Changed - RiKara FF

Finding Aadya

Omkara

OSO strode out of the meeting satisfied. The land owner had been hesitant to sell everything at once but Omkara had made it worth his while. Having already called off the detectives he had searching out his wife, he used their collective salary for the next month to give the middle-aged man a generous tip. Initially this land was being bought simply as an investment, but now that Gauri had made it her home, he would gift it to her. His first gift to her after marriage. 'Aansoo aur dard se toh behtar tofa hoga, Better gift than tears and pain,' the sarcastic voice that was reminiscent of his buddy Chulbul, and that had been his constant companion these past three years, piped up. Instantly Om's mood dropped. Gauri would be in no mood to accept any gifts currently, but his discovered acumen in business had to have some use. He would bribe, lure, trick and steal his way back into her life, and then he would give her all the happiness the world could offer and none of the pain.

Kabir (OSO's manager) rushed behind his boss, unsure whether he could risk interrupting his boss. OSO was volatile at the best of times, and today he had spent excessive amounts of money in a deal that just yesterday he had claimed was pointless. His boss's sudden enthusiasm this morning to get the job done had stumped the younger man, especially with the hefty tip he had paid the landowner, and he feared for his job and his neck if he got on his boss's bad side. however, OSO had given him a job and it was an even bigger risk to delay completing it. Kabir had been tasked with gathering information on his boss's wife in this small village - a task he had become accustomed to in all the places they visited, but what he had not gotten used to was the utter devastation that crossed OSO's face every time they came up empty. Following that look was an even angrier OSO. He sighed. This was his job, so like always he braced himself and called out to his boss.

"Sir, the details you requested from the village's residency office." Kabir never looked in the files before handing them to his boss anymore. The first few times he had hoped they contained good news, but after three years he knew the futility of that hope. Expecting an agonised husband and then VolcanoKara, Kabir stepped back, prepared for the full day of verbal lashings to come... but what he was not prepared for was the grin that crossed OSO's face. Suddenly, the cold businessman resembled his earlier media shots of a charismatic and mysterious artist. Kabir guessed he was for the first time seeing the Omkara behind the enigmatic OSO. Liking up from the file Omkara nodded at him.

"Good job, Kabir. Wrap up the rest of the paperwork and head out. You're needed at the office on Thursday, but until then take a break."

A break? Kabir had been working for this man for three years and despite countless all-nighters he had never been awarded a break. OSO's approval of good work usually meant extra work, and Kabir had always been slightly suspicious that the ex-artist was not aware that he was a human not a machine. Instead of pushing his luck by questioning his time-off, Kabir wisely focused on the other detail his boss had let slip.

"You're not joining us on the flight home, sir?" Why would OSO want to stay behind, surely not for the beautiful sights, as he knew his boss cared little for such things. It was amazing that this was the same Omkara Singh Oberoi that had once been proclaimed to have one of the most beautiful creative minds in India - a world renowned artist. From what he had seen of this man, he only had black, white and shades of grey in his life, nothing bright and colourful at all... barring the pictures of his wife that held a place of honour in every one of his offices. Those photos were a blast of colour in the dull rooms, the lady in them dressed in bright colours with an even brighter smile. Kabul wished for the millionth time that he could have met her - the girl who ruled OSO's heart. The most surprising thing though was that alongside the picture of the beautiful young girl in the main Mumbai office was the photo of an awkward looking boy, with strikingly familiar features to the girl, Harry Potter glasses and horrid hair. That was a mystery nobody in the office had solved or had the nerve to ask their boss.