Becoming Sweethearts [✓]

Part Fourteen

Omkara momentarily ignored the ringing of his phone in the pockets of his jeans. Then, he remembered it could be Shivaay calling him up. He and Rudra were equally, if not more than him, worried about Gauri’s whereabouts. While still hugging Gauri with one arm, leaning against the trunk of the tree, with her teary face pressed against his chest, Omkara fished for his phone from his pocket, all the while keeping a keen eye on Ajinkya, who was bleeding and unconscious right in front of his eyes.

“She’s here with me. I’m sending you the location,” Omkara said, even before Shivaay could ask. “We’re coming there” he replied in a crisp tone, and disconnected. Omkara pressed his cheek against the top of her head. She was still hiccupping amidst tears. He rubbed her arms when she trembled, still recalling whatever that had happened.

“I trusted him” he heard her broken whisper. Omkara closed his eyes. Obviously, he’d seen it coming, and had known that the man would betray her blind trust. But he hadn’t even imagined that Ajinkya would stoop so low. He had had an inkling that she would end up learning her lesson the hard way, but had never ever expected for her lesson to be a terrible nightmare come true! He almost shuddered, thinking about how he’d found Gauri trapped under Ajinkya, as he was attempting to rape her. What if he hadn’t reached on time? What if he was late? Even worse, what if he would reach when Ajinkya was… Omkara clenched his jaw tight, trying to push all those thoughts and scenarios out of his mind. If he was so shaken, he couldn’t even imagine what she was going through. And right now, he just wanted to be there for her.

Gauri sniffed against his t-shirt as she continued, “I trusted him, over you” she said finally, in bitter sobs. Omkara swallowed a lump in his throat. The mere mention of it brought back the memories of when she’d said those hurtful words to him. It still hurt him, when he recalled that she said she trusted him no more. But right now, she didn’t need a reminder of that. She was in a bad situation already, and throwing those words back at her, or giving her the ‘I-told-you-so’ lecture would do her no good, no matter how tempted Omkara was to do the same.

Instead, he gathered her in his arms as if she were a little child. She did look like one, with the way his large jacket acted like a trench-coat on her. In a way, it was good. At least it was long enough to cover the tears of her dress, covering her up till her knees, saving her from any further embarrassment. “I should have trusted you. I can’t even blame that… that… devil!” Her voice held so much of rage when she refused to even take his name. “It’s okay. Forget what happened.” Omkara said, murmuring to her. He could feel her shaking, partly in fear, partly with rage, as if she was reliving those moments all over again.

Gauri sat there, leaning against him, numbly looking at a half-dead Ajinkya Agnihotri. She wanted to kick him hard and then stomp his crotch with her heels. Her anger brought fresh, hot tears to her eyes, spilling them over her cheeks. “If you hadn’t turned up, he would have…” she paused, not willing to finish the sentence. She felt him shudder too, knowing very well that had he been delayed for a second more, Ajinkya would have forced his way on her. Not wanting to voice it out, and rebuking her for thinking about it all over again, he gently chided her, “You’re alive, you’re safe, and before things could go out of hand, it was all under control. Stop thinking about it now!”

Gauri pulled away from him, looking at his face, pulling his jacket closer to cover herself, not really sure where all her dress had torn. “Bahut hurt kiya na tumhe maine?” she asked, with tears in her eyes. “Bahut kuch keh diya maine gusse mein, woh bhi uss jaise haiwaan ki baaton mein aake.” He said nothing, but his eyes conveyed everything. She saw he was beyond hurt. And in spite of that, he’d come in search for her, leaving all his anger and hurt feelings aside. He lived up to what a true friend would so, unlike her. “I’m sorry. Meri wajah se bahut pareshaniyan jhelni padi tumhe.” She said, and then pursed her lips to refrain from saying anything further as her voice cracked.