Shades of our Love

Ghosts

"JUST Friends? Bhaiya?" Rudy asked Shivaay amused. "She just started crying! Wouldn't stop! And next thing, she want's to be friends...How can I say no? You told me to be nice to her It's all YOUR FAULT RUDY!" Shivaay blamed his little brother for his untimely advise.
"So all this happened because you made her Aloo Poori? How weird, how can someone start crying just because you made them breakfast? Girls Bhaiya I tell you complicated creatures!" Rudy started his masterclass on girls.
"Err...I don't know, how do I know?" Shivaay cleared his throat, as he purposely left out finer details of his encounter with Annika.
"Maybe she realised what happened last night was more than what it seemed?" Om gave his profound observation.
"Okay I get it! But even if she figured it out? Why would she care?" Shivaay asked genuinely perplexed by the whole situation.
"That I don't know Shivaay! Annika is smart, she would have put two and two together. Maybe she felt guilty about something?"  Om started deducing.
"For what? Why on earth would SHE feel guilty?" Shivaay regretted the moment he asked this question from his brothers.
"Hmmmn wonder why would Annika didi feel guilty? Why did you break Kurana's nose Bhaiya? What did he do to piss you off that much?" Rudy had a hint of sarcasm in his tone.
"Yeah good question Rudy! Shivaay? Why did you punch Kurana right on his face?" Om raised an eyebrow.
Shivaay didn't answer out loud to his brothers, but he knew, in fact  he wanted to kill Daksh Kurana the moment he touched Annika. He honestly didn't now why, he just knew, he just wanted to beat the shit out of him.
"Bhaiya It is obvious you wanted to protect Annika didi...by the way there is some connection between the two of you! I don't think you've ever cared for an outsider like this ever! You would definitely do it for me or Om, but for someone else? NEVER! Maybe  all in all you do accept her as a friend...Isn't it good to finally be friends? Hash out all the differences? Maybe finally we'll have some peace around the house without Billu and Billi fighting all the time! And I know she will be a great friend! Someone who knows what friendship really is! I use to think Tia was your friend, but now I know she never was!" Rudy Surprised his brothers with his untimely wisdom.
"Oh C'mon guys, Tia did what she had to do!" Shivaay defended Tia.
"Don't defend her just because she's your wife, Shivaay! And after last night I am in doubt is she even your wife?" Om's drew air quotes every time he said "wife" .  "Mr. Oberoi got you in to this mess, didn't he?" He interrogated .
"I don't know what you are on Om, Bade Papa has nothing to do with this!" Shivaay looked away not wanting to share this burden with his brothers.
"C'mon Shivaay, I was in Paris, Rudy was on a college trip, Prinku is in boarding school anyway. Heck even Daadi was on pilgrimage! We come back and you tell us you got married to Tia! We also went along with it!"
"That's because it is the truth. Tia is a good friend, I've known her all my life. She's a great business partner, and she's the perfect wife! She's smart, and look at the way she handled everything yesterday!"
"Oh yeah I saw how she handled things! She used Annika Didi to manipulate those assholes! That's not done!" Rudy exclaimed.
"Huh, and are you forgetting, how she held a knife at your throat? Did you forget that already? Do you have a short term memory loss?" Om retorted.
"She didn't mean to! And it was my fault yesterday! I shouldn't have hit Daksh!" Shivaay sighed.
"Why? Why you shouldn't have? He was being an asshole and he very well deserved that punch! It's like school all over again, the day you defended Rudy, the next day you came home with a broken arm!...Shivaay what are you hiding from us? Why do you always keep us in the dark?" Om wasn't giving up today. He kept pressing until Shivaay finally broke his silence.
"Because I DON'T WANT MY LIFE  to be YOURS DAMN IT! Can't you two understand? I will NEVER be able to live with myself if anyone ever lift a finger on you! I am doing what I can do to get us all out of this! I promise, everything is going to be fine! I promise you Om! I WILL fix it!"
"Shivaay you need to let us help! We are not kids anymore! Let us help you!" Om hugged his dear brother knowing he was carrying a burden that he is scared that will break them.
"No Om, YOU are still kids to me! LISTEN you two, I don't want you two anywhere near this mess! You hear me?" He threatened them in his big brother tone.
"Bhaiya! What's all this I don't understand! Are you going to be okay?" Rudy was concerned.
" The less you know the better! C'mon leave my room now! I have work to do!" He ordered his brothers who didn't show any signs of leaving him alone. Shivaay gave a hug to both of them. He placed his palm on his brother face and reassured,  "I am the Great Wall of Shivaay Om, no one can ever break me!" .
                                                —————————————-—————
As OmRu finally left him alone, Shivaay had flashbacks of the previous night running through his mind. He recalled how he had this sharp pain in his heart as Annika took Vikram Thaper's hand and went on to the dance floor. That very moment someone attacked him from behind. A blunt force landed on his head, and his vision of Annika and Vikram at a distance blurred, leading him into the  darkness. It must have been Rajiv he thought. Sneaky bastard! He didn't have the guts to face him face to face anyway. The next thing he recalled was opening his eyes in this dingy old warehouse with a familiar scent of ink, that took him back to the time, when he first landed a punch on Daksh Kurana. They were in the 8th grade, probably twelve or thirteen. Daksh had been bullying Rudy who was merely 6 years old at the time. Shivaay was not the one to let anyone hurt his baby brother. He practically raised Rudy. He loved Om unconditionally, but with Rudy he was duty bound to protect him always, come what may. The warehouse he was taken to, was the same one he was dragged in to by Daksh and an older gang of boys when they were kids. They had tide him up, and beat him, until he was bruised, and his ribs were bruised. The next thing he recalled was the radiating pain he felt, as bade papa slapped him. Bade papa had held him by his collar, and roared in anger, "YOU IMBECILE! I TOLD YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM THEM!".
"But...But...Bade Papa...they were hurting Rudy...I..can't let them!" He mumbled, surprised at Tej's reaction. Bade Papa had never shouted at him like this ever.
"YOU LISTEN TO ME BOY! YOU LET THEM DO WHAT THE HELL THEY WANT TO DO! I DON'T CARE! YOU NEVER EVER....EVER...MEDDLE!" Tej was pacing up and down the study. " Now...Now you have made a bigger mess! I have to go clear this up now! DAMN IT! Like father like son!". For the first time in his life Shivaay felt, like an outsider. Bade papa had hurt him beyond repair, when he compared him with his father. He clenched his fists, and kept staring at his brand new shoes, that were now scuffed and muddy. He was not like his father...he was not a coward! Even as a twelve year boy, at that time, Shivaay could sense the agitation in Tej's voice. He knew bade papa was reacting, for something that was looming to cause destruction for all of them. Tej Singh Oberoi was a lion in Shivaay's eyes. He was not afraid of anything. He was someone he wanted to grow up to be like. Not a coward like his father, who took his own life like they say. Shivaay couldn't understand at the time, why was the great Tej Singh Oberoi was startled so much by the Kurana's . Was he scared of them? But Why?