(#6 in Rikara as on 27th March, 2019)
Now I know the title says Rikara FF, but there is going to be quite a bit about other characters from the Oberoi verse, so bear with me.
Also, I'm no writer, this is just something that has been bugging my min...
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Omkara watched as the water receded from the beach. The sea was looking deceptively calm at this late hour of night. And yet, Omkara felt like it was hiding restless beneath the surface, just like himself.
Finally the farce of a wedding had come to an end today. Shivaay and Annika, with little help from Rudy, had successfully exposed Tia. All three of them, and Omkara, pretended to go with the flow. Omkara himself playacted, and pretended to push Annika bhaabhi out of the house to fool the Kapoors. The plan worked perfectly. It also turned out that the con godwoman Romi, who had once trapped and tortured Rudy, was involved in all of this. Omkara didn't understand how though. Tia broke down and defected to Shivaay's side, when Annika almost resurrected her husband, Robin, in front of her. Apparently, his name was Dushyant, and not Robin. Omkara's head was spinning at all this. The Kapoor's had planned an elaborate con, pretending that Tia was unmarried, getting her and Shivaay engaged, and then later foisting Tia's baby on Shivaay. All this to take revenge for the death Mr.Kapoor, which according to Tia's mother, was because of the Oberois. Though his father and Chhote Papa proved that they were not responsible, Omkara knew that their bad deeds was sure to impair their childrens' future.
Omkara hated the month long lying and playacting others had to do to expose Tia. Pretending that Annika bhaabhi has lost her memory and luring Tia in their plan. No doubt she deserved it, but Omkara was not proficient in lying. He was glad he left the house before all this stupidity began. Even the little lying he had to do during the wedding bothered him. Chhoti Maa was not happy to see him at the wedding, but one look from Shivaay had quelled any dissent she might have felt. In any case, she in disgrace ever since Tia had been exposed. But Omkara felt bad for her; she had genuinely believed that Tia was pregnant with Shivaay's baby and was going to give her Shivaay's heir.
Omkara had always been ambivalent towards Tia. He didn't really like her, but he was no one to interfere in Shivaay's life, and Shivaay chose her himself, so he never made his dislike apparent, unlike Rudra who was downright rude to her. After Tia's true colors when exposed when they realized that she was framing Shivaay for the pregnancy, Rudy gloated about how his instinct is always right in figuring out people. Rudy didn't like Riddhima much either, but he didn't dislike her like Tia, and he was anyways obliged to Riddhima for helping Omkara out of his drug issues.
Omkara did not know what to feel about this. On one hand he understood that Tia was forced and also cheated by her mother, who made her think her husband was dead, to participate and execute this con. On the other hand, Tia had cooperated with her mother in fooling the family. Omkara felt that Tia, should have also been handed over to the police like her mother. But Shivaay and Annika stood by her and forgave her for what all she did. Shivaay told him later, that Tia never had much confidence against her mother, and just gave in to what her mother ordered. She loved her husband and didn't want to marry Shivaay, that's why at the last moment she had run away from the wedding, which is why Shivaay forced Annika to marry him (something which still pinched Omkara's conscience when he thought about it). Shivaay and Annika were really forgiving towards Tia, in Omkara's opinion. Omkara would never be able to forgive someone who lied to him.
For an artist who played with colors, Omkara's world was black and white. He didn't understand this world of grey which Shivaay explained and supported. According to Shivaay, Tia was grey, she was compelled to do wrong things. But Omkara thought that how can someone be compelled to ruin others? It made no sense to him. Tia could have always asked Shivaay to help her or refused to work in cahoots with her mother or left with her husband long back. She and her mother were greedy for the Oberoi money, just like Ishana and Riddhima. Omkara shaked his head at Shivaay's decision, but it was his life and if he and Annika chose to forgive Tia for what all she did, then its not Omkara's headache.
Women. Either they were kind and sacrificing like his mother and Annika. Or they were cruel and manipulative like Svetlana and Ishana. And according to Shivaay, Tia was neither, she was grey?
Thinking of grey people, Omkara's mind went back to what happened at Bareilly. That girl, Gauri, she didn't make any sense to him. She fought for her shop and yet the next day was getting for a wedding with Kali Thakur. Probably she did it for those jewels she ran away with, but then why did she refuse the bundle of cash Omkara offered her when he demolished her shop? She didn't make any excuses for what happened, not even once did Omkara see her looking guilty over the knowledge of the Thakurain's death. Omkara collided with her so many times, but not once did she try to explain herself, prove her innocence, if indeed she was innocent. The last time when she had tried to thank him, Omkara was too done with everything to care to listen to her. Omkara felt ill-used by the girl, although she didn't ask him to save her life. Omkara would have saved her life anyways, because it was a matter of principles, but the girl, she didn't say anything to make him feel better about doing what he did. No doubt she was grateful but she was also indirectly responsible for the Thakurain's death.
Omkara punched the air in his frustration over feeling fooled once again. In his frustration, he didn't realize that he was standing too close to the edge of the tetrapod and he lost his balance. In that moment, it seemed like he would slip and fall headfirst onto the mass of tetrapods below, definitely breaking open his head. But someone pulled him back in time, with a lot of effort. Someone who looked strangely like Harry Potter. Omkara looked at the face bewildered.
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"Don't talk to me, but at least have the pizza." said Rudy, requesting Chubby.
It was late night. Finally they were done with Shivaay bhaiyaa's fake wedding with Tia. They exposed Tia successfully. Mission over. Now Rudy was free to concentrate on making up with his friends. So, with a pizza in hand, Rudy came to Chubby's house. His parents were out-of-town and he had the house to himself. Chubby let Rudy inside but refused to so much as look at him.
"Look I have the DVD of our favorite movie as well." said Rudy.
Chubby, looked at him annoyed, took the pizza from him, and started having it, without asking Rudy.
"You know Chubby, when I was a kid, I used to be really plump, and the other boys at school would call me a potato. That's when Shivaay bhaiyaa gifted me my favorite watch, and encouraged me to join sports and lose weight. His encouragement became my obsession, I think, and all I would care about is keeping fit. When this obsession made me into a thoughtless judgey fool, I don't know. I am truly sorry for the stupid words I said that day in the hall, and for all the times I made fun of your weight and size." said Rudy, looking genuinely sorry for what all he did.
"Well, did you practice this before the mirror a few times before coming here? I can't believe you said all this at one go, and so perfectly." said Chubby with a serious face, before he broke into a laugh, and Rudy joined him too. Chubby forgave Rudy. The two friends had a good time.
"Now I only have to make up with Soumya." said Rudy.
"Then you better pull up your socks and think of something. Remember you have to earn her forgiveness, going with a parantha in your hand and apologizing to her will not do this time around." advised Chubby
"I know. I have thought of something." said Rudy, with a hint of a smile.
P.S. Shivika's story is similar to what happened in canon (show). I wrote Om's pov about the entire matter, because through his perspective on Tia, I hoped to explain the confusion and unwillingness in his mind on how to perceive people other than in black and white absolute terms.
