Becoming Sweethearts [✓]

Part Nineteen

Gauri walked down the stairs for breakfast and greeted her parents who were already seated at the dining table. Shalini and Arvind glanced at each other as Gauri helped herself with a generous serving of parantha while humming the tune of a Bollywood classic. “You’re in a great mood today?” Shalini asked her with a smile, hoping Gauri would tell her about the dinner date plans she had with Omkara tonight. Arvind shook his head at how his wife couldn’t refrain from getting excited for their daughter.

Gauri simply nodded with a hum as she stuffed a large piece of parantha in her mouth, and slowly smiled recalling the way Oberoi had fed her dinner last night. Looking at her mother, she said, “I’m invited to the Oberoi Mansion tomorrow. It’s Kalyani Daadi’s birthday, and I need to pick a gift for her. I can’t think of an appropriate gift. What do you think I should gift her?” At the back of her head, Gauri also wondered if she should take Oberoi’s help in deciding. After all, he would have known Daadi’s likes and dislikes so much better than her own guesses.

Shalini looked at Arvind with panic written all over her face. She hinted at her husband to come to the kitchen immediately, and he wordlessly followed, wondering what caused her so much worry. The moment he entered the kitchen, Shalini said in a hushed, anxious tone, “Gauri is going to meet her to-be in-laws tomorrow! That too on Kalyani Singh Oberoi’s birthday!” Arvind chuckled and placing his hands on her shoulders, he said to her in a calm tone, “Relax, Shalu! They’re not her in-laws; at least, not yet! They are Omkara’s family, and she’s been invited over as Omkara’s close friend. Itni si baat ke liye itna kya pareshan hona?”

Shalini looked at him, unconvinced. Shaking his head in a no, he told his wife in a stern tone, “You are not going to speak all of this in front of Gauri and make her feel uncomfortable. Neither is she a baby, nor is Omkara a child. They’re grown-ups, so let them decide what they feel is best for them. No rushing them into anything. Alright?” Unwillingly, Shalini nodded her head. They both headed out when Gauri called out to them, wondering what was taking them so long in the kitchen.

***

Same day, that evening, Omkara sat uncomfortably on his seat in front of the doctor’s chair. He kept glancing at the thick curtain behind which Gauri was being examined. Gauri had mentioned over the phone to him in the noon that she wanted to visit the doctor to get a check-up done, hoping that her bandages would be taken off. She had called him up, hoping to postpone their ‘date’, but since Omkara had offered to take her to the doctor in the evening, they had decided to go for the ‘date’ after visiting the doctor.

Right now, Omkara could hear Gauri’s soft whimpers as the doctor was taking off the bandages, and he felt terrible knowing that she was in pain and he could not help her in any way. He looked around, anxious and nervous. Oh, how he hated the smell of the disinfectant in the clinic! Oh, how the sight of even empty syringes made him squirm.

Omkara sat up straight when he saw the doctor and Gauri come back after her examination. As expected, her bandages were off. The bruises were fading, if not being completely healed. He looked at her as she was pulling her the long sleeves down her arm.

“She’s doing fine now, and won’t be needing any bandages,” the doctor said, continuing, “I’ll prescribe an ointment for you, Gauri. Use it twice a day, and don’t cover the bruises with any dressing. You can continue the tablets till the course gets over.” Gauri nodded and looked at Omkara with a bright smile, slowly twisting her wrists, as if too happy to get rid of the bandages. Omkara smiled at her, happy that her smile reached her eyes.

***

After the check-up at the doctor, Omkara and Gauri walked to his bike. “Let’s go to burger lounge!” she said even before he could ask her where they would be going for their date. “What nonsense? I thought we said date, not a hunger snack! Why are we going to the restaurant in a mall, when we can go to someplace quiet and fancy?” he inquired. Omkara knew he hadn’t put in the effort of dressing up in formals so that they could eat at the mall! And honestly, he was a little disappointed that Gauri hadn’t dolled up. All of his previous dates always decked up in something killer! And here was Gauri Kumari Sharma, wearing a faded-blue pair of jeans and a pale grey sweatshirt.