THE ONE... I Lost.(FANFIC)

Chapter 22

Gauri~

After eating our dinner, we both sat in balcony watching stars while Ash was leisurely laying on the floor grooming himself.

"The sky is clear today." Om said sitting beside me.

"Yes, how peaceful it is to sit and watch stars in this pleasant climate." I said.

"I hope there would be more power cuts so that we can have more candle light dinners and star gazing sessions." Om said and I laughed.

"I always hated power cuts due to my fear for darkness but today for the first time I am feeling good about it and that's because of you." I said looking at the sky.

"I am happy knowing that I made you feel so." Om said looking at me.

"I think we are gonna have this power cut all the night." I said rubbing my arms due to the cool December breeze.

"Seems so, excuse me I will be back in a minute." Om said and jogged into the living room leaving me and Ash.

I was tickling Ash, who was laying in my lap on his back which I felt something warm around my shoulders, raising my head I found Om wrapping a blanket around me.

"It's getting cold here and I don't want you to catch a flu." He said sitting beside me petting Ash.

"Thank you, you should have got one for yourself too." I said.

"I am fine." He said.

"It's cold here, Om. Come let's share the blanket." I said and wrapped it around him.

We sat there wrapped in the blanket with Ash laying on Om's lap watching stars in the dark night, discussing about things. It was a pleasant moment and I felt peaceful and contented, I don't know when but I slowly drifted into the sleep laying my head on Om's shoulder.

Next morning, when I woke up I was magically tucked in my bed and the last time, I had this memory of sleeping in one place and transported to my bed was when I was 3. I smiled at the memory of my little self falling asleep in my father's arms while watching cartoons.

"Good Morning, Gauri." Om said walking inside with two cups of coffee.

"Good Morning, Om. Can you explain how I reached here from the balcony." I asked taking the coffee cup from him.

"Last night when I saw you sleeping in the balcony, I didn't had the heart to wake you up, so, I carried you to the bedroom and tucked you in the bed." Om said rubbing his neck with his hand.

"Thanks, but don't pull that type of stunts again, didn't doctor warned you about carrying weights." I scolded Om.

"You are lighter than a feather, I hardly felt any weight. I would say you should eat more and should become strong." He said smiling.

"Hey, I am stronger than you. I can make anyone stick to the wall with one punch on their face." I said lifting my hands to show the muscle.

"Yes, that I will agree, the way you had beaten me yesterday for scaring you, my body is still sore." He said making an innocent expression and we both laughed.

"I see you are ready, give me 30 minutes, I will get ready and we can head to the orphanage." I said moving towards the washroom.

"Okay, I will make arrangements for our breakfast by that time." Om said taking my coffee and moving towards the kitchen.

We reached the orphanage after an hour and greeted the children and caretakers. They were happy seeing me after a long time.

"It's really good to see you after a long time, Gauri." Radha maa said. She is the caretaker of this orphanage, a kind and sweet woman in her early fifties. She cares the kids like a mother and I loved her just like all others. Her husband abandoned her, when he got to know that she is pregnant with a girl kid and luckily she got a job of caretaker in the orphanage, her Daughter, Diya was married and settled in States, but she didn't left the orphanage since she was very much attached to the kids here.

"It's nice to see you too, Maa. You know what I got graduated with a distinction." I squealed.

"I am so happy for you, Gauri. Did you applied for any jobs? " She asked.

"Yes, I applied for few jobs and was waiting for the call." I said.

"And how about Vikram? How is he? "

"I don't know maa, I didn't got any news from him since he left. I was waiting for him to come back and I really miss him." I said sadly.

"Don't worry, Gauri. He will come back for you one day, I know very well about him, he loves you so much. Even the day he left the city, he asked me to take care of you and support you in his absence." Radha maa said patting my hairs.

"He cares for me so much, I am lucky to have someone like him in my life." I said.

"Gauri, who is the person with you? " Radha maa asked seeing Om, who was playing with kids.

"He... He is Anika's cousin, Maa. He had some work in city so he tagged along with me." I lied.

"Ohh... Seems like he got along with the kids very well." Radha maa said and I nodded smiling.

Later Radha maa went to supervise the works. I sat on the bench under the tree watching Om playing with kids. His silky long hair bouncing as he ran to catch the kids, his eyes sparkling and dimples forming in his cheeks whenever he laughs, he looked serene and handsome. I am feeling comfortable and secure around him, life has changed for good since he entered.

"Gauri didi, come on let's play." One of the kids pulled me towards the play area.

"Gauri, did you finished speaking." Om asked and I nodded.

"Om Bhaiyya and Gauri di, let's play." Riya asked.

"What are you guys playing." I asked smiling.

"We are playing the blindfold game and since you are the last one to join the game, we are going to get you blindfolded." Amit said with his hands on his hips.

"Okay, sir." I said smiling.

They got me blindfolded and I was trying to catch them, they are escaping without getting caught and I can hear them giggle, I was moving around and suddenly heard Om call me out loud.

"Gauri, stop." He said but it was late since I already banged my foot to a rock.

"Ouch___" I yelped and sat on the ground removing my blindfold. Om came running towards me and took my foot in his hands to examine it. And I yelped in pain.

"Shh... It's okay, luckily nothing happened seems like you twisted your ankle, we just have to stretch it and it will be alright." Om said and began to massage my ankle twisting and turning it.

"Done, are you feeling better now?" He asked and I nodded.

"Okay kids, we will stop this game here and we will go inside, I will show you how to make paintings." Om said and took kids inside.