Kya Pyaar Karoge Mujhse....

Chapter 2- Regrets

Chapter 2

Mumbai, India

October 2021

Pinky Oberoi stepped out of her bedroom as the family members started gathering at the dining table for the breakfast. She could hear Gauri and Somya ushering the cooks to start plating up, the smell of masala tea and black coffee wafting in the air, mixed with the aroma of gobi ke parathe, fresh dhaniye ki chutney accompanied by the spicy yet sweet smell of daal chini, which was surely from the cinnamon in the French toasts for Somya and Shivaay.

Her legs faltered as she realized that Shivaay may be at the table this morning. In the last four years, he hardly ate on the dining table, or to say, hardly ate with his mother in sight. She could count the days on her fingers when he had actually talked to her with no apparent poison in his voice or an indirect blame thrown in.

She had realized now, hell, she had realized very the next day after Annika left, how much the girl had mattered to her son. She had not only taken her brother with her but the light from her son's eyes as well. No one had ever blamed Pinky for Annika's sudden departure because it was everyone's fault somehow; Pinky had just contributed in more than half of it though. She knew it was her vile words and dreadful insults that had pushed Annika to the edge that she left everything behind, left the man she had clearly loved. Pinky had been utterly blind, had been only negative. She had only seen the times when his son's life was in danger because of Annika and overlooked the numerous times the girl had saved her son's life, saved this family, its honour.

Their lives had changed overnight, literally. Shivaay had gone mad in trying to find her, searching every station and airport, every taxi and car, every hotel and chawl, ready to go to the depths of hell to get his wife back until Omkara, Somya and Rudra had tried to reason with him. Tried to tell him that may be she finally had enough. May be she left willingly.

You cannot find her because she does not want to be found.

She remembered the way he had realized that, remembered the way his face paled, seen the light dim in eyes in seconds. And she had cried to herself, begging to God to get the girl back but to no avail. They had believed that Annika would come back in a few days, but days turned into months and months into years. Four years felt like four hundred years.

Whenever Mummyji and Jethaniji talked about Annika, she would listen quietly. About her compassion, about her ideals, her strength, her ability to stand against wrongs, her sweetness and her morals. And how they had failed to protect her.

Whenever Rudra, Somya, Omkara and Priyanka told Gauri about Annika, she would listen quietly. About her tadibaazi, her joviality, her cleverness, sharp mind, her ability to stand against Shivaay, her ability to be his one and only. And how they had failed to protect her.

Whenever Shakti ji and Jeth ji reminisced about how the young girl had always managed to find a way to help them, even though all they had given her was pain and insults, she would listen quietly. About her big heart, about her kindness, about how was she a pure asset to the family. And how they had failed to protect her.

And she would curse herself every time, curse her tongue.

Why was it that you realized what a gem you had only after it was no longer with you? She saw the way Jethani ji treated Gauri and Somya, not like a mother-in-law, but like a mother. And she would feel the void; see the way she was supposed to behave with Annika, like a mother. She had one son, and he had one love. Why could not she respect it when she had the time? Why did she have to push it so hard that not only Annika but Shivaay was far away from her as well?