"Dad keep the shoes on the shoe rack please" said Omkara his head still bent over a book that he started reading an hour back while he sat in the living room of their small cozy house waiting for his father to return home.

Kaali Chowdary stopped in his tracks and cursed mentally realizing that his attempt to sneak into his room to escape his son has failed. He sighed looking at Omkara who got up from his place and turned his head away from the book to give his father his complete attention. "Om!! You have eyes even at the back of your head?"

When his son continued to give him his infamous calm look Kaali knew he was angry.

"Sorry I got late... I was about to come home soon Om but that Tej held me back saying it was the last time we are going to have a drink since he was leaving town. One drink led to another and before I realized it is past eleven" Kaali explained guiltily.

"Tej uncle is leaving town for a few days... not forever" Omkara said and Kaali looked caught.

"Shoes" said Omkara again and Kaali obeyed his orders.

Omkara put the book on the teapoy and walked to his father who he observed was stumbling, trying hard to maintain balance. He silently walked him to his bedroom, helped him to change and freshen up.

"It is late dad let us talk tomorrow" said Omkara and left his father's room not before making sure that his father was tucked comfortably in his bed with the quilt covering his chest.

Kaali held his son's hand which made him turn to his father in confusion.

"I am sorry Om" said Kaali before he succumbed to sleep.

Omkara smiled and gently kissing his father's forehead left the room with hint of moisture in his dark brown eyes.

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Next morning...........

"Dad we talked about this right. I am not against the idea of marriage. I only said that I will choose the girl. Am I asking too much? I don't understand why you end up being a Devdas whenever I reject any proposal. You clearly know that I have certain tastes"

"That is exactly the reason I don't want you to choose the girl Om" said Kaali angrily "You think with your brain all the time. Marriage is something related to the heart. You need to compromise at some point"

"No I won't dad. You know me. I need a life partner who equals me in everything and gives me my space. I can't have a clingy wife. She should be a career oriented woman because I am not interested in the house-wife type material. I am just being practical here. How is any of it wrong?"

"You need someone who understands you Om. Career oriented or not, she should give you first priority"

"How can you know that upon seeing her? Let us just assume I marry a girl you choose. What if I don't like her? Can I divorce her later on?"

"Omkara" roared Kaali. "Just because I had a bad marriage doesn't mean every marriage on earth has to end up into divorce. They are people happy out there understanding one another. Marriage is based on love, respect and trust not on conditions and careers"

"It is dad... Marriage is all about conditions...you can't have people who can love you and be with you forever only because they love you and nothing else. We are in a period where everything comes at a price...everything is conditional...even if that is love"

"Om...please... when will you come out of this delusion? True love exists... I and your mother broke up not because she was a career oriented woman. We didn't get along because she never put effort into understanding me... I don't blame her for that because she is a completely different person from me. I only think that if she wanted to, we would have worked on our marriage."

"Come on dad... Mom left you because you never allowed her to work... You never allowed her to take decisions. She gave up her career for you and then what? She realized later on that she errored. I won't repeat the same mistake you made dad."

"If I marry, it should be to a girl who has the same ideology as mine so that if we have a fight we both will think in one direction and resolve the matter. In fact since we think alike there is no scope for fights. I cannot compromise whether it is professional life or personal life" said Omkara firmly refusing to back down.

Kaali sighed giving up "Always remember one thing Om... compromising doesn't mean that you are wrong and the other person is right... it only means that you value the relationship more than your selfishness and ego"

Saying this Kaali left the house leaving his son behind.

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Same day evening.............

"That's shit" guffawed Tej Agarwal looking at his best friend who drank six tequila shots in a row as if it were water.

"Om will come around Kaali...stop it now" he said pulling away the bottle of whiskey from his friend who seemed to not stop at all with one kind of drink tonight.

"Easy for you to say Tej" slurred Kaali..." You are not the one having a son who is hell bent on destroying his life taking his mother's example" said Kaali.

"Why doesn't he understand that your marriage failed because there was no love?"

"Denial" said Kaali pronouncing the word with extra effort "He denies that his mother wouldn't have chosen her career over him and me if I had given her a chance to work. He believes that his mother cannot be a selfish person who ruthlessly stamped on my heart years ago."

"Radhika never understood me Tej. I never wanted her to stop working...she did it herself.. I never wanted her to leave her family to stay with me... she did it herself. When I really wanted her to stay at home for a few months to take care of Omkara since I was stumbling with my own career at that point, she thought that I was ruling over her. She never liked children and she never discussed it with me."

"In the end I realized that she was not in love with me.... She was in love with the idea of being in love with me. She didn't want responsibilities and she never cared for what I thought. She is one selfish woman Tej. I fear Om turns out to be like his mother."

"He will not... He has your blood in him.. your upbringing. He will never choose wrong over right Kaali. You should trust your son and above all Shankarji" said Tej and Kaali smiled.

"How is Rudra coping my son? The last I heard, Omkara is giving him a tough time as a senior"

"Stop complaining Kaali... Om is a gem. What else do you expect from Rudy other than cribbing... Om is known as Mr. Perfect in the hospital. He wants things to go the exact way he wants them to. One mistake and the person is dead meat" Tej said laughing and Kaali chuckled.

"That is understandable given he is an upcoming Neurosurgeon. One small mistake can cost a patient's life. Rudra only complains to you about him so that he can vent. The rest of the time he is in aww at the way your son operates. He pestered me to make Omkara agree so that he could assist him. Let him pay for it" winked Tej.

"I really wish he gets someone in life who can love him in spite of his flaws Tej. I hope I find her soon before my son selects some weird female with same idiocy as him and order me to accept her as my daughter in law" prayed Kaali as Tej assured him again.

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A few days later...... one evening.......

"Rudra you know I don't like to crash a party. I am not coming."

"O...please. I am stuck here with three drunk girls. I need help man. You don't need to come inside. I will come out in fifteen minutes. You just wait outside the club please... please...please... I will leave that sub dural hematoma case for you to operate tomorrow. Please man."

Woah......that's nice... he can happily operate it without Rudra breathing down his neck pestering him with questions all the time. But he doesn't want to put the interesting article he has been reading on neuro cysts down to go to a party uninvited."

"Damn... if they can't handle themselves why do they even drink" muttered Omkara.

"The usual thingy... break up... it is my cousin. Any ways come fast" he said and hurriedly hung up before Omkara had time to object.

An hour later when there was no trace of Rudra outside the mentioned club, Omkara decided to go inside to check what was the situation. It was unusual that Rudra did not take his calls"

He made his way into the club walking past wasted teenagers, giggling and smiling at him, trying to see through the hookah fog and smell past the strong odor of booze. As he searched for his friend among the lot, he spotted him in a far away corner with a girl plastered to him and he is trying his best to balance her.

He walked towards him away from the deafening music and could finally hear their conversation in bits and pieces.

"I love you Rudy... please talk to my parents soon before they make me marry that good for nothing pest Ankit."

"Yeah ...yeah I will talk to them soon... let us first move from here. O must be waiting" said Rudra when he saw Omkara approach him.

"Thank you so much O" he said relieved and the girl turned to look at him confused.

"O?.... what kind of name is that Rudra... are people being named after single alphabets now" she asked giggling.

Even in the dim light Omkara could tell that the girl was beautiful with an oval face, big eyes, straight nose and long hair.

"Bhavya he is Omkara...I told you right...I work with him" said Rudra.

"Yeah... Omkara" exclaimed Bhavya getting near him to get a close look. After a second she gasped covering her mouth with her hands and turned to Rudra making him look at her questioningly.

"Rudra...he is so handsome" she cleared the confusion making both the men roll their eyes.

"Gauri!!!!" she screamed the next second, taking a step towards the dancing area and much to their dismay a lot of heads turned in their direction.

Rudra immediately caught hold of her, covering her mouth "Shhhh Bhavya... don't shout" he said making her nod and smile in his direction obediently.

"Omkara this is Bhavya my cousin's friend and my girlfriend" he explained and the former just nodded in acknowledgement.

"Hold her for a minute I will get Gauri here" said Rudra when they heard a commotion.

Rudra took one look at the scene and groaned "Oh my God.... Gauri".

Omkara followed his gaze to look at a petite woman dressed in a short glittery dress clinging to her body curves which reached till her knees climb on to the top of the table. She had her pencil heels in one hand and a bottle of vodka in another.

As she walked further and stood below the artificial hanging light, Omkara could note her sensuous curves as she moved her body to the beat earning a roar of appreciation from the men below.
He noticed how she danced uninhibited and uncensored, without a care for the world and couldn't help but smile. She was a woman who craved for freedom which has been clearly denied to her till then.

Watching her friend dance, Bhavya who has been quite till then started to wiggle out of Rudra's grip trying to get her share of fun.

"O...please get Gauri here...I will take Bhavya out. Richa's husband thankfully took her away a few minutes back" he said tiredly.

"Gauri?" asked Omkara and Rudra pointed to the girl dancing... "That is my cousin and she had her heart broken recently for which she is taking revenge on me" he said almost crying and Omkara truly felt sorry for him.

Drunk girls are tough to handle and Rudra had to keep up with three of them...poor him he thought before he walked towards the pretty lady.

"Excuse me...Ms. Gauri!!!" he shouted over the ear splitting music and as expected she didn't hear him.

He got on to the table and caught hold of her shoulders to steady her and she stopped dancing looking at him curiously.

As he watched her from less than an arm distance he realized how wrong he was. She wasn't just pretty she was an enchanting creature to look at. Her hazel eyes stared at him questioningly and he was lost in them for a moment trying to make out if the color was real or if it is the light that gave them their luster.

She had a round face, button nose and pink lips which for some reason seemed to distract him from her beautiful eyes. Her hair was wavy, open and reached her slim waist.

Looking at the tall handsome man with shoulder length hair before her, Gauri was confused. Who is he? And why is he looking at her as if he intended to keep a detailed memory of her features?

"Hello Mister? ... kya hai...?" she asked him and broke his trance.

"Ummm...I am Omkara, Rudra's friend he asked me to help you get out of here" he explained and she frowned at him.

"Rudra...that son of a bit***" she cursed making Omkara's eyes go wide... "It was he who introduced me to that Ajay... three years back" she explained making a crying face and Omkara looked around him to see people watch the drama play out.

He gestured them to go away taking Gauri's hand and helped her get down the table.

"Ms. Gauri..." he started when she refused to stop crying after a while.

"My name is Gauri...only Gauri... not miss gauri...I am not missed by anybody here...not that Ajay who is happily marrying that bit**" she screamed angrily at him and he shut up.

"Okay... Gauri...calm down...Vijay.." he started. "Ajay" she corrected him frowning again.

"Sorry....uhh.. probably Ajay didn't deserve you" he said and she looked at him with a smile "Really" she asked and Omkara felt so happy seeing her smile at him like that.

"Yes... he certainly did not deserve you" he said with conviction and was stumped the next minute when she tiptoed to his level and pecked his lips.

"Thank you Omkara" she said and smiled again while he gaped at her.

"Let us pose for a photo" she said suddenly excited grabbing his mobile which he took out when it rang flashing his father's number. Gauri made a crying face when it didn't open asking for a password.

Seeing her about to cry again Omkara quickly unlocked the phone and gave it to her. She smiled again asking him to look at the camera.

"Say cheese" she said grinning widely and Omkara smiled looking into the cam. Just before clicking the picture Gauri turned to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek which the camera timely captured.

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Next day morning............

Gauri got up holding her head which seemed to be exploding this morning. Never again am I going to touch alcohol she vowed to herself and gently tried to open her eyes against the blinding light.

"Good morning madam ji" said Rudra in a sarcasm dripping tone.

"Rudy, can you get me an asprin please" she asked him, pouting cutely.

"Ohh... should I bring it myself or shall I ask O to bring?" he said wiggling his eyebrows.

"O?..." she asked confused.

"Yeah...O...Omkara...you seemed to be all over him last night" he explained and Gauri looked at him horrified.

Omkara...nice name... the name did ring a bell but she couldn't put a face to it. Gauri....what did you do... daadi thik kehti hai...daaru nahi peena chahiye... aadmi kya se kyaa ho jata hai...(Grand mom was right... alcohol makes people do weird things)....

"Here take this and freshen up. I need to go to the hospital" said Rudra giving her a tablet along with a glass of water which she gulped in no time.

"Rudy...did I... I mean embarrass you?" she asked him and Rudra laughed out loud.

"Don't ask questions when you are clearly not ready to know answers for Gauri" he said grinning and she threw a pillow at him.

"Ye sab raita tere vajah se phaila hai...(this is all because of you)... you pig" she said grabbing another pillow to hit him again when he dodged it laughing. "Had you not convinced me to hang out with your girlfriend who duped me into having alcohol to give her company... nothing of this sort would have happened."

"Great... you had a bad breakup, you got drunk and wasted, you molest my friend and then blame me?" he said running away from her laughing as she chased him.

"Kyaa...molest...Rudy stop right there and tell me what I did before I kill you" she yelled at him though she knew he wouldn't stop anywhere soon.

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Meanwhile in the living room of Agarwal house....

"Rudy must be upstairs, he will come down in a few minutes after waking up Gauri... let us sit down till then" said Tej and Omkara obliged.

"So what do you plan to do next Omkara?"

"I am planning to do a fellowship in UK uncle...I have applied for it and I will start once I get the approval" said Omkara smiling at his father's best friend.

"Does Rudra trouble you? You should guide him to be responsible... He is still childish" said Tej and Omkara laughed.

"No uncle... he is intelligent and assists me well... He just needs more focus...let him be what he is... He is lively that way... we shouldn't want him to be a person he isn't. I personally wouldn't want him to be anything other than what he is now... He has exams coming up in next few months and I will take care of it. Don't worry"

"Kaali should be proud of you... I don't understand why he cribs about something or the other" said Tej.

"We don't agree on certain things uncle..." he started when he heard footsteps hurrying towards them.

"Rudy... I said stop there" shouted Gauri angrily coming downstairs and sighed in relief when he stopped.

"Rudy ke bachee... couldn't you stop earlier? ... you had to make me do a cardio early in the morning" she said hitting him with the pillow... "Now tell me what I did last night...will you?"

"Gauri!! what are you wearing" asked Tej looking embarrased at the bickering duo.

"Tej mamu... this pig here" she looked in her uncle's direction when she noticed the presence of a handsome man who had an amused look on his face.

The man gave her a look over from her head to toe and his eyes seem to darken. She confusedly looked at herself and gasped when she realized that she was wearing her mickey mouse T-shirt coupled with matching shorts which hardly reached her mid-thigh.

Without a word she turned around and rushed upstairs into the confines her bedroom unaware of the pair of eyes which followed her movements, laughing in amusement.

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End of chapter 1... * winks

Our leads had an interesting first meet didn't they...

Give me your thoughts through comments as always...

I missed writing to you people...

Till the next update....signing off... yours Soujanya.