddhima I will marry her. I promised Dad I will marry her. I cannot walk out of this relationship, Amma. I cannot disappoint Dad. I cannot be like... Mrs. Jhanvi Oberoi..." At that, Amma straightened herself and became slightly stiff, "Omi, who told you that you would become like Jhanvi Madam if you chose to call off the wedding with Riddhima?"