Chapter 50 - Shelovesme

Shivaay reached the factory and got overwhelmed by the sight in front of him. The manager of the factory looked wrecked.

"What exactly happened ?" Shivaay asked the manager as soon as he spotted him sitting with his head down in his cabin, his eyes looked puffed and red like he was crying since ages.

"Sir..." The manager stood up abruptly when he saw Shivaay. "...the new machines ! The new machines are defective, they aren't made of good material. The electricity somehow passed through the new machines our 2 workers were working on and they both got electrocuted."

"Where are they right now ?" Shivaay asked.

"In the hospital, they're stable now." The manager informed. He looked equally dazed.

The manager was absolute best in his work but he was a bit emotionally inclined which made him seem weak in situations like this.

Shivaay heaved a sigh of relief.

"Ok, have you...informed their families ?" Shivaay asked in a shaky voice.

"Yes sir." The manager nodded. "They are mad at us and are threatening to report us to the police."

Shivaay stayed silent. It was something that he expected, after all, the families had almost lost their dear someone and it was obvious that they would want to punish the culprits who dared to play with their family member's life.

Shivaay calm demeanor suddenly wore off as anger over took him.

"How did this happen ?" Shivaay growled. "Humne Chadda se mehngi machines li thi just to make sure ki aisa kuch na ho, humare workers safe rahe, fir aisa kaise hua ?" ("We had bought expensive machines from Chadda just to make sure something like this does not happen, to keep our workers safe. Then How did this happen ?")

"No idea sir." The manager exhaled. "Sir, Chadda ne humare sath fraud kiya hai. Humse jyada paise toh le liye magar traditional machines bhej di." ("Sir, Chadda has cheated us. He took extra money but sent normal, dangerous machines.")

"Hmm." Shivaay nodded as he thought about his next step.

After a moment, Shivaay turned to the manager again.

"Press mein yeh baat nahi jaani chahiye. Mein khud un workers ke parivaar se baat karunga." ("Media should not get to know about this. I'll talk to the worker's family myself.") Shivaay informed.

"Ok sir." The manager replied. "Aap yahi rukiye, mein abhi un workers ke gharwalo ko lekar aata hu." ("You wait here, I'll call the worker's families.")

Shivaay nodded.

It was going to be a long night for Shivaay. He just hoped Rudy wasn't too hurt by his sudden disappearance.

♠

Rudy was hurt by Shivaay's disappearance. He also denied to eat the victory feast with his teammates cause he wasn't in a mood to celebrate.

How could his Shivaay bhaiya do that to him !

When Rudy asked Om about Shivaay after match, Om told him that Shivaay had left in between the match to receive a call and then he never came back but he had left a text saying that there's some emergency so he had to leave.

Rudy first thought to punish his Shivaay bhaiya with a silent treatment and throw a tantrum but then then he feared that his silent treatment might actually distance his bhaiya from him and also it was impossible for Rudy to not talk to his brother.

After a while of thinking about what to do, Rudy finally got an idea from a movie.

Rudy decided to attract Shivaay's attention and fight for it instead of being a crybaby.

-

Morning...

Shivaay returned from the factory. He had to spend his entire night in the hospital and the factory talking to the doctors, his staff and the injured worker's family members.

Shivaay was exhausted and tensed which made him short tempered.

"Yeh kya laaye ho aap, Murli chacha !" ("What is this, Murli chacha !") Shivaay yelled at his head servant as he shoved the coffee mug back in Murli chacha's hands. "Yeh bhi koi coffee hai ! Le jayiye isey." ("Is this even a coffe ! Take it away.")

"Maaf kar dijiye, sir." ("Forgive me, sir.") Murli mumbled and left the room with his head hung low.

Om, who had witnessed Shivaay's outburst from the doorway, stopped Murli.

"Sorry Murli chacha." Om said. "Aap please unki baat ka bura mat manna, woh bhai bas jara tension mein hai isiliye unhone kuch jyada hi gussa kar diya." ("You please don't mind his words, bhai is lil bit stressed that's why he burst out on you. He didn't mean it.")

Murli smiled. "Mein jaanta hu, Om bhaiya, aap chinta mat karo, mujhe unki baat ka bura nahi laga." ("I know, Om bhaiya, don't worry, I didn't get hurt by his words.")

Om smiled back. "Thank you, chacha."

Murli then left and Om too went to Shivaay.

"Kya hua bhai ?" ("What's wrong bhai ?") Om asked as he put a comforting hand on Shivaay's shoulder.

Shivaay sighed.

Shivaay had successfully handled the press and media and hence no one except for his staff and the workers in that particular factory, knew about the accident which had taken place.

"Kuch nahi." ("Nothing.") Shivaay exhaled. He didn't wish to burden Om with his tensions, especially when Om's exam was in the next week.

"Bhai, aap stressed ho aur gussa kar rahe ho. Jarur kuch baat hai." ("Bhai, you looked stressed and are getting angry. I'm sure something's wrong.") Om pressed.

Shivaay felt like yelling at Om to leave him alone but he refrained himself from doing that and instead took a deep breath.

"Annika." Shivaay found himself muttering.

It was totally unintentional ! He had never expected himself to blurt out her name in a situation like this.

"Anu di ne kya kiya ?" ("What did Anu di do ?") Om asked, he was suddenly very interested in the topic.

Shivaay looked here and there as he thought about what to say further now that he had started the topic.

"She...She confessed that...that.." Shivaay stuttered.

"That...what ?" Om raised an eyebrow as he suppressed a teasing smile.

"Shelovesme." Shivaay said in one breath.

"What ?!" Om yelled out in joy and excitement, startling Shivaay. "Really ? What did you say ?"

Shivaay cleared his throat awkwardly.

"I didn't reply her. I just left from there." Shivaay admitted in a low voice.

"What ?!" Om mumbled, shocked out of his mind. "How could you ?"

"Now don't take me on another guilt trip, okay ?" Shivaay muttered in embarassment. "I didn't know how to reply to her and also, I'm not sure if I love her."

"What do you mean you don't know ?" Om frowned.

Shivaay sighed. Now he wished so badly that instead of pinching this topic he should've shared the real problem of workers. That would've been more stressful but less embarrassing and complicated.

"Pyaar kya hai ?" ("What is love ?") Shivaay questioned. "Kise pyaar kehte hai ? Mujhe kuch samjh hi nahi aa raha hai. I don't believe in love, how can I when I don't know what exactly is love ?" ("What is exactly love ? I'm very confused. I don't believe in love, how can I when I don't know what exactly is love ?")

Om smiled at his elder brother's cute confused face.

"Sach me dhal jaate hai kisse dil se daurane ke baad.
Ishq pe hoga yakeen Ishq ho jane ke baad." Om smiled.

"Om yar.... Shayri karne ka samay nahi hai yeh." ("Om dude...It's not the right time for Shayari.") Shivaay whined like baby.

Om chuckled.

"Accha thik hai." ("Ok fine.") Om smiled. "Apko pyaar ka meaning janna hai na, toh aap aj all time classic romantic films dekho, apko khud ba khud pata chal jaayega ki ishq, pyaar kis dua ka naam hai." ("You wanna know the meaning of love, right, then you shall watch all time classic romantic films today, you'll get to know yourself what a blessing love is.")

"Alright." Shivaay mumbled back before letting out a small yawn. "Filal toh mujhe neend aa rahi hai." ("Right now, I'm sleepy.")

"Ok, aap so jao." ("Ok, go to sleep.") Om smiled and left.

"Romantic films huh ?" Shivaay mumbled to himself. "Will try it later. Let's sleep for now."

♦

Rudy peeped out of his room door before quickly scrambling back inside the room and laying down on his bed.

"Ah...bhaiya..." Rudy started groaning loudly while keeping an eye on the door.

Priyanka, who was passing by from there, heard Rudy and without a moment of due she came inside Rudy's room.

"Bro, kya hua ?" ("Bro, what's wrong ?") Priyanka asked worriedly.

"Mujhe...kuch...accha nahi lag raha." ("I... don't...feel good.") Rudy groaned, faking to be ill.

"Yu achanak kya hua ?" ("Suddenly what happened ?") Priyanka frowned. "Abhi kuch der pehle hi toh aap mujhpe itna chilla rahe the." ("You were yelling at me just a few minutes ago.")

"Ah !" Rudy yelled again loudly. "Bhaiya ko...bulao jaldi..bahot dukh raha hai." ("Call bhaiya...fast...it's hurting.")

Priyanka's eyes widened. "Okay. Ok." She said and ran out to find either of her elder brothers.

Rudy heaved a relieved sigh.

Just then ShivOm barged into Rudy's room along with Priyanka.

"Rudy, baby kya hua ?" ("Rudy, baby what's wrong ?") Shivaay asked as he sat beside Rudy and caressed his hairs.

Shivaay didn't wait for Rudy's reply and pressed his hand on his forehead.

"Tumhe toh fever hai." ("You're running a fever.") Shivaay frowned.

"Fever ?" Om furrowed his eyebrows. "Abhi thodi der pehle hi toh tum thik the." ("You were fine just minutes ago.")

Om eyed Rudy suspiciously, making him gulp with slightly wide eyes.

"Ah !" Rudy yelped suddenly and turned to Shivaay. "Bhaiya...it hurts."

"Kaha baby ?" ("Where, dear ?") Shivaay cooed with worried eyes.

"Pet mein." ("Stomach.") Rudy mumbled and pointed at his head making Shivaay furrow his eyebrows and Om raise a suspicious eyebrow. "I mean sir mein." ("I mean, my head.") Rudy added and pointed to his stomach now.

Priyanka narrowed her eyes at Rudy while Om understood that Rudy was faking it.

"Mere sir aur pet mein dard hai." ("My head and stomach hurts.") Rudy said and refrained himself from pointing towards his body parts.

"Poor baby." Shivaay kissed Rudy's forehead after pulling a duet over him but then he suddenly scrunched his nose up. "Yeh smell kaisi hai ?" ("What's this smell ?") He frowned.

Shivaay sniffed the air.

"Yeh toh pyaaz ki smell hai." ("It smells like onions here.") Shivaay made a face.

Om's eyebrows shot up in realisation.

Rudy had used onions to raise his temperature ! And without a doubt, Rudy was doing this to get Shivaay's attention...

But Shivaay wasn't in right state of mind right now, Om knew that very well and he also knew that Shivaay won't be able to keep his cool if he found out that Rudy's faking his illness.

Om glanced at Rudy who looked alarmed now.

"Bh..Bh..Bhai, bhai Rudy ne abhi abhi pyaaz ke pakode khaye the." ("Bh..Bhai, bhai Rudy just had onion fritters for breakfast.") Om said before Shivaay could find where the smell was coming from.

Om wasn't lying, Rudy had really ate 'pyaaz ke pakode' ('onion fritters') for breakfast and probably that's where his idea had came from.

"Breakfast mein pyaaz ke pakode ?" ("Onion fritters for breakfast ?") Shivaay asked with a face.

"Aur nahi toh kya." ("I know right.") Om said and sat on bed on either side of Rudy. "Ab aise kuch bhi breakfast ke liye khayega toh kya hoga na." ("What else will happen if he ate something like that for breakfast.")

Shivaay nodded with pursued lips.

"Since when did you started having unhealthy breakfast ?" Shivaay frowned.

"Uh...um...it was cheat day ?" Rudy replied but it came out more like a question.

Shivaay was about to say something when Om cut him off.

"Bhai, aap jao." ("Bhai, you go.") Om said suddenly. "Isne galat breakfast kar liya isiliye isey aisa ho raha hai. Don't worry, Rudy thodi der mein thik ho jayega. Aap jao, mein hu na, mein khayal rakhlunga Rudy ka." ("He had unhealthy breakfast that's why he's not feeling well. Don't worry, he'll be fine. You shall go, I'll take care of him.")

"Nahi, Om. Tum jao padhai karo, mein hu na." ("No, Om. You need to study, I'll take care of Rudy.") Shivaay said.

"Nahi bhai, mein yahi pe baith ke padh lunga. Aap jao." ("No, bhai, I'll study here itself. You go.") Om insisted.

Om somehow managed to get Priyanka on his side. They both managed to convince Shivaay to leave and take some rest.

As soon as Shivaay left, Priyanka too went away because she had got a call from Pinky.

When Om was sure no one was outside the room, he turned to Rudy with narrowed eyes.

"Onions nikal." ("Take those onions out.") Om ordered, astonishing Rudy.

"Apko kaise pata chala ?" ("How did you know ?") Rudy asked as he took out onions from his armpits.

Om smacked Rudy's head.

"Tu pagal hai ?" ("Are you stupid ?") Om glared. "Pata hai aj agar bhai ko pata chal jata na ki tu kya kar raha tha toh bhai tujhe bahot daat-te !" ("You know how much bhai would've got mad if he would've got to know that you're faking your illness ? He would've rebuked you like anything !")

Rudy pouted as he rubbed his head.

"Ab yeh sab bachkani harkate chhod aur chup chap baith." ("Now stop being childish.") Om advised. "Bhai ko faltu mein tang mat kar, woh pehle se tension mein hai." ("Don't bother bhai, he's already tensed.")

Om stood up and left.

Rudy frowned.

"This plan failed." Rudy frowned and threw the 2 onions.

The onions hit the opposite wall and bounced back hitting Rudy on the head.

"Ugh !" Rudy whined as he rubbed his head where the onions had hit him.

Rudy made a crying face and crying noises before laying down on bed and pulling the duet over his head.

"Aj ka din hi kharab hai !" ("It's an unlucky day for me !") Rudy yelled from the duet.

♠

"Bade papa.." Shivaay spoke into the phone in his room. "...aapne Chadda se jo pichle hafte meeting ki thi, aapne usme usey bataya tha na ki hume accident free machines chahiye ?" ("...you had attended the meeting with Chadda last week, hadn't you told him that we wanted accident free machines ?")

"Of course, Shivaay." Tej replied. "Usi silsile mein toh meeting rakhi thi na tumne." ("That's what you had arranged the meeting for.")

"Yeah." Shivaay mumbled.

"What's wrong Shivaay ? Any problem ?" Tej asked.

Shivaay sighed before narrating everything to Tej.

"Oh God." Tej reacted. "Mein abhi India wapas aata hu." ("I'll come to India right away.")

"Nahi, nahi bade papa mein sambhal lunga." ("No, bade papa I'll handle it.") Shivaay assured.

"No, Shivaay." Tej insisted. "I'll come there. I should be there."

"Ok, bade papa." Shivaay sighed. "Lekin pehle dadi ko thik toh hone do." ("But let Grandma get well first.")

"Don't worry Shivaay. Maa thik hai, aur sirf mein wapis aata hu. Shakti, Pinky aur Janvi yahi rahenge." ("Don't worry Shivaay. Mom is doing fine, and only I will come there. Shakti, Pinky and Janvi will be here.") Tej said.

"Ok, bade papa. As you wish." Shivaay said and bid him bye, he was about to hang up when Tej said...

"Shivaay, don't stress yourself out. I'll be there soon. Take care."

-----

Hey bubblies !

Take care of yourselves and your family.

Until the next update,
Have a safe and great life 😇