Rikara Short Stories Collection

Marriage Most Scandalous : Part Two

Thanks to all for voting and commenting on the previous part.

Gauri and Omkara stood there silently as they watched Harshvardhan angrily pacing while Tej and both their mothers sat at the couch thoughtfully in Harshvardhan's study.

"Always wanted you both to get married but never thought it would be in such a disgraceful way." Harshvardhan mutters as he paced the room.

Gauri looks at her father in shock as she wondered how he could ever think that Omkara and she would ever marry. When she was small, she hated playing house-house with him, as he used to drink all her tea and make her do all the work. He used to take the word husband a little too seriously when they were kids! Unlike Shivaay, who used to always help her when Omkara used to bully her. And her father thought she would play house-house with Omkara for real? It's not that she didn't like him or she had anything against him, they were friends but she didn't love him, she loved Shivaay.

Omkara sighs, he had heard multiple times his parents talking about getting Gauri and him married after Shivaay and Anika get married, and now Harshvardhan Uncle also wanted the same thing. Unfortunately, or fortunately, God decided to grant them their wish and he was saddled with Gauri. He didn't have anything against her, she was a sweet girl, but he didn't love her. He loved Anika. She didn't have Anika's maturity or elegance or style. Gauri was different; she was childlike, immature, brattish and funky.

"Harshvardhan, we have to decide what we need to do next." Tej tells his best friend.

"We can get the marriage annulled." Gauri says.

Omkara closes his eyes in dread. Childlike and immature. How could she possibly think that their parents would agree to an annulment? Destiny has given them what they always wished for in a golden platter and she expects them to just throw it all away?

"Because of you both Shivaay and Anika left home and you are saying you'll get an annulment?" Harshvardhan asks angrily.

"We don't love each other, Papa. We never wanted to marry each other." Gauri argues.

"Don't argue." Harshvardhan says.

"This is our life; you can't tell us that we should stay married." Gauri says stubbornly.

"GAURI!" her father angrily shouts her name as he lifted his hand to hit her.

Gauri flinches as she closed her eyes and waited for the slap. She could hear their mothers and Omkara's father standing up to stop her father. When the blow never came, she realized that one of the parents had managed to stop her father. She opens her eyes to see who it was and was shocked to see Omkara standing in between her father and her. She could only see his profile from behind. Omkara was not looking at her father; he was looking sideways with his head angled in a downward look with his gaze on the floor.

"You shouldn't raise your hand on women. It is not cool." Omkara tells her father in a gentle tone as he continued to look at the floor.

Gauri was shocked and amazed to see that Omkara had stood up for her.

"How dare you talk to Harshvardhan like that?" Tej angrily marches to him.

Fearing Tej uncle would hurt Omkara, Gauri quickly holds Omkara's hand and pulls him back, near her. "Please don't." Gauri says standing up for him because he stood up for her.

Tej and Harshvardhan looks at them in shock. Omkara looks at her in shock,

"He was just trying to help me." Gauri tells Tej apologetically.