Chaotic Hearts | ✓

06 | hazy

06 | hazy

Shivaay sat on the bench outside Anika’s ward. A sigh escaped his lips as he tried to recall the last time he had seen Anika. She had been happy, healthy and going for work. Everything was going fine and then bam, life decided to turn the tables around because it couldn’t see Shivaay happy, could it?

His phone ringed and stopped him from delving deeper into his thoughts. ‘Om’ flashed on the caller ID and Shivaay put the phone to his ear. “Hey, man!” Om said as a meaning of greeting, “you okay?”

“I wish I was,” Shivaay leaned his head against the wall and stared emptily at the white wall in front of him.

“And what about Anika? She is okay, isn’t she?” Om asked. “I understand it’s hard on you. I really do.”

Shivaay scoffed, “Oh you do? Did you lose somebody like I did? No, right? Then how the hell do you understand, Om?”

“For your kind information Shivaay, Anika means a lot to me as well. You are not the only one who is worried for her,” Om snapped tersely.

“YEAH? BUT DO I LOOK LIKE I CARE?” Shivaay yelled into the phone and then threw it against the floor, his anger getting better of him. He stared at the broken phone and realized just how good it felt to break something when you, too, were breaking on the inside.

All he could do was break while Anika Maheshwari sat inside, catching up on what she missed or rather forgot.

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Anika Maheshwari bit her lip to stop herself from bawling out as Naina recollected a few things that happened in hers and Karan’s life. She had got married, her baby sister had grown up so much that she had got married and Anika felt guilty for having forgotten her marriage. Karan had shifted to California, continuing his studies in Stanford University. He had got a girlfriend.

And there were so many things that happened in both of their lives that she could not remember happening. She hated herself for that as if hating herself for her scars wasn’t enough, Anika had her failed memory to add to that list.

She wiped the corner of her eye and plastered a smile–a fake one at that–on her face. She watched Naina and Karan fight over something silly and she couldn’t help but feel miserable she had missed out on three years of their lives.

Three years was a long time.

Somehow, as she sat watching it drizzle the thought of Shivaay cropped up in her mind from nowhere and she began wondering why he seemed so familiar and why his voice did something funny inside her. Anika couldn’t help but thinking of his beautiful features and his raspy voice.

“Guys,” Anika called out to Karan and Naina. “Who is Shivaay, exactly and how do I know him?”

Both of them stopped their arguments and Anika didn’t miss the uneasy glance that they shot each other. “Well,” Naina began. “He’s the brother of Omkara Singh Oberoi for starters. You remember Omkara, right?” Anika nodded. She remembered Om. He had first met her when had come to her hospital for a checkup. She had liked him then; he was an amazing person and it was hard not to like him. And over the course of time, both of them had become quite good friends. She distinctly remembered him telling her about his brothers.

“Yeah, where is now, though? I would like to meet him,” Anika mused, staring down at her dirty nails.

“Must be coming over in a few minutes, his flight landed an hour ago,” Karan chimed in.

“Oh,” Anika said. “And you were telling me how I know Shivaay. Care to explain?”

Both of their faces suddenly fell and Naina just opened her mouth to say something when the door opened. The three of them whipped their head in the direction of the door and saw Omkara Singh Oberoi walk in, the man they had been talking about just a couple moments ago, followed by a very pretty girl with luscious long black hair that fell till her waist. For a moment, Anika felt a pang of jealousy with a hint of pain as she could see her reflection in the window.

But all thoughts of that flew from her mind when Om walked towards her with a smile, “Anikaaaaa!” He drawled. “Sorry, I couldn’t make it earlier.” He made a move to hug her but then thought better of it and instead, stroked her hair.

“Speak of the devil and the devil arrives.” Anika couldn’t keep that remark to herself.

Om rolled his eyes, “For somebody who is in a hospital bed with bandages strapped around their body, you sure are in quite a mood.”

“It’s a part of your very own charm.” To others it might have sounded cocky, narcissistic even but Anika knew she was anything but cocky. Cocky were people who loved themselves, who were proud of themselves but Anika was not. If anything she hated the way she was. Weak and pathetic. “By the way, who’s that pretty lady with you?” The girl smiled bashfully.

“Oh, that’s my wife, Gauri.” He took Gauri’s hand in his and pulled her into him. “Quite a girl, isn’t she?”

Anika nodded. “Looks like everyone got married and I seem to have forgotten?” She could taste the bitterness in her voice and her face turned sour but nobody else seemed to notice.

“About that–” Om began, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth but Gauri tugged on his arm and he looked down at her. They seemed to say something to each other and a mutual understanding passed between them.

“You were saying…?” Anika said with a questioning look in her eyes but Om shook his head with a bright smile that didn’t reach his eyes at all. In fact, she could see the panic in them along with a turmoil that seemed to be bothering him.

“We’ll talk about it some other day, you need to rest.” Saying that, Om helped shift her pillows according to her need and draw the curtains over the window. The others said their goodbyes to Anika and left the room, leaving Anika to wonder what it was that she was missing out on.

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Outside, Gauri pulled Omkara aside, “I don’t think it’s a good idea to tell her about Shivaay Bhaiya right now because honestly, I don’t think she’ll be able to handle it. Yeah, she is strong and has a good grip on herself but she’s vulnerable as of now. Dumping this much information on her could create a problem and I don’t reckon she can handle it,” Gauri explained in a breath and Om stared at her for a moment, processing what she just said because honestly, his wife spoke it all in a breath while all Om could do was think of how beautiful she was.

To his fortune, Mrs. Chand approached them with her lips pressed into a thin line with Shivaay following her with a defeated look. He looked so tired, the bags under his eyes visible more than anything. His cheeks had sunk in during the past few months. “Yes, Mr. Omkara, I am afraid what your wife is saying is right. I was just explaining that to Shivaay here,” she hooked a thumb in his direction as she talked, “you need to take her slow because her mind is weak and fragile right now and telling her about Shivaay may mess with her head. I am not saying don’t tell her but let her get comfortable with her surroundings and most importantly Shivaay then go ahead and tell her. Don’t do it in a rush, give her time.”

Omkara nodded, finally understanding what Gauri has rambled on a few minutes ago. He could see Shivaay running his fingers through his hair in utter defeat, his shoulders slumped.

Omkara could only wonder what all was running through his brother’s mind.

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The updates are going to be a lot more less frequent since my exams are coming up. So yeah... But keep voting and commenting :) love, Kriti