"Why are you still awake?" asked Shivaay as he removed his wristwatch. He carefully placed it in the designated drawer and proceeded to remove the cuff links. He placed them in his accessories box. His shoes formed the perfect apex as he placed them in the rack.
Om chose not to answer that question. He continued to watch his brother with very keen eyes and sniggered lightly. Shivaay and his infuriating need to have an order for everything was certainly amusing if nothing else.
A dark brow rose as Shivaay looked at Om. "What's so funny?"
"You!" exclaimed Om and sauntered towards him. He stood beside Shivaay and inspected the immaculately organized contents of the wardrobe in awe. No matter how many times he saw it, it never failed to amaze and fascinate him.
"Me?" questioned Shivaay.
"Yes, you!" chuckled Om and tapped Shivaay's forehead lightly. "Your wardrobe is better organized than some people's lives. You are truly Juhu's very own Marie Kondo."
"Gee, thanks!" mumbled Shivaay sarcastically as he removed his tie and dumped it in the laundry case. The socks went in another allocated case.
Om suppressed another chuckle. His brother took OCD to another level altogether. And Om knew that if he stood there and watched the changing-the-clothes process any longer, he was going to give in to his urge of destroying Shivaay's perfectly organized walk-in closet. After all, it had been on his bucket list for years now.
So he turned to Shivaay and suggested, "Why don't you freshen up and meet me at the pool? I will make some tea for us."
"Sure!" Shivaay nodded.
Om smiled softly and left the room. Shivaay could never say no to him. Even when he looked like he wanted nothing else but sleep. Not even when it was close to 2 AM. Not even when Om had offered to make tea, a beverage that Shivaay genuinely disliked.
Putting the pot on the gas, Om began to boil the water. He chucked in a few spoons of tea powder, a handful of tulsi leaves, sugar, and milk and waited for the concoction to boil. Humming to himself, he strained the concoction once it was done. Then he poured the tea into two cups. He had read somewhere that having tulsi tea helped in heart-related ailments as well as aiding in getting a sound sleep. So bullying Shivaay into having a cup of it every now and then didn't make him guilty one bit. It was harmless anyway.
He walked towards the pool area and placed the cups on the floor and covered them with coasters. Folding his pants a little, he sat on the edge of the swimming pool and dipped his toes in the water and sighed. He silently watched the water in the pool. The wind was creating small ripples on the water's surface and the soft moonlight was bouncing off it.
Every time he sat there, all the noise in his head instantly disappeared. If the Oberoi Mansion represented a storm, the poolside and Shivaay's room were the eye of the storm for him. That is where his mind calmed down. There was just something so calming, so reassuring, so magical about that place. Just like his brother. Just like Shivaay.
For the outside world, Shivaay was the quintessential Oberoi Prince. Everyone thought that he had ice in his veins, that he was a cynical man. To be honest, to an extent, it was the truth. Whenever Om saw Shivaay in the business setting, he could see how similar he was to Tej Singh Oberoi. The same razor-sharp business acumen, the same relentless attitude, the same royal aura. As far as all that went, Shivaay was truly Tej's son, not him.
Thankfully, it stopped there. Because the Shivaay that he loved and adored and worshipped was a far cry from the man that he was outside the Oberoi Mansion perimeter.
