Valentine’s Day

 

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(Banner 1 by @bluvscjwxo and banner 2 by @Akzillusionist do check out their work over on twitter and instagram. Aks Insta is @akzcreations)

 

“Shivaay, what are we doing tomorrow?”
“What’s tomorrow?”

 

Placing her hands on her hips, Annika raised her eyebrow, cocking her head to the side as she waited for Shivaay to work out what tomorrow was.

While waiting, it was clear to Annika that Shivaay wasn’t going to work it out himself, so she decided to just put it out there.

 

“It’s Valentine’s Day.”

“So?”

“So… What are we doing?”

“Why would we do anything?”

“Because it’s our first Valentine’s Day!”

“It’s actually our third.”

 

Letting out a sigh, Annika rolled her eyes.

 

“First year, we were still finding our feet in our relationship, so when did Valentines come and go, I have no idea. Last year, we had plans but then you had to shoot me. So this year it’s our first Valentines that we can actually celebrate together.”

 

Looking up, Shivaay smiled and got to his feet. Crossing their bedroom, he came to stand in front of Annika and wrapped his arms around her waist.

 

“We’re married, married couples don’t need Valentine’s Day. Every day is Valentine’s Day for us.”

 

Pushing his hands off her waist, Annika folded her arms.

 

“What kind of logic is that? So just because we are married, romance is dead?”

“Who said anything about romance being dead? I just said we don’t need Valentine’s Day.”

 

Wrapping his arms around her again, Shivaay brought his face close to hers, his voice dropping to a husky whisper.

 

“No one cares about Valentine’s Day, it’s all about Valentines NIGHT. And what happens on Valentine’s night for other couples happens between us every night.”

 

Eyes widening, Annika felt herself flush as she looked up at him, taking in his smirk.

 

“Badtameez.”

 

Giving her a light kiss on the head, Shivaay let Annika go and went back to his laptop.

 

“Shivaaaaaay.”

“What?”

“What are we doing?”

“Nothing.”

 

Folding her arms, Annika approached him.

 

“But Rudy and Bhavya are going out, so are Om and Gauri…”

“So…”

“Shivaay!”

 

Looking up, Shivaay smirked at his pouting wife and went back to his work, pretending he was completely unbothered of Valentine’s Day.

Annoyed at her utterly unromantic husband, Annika turned away to leave the bedroom, but stopped at the door as she remembered she wanted to say one last thing.

 

“I said once that one should learn to puncture a romantic moment from you, it’s true. Only you can be so unromantic.”

 

Shaking her head, Annika left their bedroom. Smirking, Shivaay put his laptop aside and pulled his phone out before calling Khanna.

 

“Khanna, you got everything I asked for?”

“Yes sir?”

“It’s all ready in the garage?”

“Yes sir!”

“So you know what you need to do tomorrow?”

“Yes sir.”

 

Smiling to himself, Shivaay disconnected the call. Tomorrow was going to be a Valentine’s Annika would never forget! It was going to be perfect, just the kind of Valentine’s she’d like…

 

*****

 

Slowly opening his eyes and reaching out beside him, Shivaay groaned as he realised the other side of the bed was cold and empty. Rubbing his eyes, he sat up, looking around the room.

 

“Late lateef is already up?”

 

Shaking his head, Shivaay removed the covers off of himself and got out of bed. As soon as he got out of bed, he saw the bunch of red roses sat beside his coffee machine. Walking over to it, Shivaay smiled. Annika. Of course.

Taking in the roses, he looked at the card beside them and picked it up.

 

“Happy Valentine’s Day… Bagad billa kahin ki.”

 

Chuckling, Shivaay picked up the card and put it on his desk. She still actually thought he didn’t have any plans for her. Was she insane? Did she actually think he’d pass up an opportunity like this? Feeling good about himself, Shivaay went into the bathroom. Today was going to be a good day!

 

*****

 

At 7pm, Om and Gauri left, as did Bhavya and Rudra. They were under the strict instructions of Shivaay to not return home at the end of the night. He’d been willing to pay for their hotel rooms too, anything to keep them out of the house.

Once they had gone, he went to make sure that the senior Oberoi’s too were ready to leave. He’d got Khanna to organise a romantic dinner for his parents and for his aunt and uncle at the guest house.

With the Oberoi’s gone and the staff dismissed for the night, Shivaay and Annika we’re finally home alone. Not that Annika knew this yet. Making sure the front door was securely locked from the inside, he made his way back to the bedroom to find a moody looking Annika sat on the sofa, texting.

 

“What’s with the long face?”

“Everyone’s gone out to enjoy and my husband hasn’t even wished me happy Valentine’s.”

 

Shaking his head, Shivaay went over to the wardrobe and pulled out a wrapped present. Making his way back to Annika, he stood before her and coughed.

 

“Ahem.”

“Hm?”

“Look up then.”

“Nope.”

“Annika!”

 

Locking her phone, Annika looked up. Shivaay watched as her expression changed upon seeing the gift.

Standing up, she tilted her head to the side.

 

“For me?”

“No, for Sahil.”

“But you said we weren’t doing valentine’s?”

“I said that to you last year and I had things planned, how did you fall for it again this year?”

“You shot me last year!”

 

Rolling his eyes, Shivaay laughed as he turned away.

 

“Get dressed and meet me by the door for the back lawn.”

 

Annika was ready to kick up a fuss of her own, but he was already gone. Smiling to herself, Annika put her present down beside her and carefully unwrapped it, revealing a plain box.

 

“Hm?”

 

Opening the box and carefully peeling back the tissue paper, Annika saw black lace. Carefully picking up the garment, Annika smiled as she took in the delicate black lace dress, with a scalloped V neckline. The material was soft and the dress looked as though it would come just below her knees. It had long sleeves, just the way she liked it. He knew her so well. Smiling to herself, Annika got to the feet and shut the door as she got dressed.

As she pulled the dress on, she looked at herself in the mirror. The dress hugged her in all the right places and it became abundantly clear why he picked this dress. Shivaay loved it when she wore such dresses. She hardly ever did, but when she did, he loved it. He could never keep his eyes or hands off her. Smoothing it down and fixing the lining, Annika smiled to herself. The dress came down to her knees and the v of the neckline revealed just enough but not too much. It was enough to tease him and she would know it was test his patience, but he would be a gentleman as always and would wait until they got back to their bedroom.

Annika laughed to herself as she remembered the conversation they had about the grey dress she wore while they were still separated. The one when she had worn when going to the restaurant to meet Mr Malhotra to make Shivaay jealous. He openly expressed how much he loved that dress, how good she looked and how mad he was that he wasn’t able to fully enjoy her in that dress. It was the same case for the dark blue velvet dress he had gifted her before one of their many failed first nights. After the fire in their bedroom, that dress had attracted a lot of smoke and stank even after washing it multiple times. He had been mad that he hadn’t been able to enjoy her in that dress either.

Shaking her head, she opened up her jewellery box and picked up the simple diamond tennis bracelet that Shivaay had gifted her on their anniversary and slipped it onto her wrist. She loved how the little diamonds looked like the stars and how well they complimented her chaand bracelet.

Sitting down at the dressing table, Annika pulled open her make up drawer and pulled out a red lipstick. He was a sucker for her lips any way, but she knew the affect red lipstick had on him. Unscrewing the top and pulling out the wand, Annika was ready to apply her lipstick but then stopped herself. As much as he loved red lipstick, he hated it as well. She did too. He always smudged it instantly and then complained about it.

Deciding against lipstick, Annika screwed the cap back on and put it away. She decided she wasn’t going to change her make up. He loved her the way she was, she didn’t need to hide herself under a layer of make up. Closing her drawer, she went over to her wardrobe and pulled out her only pair of black heels. She hated heels, hardly ever wore them, but there was a sense of empowerment when she wore them. Slipping them on, Annika looked at herself in the mirror one last time. She was ready.

 

*****

 

Standing by the door to the back lawn, Shivaay looked at his watch as he tapped his foot impatiently. How much longer was she going to take?

Just as Shivaay pulled his phone out of his pocket to call her, he heard to light sounds of heels against the tiles. Turning around, there she was, slowly making her way towards him. He felt a smile creep along his lips as he saw her, she was perfect. The dress was the perfect length, long enough to make her feel comfortable but short enough to show off her amazing legs. It was figure hugging, showing off her perfect figure. She often called herself fat, and he often joked about it too, but they both knew he was obsessed with her body. She was perfect just the way she was and she knew he loved every inch of her.

As she approached him, Shivaay reminded himself to breath and to stop acting like a hormonal teenager on his first date.

 

“You took your time.”

 

Feigning annoyance, Shivaay turned away from her, but Annika saw passed his nakre noorjahake.

 

“How do I look?”

 

Turning back, Shivaay took her hand in his and locked her fingers with his.

 

“Beautiful.”

 

Leaning in, he pressed a kiss on her cheek before taking her arm.

 

“Shall we my lady?”

 

Giving a little giggle, Annika nodded as Shivaay pushed the door open. The moment the door was open, Annika gasped as she took in the decor. It was almost identical to what he had done last year. A table in the middle of the lawn with a trolley of food waiting beside it. A large heart made from petals around the table and another one beside it. Candles and bouquets of flowers adored almost the whole lawn and there, in the corner, was the largest heart shaped topiary made from roses.

 

“Shivaay yeh…”

“It’s what I did for you last year, but we couldn’t enjoy it… You always talk about how we were robbed of Valentine’s last year so I thought I would recreate it all, so we can enjoy it this year.”

 

Turning to him, Annika wrapped her arms around his neck as she pulled him to herself, pressing a kiss on his lips. Placing his hands on her waist, Shivaay pulled Annika against himself, her body flush against his. He let his hands run along her body, as her hands found the back of his neck, bringing his face closer to hers, deepening the kiss.
His hands were urgent on her, the need to feel her skin under his hands, but he pulled himself away. They couldn’t get carried away yet.

Reluctantly, Annika’s eyes fluttered open as Shivaay took her hand once more.

 

“Let’s have dinner and then we can think about dessert.”

 

Blushing, Annika let him lead them to the patio table. Pulling out a chair for her, Shivaay gestured for her to take a seat before moving to the other side and sitting down himself.

Pointing to the trolley beside them, Shivaay asked what Annika would like to eat.

 

“Did you cook?”

“No I ordered in.”

 

One by one, Annika uncovered the dishes. They were all continental, five star dishes, the kind of stuff that made her uncomfortable. But upon uncovering the last 2 dishes, Annika smiled and let out a gasp.

 

“Aloo puri and gajar ka halwa!”

“The only two dishes I made myself.”

 

Picking up the dish, Shivaay served Annika before serving himself. He knew she didn’t like all his fancy continental food, so he made sure to make her favourites. He also knew she was picky as hell with her aloo puri and halwa so he had decided to make it himself. Anything for his Annika.

 

“Is it good?”

“Amazing!”

 

As they tucked into the food, trying a little bit of every dish, they spoke about themselves, their family, their life… There was always plenty to talk about, there was never a dull moment between them.

 

*****

 

Dinner done, they remained sat at the patio table, their hands locked in each other’s. The night wore on, both of them simply enjoying the peace the of cool night and the quiet atmosphere.

Looking at his watch, Shivaay took his hands out of Annika and got to his feet.

 

“It’s almost 11, we should go inside.”

 

Nodding, Annika got up and picked up her plate but Shivaay took it off her.

 

“You go inside, I’ll get all this stuff and come in.”

“Can I help?”

“No it’s fine, I’ll just gather it and put it in the kitchen. You go to our room.”

 

Turning away, Annika smiled to herself as she went inside. He had done his bit and surprised her, now it was her turn…

 

*****

 

Twenty minutes later, dishes put away, Shivaay made his way back to their bedroom and went to push the door open, but found it to be locked.

Giving it a little tap, he called out to Annika.

 

“Annika, open the door! Why is it locked?”

“Give me 2 minutes!”

“What are you doing?”

“Just wait!”

 

He knew what she was doing, and he also knew he couldn’t wait. Sitting opposite her, her looking so ravishing, he had been controlling himself all night and he didn’t want to have to wait any longer. Making his way round to the poolside, Shivaay attempted to open the door, but she’d locked the door to the poolside too, so he couldn’t enter the room that way either. Letting out a frustrated sigh, Shivaay made his way back to their bedroom door and waited.

 

“Can I come in yet.”

“Stop being so impatient!”

“I want my dessert!”

 

From the other side of the door, Annika rolled her eyes as she curled the last section of her hair. Putting the curlers down, Annika smiled as she took herself in.

For the second part of their night, she had opted for a silky knee length black spaghetti strap nightdress with a lacy dressing gown over it. Hair swept to one side, Annika gave herself a thumbs up. Her in black was his weakness, she knew it long before he ever admitted it and she liked herself in black too. There was something about the way she looked in black, she felt it did wonders for her.

 

“Annika open the damn door.”

 

Laughing to herself, Annika looked over her shoulder to make sure the room was perfect before going over to open the door. When she opened the door, he walked straight in, slightly miffed he had to wait so long before being let in. But his annoyance melted away the moment he took their bedroom in.

As Annika locked the door and dimmed down the lights, Shivaay took in all the little candles she’d lit. There weren’t many, but just enough to give their room a sensual glow. She’d also scattered a few rose petals around the room and on their bed.

Moving over to him, Annika slipped her hands into his jacket, easing it away from his body and sliding it off his shoulders and down his arms.

 

“Annika, all this…”

“You’re not the only one that can give surprises.”

 

Shivaay smirked as he wrapped his arms around her waist, taking her in. She looked breathtakingly beautiful. She’d taken off most of her make up, and her hair was in soft curls, just the way he liked them.

 

“You look…”

“Kya?”

“Khidkithod khubsoorat.”

 

Annika smiled as she took a step closer to him, slowing closing the distance between them until her nose touched his neck. Closing his eyes, Shivaay’s hold on her waist tightened as he felt her trace his neck with her nose. Once she’d made herself a trail from below his ear to the base of his neck, she followed the line back up, placing little kisses on his skin.

He let himself sink into the moment, the feel of her soft lips against the sensitive skin of his neck. She knew how to make him weak, what turned him on the most and he loved it.
Pushing him back towards the bed, Shivaay felt the bed on the back of his knees and sat on the bed, as Annika took her place on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to himself as she began to undo the buttons of his shirt. Lips back on his neck, she let herself slide his shirt off his shoulder, leaving his bare body exposed to herself. Pulling herself away slightly, Annika looked at him with half hooded eyes. His sea blue eyes were mostly black as he looked back at her.

 

“Annika…”

“I love you.”

“Jaanta hoon, I love you too.”

“Jaanti hoon.”

 

He shifted her on his lap slightly, getting more comfortable before pulling her back into himself, taking her lips between his own. As her hands wondered along his bare body, his pushed at her dressing gown, letting it slide away from her shoulders and down her arms. Breaking the kiss, Shivaay leaned back, taking them both down onto the bed before flipping her onto her back and moving over her, attacking her neck with kisses. Letting one hand wander into his thick hair, she let the other trail up and down his bare back. The only time he let her touch his hair like this was when they got intimate, and he loved the feel of her hands in his hair, the way she gently pulled on his hair as they made out.

Hands on her hips, he left little kisses all over her face before homing in on her lips again. Annika placed her hand on his cheek, the feel of his beard tickling her hand, as she pushed his lips apart, deepening the kiss. Moving his hands off her hips, he let them trail up her back and onto the straps of her nightdress.

Breaking the kiss again, Annika shook her head as she pushed him onto his back and moved over him. Smirking, he lay on his back and pulled her on top of himself as they got comfortable. Looking up at Annika, he smiled as she closed the gap between them again, taking his lips between her own as her hands stroked the little hairs on his chest.

He should’ve known she wouldn’t let him top, but he didn’t mind. He loved how confident Annika had become in the bedroom, how she knew what she wanted from him and from their relationship. From the shy Annika that had run away from him multiple times for just mentioning their first night, she was now a lioness in the bedroom, he was her prey and he loved it. He loved it when she took control, when she led them in their intimate dance as one.

As she slipped her nightdress off, Shivaay took her in, her perfect form. But it was her face that glowed the most and that was what he loved the most. As she undressed them both and came over him, Shivaay wrapped his arms around her, pulling her back to himself and kissed her deeply as their body joined together once more.

He had thought tonight was going to be his gift to her, but he should’ve known, his wife never let him have his way.

 

His wife, his world, his lover, his valentine…

The Fall ~ TS ~ Part 2

(Banner by @0Mcreations, do check out her work over on twitter and instagram)

 

Many weeks later, Annika, Saumya and Priyanka were sat together by the poolside, enjoying their tea.

Annika had worked her hardest to expose Tia, to prove that Tia’s baby wasn’t Shivaay’s but alas, her efforts were futile. Tia wasn’t giving anything away, and nor could Annika find anything against her.

The day after they had found out that Tia was pregnant, Shivaay had requested for her to have a DNA test because he couldn’t just accept that the child was his. Tia has been more than willing to take the DNA test and when the result came back as being positive, both Shivaay and Annika had been convinced that Tia had planned this. So they had another DNA test conducted, one that Tia didn’t know about. But once again, the same results came.

This had left Shivaay feeling extremely down, as it seemed the child really was his, but Annika was more than convinced that the baby couldn’t be Shivaay’s. She was still convinced that the baby was Tia’s husbands, but once again, she had no proof.

Though Annika didn’t want to, she had half given up, just hoping that one day she would find what she was looking for and would be able to prove that Tia was a fraud. And Annika’s health hadn’t helped her either. Since about a week ago, Annika had been feeling extremely under the weather. She felt nauseous, dizzy, tired and had completely lost her appetite. She knew that she had been tense the past few weeks, but hadn’t realised that she’d been that tense that it was having such a negative impact on her health.

Sitting by the pool now, Annika sipped on her tea, just trying to enjoy Saumya and Priyanka’s company. Picking up a biscuit, Annika took a bite of it before taking another sip of her tea. Even before the biscuit could settle within her, Annika felt it come straight back up. Rushing to the bathroom, Annika just made it to the toilet before she threw up.

What was happening?

Initially she had thought it was just the tension that was having an adverse reaction on her health but now…

When she felt like her stomach had settled again, Annika left the bathroom and went and sat on the edge of the bed. Thinking about how unwell she’d been feeling, she realised that it couldn’t just be stress. She had been experiencing stress for weeks and she hadn’t been feeling this bad. The last 2 weeks, she’d actually been more at ease than previously so it couldn’t be the stress that was causing this.

Picking up her phone, Annika unlocked it and started scrolling her messages when a thought suddenly hit her.

Shaking her head she pushed the thought away. No no, it couldn’t be that, surely it couldn’t be that. Pushing the thought away, Annika went back to reply to Sahil and Chanda’s messages. But the thought kept bothering her. What if she was?

Opening up her calendar app, Annika scrolled through the dates until she found what she was looking for. Shit. Shit shit shit.

Putting her phone down Annika thought long and hard about it. Maybe she’d just forgotten to mark it on her calendar, maybe she wasn’t actually…

But thinking about it, she realised she hadn’t made any mistakes. She really was late. Over three weeks late…

 

*****

 

After getting over the initial shock, Annika realised that being late didn’t mean she really was… She had been stressed, maybe that had had an impact on her body and maybe it was just because of that she was late.

But she knew she needed to find out if she was or if she wasn’t. She needed to be sure.

Picking her phone up again, she texted Saumya, asking her to come to her room, who arrived a few moments later. Entering the bedroom, saw took in Annika, realising she was concerned about something.

 

“Bhabi?”

 

Getting to her feet, Annika let Saumya into the room before shutting the door.

 

“What’s wrong?”

“Saumya, I’m going to tell you something but you can’t tell anyone, not even Priyanka or Rudra.”

“Bhabi…”

“Promise me.”

“I promise, but what’s the matter, why are you so tense? Did Tia say something?”

“No no, it’s not Tia…”

 

Taking a deep breath, Annika prepared herself to finally say it out loud.

 

“I think… I think I’m pre… Pregnant.”

 

Saumya froze for a minute, unable to process when Annika had just said. When she finally took it in, she felt herself give Annika her widest smile before giving her a big hug.

 

“Oh my goodness! Congratulations bhabi! I didn’t think you and bade bhaiya would be trying for a baby so soon, hence why I couldn’t react for a moment but oh my! This is amazing!”

“No no, you’ve…”

 

Shaking her head, Annika felt tears well in her eyes as it started sinking in what it would mean if she really was pregnant.

 

“We, we weren’t trying. I didn’t even think… This wasn’t planned. We’ve never talked about babies…”

“Oh… Accident?”

“Yes. I mean… I’m not sure. I’m late but I might not be… I just…”

“So are you going to tell bhaiya?”

“Well I need to be sure first. When you come home from college, do you think you could pick up a pregnancy test for me?”

“Of course! Bhabi, please don’t stress, if you are or if you aren’t, you and bhaiya will be able to deal with this, don’t worry.”

 

Smiling, Annika nodded, but she could feel herself tensing up. This wasn’t what they needed now. They needed to deal with Tia, not add more tangles to the net they were already trapped in.

 

*****

 

When Saumya returned home that evening with the pregnancy tests, she had offered to wait in the bedroom while Annika took them, but Annika decided against this. She wanted to take the tests in her own time, on her own. And she also wanted to wait until the next morning because she had googled and found that pregnancy tests were more accurate first thing in the morning.

Hiding the tests away, Annika sat on the bed, trying to work out if she should try and talk to Shivaay about it, or if she should just tell him once she’d done the test.

Deciding not to say anything, Annika got to her feet as she started tidying things away, trying to distract herself.

It wasn’t long before Shivaay walked into their room.

 

“Hey.”

 

Poking her head out from behind the wardrobe door, Annika smiled.

 

“Hi.”

 

Taking off his suit jacket, Shivaay handed it to Annika and she put it away.

 

“So how was your day?”

“The usual, I spent most of my day on my own tidying things away, how was your day?”

 

They made small talk as they usually would and Annika watched as Shivaay got changed before sitting down on the sofa with his laptop. She watched as he waited for his laptop to load up and she thought of everything that had happened that day. She needed to speak to him, she needed to get an idea of how he would react if they were expecting, she couldn’t just spring it on him if it was the case.

Sitting beside him, Annika tried to make small talk with him again, just talking about random things before getting to her point.

 

“So me and Saumya were talking earlier and the topic of babies just came up… Do you like children Shivaay?”

 

Not looking up from his laptop, he gave a noncommittal grunt. Annika carried on.

 

“I like babies, I think they’re really cute! And just the thought of having a little human that’s half you and half of the person you love… It gives such a warm fuzzy feeling.”

 

Looking away from his laptop screen, Shivaay looked to Annika, eyebrow raised.

 

“Are you trying to tell me something?”

“No I just…”

“Because I can’t even think about having a baby right now. With all this Tia crap going on… It’s made me realise I really don’t want a baby any time soon. In fact this whole situation with Tia… I don’t know, I feel like it’s just put me off children altogether.”

 

Hearing him say that made Annika feel uncomfortable, almost like there was a sinking feeling within her. He didn’t want a baby. He didn’t know if he wanted a baby at all. What if they were having a baby?

Sensing that Annika was tense, Shivaay put his laptop down and took her hand in his own.

 

“What’s the matter?”

“Nothing I just…”

“What I mean is, I definitely don’t want a baby now, but somewhere down the line, I think I will want us to have a family. But it just feels too soon to be thinking about that right now. We’ve still got so much to do as a couple, so much to explore…”

 

He had a point and she knew that. Even up until yesterday she hadn’t thought about having a baby yet, but now…

 

“I love you Annika, and I’m certain one day we will have our own family, but at this moment of time, it’s not something I want to think about.”

 

Braving a smile, Annika placed her hand on top of Shivaay’s.

 

“I know, I get it. It was just something we were talking about and it got me thinking, that’s all.”

 

Nodding, Shivaay turned his attention back to his laptop and Annika looked down at her stomach.

Please let it all work out okay. Please?

 

*****

 

Wiping her tears, Annika got off the bathroom floor, picked up her pregnancy tests and placed them on the side of the sink.

Washing her hands again, she dabbed water on her face before drying off properly. Hiding the used tests away again, Annika walked back into the bedroom and watched as Shivaay got dressed.

 

“You okay? You took a long time?”

“I’m fine, just have a stomach ache.”

 

Walking over to Annika, Shivaay placed his hands on her shoulders.

 

“Are you okay, do you need any medicine?”

“No no, I’m fine, nothing to worry about.”

“You sure?”

 

Annika nodded and he placed a kiss on her forehead. Shivaay let Annika go as he went back to the wardrobe to put his jacket on. Ready for the day, he took his leave from Annika and left.

Once Shivaay was gone, Annika sat down on the bed and let her tears fall as she slowly raised her hand to her stomach.

She was pregnant. She’d known it in her heart any way, but seeing the test results on both sticks… She was pregnant. With their baby… A baby neither of them were ready for and that Shivaay didn’t even want to think about yet.

Burying her face in her hands, Annika knew she couldn’t sit on this for too long. She knew roughly how far along she was, and she knew that she needed to say something soon before she started putting on the extra weight. Her constantly nausea and tiredness wasn’t getting missed by the family either. Someone would soon put the dots together.
She needed to tell Shivaay. And soon.

 

*****

 

It was a little later the same day. Annika had spent some time with Dadi and had now returned to her bedroom, trying to work out what she needed to do.

Sat on the sofa, Annika Googled on her phone some pregnancy related information when there was a knock on her door. Exiting the tab, she put her phone down before looking up.

 

“Bhabi can I come in?”

“Come Saumya! No need to be so formal.”

 

Sitting down beside Annika, Saumya looked at her and smiled.

 

“You’re pregnant aren’t you?”

“How did you…”

“I could tell. You’ve been so distracted and tense, and I also saw you run your hand over your belly a few times…”

“I didn’t even realise I did that.”

“You did. No one else would’ve noticed or thought anything but I…”

 

Annika gave Saumya a big hug before moving back again.

 

“Both tests came out positive and I… I guess I already knew. I just… I don’t know what to do now.”

“Have you told bade bhaiya?”

“No… I tried talking to him about it yesterday and he… He doesn’t even want to think about a baby right now. And with all the Tia baby drama, he’s…”

 

Sighing, Annika looked down at her stomach again for the hundredth time.

 

“So what are you going to do?”

“I think, I’m going to book an appointment with the doctor first and make sure. Also find out how far along I really am… And then I guess I’ll have to find a way to tell him.”

“So you are definitely keeping the baby?”

“Of course! There’s no doubt about that. This is our baby, though not planned, she’s still ours and I don’t believe in aborting babies that are conceived as a result of love.”

“So you’re going to do this.”

“Yeah, we’re going to do this. I know he doesn’t want a baby now, but I’m sure, once he knows about her, he’ll want her as much as I do.”

 

Smiling to herself, Annika knew that she had come to the right decision. There were people in the world who prayed and ached for a child. She was blessed with a child, they couldn’t just throw that away because they weren’t ready. They were going to have this child and that was that.

 

“Bhabi, can I say something?”

“Of course.”

“You referred to the baby as she and her.”

“I did?”

“Yeah you said ‘she’s still ours.’”

 

Annika thought about it and realised she had said that and she really thought about it. Unconsciously, she lowered her hand to her tummy and smiled.

 

“I don’t know, it just came naturally I didn’t even realise I said it. But now I think about it, I feel like the baby, I feel like she is a girl. Just a gut feeling I guess.”

 

Giving Annika another hug, Saumya gave her a gentle squeeze.

 

“I’m so happy for you Bhabi! I know it’s not something you guys had planned for, but seeing how happy you are, I’m so happy for you! You and bade bhaiya are going to start a new life!”

 

They carried on talking for a while, about all kind of little baby related things.

 

“For now, I want to refer to her as Shivika. Calling her baby or she doesn’t feel right. She’s a human and deserves to be addressed with a name.”

“Shivika? Where did you get this name from?”

“Shiv from Shivaay and Ika from Annika. She’s our baby, half me, half him. So for now, she’s Shivika until she actually arrives and has her own real name.”

“I love it it’s so cute! Even after she comes along, I still want to keep calling her Shivika!”

 

Talking to Saumya, Annika realised that it was really beneficial for her. It was really helping her ease into the idea that she was carrying a baby and soon in the future, she was going to have her own child in her arms.

She knew trying to tell Shivaay was going to be hard and she was worried about how he would react, but she knew she had to…

 

*****

 

That night when Shivaay came home from work and once they’d retreated to their bedroom for the night, they slipped into easy conversation about the little things. It was a while into their conversation when he actually mentioned something important.

 

“So Tia called me while I was at work, she has an appointment at the end of the week and she wants me to go with her.”

 

Annika felt herself go cold. Tia. Momentarily, in the joy of finding out about her own baby, Annika had completely forgotten about Tia and hers.

 

“Hey Annika, are you listening?”

“Yeah I just… Carry on.”

“So Tia wants me to take her to the doctors, she wants me to be with her when they do the scan… I just… I can’t do it. I know it’s not my child.”

 

Clasping her hands together, Annika knew it wasn’t the time to tell him about their baby. Unclasping her hands, Annika places her hand on Shivaay’s.

 

“At some point or other, she’s going to snap. She won’t be able to carry this on. A lie can never remain hidden for too long.”

“You have so much confidence, but time is starting to run out. Soon it’ll be time to start preparing for the baby to arrive and… Annika I don’t know how this is going to pan out. Tia and her mother think we’ve filed for our divorce but… It’s all just so…”

 

Moving towards him once more, Annika gave him a kiss on his cheek before squeezing his hand.

 

“We’ll work through this. I had started taking a seat back in regards to exposing her, but I’m going to start trying again. I won’t let her win.”

“This is what I love about you, you never give up. If you believe in something, you’ll do anything to prove yourself.”

 

Getting to his feet, Shivaay leaned back down and lifted Annika into his arms.

 

“Shivaay! What are you…”

“It’s the end of the night, I want to spend some quality time with my wife.”

 

Blushing, Annika tucked her face into Shivaay’s chest as he walked over to their bed and placed her down gently. Moving over her, he came over her, hand on her face as he closed the distance between their lips. Pressing his lips against hers and placing his hands on her waist, Shivaay made himself comfortable. Wrapping her arms around him, Annika pulled Shivaay closer to herself.

As his hold on her waist tightened, she became suddenly aware of his weight pressing down on her stomach. Feeling herself panic, Annika broke the kiss and pushed him away slightly.

He felt her push, moved off her and rolled onto his side of the bed.

 

“Annika are you okay?”

“I just… I don’t… I don’t want to tonight.”

 

Cocking his head to the side slightly, he lifted his eyebrow but then went back to normal again. She’d never said no before, but he got it, sometimes people just aren’t in the mood, it wasn’t a big deal.

 

Pressing a quick light kiss on her lips, he moved back to his side of the bed.

 

“I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to be sorry Annika, it’s fine. You’re allowed to say no when you don’t feel like it, it’s absolutely fine.”

 

Wrapping one arm around him and placed one protectively over her stomach, Annika pressed a kiss on his chest as she settled down to fall asleep.

 

*****

 

It had been about a week since Annika had been to the doctors to confirm her pregnancy and 2 weeks since she’d first found out she was pregnant. When she had gone to see the doctors, with Saumya, she had found out she was about 4 weeks pregnant.

Of course Annika would have liked to take Shivaay, however, she hadn’t got round to telling him yet. She had tried to tell him, but either the moment wasn’t right or something happened and she couldn’t tell him. She knew she needed to tell him, but she just couldn’t. She knew she had to say something soon because he knew something was up. Since finding out she was pregnant, she couldn’t bring herself to get intimate with him. After refusing him on few occasions, he realised that something was up and had tried asking her what was wrong, but she couldn’t tell him. Annika struggled to understand why it was so hard for her to tell Shivaay about their baby, but she just couldn’t do it.

When Shivaay realised that she couldn’t tell him, he told her that he respected her space and that he was happy to give her time until she was ready again.

She felt bad that she was keeping this distance from him, but she couldn’t bring herself to get that close to him when he didn’t know about their baby. How could she get intimate with him when she was hiding such a big thing from him? And what if they got caught up in the moment and too much pressure was on her stomach and she didn’t even realise? She couldn’t risk it. She wanted to tell him about their baby before she could get intimate with him like that again.

And she felt bad keeping the truth from him. He deserved to know but she couldn’t bring herself to tell him yet.

Sighing, Annika sat down on the sofa of Saumya’s bedroom and drank her juice slowly.

 

“Bhabi, I need to tell you something.”

“Of course, go for it.”

“You might be really angry with me and if you are I completely understand…”

“What’s the matter Saumya?”

 

Annika put her juice down as she gave Saumya her full attention.

 

“I… I accidentally told Rudra about the baby.”

 

Taking in Saumya’s words, Annika knew that she really needed to act fast and tell Shivaay the truth before Rudra told him. Because knowing Rudra, her secret wouldn’t stay a secret for long.

 

“Rudra was discussing the annual Obro family trip with me and he was discussing what they should do and where they should go. He told me how bade bhaal wale bhaiya said that this year, not them three brothers would go on their own, they would take us and Priyanka too. So he was asking me for ideas. I couldn’t think of much so he suggested skiing and I said that you wouldn’t be able to because…”

“Because I would still be pregnant…”

 

Sighing, Annika placed her hand on her stomach and gave a little smile.

 

“Well I guess this just means I’ll have to tell Shivaay before Rudra does.”

“Rudy promised that he won’t say anything but you know what he’s like, he’ll probably let it slip to bade bhaiya… I’m so sorry Bhabi.”

“It’s fine! Honestly this is probably the nudge that I needed to just tell him.”

“Bhabi, what do you think bhaiya will say when you tell him about the baby?”

“I think he will definitly be shocked to start off with and he will probably need some time to really take it in, but I know my Shivaay, he never backs away from his responsibilities.”

“Have you started thinking about what Shivika is going to look like? Do you think she will look more like you or like bhaiya?”

“I think she’s going to have his eyes…”

 

“Baby?”

 

Annika and Saumya’s attention went to the figure standing by the door and both stood up. Pinky walked into the bedroom, and walked right up to Annika.

 

“What are you planning?”

“Pinky aunty I…”

“I know what you’re trying to do. You want to convince Shivaay that you two should have a baby. I know your plan. You want to have your own baby so his attention is diverted from Tia and her baby…”

“No… That’s not… I…”

“Shush! Now you’ve shown your real class haven’t you? You’re insecure that his attention will move off you when his baby comes along so now you want to get pregnant yourself to get his attention back. But let me remind you Annika, Shivaay is divorcing you and even if you did get pregnant, Tia is going to have her baby first, meaning that baby will always be the heir to the Oberoi family. Yours will always be Shivaay’s second child.”

“Pinky aunty it’s not like that…”

“And anyway, I know my son, he will never agree to have a baby with you. He might give you respect because you are still this house’s bahu, but he will never see a middle class girl like you as the mother of his children.”

“Aunty ji…”

 

But Pinky was already done and had turned away to leave. When Pinky was gone Saumya placed her hand on Annika’s shoulder.

 

“Don’t worry about aunty, she doesn’t know the truth. You and bade bhaiya aren’t getting a divorce and I’m as certain as you are that Tia is lying about bhaiya being the father of her baby. It’s going to be okay, don’t worry. And bhaiya loves you, he told you himself that he wants you guys to have a family together one day… Don’t worry at all.”

 

Nodding, Annika sat back down, her hands knotted on her lap. It was all going to be okay, everything was going to be fine…

 

*****

 

A tense Mrs Kapoor walked back to Tia’s bedroom. Tia noticed her mother deep in thought as she came and sat down beside Tia on the sofa.

 

“Mom is everything okay?”

“We have a problem, a big one.”

“What’s wrong mom?”

 

Placing her hand on her mother’s, Tia looked at her concerned. Had Annika finally found something out? Was she going to do something? What was happening?

 

“Mom tell me, what happened?”

“Annika is pregnant.”

 

Mrs Kapoor had been walking by Saumya’s room when she had heard Annika and Saumya talking about babies. She hadn’t thought much of it at first but then she listened more and she realised… Annika was already pregnant. She had heard more than Pinky had and knew the full story. She knew Annika was pregnant and that Shivaay didn’t know about the baby yet.

Relaying all this to Tia, Mrs Kapoor waited for her daughter to say something. But she didn’t.

 

“I don’t see the issue here? Annika hasn’t told Shivaay yet about her baby and they still don’t know that mine isn’t Shivaay’s so what’s the issue? Plus Pinky mom isn’t accepting Annika’s baby and still considers mine the heir of the Oberoi family.”

“Don’t you get it Tia, if Annika has this baby, Shivaay will automatically give more of his attention to Annika and their baby. Not to mention he will probably be more likely to do more for their baby than he will for yours.”

“Perhaps, but my baby will come first. Meaning anything that Shivaay wants to give my child, anything we want to take, he will give to us before his and Annika’s baby arrives. By the time their baby is born, we will be long gone.”

 

Mrs Kapoor shook her head. She knew the moment Shivaay found out Annika was pregnant, everything would change. Now Pinky is against Annika and her child, but the other Oberoi’s wouldn’t react the same way. They would see Annika’s baby as being the legitimate heir to the Oberoi empire and they would push Tia and her child away. After all of this, Tia would leave empty handed. They would lose! Mrs Kapoor knew she wasn’t going to let that happen.

 

“We need to do something.”

“Like what mom?”

“We need to make sure Annika loses her baby.”

 

Tia gasped and placed a protective hand on her own baby bump.

 

“Mom are you insane? Do you realise what you’re saying?”

“Oh shut up Tia, you don’t get it, if Annika has their baby, that child will be the legitimate heir of the Oberoi family. No one will give a second glance to your child.”

“I get that, but mom, you can’t harm Annika. This isn’t just about her, she’s pregnant…”

“That’s the point! We need to make sure her baby doesn’t…”

“No mom! Stop! I know what you’re thinking and I won’t allow you to carry on thinking that way. You can’t do anything to Annika or her baby. I won’t let you.”

“Tia, stop being an emotional fool and think about yourself.”

“I don’t care. I won’t let you harm an innocent unborn child.”

“Why do you care so much, you don’t even like Annika!”

“That doesn’t matter. She’s never done anything to me. And despite everything that I’ve done and that’s happening, she’s taken care of me. She’s makes sure I’ve eaten, she saved me from tripping… She has gone out of her way to protect my baby, I can’t let you harm hers.”

“But Tia…”

“No buts mom. For the sake of wealth and revenge, I will not let you harm an unborn child. And I will not let you put Annika through that. I may not like her, but all she has ever tried to do is protect Shivaay, she has never been malicious to me. I can’t let you do that. I will not let you harm a baby.”

 

It was clear that Tia was not going to get on board with anything, so Mrs Kapoor knew that whatever needed to be done, she would need to do it herself. And that to soon.

 

*****

 

A few days later, Annika still hadn’t been able to tell Shivaay about their baby. She knew it was becoming a joke. She needed to tell him because she knew it was unfair on him to be kept in the dark, and she knew he would be angry that she hid it from him for so long, but she just couldn’t! He had been so busy with work and when he wasn’t busy with work, Tia and her mother, more her mother at the moment, were constantly running rings around him.

But she had finally decided that she was going to tell him today. She had written him a letter and had placed it on his bedside table, so when he came in from the study later, he would see it.

Placing her hand on her tummy, Annika smiled as she talked to their baby.

 

“Later today, your papa will know about you. Now he might be a bit shocked and confused to start with, but I’m certain he will love you as much as I do!”

 

Placing a paper weight on top of the note, Annika turned away and left their bedroom. Saumya and Priyanka were in Saumya’s bedroom so Annika began making her way up the stairs. When she got to the top, she remembered that she’s forgotten to bring back up Saumya’s charger. Rolling her eyes, Annika turned to make her way back down again.

What happened next happened so fast that Annika couldn’t even fathom what was happening. One moment she felt herself losing her balance on the stairs, next she felt someone grab her arm to stop her from falling and then in the next moment, the arm that had been holding her was gone and Mrs Kapoor tumbling down the stairs.
Turning to the figure next to her, Annika took in the flushed looking Tia, still unable to comprehend what had just happened.

As Mrs Kapoor hit the bottom of the staircase and lay still, Pinky and Jhanvi came running out, as did Priyanka and Saumya. Tia slowly began descending the stairs, the tears finally settling in. Annika too followed Tia down, still baffled and unable to understand exactly what had happened.

As Pinky knelt down beside Mrs Kapoor, she looked between Annika and Tia, trying to make sense of what happened.

 

“What actually happened, how did Mrs Kapoor fall like that?”

 

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Tia carefully knelt down beside her unconscious mother and Annika came and placed her hands on Tia’s shoulders.

 

“Woh Pinky mom, Annika…”

“Of course! I shouldn’t known! She was probably trying to harm you again and your mother got in the way and…”

 

Annika took her hands of Tia’s shoulders and began shaking her head.

 

“No no Pinky mom, Annika wasn’t trying to hurt me.”

 

Enough was enough and Tia knew it. She was going to end this game today. She knew what her mother had been trying to do and she knew her mother would keep trying. She wouldn’t allow harm to come to Annika’s unborn child, no matter what their goal was. Maybe if she hadn’t been pregnant herself, she wouldn’t have cared for Annika’s baby as much as she did, but being pregnant, she knew how she would feel if someone tried to harm her baby and she couldn’t put another woman through that, regardless of who they were.

As Tia recomposed herself, Shivaay too came out of his study and walked over to where everyone had gathered.

 

“What’s happening?”

“Mrs Kapoor fell down the stairs and I’m certain Annika had something to do with it.”

“Mom come on…”

 

“This really isn’t the time to be discussing this, we need to get Mrs Kapoor to the hospital.” Jhanvi pulled out her phone and called for an ambulance.

“If Annika wasn’t trying to hurt you, can you explain to me what was happening at the top of the stairs.”

 

Tia knew that the best thing to do was just tell the truth. The longer she pulled this out, the more complicated it would become. And at this point, she just wanted to be at her own home with her husband while they prepared for their baby to arrive.
Taking a deep breath, Tia finally prepared to tell the truth.

 

“Annika wasn’t trying to hurt me or mom. Mom was trying to push Annika down the stairs because…”

“Why would Mrs Kapoor want to harm Annika?”

 

Coming to Annika’s side, Shivaay wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into himself as he raised his eyebrow at her, asking if she was okay.

 

“Mom… Mom has been trying to harm Annika for days. Ever since she found out that Annika is pregnant she’s been trying to…”

 

Annika felt Shivaay’s arm drop and she found him staring at her with big eyes. Pinky looked between Annika and Tia, eyes wide.

 

“Annika’s pregnant?”

 

Tia turned to Annika.

 

“No one knows?”

 

Annika shook her head before looking down again.

 

“I’m so sorry I thought…

 

The tension in the room became so tangible, Jhanvi knew she had to steer the situation.

 

“Look let’s just focus on Mrs Kapoor for now and then…”

“Sir, ambulance is here.”

 

Shivaay nodded to Khanna, who let the paramedics in and who took Mrs Kapoor.
When Mrs Kapoor and Tia we’re gone, the Oberoi’s sat down in the living room, trying to digest all that had happened.

Shivaay has wrapped his arm around Annika again, who instead of feeling comforted suddenly felt extremely trapped.

 

“Annika, you’re… When?”

“Shivaay I… I’ve been trying to tell you but I… Something just kept coming up and I couldn’t bring myself to tell you. But I finally left a note for you today, so you would read and find out because I couldn’t actually verbally…”

 

“Shivaay this is all bakwaas. I heard her and Saumya talking the other day about babies, this is to trap you so you attention from Tia diverts.”

“Mom please!”

 

Pinky got to her feet and came up to where Shivaay and Annika were sat. Shivaay stood, and then Annika did too.

 

“I told you Shivaay, I told you to get rid of this girl before she caused a mess and now look. You’re mother in law to be is in hospital because…”

“Because she tried to harm Annika and karma got her instead.”

“You really think Mrs Kapoor just fell on her own?”

“Yes, that seems to be what has happened.”

“I don’t believe it.”

 

Shivaay knew there was only one way he could settle Annika’s innocence and that was by showing the CCTV footage. Calling Khanna, he asked for the CCTV footage for that afternoon from the top of the stairs so they could find out what happened.

Khanna returned a little while later with the dvd and played it for the Oberoi’s. By this point, Om and Rudra had arrived too.

As the clip started playing, they watched as Annika climbed the stairs, only to prepare to descend again. As she’s turning, Mrs Kapoor emerges from behind her and pushes her, but Tia grabs hold of Annika before she loses her footing. What happened next was something that no one had expected. Once Tia had saved Annika and pulled her away from the edge, she had then pushed her own mother, causing her to tumble down the stairs. As the clip ended, Shivaay turned to his mother who was still taking the whole situation in.

 

“So, as you saw, it wasn’t Annika that pushed Mrs Kapoor, Tia herself pushed her mother down.”

“But why would Tia…”

“It’s obvious, Mrs Kapoor wanted to harm Annika and Tia saved her.”

 

Shivaay turned to Annika again and wrapped his arm around her protectively.

 

“But Shivaay…”

“Mom please. We’ve seen what happened, Tia explained…”

 

Shivaay paused as he remembered what they had started talking about.

 

“Annika you’re pregnant?”

 

Blushing, Annika looked down at her still flat stomach before nodding. She leaned closer to him and dropped her voice before replying.

 

“I’m 5 weeks…”

 

As he held her close, his eyes dropped to her stomach and a warmth spread through his body. He didn’t want a baby, he hadn’t wanted one right now. But knowing that there was a baby, THEIR baby inside Annika, overwhelmed him with a joy he hadn’t expected to feel. Completely forgetting about their surroundings, Shivaay dropped a kiss on Annika head before lifting her chin and placing another light kiss on her nose.

Rudra gave a loud cough, bringing Shivaay and Annika back to reality.

 

“Shivaay, she’s lying to you.”

“Mom, what is this?”

“How can Annika be pregnant?”

 

He knew he should take this situation seriously, but Pinky’s question brought out an immature laugh.

 

“Mom come on, surely you know how babies are made.”

“Shivaay!”

 

Giving him a sharp nudge with her elbow, Annika hid her face in his chest.

 

“You and Annika are getting a divorce! You don’t like her, you don’t accept her as your wife? How is she having your child?”

“We never wanted a divorce, I’ve always accepted Annika as my wife and we love each other. I think that should explain it all and I don’t think I need to go into further details about how Annika is pregnant with our baby.”

“But you signed the papers?”

“I didn’t, and neither did Annika. We just said we did so everyone would get off our back while we took our time to deal with what was happening.”

“But you don’t even speak to her properly…”

“We kept our relationship to ourselves. We knew if Tia and Mrs Kapoor saw us happy together they’d try to cause issues between us. So we kept our relationship behind closed doors. Out in the open, out here we hardly speak, but in our bedroom, when we’re alone, we have a normal healthy relationship.”

 

Pinky felt her head spin as she took this information in. Shivaay, her Shivaay, who was always so concerned about naam, khoon, khandaan was willing to settle down with a girl like Annika? How had this happened and how hadn’t she even realised?

Taking Annika’s hand, he realised that he wanted to speak to her alone, away from everyone’s prying eyes. Excusing themselves, Shivaay led Annika to their bedroom and he shut the door once they were inside.

Sitting Annika down onto the bed, Shivaay sat down beside her. There was so much he wanted to say and ask but he couldn’t find the right words for any of it.

 

“I… Theres so much I want to ask.”

 

Pointing to the letter she’d left on his bedside table, Annika went to reach out for it but Shivaay stopped her.

 

“I’ll read the letter afterwards but I just need to hear from you so I can actually process it all. When did you find out?”

“A couple of weeks ago. Remember the day we spoke about babies and whether you liked and wanted them or not? That was the day I had realised that I might be pregnant.”

“And then I told you I don’t want to think about kids right now… God I’m so sorry. I must have you in such an uncomfortable place.”

“It’s okay. I knew you were tense about everything with Tia, it’s okay.”

 

As another realisation set it, everything that had been happening between them suddenly made so much more sense.

 

“You started keeping a distance from me after you found out you were pregnant? We haven’t gotten intimate in the last few weeks because you found out about the baby?”

 

Looking down at her lap, Annika nodded.

 

“I couldn’t bring myself to get close to you when I was withholding such major information from you. And then I was also worried that because you didn’t know, we might hurt the baby…”

 

It all made sense and he couldn’t fault any of her decisions. Of course he would’ve liked to have known sooner, but he understood why it took her so long to say anything.

 

“I think the baby is a girl.”

 

This comment threw Shivaay off slightly.

 

“I just have a feeling… I think she’s a girl.”

“Why do you think that? It’s to early to know the actual sex of the baby right?”

“Yes, we can find out at 20 weeks, but I just have a feeling and I’m pretty sure the baby is a girl.”

 

Wrapping his arm around Annika, Shivaay kisses the top of her head.

“A mini you! A mini Khidkithod!”

“I call her Shivika when I talk to her.”

“Shivika… Shiv from Shivaay, Ika from Annika?”

 

Nodding, Annika blushed as she shuffled closer to Shivaay, hiding her face in his chest. Sliding his finger under her chin, Shivaay lifted Annika’s face to his and looked into her eyes. As they let themselves dip into the moment, Shivaay let himself caress her cheeks before slowly closing his eyes and coming into to kiss her. Her own eyes fluttering shut, Annika planted her hands on his thigh as she moved into him, meeting his lips halfway.
His kiss was gentle, hers needy, and it took them a moment to find a rhythm and to set a pace that they were both content with. Hands on her waist, Shivaay pulled Annika into himself and deepened the kiss. All he could think of right now was loving his wife who was soon going to make him a father! He hadn’t wanted a child, especially right now after this mess with Tia, but just knowing Annika was carrying their baby… It did something to him.

As the kiss slowly came to an end, Shivaay kept her face cupped in his hands as he watched her eyes flutter open.

 

“We’re having a baby…”

 

His voice was low and husky and just oh so seductive. Pecking her lips again, he let his hand rest on her stomach as he really took the moment in, they were having a baby!

 

*****

 

As darkness fell outside and as the Oberoi’s finished their dinner, a sense of calm settled within Annika. Shivaay finally knew the truth and she no longer had to worry about someone finding out and telling Shivaay before her.

She had been worried, unsure how he would react, but he had taken it much better than she could have ever expected. He was actually excited to be a father, excited to meet their baby.

As the Oberoi’s, bar Pinky, sat and discussed the new member of their family that was soon to join them, Tia walked into the house. Everyone fell silent as the reality of the situation sunk in.

If Annika was pregnant with Shivaay’s baby, so was Tia, and Tia was due to have her baby first.

Shivaay got to his feet first and made his way over to Tia.

 

“How’s Mrs Kapoor?”

“Mom’s fine now, she regained consciousness a while back.”

“You should’ve called me to come and collect you.”

“No Shivaay baby, it’s fine. I needed some time to myself to really understand what happened today and what needs to be done next.”

“What do you mean?”

 

Nodding, Tia moved away from Shivaay and came to stand before the Oberoi’s who had all now got to their feet. Pinky too had come to join the congregation.

 

“After reflecting on what happened today, what almost happened today… I have decided that me and mom are going to leave.”

 

Pinky rushed to Tia’s side.

 

“What are you saying Tia? How can you leave?”

“Pinky mom… With Annika being pregnant too and with what happened today, I don’t think it is a smart idea if me and mom stay here.”

 

Misunderstanding what Tia meant, Pinky turned to Shivaay, who had come back to stand beside Annika, his arm draped around her.

 

“I told you, I told you all. The video didn’t show what actually happened. Annika really was trying to harm…”

“No Pinky mom, Annika wasn’t trying to hurt anyone. Mom tried to push Annika down the stairs so that she would miscarry. Ever since mom found out about Annika’s pregnancy, she’s been trying to find ways to harm Annika and her baby. I told mom no, but she wouldn’t listen. I’m just glad I was able to step in today before…”

 

Tia stopped and walked over to Annika.

 

“Are you okay?”

“I… I’m fine, you?”

“I’m fine too. Annika… I’m sorry. On mom’s behalf. I know I have been a pain to you, that I have tried to hurt you too, but I swear, since I found out you were pregnant, I haven’t wanted to harm you. I’d never do that, I hope you know that.”

 

Annika swallowed as she looked up at Shivaay, who wrapped his arm around her protectively.

 

“I know…”

“I’ve caused you so much trouble but you still saved me from tripped and hurting myself. After all of that, after how you have cared for my baby, I couldn’t let harm come to yours.”

 

Unable to digest what Tia was playing at, Pinky went over to Tia.

 

“Tia what are you saying? You told me Annika had been trying to hurt you, that she was going out of her way to harm you and your baby.”

“I lied Pinky mom. I wanted to make you hate Annika more so you would throw her out. Annika has never tried to harm my baby. If anything, she is the reason why my baby is still with me. If Annika hadn’t been around, I was doing all kinds of stupid things, I almost hurt myself so many times, but Annika saved me each time.”

“What…”

“Annika hasn’t been the one causing problems in this house, it’s me and I have decided that after what happened today, enough is enough. Enough damage has been caused and I don’t want to do this any more.”

“All that is fine, but Tia, you are having Shivaay’s baby. I don’t care what the case is, but I have never accepted Annika as my bahu and I don’t plan to. She may be having Shivaay’s baby too, but your baby is coming into this world first and according to me, that is my grandchild, the real heir of the Oberoi family.”

 

Shivaay felt Annika tense in his arms and he was ready to step in but Tej beat him to it.

 

“Have you lost it Pinky? You are going to call Shivaay’s illegitimate child the heir of the Oberoi house. Have you lost it?”

“Jeth ji, this is our family matter, you mind your own.”

“No I will speak. As head of the house, you have lost it. Annika is Shivaay’s wife, and their baby is the heir to the Oberoi wealth.”

“For me, Tia will always be my daughter in law and her child my read grandchild.”

“You are just unbeliev…”

 

“Uncle, Pinky mom… Please don’t argue.”

 

Tia knew what the right thing to do was. It was time to end this game once and for all. Enough was enough. She didn’t want to play this game. She wanted to live her life happily with her baby and her husband. This wasn’t worth the time any more.

 

“I have something to tell everyone.”

 

Taking a deep breath, Tia prepared herself. She knew what was going to happen, she knew Pinky was going to hate her, but she needed to do this. For herself and for Shivaay and Annika. And for both the babies.

 

“I’m… I’m not having Shivaay’s baby.”

 

A blanket of silence fell over the Oberoi family as everyone digested the impact of Tia’s words. Annika looked up at Shivaay, her eyes wide as she took in Tia’s words. The game was over! The truth way out! She was right! She had always been right.
Recovering from the shock, Pinky took a step towards Tia.

 

“You’re lying right? You’re just saying this so we accept Annika’s baby. You’re lying?”

“No Pinky mom. Everything I had been saying all these months had been a lie. I am finally telling the truth. Shivaay isn’t the father of my child.”

“What nonsense! You told us exactly when and where the baby was conceived. You said it was Shivaay’s!”

“I lied! It was all part of a well planned plan. Me and Shivaay have never shared an intimate relationship. We have never done anything together. My baby’s father is my husband, not Shivaay.”

“You’re husband?”

 

Tia explained about Dushyant, about the plan and how the baby definitely couldn’t be Shivaay’s.

 

“I’m sorry Pinky mom. You gave me so much love and respect and I… I’m sorry.”

“You’re not having Shivaay’s baby?”

“No. I’m not. I’m sorry. I’m not having Shivaay’s baby but Annika… Annika is! Please, give her the love you’ve been giving me and my unborn baby, because she’s the one that really is entitled to this love.”

 

Annika felt Shivaay’s arm tight around her as he held her close.

Tia approached Shivaay and Annika.

 

“I’m sorry. I got carried away with mom’s plan. I let myself get sucked in and I… I’m sorry. I caused so many problems for you both, I wasted so much of your time, if you can, please forgive me.”

Looking at each other, Annika nodded to Shivaay and he let her go and took a step towards Tia.

 

“It’s okay, we understand.”

“I’m sorry Shivaay. Annika, sorry isn’t enough but, I really am…”

“It’s okay Tia, I can’t thank you enough. If it wasn’t for you today, I wouldn’t be standing here. You came through when it mattered the most. You saved me and my baby. Nothing else matters.”

 

As the conversation came to a close, Tia excused herself so that she could go and tidy her things in preparation to leave.

 

*****

 

Back in their bedroom, Shivaay and Annika leaned against the headboard of their bed, his arm wrapped around her shoulder and her arms around his waist.

 

“I can’t believe it’s over.”

“It’s finally all over.”

“I had been trying to gather evidence against Tia for months and now…”

“She bowed out herself.”

 

Sitting up straight, Annika turned to Shivaay, her eyes wide.

 

“We won! We did it.”

“Now we can finally really start focusing on ourselves.”

 

Shuffling over to where she was sat, Shivaay cupped Annika’s face and looked into her eyes.

 

“It’s just you, me and our bean now.”

 

Smiling, Annika wrapped her arms around her husband and pulled him into a hug.

Finally… They could just focus on themselves and not have to worry constantly about Tia’s next move.

Breaking the hug, Annika pushed Shivaay back into the bed before moving over him, covering his lips with her own…

 

*****

 

Author’s note:

You guys still alive? Did you make it out alive? So that got wayyyy longer than I had anticipated but I hope you enjoyed it regardless. As you guys know, I have been working on this project for the longest time and I feel like I’m finally content with the way that it has turned out. I can’t even tell you how many different versions of this story are on my phone. So if you guys would like to read an alternative ending, leave a comment or tweet me and if enough people want to read an alternative version, I’ll pick one of my other drafts and I’ll post it for you guys!

Thanks again for reading! Love you all! It might be a while before I post another Shivika story, but I have so many concepts so I will be back with something soonish! 

The Fall ~ TS ~ Part 1

(Banner by @0Mcreations, do check out her work over on twitter and instagram)

Sitting in bed, waiting for Shivaay to get out of the bathroom so she could go in, Annika smiled to herself as she realised that today marked two months of their marriage. The marriage which was only supposed to last one day had now lasted two months and she knew that this was still just the beginning of their relationship. They had both entered into this marriage willingly, he, to save his family’s reputation and she, because she couldn’t see him tense like that. 

When he had requested her to take Tia’s place, she had been apprehensive, but looking into his tired, tense blue eyes, she couldn’t stop herself from agreeing to his proposal. Though he had made it clear this was just for the sake of one day, somewhere in her heart she knew that it wasn’t just going to be for one day. He had known that too. After the inital moment when he had said that their marriage was one night, he had never mentioned it again after, nor had she. 

Of course there had been the initial fallout when the Oberoi’s had realised that Tia was not Tia, but by the end of the week, everyone, except Pinky, had accepted Annika as Shivaay’s wife. Pinky had demanded Shivaay divorce Annika, but Dadi had made it clear that Shivaay and Annika were now married, that they had both willingly made this decision, and that they now had to make it work. If, and only if, they really couldn’t make their marriage work would Dadi allow them to divorce, but she wanted them to make a real genuine go at making their relationship work. She had also expressed that in her heart, she knew that Shivaay and Annika were made for each other and if they really gave their relationship a chance, they would lead a long, happy, successful marriage.

Pinky was adamant that she wanted Shivaay to throw Annika out of their lives, but he wouldn’t hear of it. He wasn’t going to let Annika go now. He had been aware of his feelings for a while now, but had never let himself act on those feelings because he had thought they didn’t have a future together, that they would never be a match, but after only a few days of living with her, and spending 24/7 with her, Shivaay realised that he had been wrong. He and Annika could make their relationship work if it was what they both wanted, and it was, so they planned to make a good go of it. 

Naam, khoon, khandaan, yes it still mattered, but the way he felt for Annika suddenly seemed to matter so much more. He didn’t care who she was, didn’t care for her bloodline or her lineage. She was his Annika, his khidkithod Annika, who put his life and the well-being of his family before herself time and time again. She was twice the woman anyone else he’d ever met had been. He wanted to stay with Annika and he planned to do just that. Yes, she didn’t have a rich and successful family name behind her, but he knew she was a good person, someone who valued a person for who they were, not because of their surname. And there was just something so attractive about that. 

Just as their marriage hit a week and a half and Pinky had started to calm down slightly, another tornado hit them. Tia. Tia had returned. She had told the Oberoi’s a sob story of how she had been kidnapped and how her mother and brother had had to get her out of that situation. The Oberoi’s had lapped it up, even Shivaay had started to believe her story. But Annika knew, she knew something wasn’t right. She had expressed her views to Shivaay and though he hadn’t gotten on board with her theory entirely, she could tell it did have an impact on him.  He didn’t write her theory off completely, she could tell he considered the possibility that maybe she was right. 

Annika had thought Tia returning would cause a rift between her and Shivaay but actually Tia returning had just acted as a catalyst in their relationship. Up until Tia’s return, they had slept separately, alternating nights in terms of who was going to sleep in the bed. But Tia’s return had got them talking about their relationship and how they wanted to proceed into the future. 

Annika smiled as she recalled the evening when they had made some relationship dynamic changing decisions.

 

** Flashback ** 

 

“Shivaay…”

“Hm?”

“Can I ask you something?”

 

Looking away from his laptop, Shivaay had turned his attention to Annika. 

 

“Go for it.”

 

Sitting down beside him on the sofa, she looked at her hands as she strung her words together. 

 

“I…”

 

Taking a deep breath, she prepared herself to say what she had wanted to say. 

 

“Now that Tia is back and it turns out that she supposedly hadn’t run away because she didn’t want to marry you, what does it mean for us?” 

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… We only got married because Tia ran away and if you told people the truth, it would’ve had a negative impact on our… I mean your family’s reputation. Now that she’s back and still wants to marry you…”

“But she’s too late, I’m already married.”

“But…”

 

Taking Annika’s hand into his own, Shivaay gave it a light squeeze as he looked into her eyes. 

 

“Annika, honestly speaking, do you see us having a future together? Please, tell me the truth, speak from your heart.”

“I… I don’t know what to say.”

“Just tell me how you feel.”

 

Annika looked down at their hands, hers locked in his. 

Using his free hand, Shivaay lifted Annika’s chin, bringing her face up to his. 

His voice dropped as he asked her the question he’d been wanting to ask her for so long. 

 

“Do you like me?” His voice was low and husky, almost seductive. 

“I… What kind of question is that? Of course.”

“But do you like me enough to want to spend your life with me?”

 

She paused as all her feelings for him boiled back up to the surface. She recalled that afternoon when she had come to seen him after he had fought for her. She remembered how under the influence of painkillers, he had admitted that there was something between them. Annika remembered how she had felt in that split moment when she thought he was going to ask her to marry her, and how she had felt when he had announced his marriage to Tia. 

She knew exactly how she felt for him and what she wanted but she needed to know how he felt first.

 

“Before I answer your question I would like to ask you something first.”

“Of course.”

“That day… When you were under the influence of painkillers, you had said to me that there was something between us and you kept wanting to tell me something but you kept falling asleep… Do you still think there’s something between us?”

 

Shivaay recalled that afternoon. He’d done a lot of stupid things that day, and speaking to Annika the way he had, had been stupid. Because the moment he woke up the next morning, he realised how he’d given her hope. He’d known for ages that she had feelings for him, and to speak to her like that had been stupid. But now… Things had changed. They were married, they were together, he could tell her the truth about his feelings. He tried to work out what to say and how he wanted to say it, but he knew that he wanted to just tell her. 

 

“I do. There’s always been something between us but before I didn’t want to act on it. You know my reasons for that. And everything I said that day and the day after… I knew I’d given you hope and at the time that was wrong of me but now… I do think there’s something between us Annika, and I want to explore that something.” 

 

It was as though fireworks erupted inside Annika. Hearing him say that, what she had wanted to hear him say for so long, she couldn’t contain her happiness. Wrapping her arms around him, Annika half threw herself into Shivaay’s arms. Slowly, Shivaay too wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to himself. 

 

“Will you tell me how you feel now?”

“Yes, yes I do want to spend the rest of my life with you.” 

 

He wrapped his arms around her tighter, bringing her so close he could feeling her chest rise and fall against his as she breathed. This felt right. 

When they were both all hugged out and it was time for bed, Shivaay watched as Annika picked the blanket off the foot of the bed and carried it over to the sofa. She had slept on the bed last night so today was his turn to sleep in bed. But after the conversation that they had shared, Shivaay felt like now was the time to change their sleeping arrangements.It wasn’t because he wanted to come close to her, but just because as two people who knew they wanted to be together, it just made more sense for them to start sharing the bed.

 

“Annika?”

“Ji?”

“I… Do you… You can sleep on the bed.”

“No it’s fine, I slept on the bed last night, it’s your turn.”

“No what I meant was… You can sleep on the bed too.”

 

Putting the blanket down, Annika turned to look at Shivaay, an eyebrow raised.

 

“What?”

“I mean, if you want… You can sleep on the bed… With me.”

 

Shivaay felt his cheeks warm slightly and he saw Annika flush a deep shade of red. He took a step towards her, placing his hand on her arm. 

 

“I mean… If you don’t want to or if you’re not ready it’s fine we can stick to our current arrangements but I want you to know that I am ready if you are too.”

“Okay…”

“Okay what?”

“Okay… I’ll… I’m ready to share the bed… With you.”

 

Shivaay slowly let his hand fall away from her arm as he smiled. Picking the blanket off the sofa, he placed it on the end of the bed. 

 

“You get settled in bed, I’m just going to change and come.”

 

Nodding, Annika watched as Shivaay went into the bathroom. She stood rooted to the spot for a moment before slowly walking over to the bed. 

She realised that everything that was said between them had just changed their entire relationship and that things were only going to change further between them.

 

***** 

 

After they had shared the bed for the first time, things started changing quite rapidly. Tia’s constant presence and her neediness was making Shivaay extend the distance between them, and whilst pulling himself away from Tia, he found himself moving closer to Annika. He liked that Annika was everything Tia wasn’t. Annika genuinely cared to know about his day, how his day at work went, what he ate at lunch if it was a day when he didn’t take food from home. She gave him space when he wanted it, and mostly, she didn’t try to come between him and his brothers. She understood when he just wanted to spend some time with OmRu and she didn’t try to pull him away from them the way Tia did. She wasn’t demanding and she didn’t go on about the god damn universe all the time. 

His attraction towards Annika grew and when he spoke to Om about his feelings, Om was certain that Shivaay was falling in love with Annika if he wasn’t already in love with her. Shivaay had brushed it off, but when he came back to his bedroom and really thought about it, he knew Om was right. How he felt for Annika… It was intense, soul consuming. He let his feelings brew for a while and have himself time to think. Just as their marriage hit 3 weeks, he was certain. He was in love with Annika and he was sure of it. And he planned to tell her on their one month anniversary. 

 

***** 

 

Shivaay had made big plans for their one month anniversary, had wanted to make a big confession of love, but just before they got to a month, Tia became unbearable and extremely abusive towards Annika. Though Annika had remained classy and had chosen to remain quite when Tia spoke, she felt herself break when Pinky too joined in with the Annika bashing. Together the two of them made it clear how they felt for Annika and how they felt she wasn’t right for Shivaay, how she’d never be the right fit for Shivaay. That evening, he’d come home to find Annika in floods of tears, feeling extremely run down. 

 

“Annika… Hey, what’s the matter?” 

 

She had not wanted to say anything because she hadn’t wanted to worry Shivaay, but she was unable to hold her insecurities back. She poured her heart out as she repeated everything that Pinky and Tia had said to her. When she was done, Shivaay cupped her face as he brushed away her tears. 

 

“I’m sorry for what Mom said to you, and I’m sorry you still have to deal with Tia. I’m trying to get rid of her but she just won’t leave and mom isn’t letting me get rid of her either. But I promise I’ll have a word with her, she can’t, neither of them have the right to speak to you like that.”

“But they’re right Shivaay. I’m not… You’re Shivaay Singh Oberoi, of THE Oberoi family and I’m just… I’m just Annika.”

“So? Do you think that you are unworthy just because you’re just Annika?”

“I…”

“Annika, you have always been my equal. You’ve always seen yourself as my equal, hence why you’ve always put me in my place when other people wouldn’t. You know in your heart that it doesn’t matter that you’re just Annika, you know you are worthy of me. Unlike other people, you don’t care about my naam, khoon, khandaan, you care for who I am, and it… It amazes me. Because you’re so different to everyone else I’ve ever met.

You know what we share is takkar ka. Don’t let mom and Tia’s words make you doubt yourself. I like you, for you, just the way you are. I like that you give me attitude, that you put me in my place. I like that because that’s what makes you different from everyone else I’ve ever met. If anything, I’m not worthy of you. You put me and my family before yourself, I would never do that for anyone. You’re twice the person I am, if anything I don’t deserve you, not the other way around.” 

 

Feeling her heart swell, Annika threw her arms around Shivaay and gave him a tight hug which he happily reciprocated. As he stroked her hair, he realised he couldn’t wait another week to tell her how he felt for her, he wanted to do it now. 

Breaking the hug, Shivaay placed his hand back on Annika’s cheek as he looked into her eyes. 

 

“Annika… There’s something I want to tell you. I wanted to wait and make it a special moment when I told you but… I just want to do it now.”

 

Annika drew her eyebrows together, confused at what he was trying to get at. 

 

“Annika… Ever since you have come into my life, you’ve taken over my life. When I first met you, I didn’t like you. Straight up. You spoke back to me, you were rude, you didn’t care for the fact that I was SSO… But then… Something changed, it just happened when I started noticing you more. You made me laugh at all your stupid antics, your weird words started sounding cute, I just started… I warmed to you. And then you went out of your way to save my family and me. Your put a mark on your own reputation for my sake… And then that day happened, when I took the painkillers and under the influence I said and thought all the things that I had trying to be suppress. And then I panicked. Maybe I should’ve paid heed then and just listened to my heart instead of using my brain. I was scared Annika. My feelings frightened me. I had never felt that way about someone and to be feeling all those things for you…”

“What are you trying to say? I don’t…”

“I… I want to say that you… You brought out a whole lot of feelings that I knew I never had. I tried to push those feelings away but you… I couldn’t. You’ve changed me Annika, you’ve turned me into a completely different man to who I once was and this is still only the start of our relationship.”

 

Annika understood what he was trying to say but was still confused, what was happening. Taking his hand off her cheek, he placed his hands in hers once more. 

 

“Annika I… I… I love you. I don’t care what anyone says, you are the one for me, you are my takkar ka ishqbaaaz… You’re the one I want to be with…I… I love you. I’ve let myself take the fall, and I’ve fallen hard Annika. I love you.” 

 

If Annika wasn’t sitting, she was certain she would’ve fallen over. Did he just say… He did! And he had admitted that when she thought he had feelings for her, he did in fact have feelings for her at that time! 

Shivaay looked to Annika, waiting for a response. He realised she was lost in thought, so he gave her a little shake. 

 

“Annika… Did you hear me?”

“I did I just…” 

“I love you.” 

 

He repeated it again, wanting to make sure she really heard what he had to say. This time she looked into his eyes and gave him the most beautiful shy smile. Wrapping her arms around his waist, Annika gave him a hug, hiding her face in his chest. 

 

“I can’t believe…” 

 

Pulling her out of his embrace, Shivaay brought her face up to his, as he brushed her hair out of her face. 

 

“I can’t believe… I had wanted to hear you say that… But then… I just…” 

“You’re not making any sense Annika.”

“I don’t know what to say…”

“Tell me you love me too.” 

 

His words were out before he could stop himself. He didn’t want to say that, he didn’t want her to feel pressured into saying it back. But he watched as she blushed as she took his hands in hers. 

 

“I’m sorry, you don’t have to say it if you…”

“Shivaay… I… I love you Shivaay. I love you.”

 

They stared at each other for a moment before throwing themselves into each other’s arms. Taking a deep breath, Annika inhaled Shivaay’s scent as she let herself really settle down in his arms for the first time… 

 

** Flashback End ** 

 

Still waiting for Shivaay to get out of the shower, Annika lay back in bed, smiling at their journey so far. The first 3 weeks of their marriage had been so beautiful, the process of finding each other and admitting their feelings. 

Once their confession of love was done, they had taken the next natural step in their relationship and they’d shared their first kiss. Thinking about it now all these weeks later, Annika felt the butterflies she’d felt the first time his lips had been on hers. To be honest, she still felt butterflies every time he kissed her, she still got goosebumps every time he touched her… He always knew how to make her feel so precious and loved and wanted… 

Pulling the blankets to herself, Annika smiled as she recalled the build up to the first night they spent together.

 

** Flashback ** 

 

The day of their one month anniversary had been stressful. Tia had caused a fuss about how it should have been hers and Shivaay’s one month together. Pinky too had gone off on one, complaining how she’d had to live under the same roof as Annika for an entire month now, how she wanted Annika gone so Shivaay could finally marry a girl worthy of him. 

But Annika ignored it all. It didn’t matter what Tia said, she could even deal with Pinky’s taunts. She had her husband by her side who she knew loved her. She had faith in her Shivaay and their love for each other. It may have been too soon to be feeling so strongly, but she knew what was between her and Shivaay had been brewing for a long time now. She knew that their feelings for each other were as real as they could get. 

Sitting down at the dressing table at the end of the night, Annika started removing her bangles so that she could get ready for bed. Whilst she was still taking them off, Shivaay walked into their bedroom and locked the door. Walking up to her, he took her hand and made her stand and turned her to face him. 

 

“Shivaay…”

 

Digging in his suit pocket, he pulled out a little red box. Annika gasped as she realised what it was. 

 

“This…”

 

Opening the box, Shivaay showed Annika a simple solitaire diamond ring. The design was minimalistic but the diamond was HUGE. 

Taking the ring out and tossing the box aside, Shivaay pulled Annika’s left hand to himself and he slipped the ring onto her finger. 

 

“Happy one month anniversary, Annika.”

 

Looking at the ring on her finger, Annika smiled as the ring caught the light and reflected onto Shivaay’s face. 

 

“It’s beautiful…”

“We never had an engagement, nor did I gift you anything after we got married, so I thought for today…” 

 

Wrapping her arms around him, Annika gave Shivaay a big hug, followed by a chaste kiss on his cheek. Letting him go, Annika thanked him again before turning away. But Shivaay caught her arm and pulled her back to himself, his hand on her face brushing her hair back. 

 

“I gift you such a special present for our one month of togetherness and all I get in return is a small platonic kiss? Not fair Annika. I think I deserve a bit more than that.”

 

As he let his arms loosely loop around her waist, Annika blushed as she lifted her face to his. Looping her arms around his neck, Annika’s eyes fluttered shut as she moved in to kiss Shivaay. Meeting her halfway, he caught her lips between his own and pulled her into himself as he deepened the kiss. 

Taking a more solid hold of her waist, Shivaay brought Annika closer to himself, pressing his hips into hers. 

Still holding her close, he started walking, guiding her towards the bed. As the back of her knees hit the bed, Annika toppled onto the bed, pulling Shivaay on top of her.

Propping himself on his elbows so he didn’t squash her, Shivaay pulled back slightly, caressing her face. 

 

“Annika do you think the time has come to take our relationship to the next level?”

“Hm?”

 

Sitting up in bed, and helping Annika up too, Shivaay placed his hand on her knee, drawing little circles with his finger.

 

“Do you think it’s time to celebrate our togetherness?”

“We are celebrating na?” 

 

Wiggling her finger, Annika showed Shivaay the ring the had just put on her finger. Taking her hand in his own, Shivaay lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss on her ring. 

 

“Yes we are celebrating but don’t you think it’s time… To take our relationship further… To the next level?”

 

Annika finally understood what he was trying to say and blushed, looking down. 

 

“You know how a husband and wife’s relationship is, do you think it’s time we too took that step?”

 

Unable to look into his eyes, Annika gave a shy smile. 

 

“Only if you’re ready though. If you don’t want to we don’t have to take that step yet. I’ll wait until you’re ready too.”

“I think I am ready…”

“I want you to be sure, if there’s any doubt we can wait. There’s no pressure at all.”

 

She gave herself a long moment to think about it. To think about everything that they have shared so far. She thought of their entire relationship, how things had changed and how far they had come. She thought of her feelings for him, how much she cared and loved him. Closing her eyes momentarily, she recalled how it felt with Shivaay’s hands ran along her skin… 

Eyes slowly opening again, she looked up at Shivaay who had just been looking at her, giving her time to think. Placing her hand lightly on his face, she leaned in and kissed him. She tried to put a whole lot of feeling and emotion into the kiss, so he’d understand what she wanted, and it seemed he had. Taking hold of her waist, he pressed her down into the bed before moving over her. Breaking the kiss momentarily, he looked into her eyes as he asked one more time, just to make sure she wanted this. 

 

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

 

Giving her what she would call a khidkithod smile, Shivaay came over her once more, this time placing kisses down her face and onto her neck. 

Annika brought Shivaay closer to herself as she felt his hands find the bottom of her kurti and go under. As she felt his hands move along the side of her body, she felt herself struggling to breathe. His hands were causing havoc on her bare skin.

One hand on the back of his head and another on his back, she pulled him closer to herself, causing him to kiss her more feverishly. She could feel him gently moving his body against hers, causing light friction between them. As his hands brushed over uncharted territories, she knew that she had made the right decision and that she was ready to take this new step with her husband. 

 

** Flashback End ** 

 

When Shivaay emerged from the bathroom, dressed and ready for the day, Shivaay was surprised to find Annika still curled up in bed. Sitting on the edge of the bed beside her, he placed a hand on her shoulder. 

Turning to face him, Annika blushed as she came back to current day, pulling herself out of her thoughts about their first night. 

 

“I haven’t even said anything and you’re already bright red. What were you thinking about?”

 

Pulling the covers up to her chin, Annika shook her her. 

 

“Nothing…”

“You were thinking about last night weren’t you?”

“No I was thinking about our first night actually.”

 

Giving her a nudge, Shivaay got back under the covers and sat beside Annika.

 

“Why are you thinking about our first night when you could be thinking about last night. Not to toot my own horn but I think last night was my best performance to date.”

 

Gasping, Annika gave Shivaay a playful slap on his shoulder before covering her face with her hands. 

 

“Shivaay! Such a cheapda you are.”

“How is that being cheap, I’m just stating it as it is, last night was my best performance, I’m sure you agree.”

 

Smirking, he gave Annika a little poke before pulling her back into his arms. 

 

“Okay, that aside, why were you thinking of our first night again all of a sudden?”

“I was just thinking about us, our relationship. It’s been 2 months since we got married and tonight marks a month since our first night so…”

 

“Oh yes! I forgot it was our 2 month anniversary today. Can you believe it’s already been two months?”

 

They remained sat in bed for a while, him fully dressed for the day, she still naked under the sheets. But there was no awkwardness, no discomfort, it all felt so normal and natural. After speaking about their relationship and how far they had come, Annika got out of bed and went into the bathroom, while Shivaay went to check his laptop and have some coffee, their usual routine. 

 

***** 

 

At work, Shivaay looked at his schedule and then at his watch. He only had one major meeting left for the day, anything he had after he could reschedule. Rudra and Om had thought Shivaay was insane for not making any plans for his and Annika’s two month anniversary. He had pointed out that two months wasn’t a big deal and if they started celebrating every month, the novelty would wear off. But thinking about it now, Shivaay realised that OmRu had been right. They were still very much in their honeymoon stage, they should enjoy this time, make the most of all the little milestones that would could their way. 

Looking at his watch again, he realised he had time to still make plans. He wanted to do something for Annika. Wanted to take her out and make her feel special. And as it marked one month since their first night, he wanted to do something special, give her a really romantic night before making sweet love to her. 

Calling his secretary, he asked for everything after 4pm to be rescheduled and also asked for her to make a reservation at his favourite restaurant and hotel for the night. 

Smirking to himself, Shivaay picked up his personal phone to call Annika so she could make any preparations she needed for the evening. Tonight was going to be one of their best evenings together to date, he could feel it!

 

*****

 

Returning to the house just after 6, Shivaay couldn’t stop the bounce in his steps. He was so excited. Not only had he managed to persuade the hotel to cook all of Annika’s most favourite dishes, he had also managed to bag them the presidential suite and had asked for extra special arrangements to be done. It was the first time they were properly going out and he wanted it to be special. And considering they hadn’t had a honeymoon, he wanted to give her a honeymoon-esqe evening. 

Walking up to their bedroom, Shivaay was expecting to find an excited looking Annika waiting for him, but what he was faced with was quite the opposite. Annika was sat on their bed, still dressed in what she was wearing at breakfast and looking very tense. 

Approaching her, Shivaay placed his hand on her shoulder, bringing her out of her thoughts. 

 

“Annika, you’re not ready yet?”

 

“Shivaay…”

Getting to her feet, she gave him a quick hug before stepping back again. Looking into her eyes, he could tell something was not right at all.

 

“Annika, why are you so tense, what’s wrong?”

“Haven’t you checked your phone?”

“My battery died, what’s the matter? What happened?”

 

Rubbing her hands in a circular motion of her shoulders, she sighed as she began to explain. 

 

“It’s Tia. Something’s happened and she demanded you go and see her as soon as you got home. Her mom is with her too and so is Pinky aunty. They’re all waiting for you in her room.”  

 

Rolling his eyes, Shivaay let out an exasperated sigh. 

 

“Okay, let’s go see to this issue and then we need to get ready to go out.”

 

He reached out for Annika’s hand as he turned to the door. But Annika remained rooted to her spot. 

 

“I don’t know if I should…”

“You’re my wife, I want you to come with me. You’re my strength. I can’t deal with Tia’s rubbish without you by my side.”

“But Mrs Kapoor and Pinky aunty asked me to stay away.”

“I don’t care.”

 

Gently pulling her, they left the room and made their way down to the guest room. Taking a firm hold of her hand, Shivaay pushed the door open and let Annika enter before him. Inside, a tearful looking Tia sat on the bed with Pinky and Mrs Kapoor on either side of her. 

Looking up at Shivaay and Annika, she cried harder. 

Pinky was the first to acknowledge Shivaay’s entry. 

 

“Whenever we see you, you’re phone is always stuck to you, but when we need you, you never answer your phone. Do you know how many times we called you?”

“My phone died, what’s the matter mom, what’s the emergency?”

“I don’t know. When Tia tells us then we will know. She’s been waiting for you all evening.”

 

Turning his attention to Tia, he dropped Annika’s hand and walked up to her. 

 

“What is all this Tia? What’s going on?”

 

Taking Pinky’s hand off her shoulder, Tia stood up and walked up to Shivaay. 

 

“I have been asking you for my right for the last 2 months, I have been asking for you to fulfil your promises to me and you have done nothing but ignore me. But enough is enough Shivaay…”

“Tia please. I know how things have worked out have been unfortunate but I have made my stance clear.”

 

Taking Annika’s hand in his own, he locked his fingers with hers. 

 

“I married Annika. Yes, I made promises to you but I made vows to Annika in front of god. But it’s not just that, I want to be with Annika…”

 

Annika felt Shivaay’s grip on her hand tighten as he said this, almost as though he was scared Tia was going to try to pull them away from each other if he didn’t hold onto her. 

 

“I know this is going to be horrible for you to hear but… I was going to marry you, but I… I didn’t want to be with you Tia. I mean I did, for the sake of the business merger, but… I’m sorry Tia.”

 

Marching up to Shivaay, Pinky opened her mouth to speak but Mrs Kapoor beat her to it. 

 

“You may not want to be with my daughter but you’re going to have to be with her now.”

“Excuse me? I just made my point very clear.”

“You may have done Shivaay but just because you want to close this topic doesn’t mean you can, especially now…”

“Why can’t I close the topic now? I’m married, I am happy in my relationship and I know I can’t make Tia happy? What more reason is there to…”

“Because Mr Shivaay Singh Oberoi, Tia is pregnant.”

 

The temperature of the room suddenly felt as though it had dropped drastically and Shivaay felt Annika’s hand tighten in his own.

What did Mrs Kapoor just say? 

 

“Tia is pregnant you hear that?”

“I… I hear but what’s that got to do with me?”

 

Mrs Kapoor scoffed and threw her hands up in exasperation. 

 

“It has everything to do with you Shivaay because Tia is pregnant with your child.”

“What?”

 

Dropping Annika’s hand, Shivaay looked in shock between Tia and her mother. His mother looked equally shocked as he did and he didn’t dare look at Annika. Tia, pregnant, with his child? How was that possible?

The tangible silence in the room settled in, everyone as confused as each other as to what they should say. 

Giving a polite cough, Tia approached Shivaay, taking his hand in her own. 

 

“We’re having a baby Shivaay, a baby that will be half me, half you.”

“Oh my mata! Meaning I’m going to be a Dadi! Meaning my dream of having a kanji eyed grandchild will become reality very soon?”

 

Tia gave Pinky a shy nod before proceeding to snuggle up to Shivaay. Shrugging her away, he looked to Annika who looked as though all the colour had been drained out of her. 

 

“Are you happy Shivaay baby?”

“I…”

 

Unable to string his words together, Shivaay ran his hands through his hair, trying to make sense of what was happening. How was this possible? 

 

“Shivaay say something.”

“I don’t know…”

 

He looked to Annika, feeling helpless. What was happening, how was this happening? Annika looked to Shivaay, placing her hand on his arm. 

 

“Tia are you sure?”

“Yes I’m sure Annika. I took two tests and they both had the same result. Also, I know.”

“But is the baby Shiva…”

 

“Oh my mata, are you trying to say that Tia is lying that she has been with someone else and that this is someone else’s child?”

“No I just…”

“See Shivaay! You see what this girl is like? She’s trying to accuse Tia of being characterless.”

“I didn’t…”

 

“Okay stop! Everyone stop!”

 

The stress was starting to take over Shivaay and he was snapping. He just couldn’t make sense of this situation. 

 

“Not a word against Annika. I won’t have it.”

 

He turned his attention back to Tia. 

 

“Tia how is this possible? We’ve never… We’ve never shared an intimate relationship, how can you be pregnant with my child, it doesn’t make sense.”

“Really Shivaay? We’ve never gotten intimate?”

 

Shivaay felt Annika shift from one foot to the other beside him. He could only imagine how uncomfortable this all was for her. 

 

“No we haven’t! When have we ever supposedly got intimate?”

“Four months ago, at mom’s guest house. After I came back from London. We had dinner, we talked and then… Things happened.”

“I remember that night. We talked, caught up, ate and then I fell asleep.”

“Yes you fell asleep but that was after we got intimate.”

“Tia that’s… I don’t remember that at all! It’s not possible.”

“You had a few drinks, perhaps because of that it’s slipped your mind but we did!”

 

Shivaay shook his head and went through his memories of that night. He remembered it all so clearly, from the beginning of the night to him falling asleep and he was certain nothing had happened between him and Tia.

 

“Tia I don’t remember at all.”

“So what are you saying my daughter is lying?”

 

Mr Kapoor took a step towards Shivaay again, levelling up to him. 

 

“Enough, you speak to me now, you are clearly playing dumb in front of your mother and wife but I was there at the guesthouse and I saw you the next morning with Tia. You were both… Very close. This baby is yours Shivaay. What are you going to do?”

“I don’t…”

“Well first things first, you will need to get your marriage with Annika annulled.”

“We can’t get our marriage annulled. None of the basis which are needed to annul a marriage are applicable to us. We both knew what we were doing and we chose to enter into this marriage.”

 

He was going to say their marriage had been consummated too, but he chose to leave that detail out. They didn’t need to know that. That was his and Annika’s personal matter and didn’t need to be shared with anyone else.

 

“Fine then just get a divorce. It’ll take longer but if we act fast, you can get the divorce settled before the baby is born.”

 

Running his hand through his hair, Shivaay looked between Tia, his mother, Mrs Kapoor and Annika… 

 

“I need some time to think.”

 

And with that he turned and left the room and went back to his own. 

 

***** 

 

Annika woke up before Shivaay the next morning and went off to get ready. When she returned, he was still fast asleep. Looking at the clock, Annika realised that she should wake Shivaay so he could get ready for work, but at the same time she knew he needed rest. 

Taking it upon herself, she let Shakti know that Shivaay would not be go to the office today. 

Annika went off to make Shivaay’s breakfast and when she returned with his food, he was still fast asleep. Leaving the trolley by the sofa, she went over to the bed and sat beside Shivaay stroking his hair. 

He had been so tense last night. Their anniversary plans had to be cancelled because neither of them were in the head space to go out. 

When Annika had returned to their bedroom a few moments after Shivaay had, she’d found him pacing their bedroom. Upon approaching him he had taken her hands into his own, and explained to her how this couldn’t be possible, it just couldn’t be. 

 

“Annika, even if I had a glass of wine, I wouldn’t have forgotten. I don’t get drunk that easily and plus I don’t drink that much any way. It doesn’t make sense.”

“I believe you. Shivaay, I know you hadn’t wanted to hear of it at the time, but I am still convinced that Tia is married and this baby is her husbands. I saw her picture as a bride, I saw her with him… Shivaay, please listen to me, I’m convinced she’s playing you. I know she’s married.”

“Annika are you really convinced?”

“100%! Please Shivaay, let me try and find out again. Last time you stopped me from investigating but please.”

“Okay. Okay, do what you need to do. I feel you must be right. Because this child can’t be mine. I’m certain of it.” 

 

After their conversation ended, he had paced some more. At dinner, Annika had brought food up to their room but Shivaay only ate the bare minimum. She’d tried to get him to eat a little more but it was futile, Shivaay would do what Shivaay wanted to do. 

At the end of the night, still extremely stressed, they’d got into bed. 

 

“Shivaay, it’s been a long day, please get some rest. We’ll carry on trying to work out what to do tomorrow.”

 

Nodding, he wrapped himself in the covers before shuffling closer to Annika. One hand on her cheek, he brought his forehead to hers. 

 

“I know I’ve said this multiple times, but I need you to know, nothing happened between me and Tia. I know I wouldn’t forget if we had slept together. I promise I’m not hiding anything for you.”

“I know Shivaay. I believe you.”

 

After their conversation ended, they’d both settled down to go to sleep. 

Looking at Shivaay again now, Annika smiled to herself. They’d settled down to sleep but it didn’t happen. Shivaay had reached out to her, pulled her into his arms and he’d kissed her like his life depended on this kiss. As the kiss became more intense, hands started to wander, buttons started to come off and then clothes came off too. 

Last night had been different to all their previous nights. He had been more thorough but more careful of her, almost like he was worried he’d break her. But he’d also been insatiable. When they were done, he’d asked her if they could go again and they had. Their intimate dance had lasted well into the night and now, many hours later, he was still completely spent. 

Checking the time, Annika realised that it was now time to wake Shivaay, otherwise he’d be grumpy that she hadn’t woken him earlier. As Annika nudged him awake, she realised that this was the start of a new battle that they would have to face. But she was certain they would emerge victorious. She wasn’t going to let Tia win, no way in hell… 

 

***** 

 

Author’s note:

Whoa that was a long one! Well done guys, you just sat through 7205 words of Tan’s ramblings!

Any way, that was part 1 of ‘The Fall!’ Please do let me know what you thought of it because I am very eager to hear from you guys. This chapter, though it properly didn’t take you guys too long to read, it took me AGES to get just right and even longer to edit, so please do leave your thoughts and comments. Also feel free to leave constructive criticism as that is what will help me improve for next time.

Be sure to be back here same time tomorrow to read the second part of this story! Thank you again for taking the time to read this, love you all! 

 

The End?

(Banner by @akzcreations, do check out her work over on twitter and instagram)

“Annika, there’s many windows and mirrors in this room, break them all, break all of them in the house, but please, never stop speaking to me.”

 

Pausing, Shivaay pulled his phone out of pocket and held it out in front of him after turning the recording setting on.

 

“You always say I can’t do it, today I will show you I can. I’m going to apologise to you, not once, not twice, but a hundred times… Annika… I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…”

 

Looking into his eyes, she knew he was truly sorry, that he deeply regretted his actions.

 

“Will you forgive me?”

 

As he shoves his phone back into his pocket, Shivaay took a step towards her.

 

“Will you forgive me?”

 

He asked again, waiting for her response. Yes… She could forgive him…

Looking up, she was ready to tell him the same when everything came flooding back in. His words, his taunts, his manhandling and threats…

Taking a step away, she shook her head. No, no, she couldn’t. She couldn’t forgive him just like that. She could see he was regretful of his actions, that he wanted to redeem himself, but this wasn’t enough.

 

“No… I can’t…”

 

Taking multiple steps away from him, Annika turned her back to him, ready to walk out of the bedroom, when he caught her arm.

 

“Annika, I know you’re upset with me but… How can we move forward from this?”

 

Turning to face him again, she pulled her arm out of his grip.

 

“Your sorry won’t give me back my lost respect and honour. You demeaned me in my own eyes. You took my freedom away from me…”

“I know all that, I messed up but I want to make it up to you.”

“And how are you going to do that?”

 

Crossing her arms across her chest, Annika waited for him to respond. But Shivaay was struggling, he knew his actions had caused her a great deal of hurt and he didn’t know how to rectify this.

 

“I’ll do anything to prove myself to you, from this point forward, I’ll never distrust you, no matter who says what… I will always believe you above all.”

“All that is fine, but it doesn’t change the fact that you’ve already thought the worst of me. You thought I…”

 

Annika could feel her throat close up as tears prickled her eyes. Blinking them away, she looked right back at him again.

 

“You thought I… Slept with Daksh in your home… You really thought I would do that? Especially when you knew I had feelings…”

 

She didn’t finish the sentence but Shivaay knew how that sentence was meant to end. Especially when he knew she had feelings for him…

 

“And you didn’t just think I slept with him, you thought… For money… Shivaay, do you realise what you thought of me, how you thought of me? What you accused me of?”

 

Taking another step towards her, Shivaay held his hand out trying to reach her but she held her hand up, stopping him in his tracks.

 

“Say I got over that at some point, but it’s not just that. You’ve thought so many things of me, accused me of so much… You even tried to…”

 

She looked away from him. No, she couldn’t let him off the hook so easily. He accused her of so much, thought so negatively of her… She couldn’t let it all go. Not like this. His sorry wasn’t enough.

 

“Forget it, what’s done is done, I don’t want to talk about it any more.”

 

Once again she turned away to leave but he rushed in front of her and shut the bedroom door and blocked it.

 

“You’re not going anywhere until we talk this out.”

“And I said I’m done talking. I have work to do.”

“If we leave it like this, the distance between us will only grow.”

“The distance that already exists between us is so great it can’t be closed. Adding a bit more to it won’t make a difference.”

“Annika please. I can tell there’s other things you are holding against me. Talk to me, let it out. Only then can we move forward.”

“I said let me go!”

“Not until you speak to me.”

 

Moving towards him, Shivaay saw the anger in her eyes.

 

“Fine, you want to know what else I am holding against you? Then listen. I know what you thought of me before Daksh told you all those lies. You thought I was obsessed with you, you thought I lied about Daksh’s attacks on me… You really thought I wanted to replace Tia in your life…”

 

Up until this point, Shivaay had his head bowed in shame, but this caused him to look up. What was she saying?

 

“Annika I never…”

“Please, I heard you talking to Om. I heard everything you had to say about me.”

“What? When was this?”

“The day before your sangeet. I was coming to your room to speak to you and I heard you tell Om… You really thought I would lie about that attack just to get your attention?”

 

Racking his brain, Shivaay tried to remember what this conversation was because he knew he never believed she was lying, why would she… And then he recalled. He had quoted Tia’s words back to Om so he understood what Tia thought of Annika. She must have heard half the conversation and thought he…

Moving towards her again, he reached out for her arm and placed his hand on her.

 

“Annika, you misunderstood. What you heard was half true. I didn’t think that of you, that’s what Tia said to me about you and I just relayed it back to Om. In my heart I knew…”

“You heart? You never listen to your heart. Shivaay Singh Oberoi only listens to what his brain.”

“I do, but my heart was telling me…”

“Okay fine. Maybe that was a misunderstanding, but what about after that. The next day you gave me money to… To leave you alone.”

“Excuse me? I have never given you money for that reason?”

 

Shivaay was confused. What the hell?

 

“You gave Tia money to give to me. She said you said that this money was for when I lied for you to the police and told them that you spent the night with me so you couldn’t have killed Gayatri. She told me that you wanted me to take the money and leave you… You gave me what I was worth…”

 

Her voice broke again, but she recomposed herself.

 

“You tried to pay me off. You tried to PAY me to leave you alone? Is that how little you thought of me? That I was only around because I wanted money from you? Did you know me at all Shivaay? Did you ever understand me at all? Or was I always just a middle class gold digger?”

 

Again Shivaay was beyond confused and tried to understand what was happening and then it clicked. Tia had taken from him saying it was for more guests when really she was playing with Annika.

Shivaay explained this to Annika who looked unconvinced but took it in.

 

“Tia and Daksh really played a good game with us. They tried to keep us apart…”

 

As he was speaking, something else clicked into place.

 

“Wait, Tia gave you the money before the sangeet?”

“Yes.”

“So… You accepting Daksh’s proposal did it have anything to do with all of this?”

 

Looking down, Annika recalled the inner turmoil she was facing that day. He took another step towards her and then again until he was a breath away from her. Slowly raising his hand to her face, he cupped her cheek, and tilted her chin up to face him.
Shivaay dropped his voice as he looked into her troubled eyes.

 

“Talk to me Annika. If we speak about this, we can find ways to move forward too.”

 

She looked up at him, tears welling up in her eyes. The way he was speaking to her now, the way he was treating her, he was being so soft. He was trying to make her melt, but she couldn’t allow herself to melt, she couldn’t allow herself to feel for him again.

 

“That day… It broke me Shivaay. After hearing you say I was obsessed with you and then you giving me that money… I… And then at sangeet when Daksh proposed, you jumped in and said no for me. I Just… You knew how I felt, that’s why you knew I was going to say no, but then all those things that happened before… I felt so confused… Because if you understood my feelings then how could you treat me like that…”

 

Taking her hand, Shivaay led Annika to the sofa and sat her down before sitting down next to her.

 

“I’m sorry Annika. I really am. For all the hurt I’ve caused you, sorry isn’t enough but it’s all I have.”

 

He watched as a few tears fell from her eyes before she brushed them away.

 

“I need to get going.”

“Annika…”

“I have people waiting for me and I have work to do.”

“Listen…”

 

But the moment was gone and she wasn’t going to wait. Getting up, she picked her bag up again and left their bedroom, leaving Shivaay behind her, watching her go. He knew he needed to find a way to get this sorted, but as of right now, he was at a loss and didn’t know how to move forward…

 

*****

 

Later that evening when everyone had returned home from their daily duties and dinner was over, Shivaay and Annika retreated to their bedroom for the night.

They hadn’t spoken much since she got home, and she had made an active effort to stay out of his way. But now he watched as she prepared herself for sleep, waiting to see what she was going to do. When she picked up her pillow and blanket and made her way to the door, he got up and stopped her.

 

“Annika wait, where are you going?”

“To sleep?”

“I know but outside?”

“That’s where I always sleep?”

“I know but…”

“I can’t stay here with you. I need my space.”

“But if we don’t try, how can we bring change into our relationship?”

“Nothing has changed. Everything is out in the open but you still did what you did. You still forced this marriage on me against my wishes and I… I just can’t. I can’t share this space with you.”

 

She made to leave, but he caught her by the arm once more.

 

“I can’t take back what I’ve done, but we can try and start again, try to give our marriage a proper chance.”

“Our marriage?”

 

Annika turned, her eyebrow raised.

 

“When did it become our marriage?”

“Annika…”

“Your wedding, your family’s honour, your way, your choice… There was no we or our. Everything was you. I was just a pawn. And since when did you start caring about this marriage? You never accepted it, nor did you accept me.”

 

The truth hurt but Shivaay knew it was true. The day of the wedding, all he cared about was saving his family’s reputation. That, and punishing Annika for interfering in his business and making things more complicated for him. And for Daksh…

 

“I told you, I can’t take back what happened but…”

“You know Shivaay, I never wanted marriage, not really. In my heart I knew I wanted to get married one day but… My priority was Sahil. But I hoped that if one day I got married, it would be because I fell in love with someone and he with me. I just wanted to be special to someone, someone’s number one…”

 

She looked away, her eyes dropped to the floor. Shivaay took her in and he recalled her words from when Malika had asked her about love and marriage. She had thought love wouldn’t happen to her…

 

“I want a lot of things, I want to be independent, I want to be able to manage for myself, and I wanted to one day, maybe be married to someone cared for me. You took that all away from me.”

“You can still be all of that, you can still be independent and you can still work for yourself and I do care for you.”

 

Annika scoffed as she got to her feet and picked her blanket and pillow up again.
Her scoffing at his feelings annoyed him. How could she scoff? Didn’t she realise how much he cared for her. She expected him to understand her feelings, yet here she was, scoffing at his?

Grabbing her arm, Shivaay pulled Annika back to himself before pushing her against the wall, his hands on her shoulders. He looked into her eyes, her big eyes looking into his.

He could see her hurt, her anger, her disappointment… How he wanted to take it all away.

Easing his grip on her, he dropped his voice.

 

“Listen to me.”

“No. I don’t want to hear anything any more.”

“Annika, I do care for you, you know this.”

“If you cared, you wouldn’t have hurt me.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t know how many more times you want me to say that but I will keep saying it. What has happened has happened, but we need to find a way to move forward. I want to try to make things right with you, start again.”

“But there’s no need to move forward. You want to divorce me, the papers are ready. We can just part ways now. This marriage never meant anything to you anyway. Besides, I highly doubt I’m the kind of girl that you want to spend your life with.”

 

Her words burnt him. She really didn’t realise what he felt for her. Indeed, he hadn’t been the best at showing or acknowledging it, but he had hoped that in her heart she knew how he felt about her before.

 

“Our marriage may not have meant anything to me at the time, but it did to you. Can we not use that as a stepping stone to move forward?”

 

Annika lowered her eyes from him, and tried to get out of his grip but failed. Shivaay felt a tug at his heart as he realised how badly he messed up. Despite the way they had gotten married, despite everything he had done, she had valued their marriage and he…

Shivaay looked at Annika, how vulnerable she looked at this moment. He noticed her lips quiver slightly and he couldn’t look away. Her lips… They were one of the first things he’d noticed about her. That day when she had turned up at his house in a box and fallen unconscious in his arms. He’d noticed her lips, how beautifully pink and plump they were. He looked at them again and if anything, he was more drawn to them now than before, but he tore his eyes away. He needed to focus on Annika, on making things right, he couldn’t let himself get distracted.

Bringing her away from the wall, he led her to the sofa and sat her down, before taking his hands into her own.

 

“Shivaay please.”

“I know I’ve hurt you, I’ve wronged you, but let me try and sort this, let me make it up to you.”

“What you have done to me, the things you’ve said and thought about me, I can’t just forget it.”

“I’m not asking you to forget, I’m just asking you to give me a chance to redeem myself.”

“Why? Why does it matter so much when our relationship is ending soon?”

 

He squeezed her hands, causing her to look at him.

 

“Let’s try and work through our relationship and then, if we can’t get passed this, I will let you go if that’s what you want. But please, let’s try and work through this.”

 

Annika felt herself melt slightly. He really was trying, he really regretted what he did… But he still did it. Nothing could change that.

 

“Okay… But I don’t know how I can overlook this and try to move forward.”

 

He paused for a moment before resuming.

 

“Can we try to focus on what we had before we got married? Can we focus on those feelings and try to work out what they meant and just go from there?”

 

Annika knew exactly what he meant and she knew which feelings he wanted to explore. But she already knew what those feelings had meant and she had already repressed them. She knew she couldn’t love a man like Shivaay, and though things around them had changed, it didn’t change the fact that he thought those things. She still couldn’t love him. Not after everything he had done to her. If she fell for him again after everything that had happened, where would her self respect go? No, no. She couldn’t let her become a slave to her repressed feelings, she couldn’t…

 

“Those feelings… Whatever was happening, it doesn’t exist any more. It all ended when you pulled that stunt to make me marry you.”

 

And with that, Annika got to her feet, took hold of her blanket and pillow and left their room. Watching her go, Shivaay wanted to call out to her to come back, or to go after her but her words paralysed him.

 

Was it all really over? Had he screwed up so badly that there was no returning from that? Was it really the end?

 

*****

 

Author’s note: 

I wrote this OS because I have always been annoyed that Shivaay and Annika never spoke about the feelings that they had for each other before they got married. After they got married, it was almost as though they had never been in love with each other before they got married and that annoys me. It also annoyed me that we never got the time for Annika to be mad at Shivaay after the Daksh track before they launched straight into Tia’s story. So I took both of these and tried to remedy the situation however I still feel they haven’t spoken about their feelings before marriage properly. But hmm…

Though this is the end of this one shot and though I do not plan to carry on with this, if people want, if there is a popular demand for it, I will consider writing a second part to see how far they have come along in terms of moving passed what has happened and whether or not they can give their marriage a real chance. So if you would like this story to continue, please let me know and I will see what I can do. Other than that, I am working on another longer OS which I hope to post very soon, so stay tuned for that! But for now, thank you for reading this and I will see you all again very soon. x 

Completely Her Man

(Banner by yours truly! My first attempt at making a banner! Yes, I know it’s crap but I tried okay!)

Feeling smug with himself, Shivaay crossed his arms as he waited for Annika to get changed into the flimsy, barely there pink nightdress. 

Tonight was the night. The night they were finally going to take their relationship to the next level. Finally the time had come. 

Sensing movement behind him, Shivaay turned around, ready to get the ball rolling. But what he saw was the complete opposite of what he was expecting. 

Yes, Annika had put the nightdress on but… She’d put it on on top of her night suit? 

 

“Yeh kya hai Annika?”

“Aap ne kaha pehen lo toh maine pehen liya.”

 

Raising his hand to his head, Shivaay shook his head, trying to stop himself from laughing. Why was she like this? 

 

“But… On top? Wait, I’ll put it on you properly.” 

 

Walking towards her, Shivaay was ready to do what he needed to do, but Annika ducked before he could hold her and ran away under his arm. 

 

“Annika! Annika come back.”

 

But she was long gone. She’d run straight passed him and over to the poolside. He watched her go, but let her go. She’d be back soon and they could pick up from where they left off. Tonight was the night, he wasn’t sure of it! 

 

***** 

 

Lying in bed, Shivaay looked at the clock on the wall and sighed. It had been about an hour since Annika had run away and she still hadn’t returned. Where had that girl got to? He knew she felt shy, but really? That shy that she wasn’t ready to come back yet.

Sitting up, Shivaay swung his legs out of bed and got out. Walking out of their bedroom, he made his way over to the poolside, his eyes searching for Annika. He had been expecting to find her sat beside the pool, her feet in the water, but she wasn’t there. Carrying on, he walked down to the area where they had their sofa and found Annika lying down, fast asleep. She’d taken the nightdress off and placed it over herself like a small blanket. Smiling, Shivaay shook his head as he picked the nightdress off of Annika and placed it on his shoulder. 

So what if she hadn’t worn it today? Next time, he would get here to wear it and they would take their relationship to the next level, he was certain of it. He knew they were ready. He could tell she was ready too but he also knew she was shy. But he would make sure next time he eased her into it more, making sure she was more comfortable before approaching the topic again. But he was certain they would do it soon. 

Bringing himself out of his thought, Shivaay leaned down and lifted Annika into his arms before turning back towards their bedroom. Holding her, he looked down at her face. She looked so innocent when she slept. She was innocent any way, but when she slept, she looked so at peace, like there was nothing worrying her. 

As he walked to their bedroom, he realised how far they had come in their relationship. When they had first met, it was safe to say he couldn’t stand her. There was something about her that drew him to her, but he still didn’t like her. She was annoying, spoke in a weird way and she didn’t care for who he was.

Then he had gradually started warming to her but his engagement to Tia kept him away from Annika. Then that misunderstanding happened and almost ruined everything.

But now, after all of that, they were finally in a good place in their relationship, finally stable and certain about what they really wanted. For the first time since getting married, they actually felt like a normal couple. 

He smiled to himself as he carried on thinkibf about how their relationship started. When they had first met, if someone had told him that one day he would be dying to make love to her, he would’ve laughed in their face but now… He was… He was dying to make love to her, to truly make her his, to finally become one with her in all respects.

Gently, Shivaay placed Annika down on her side of the bed and covered her up with the sheets. Leaning down, he brushed her stray hairs out of her face before moving in to press a kiss on her forehead. In her sleep, Annika gave a small smile when his lips touched her skin. 

Moving away, Shivaay went back to his side of the bed and got in. He took in Annika’s sleeping profile and smiled to himself. She really was so peaceful when she slept. At no other time of day could he just look at her like this and take her in. At night, he could stare at her until his heart felt content and she couldn’t say anything against it. 

Reaching for her hand, Shivaay took hold of it, locking her fingers with his. Lifting her hand to his lips, he dropped a soft kiss on her hand before dropping their interlocked hands back down on the bed.

Shuffling closer to her, he took in her face. She had such a perfect face. Her long lashes, her sharp nose and her lips… Her gorgeous, plump pink lips. How he wanted to take her lips between his own and just kiss her the way he’d been dreaming about, but alas, his kiss had to wait. But not for long. He would make his move again soon and he knew she wouldn’t run away next time. He knew she wanted this as much as he did and he was certain they were going to make it happen. 

Moving closer to her, Shivaay took Annika into his arms, pulling her into himself as he wrapped himself around her, holding her close. Once he was sure that he was in a comfortable position and he knew that he wasn’t hurting her, Shivaay slowly closed his eyes as sleep took over his body. 

 

In her arms, he felt at home.

In her arms, he felt like a real man.

A complete man.

Completely her man…

Bhaag Ke Shaadi ~ TS ~ Part 2

(Banner by @YehFiHaiDeewani, do check out her work over on twitter)

 

Standing in front of their house, Shivaay prepared himself to address the media. 

 

“Mr Oberoi, why have you called this press conference and why have you called it here, at your Goa residence.”

“Thank you all for coming today. I have called this press conference to address a certain rumour that is circulating.” 

“Mr Oberoi, are you finally going to speak up about the picture that emerged of you and a Miss Annika last week?” 

 

Shivaay turned to his side, and looked over at Annika who standing down the side, out of everyone’s way so she wouldn’t have to deal with everyone’s judgemental eyes. 

 

“Yes, I am going to address that. Well I think the first thing I would like to say, that will probably clear everything up, is that she isn’t just Miss Annika, she is Mrs Annika Shivaay Singh Oberoi.” 

 

There was a pause, followed by a gasp from a number of the journalists.

 

“Mr Oberoi…” 

“The pictures of me and Annika that came out, those were pictures of our wedding night. We had gone to Lonavla under the pretence of speaking to the catering team for my sisters wedding, but in fact, we got married in a private ceremony and we were spending our first night as a married couple that night.” 

“Mr Oberoi, are you lying to save face? As the oldest son of the Oberoi family, we are well aware that you’re family would never allow you to run away and get married. Also you are engaged to Miss Tia Kapoor.”

“I was engaged to Tia but I never loved Tia. Tia and I never connected and then I met Annika…”

 

He stopped and thought for a moment. He recalled the first time he had met Annika, when the chunari had accidentally landed on her…

 

“The first day I met her, she took my breath away… I was drawn to her the moment I met her and I knew there was something between us. As time passed, I knew, I knew that I wanted to be with Annika and I could tell she wanted the same thing. But I knew my family would never accept Annika as my wife, so we ran away and got married.” 

 

Annika listened, trying to work out if there was any truth to anything he was saying or if it was all a story he concocted to get people to stop talking about them. 

 

“Mr Oberoi, you’re family has always been your top priority, how are you dealing with not being with them?” 

“I miss my family of course, but Annika is family too. When they can accept our relationship, when they can accept that I love her and I want to be with her, then and only then will I return to my family home.” 

 

Shivaay’s words rang in her ears. “That I love her…” She knew he was just saying that to make their story convincing, but hearing him speak like that about her, it did something to her. Hearing him speak about her like that after the way he had been treating her the past week made her feel hopeful that maybe there was some feelings behind his words.

Wrapping up the press con, Shivaay answered the last of the questions and then dismissed the press. As Khanna made them get off the property, Shivaay went back to where Annika was standing. 

 

“How was it?”

“I think they believed you.”

“I think they did too.”

“Are we doing the right thing? I mean dadi ji… What will she think?” 

“Dadi isn’t thinking straight, her anger is clouding her vision. She will come round eventually.”

“But they’re our family…”

 

Draping his arm around Annika, he led them back into the house. Once inside, Shivaay cupped her face, brushing away the little stray hairs off her face. 

 

“Our relationship, whatever is between us, is ours to deal with. We did what we could to rectify a mess of a situation. If we didn’t do what we did, this would never go away and I can’t have this ruining the rest of your life when nothing had even happened between us.”

 

Braving a little smile, Annika nodded as Shivaay excused himself. She watched as he walked away from her. In the past week, he had been kind, caring, comforting, compassionate… From a near stranger he became her husband over night. He had become her friend, her family, her protector, he became her everything. 

She thought back to what had happened after they got married and had returned home to the Oberoi mansion. Dadi was outraged when Shivaay revealed that they had gotten married. 

 

“That means you and Annika did sleep together! Now you are trying to cover it up.”

“No dadi! I tried to sort it out but people were pointing fingers at Annika because of my mistake. I had to make things right and this was the only way.”

“So to make one thing go away, you went against me and married a girl I know isn’t fit for you?”

 

Shivaay had tried to make Dadi see sense but she wasn’t having it. With a heavy heart, Shivaay had decided that they would leave. So that night, they packed their things, got into the car and made their way for Goa. Tears had filled Annika’s eyes as they drove further away from Mumbai. 

 

“Annika…”

“Please, I don’t want to speak.” 

“That’s okay, I get it. In 24 hours our entire lives have turned upside down but I want you to know, I am here for you. We will work through this together.” 

 

Brushing her tears away, Annika nodded, they would work this out.

 

“Thank you Mr Oberoi. For everything. For fighting for me, for trying to protect me, for everything.”

“Shivaay, call me Shivaay, our relation has changed now, you can call me Shivaay. And it’s the least I can do. All this mess was created because I suggested we sit and talk late in the night. Had I just let you fall asleep, we wouldn’t have sat on the bed together and we wouldn’t haven’t have fallen asleep together.”

“Shivaay…”

 

She hadn’t been able to say anything more, just let his name roll off her tongue, feeling the weight of it. Shivaay… 

 

***** 

 

“Annika!” 

 

Shouting from their bedroom, Annika came out of her trance and went into their room.

 

“Ji?”

“The hotel have finally released the security footage from our room that night.”

 

Since they had gotten to Goa, Shivaay had been on the phone to the hotel every day, trying to work out what had happened and how those pictures had been released in the first place. 

Putting the laptop down on the bedside table, Shivaay sat on the bed and shuffled up, making space for Annika. Once settled, they played the footage. 

The clip started with them entering the room early that afternoon. Fast forwarding it, Shivaay went to late in the night, then sitting on the bed, making conversation. The time stamp said it was still half 1, meaning there wasn’t much time left until they fell asleep. They watched as Annika snuggled back under the duvet, her body folding in on itself slightly as sleep started to take over her body. By 1:45am, Annika had leaned against the headboard and was fast asleep. Shivaay, who too was half asleep at this point, carefully lay Annika down on the bed, brushing her hair off her face. 

In that moment, both Shivaay and Annika looked away from the laptop screen and at each other. As her cheeks flushed pink, she turned away, looking back at the screen. Shivaay too turned back to the screen as he watched himself get to his feet. He remembered that he had attempted to make his way back to the sofa, but sleep overwhelmed him and he collapsed onto the bed. 

For a while nothing happened and Shivaay forwarded the clip a bit, making it go at twice the speed. It was around half 2 when he had begun stirring in his sleep and he shifted position,  moved himself away from the edge of the bed, nearer to the middle. He must have nudged Annika, because she too had started stirring, moving closer into Shivaay. They watched as they saw how they came together. In their sleep, they shifted and stirred until Annika had tucked herself into Shivaay and he had wrapped an arm around her. 

Once they had cocooned into each other, they remained still once more. Forwarding the clip once more, they waited for some movement and it was at 3:02 when the door opened. 

 

“Shivaay pause the clip.”

 

As the intruder entered the room, Shivaay paused the clip and zoomed in. Daksh.

Annika gasped and Shivaay felt himself go cold. She hadn’t been lying, she hadn’t been paranoid, it really had been… 

 

“So he really was there! I told you Shivaay! I told you.”

“Oh my… I can’t believe it.”

“That means he knew. He knew we were there and he hid from us. He must have kept an eye on us to know that we had stayed that night. And he must have done this to get back at us for tailing him.”

“I don’t believe… You were right Annika!” 

“Now we know the truth, we have proof! We have to do something. Priyanka…” 

“I will deal with this, we’ll sort this, don’t worry.”

 

***** 

 

~ 3 months later ~ 

 

Sitting on their bed, Shivaay wrapped his arm around Annika, pulling her into himself. 

 

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

“I’m sure.”

“Annika, it could be dangerous.”

“We’ve tried everything and nothing has worked so far. If we want to end this once and for all, we need to do this.” 

 

Bringing her close to himself, Shivaay placed a kiss on her forehead. In the last 3 months, though their marriage hadn’t been consummated, they had developed strong feelings for each other. In all other sense, they had become husband and wife. They stood by each other, trusted each other, relied on one another… Their genuine care and adoration for each other evident. 

 

“But Annika, do you realise how dangerous…” 

“You will be right there, I trust you. I know you’ll never let anything happen to me.”

 

Since finding out that Daksh had been behind the fake news about them being released, Shivaay had been going out of his way to try and make Daksh for his actions. He had filed a defamation case against him and had filed a sexual assault case against him, yet nothing had been fruitful. The sexual assault case had been thrown out as there was no proof of the assault ever occurring and as it had been filed after the defamation case, Daksh managed to convince the police that Shivaay was lying to get him in more trouble. As for the defamation case, Daksh had faced a fine, however as Shivaay had already claimed that he and Annika were already married when the incident occurred, the police hadn’t taken the case as seriously as they could have done. 

Once finding out the truth, they had told Priyanka about Daksh’s true self and that had wanted to bring Priyanka away from Daksh. But when Shivaay confronted him, Daksh became aggressive and abusive, psychotic even and Shivaay didn’t want his sister to have to deal with that. He didn’t want Priyanka to end it just now as he was certain Daksh would try to harm her. So for the time being, Priyanka acted like she didn’t know the truth about Daksh and carried on playing the part of being his fiancé. 

Taking Annika into his arms once more, Shivaay placed his hand on her cheek and caressed it with his thumb.

 

“I’d never let anything happen to you, I’ll never let the asshole harm you.” 

“Why do you feel so strongly for me?”

“Because I…” 

 

He paused, his eyes locked onto hers. He wanted to tell her, he finally wanted to say it. He had been aware of the fact that he was in love with her for a while now, but he didn’t know how to say it. He knew she felt for him too, but actually taking that step and telling her he was in love with her… He didn’t know how to do it. 

 

“Just say it…”

“Annika you know.”

“Do I?”

 

Leaning into her, his nose against hers, her eyes fluttered shut. Were they finally going to take this step? They had been so close so many times, yet it hadn’t happened yet. Something would happen, breaking their moment or one of them would pull away. Were they actually going to do it this time?

Shivaay looked down at her, her eyes shut, her lips right there, anticipating what they both wanted… But he pulled away. He couldn’t. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t. He wanted to tell her how he felt first before finally sealing the deal with a kiss. 

He watched as she slowly opened her eyes again, realising he wasn’t going to kiss her. Pushing her disappointment aside, Annika gave him a small smile before scooting away from him. 

 

“Should I call her now?”

“Yes, call her now. This way he’ll have all night to sweat and by tomorrow, he’ll react the way we want to.” 

 

Nodding, Annika picked up her phone. The plan was set. She was going to call Priyanka now because they had already planned ahead that Daksh was going to be with Priyanka at this time. 

As Annika called Priyanka’s number, Shivaay slipped his hand into hers and gave it a squeeze. Taking a deep breath while she listened to the ring, Annika strung her words together, working out exactly how and what she was going to say. 

The wait for Priyanka to answer the phone felt like a lifetime but she finally answered the call. After a quick general conversation, Annika set their plan in motion. 

 

“Priyanka, there’s something I need to tell you, I can’t keep it from you any more.”

“What’s up Bhabi?” 

 

Shivaay squeezed Annika’s hand, urging her to go on, showing her that he was right there beside her.

 

“I can’t tell you over the phone, please come tomorrow. Shivaay has arranged for your plane ticket, your flight is at 3pm.”

“Bhabi…”

“Please I need to tell you in person, I can’t keep it to myself any longer and it’s too important to share over the phone.”

“Okay, I will come, please don’t stress.”

 

Rounding off the call, Annika put the phone down and turned to Shivaay.

 

“Was Daksh with her?”

“Yes I could hear him in the background.”

“And Priyanka knows what to do now doesn’t she?”

“She does.”

“And she knows that she has to tell him that I won’t be here all day right?”

“She does.”

“Then now all we have to do is wait.”

 

***** 

 

The day was over and Shivaay and Annika were getting ready for bed. While Annika calmly got into bed, Shivaay was anxiously checking his phone every few moments, waiting for Khanna to let them know if Daksh was on the move yet. 

 

“Shivaay, please relax. Daksh will probably catch the first flight here tomorrow morning because I doubt he’ll come when you are supposed to be at home.”

“But when if he turns up at the middle of the night.”

“Then Khanna bhaiya will tell us, please relax and come to bed.”

 

Annika lay in bed, watching Shivaay check his phone one last time. Putting it down on his bedside table, he got into bed and then switched the lights off. 

 

“Goodnight Annika.”

“Goodnight.” 

 

They both lay still for a few moments before Shivaay moved over to Annika’s side of the bed and wrapped his arms around her. She melted into him, snuggling into him before letting her eyes shut. 

Ever since about a month into their marriage, this was their nightly route. They would get into bed, into their respective sides, but after being in bed for a few moments, one them of them would reach out and snuggle up with the other. 

It had happened for the first time when Annika was upset because chachi still wouldn’t hear her out. She had tried to hide her tears from Shivaay but when she got into bed, she’d broken down and he had taken her into his arms. From that night onwards, they slept cuddled up. It was how they felt most comfortable, safe and secure.

 

“Annika?”

“Hm?”

“You okay?”

“I’m fine, I’m just thinking about tomorrow.”

“Are you nervous?”

“A little bit but I’m determined to finally put this to bed.”

 

Moving further into her, he turned her to face him. 

 

“I will be right there, by your side at every moment.” 

“I know, I trust you.”

 

Bringing his hand up to her cheek, Shivaay gently caressed her face, before dropping a kiss on her nose. 

Annika brought her hands up to his chest, clutching at his kurta. 

 

“Shivaay…”

“Hm?”

“I…”

 

He looked into her eyes and found her looking straight back into his. Her voice dropped to a mere whisper as she finally said what she had been wanting to say for so long. 

 

“I… I love you.” 

 

She couldn’t hold it in any more. She had wanted him to say it first but she couldn’t hold back any longer. His constant support, him always being there for her, his attention and care, it was all so overwhelming, and had made her fall further in love with him every single day. 

Shivaay blinked as he let her words sink in. Did she just… 

 

“What did you say?”

 

Looking away from his eyes, Annika tried to move away from him slightly, but he took hold of her hand, keeping her close to himself.

 

“Say it again.”

“I love you Shivaay.”

 

A rush of heat spread through Shivaay, she loved him! She really loved him. 

 

Dropping another little kiss on her nose, Shivaay caressed her face as she slowly opened her eyes again. 

 

“I love you too, I love you.”

 

Moving closer to her, closing off any remaining space, Shivaay let his hand trail down from her cheek to her neck. 

 

“I wanted to say it first, I was just waiting for the perfect moment…”

“I couldn’t stop myself any more.”

“Well then if you did that first, I want to do something else first.”

“Hm?”

 

Dragging his hand up from her neck, he placed it lightly back on her cheek before touching her lips with his thumb. 

A shiver travelled up Annika’s spine as she realised what was happening. 

 

“Shi…”

 

Before she could finish his name, his lips were on hers, light at first, gently parting hers as he took the kiss deeper. He moved his hand back up down to her neck as he kissed her, varying the pressure of his lips against hers. 

Breaking the kiss, Shivaay slowly opened his eyes as he watched as Annika too came back to reality. Even in the dimly lit room, he could see her cheeks flush as she lowered her eyes. 

He moved back into her, Annika meeting him half way as their lips met again. This time, Shivaay felt Annika take lead, bring her hands to his neck, pulling him closer. 

He let his hand drop to her waist and carefully pressed her onto her back, moving over her as he did. 

As the night crept on, their second kiss led to their third, which led to their fourth, which led… 

 

***** 

 

The shrill ring of Shivaay’s phone woke him up with panic. Reaching out, he checked the caller ID before answering. Khanna. 

 

“What is it Khanna?”

 

“Sir, Daksh has just left his house and I am following him. I think he’s going to the airport.”

“Okay keep me updated and be careful.”

“Yes sir.”  

 

Disconnecting the call, Shivaay put his phone back before turning to Annika. He watched as she stretched and her eyes fluttered open. 

 

“What time is it?”

“It’s just passed 5.”

“Who called?”

“Khanna. Daksh is on the move.” 

 

Blinking twice, she took his words in before jumping up. 

 

“Daksh is coming?”

“We have time.”

 

But Annika had already swung her legs out of bed, grabbing her dupatta that Shivaay had thrown to the floor only a few hours ago.  

 

“Annika we have time, once he’s on a plane it’ll take a while to get here.”

“I know but I just…”

 

Without completing her sentence, Annika grabbed a new set of clothes and went into the bathroom. Shivaay sunk back into the bed as she closed the bathroom door and pulled the duvet up to himself. He knew she needed a few moments to herself to just gather her thought, so he gave her the space she wanted.

Turning on his side, he looked to her side of the bed and smiled to himself as thoughts of last night came back to him. He turned to the bathroom, listening to the water running. How he wanted to go in there and take her into his arms, but they hadn’t got quite there yet. But they would. Tonight, once all this was settled once and for all…

 

***** 

 

Looking at herself in the mirror, Annika smiled to herself as she recalled how Shivaay’s cool hands hand run over her, how his lips had teased hers… How he had placed kisses on her face and then down her neck. How he’d asked for her permission before removing her dupatta and how he’d kissed every inch of skin  that he could see. 

The boundaries of their relationship had been pushed and they had taken the next step. But there was still more… There was still scope to take their relationship further and now that they had started, she wanted to take things further. She wanted to go all the way. 

His lips on hers, the feel on his hands on her… It made her want things. He had ignited new feelings in her, ones that were completely new but so… Just so, so good. She wanted her husband and everything that he could give her and she wanted to give to him too. She wanted to give herself. 

He had made her feel special, made her feel like she was precious. The way he had handled her showed her how much he loved her… He loved her… The last three months, they had both taken on the role of husband and wife, and they were happy together. Maybe it was time to finally really seal their relationship. 

Smiling to herself, Annika made sure she was fully ready as she walked back into their bedroom. She’d expected to find him still in bed, but he wasn’t. As she began walking over to the bed, a strong pair of arms came around her. 

 

“Hey.”

 

Resting his chin on her shoulder, Shivaay let her lean back against him. 

 

“You got up?”

“I thought I’d go and make you breakfast while I waited for you to get out of the bathroom.” 

“What did you make?”

“Aloo puri, what else.”

“You know me too well.”

 

Pressing a kiss on the side of her neck, Shivaay spun Annika around in his arms and placed a light peck on her lips. 

 

“Are you feeling less nervous than before?”

“When was I nervous?”

“When you heard Daksh was on his way. I could tell Annika.”

“Okay, I was a bit, but I’m feeling a lot calmer now. I’ve gone through our plan and I know what I’m doing. It should be okay.”

 

Giving her a hug and another quick kiss, he let her go. 

 

“Go eat, I’ll be out in a bit.”

 

***** 

 

Sitting in the living room, Shivaay watched as the little red marker on the map came closer and closer to their house. Annika sat beside him, her hand secure in his and she too watched as Daksh grew closer. 

 

“Annika are you sure? There’s still time to back out.”

“I have to do this. This is the only way to get him out of Priyanka’s life once and for all. And we can finally clear our names to Dadi.” 

 

He gave her hand a squeeze and gave her a reassuring smile. 

 

“You’re the bravest woman I’ve ever met and I’m so proud to say I’m your husband. You make me so proud of you.” 

 

Feeling her heart swell with happiness, Annika gave Shivaay a tight hug. 

 

“I love you.”

“I love you too. I’ll never get tired of hearing that, nor will I ever tire of saying it.”

 

Giving her a quick kiss, he went back to his phone as they watched the dot that represented Daksh get closer. 

 

“When did Khanna bhaiya even plant this tracker on Daksh?”

“His friend is a security guard at the airport. He sent him a picture and told him what he needed to do.”

 

They carried on watching in silence. When Daksh was about 20 minutes away, Shivaay gave Annika one more hug before going to hide. 

 

“You’re all set right?”

 

Nodding, Annika remained seated as Shivaay went off. Now that the moment was here, she felt more nervous, worried if she’d be able to pull this off. Turning the tv on, Annika sat and waited. 

 

***** 

 

There was a knock on the door about half an hour after Shivaay and Annika had taken their places. Smoothing down her dress, Annika got to her feet and went to the door. 

Looking through the frosted glass, it was clear from the silhouette of the person that Daksh had arrived. Taking a deep breath, Annika prepared herself to finally hit action on this mission. Pulling the door open and pretending to be shocked, Annika looked up to find a tired, but still sinister looking Daksh looking down at her. 

 

“Daksh?!”

“Surprise.”

 

Pushing his way through the door, he walked into the living room, Annika shutting the door and walking swiftly into the room behind him. 

 

“What are you doing here?”

“Where’s Shivaay?”

“He…”

“He’s not home is he?”

“I…”

 

Annika knew she was meant to pretend to be scared, but she really was starting to feel jittery. What if this really was a bad idea.

 

“Is he at work?”

 

Annika said nothing as Daksh took a seat. She’d thought this situation over a million times, but now that the moment was here, she had no idea how to go about this.

 

“What are you doing here? Please leave before I call Shivaay and he…”

“And he what? Shivaay won’t do anything to me. He can’t even touch me. He’s been trying so hard to have me put away but so far…

 

Taking her phone off the coffee table, Annika pretended to call Shivaay. Getting to his feet, Daksh snatched the phone off Annika and threw it aside. 

 

“How dare…”

“No, how dare you? You came into all of our lives and made a mess of everything. Me and Priyanka we’re ready to get married. After years of wooing, I finally had Priyanka wrapped around my finger but you… You had to come into my lives and cause a mess. She keeps pushing the date of the wedding now.” 

“You don’t even love Priyanka do you?”

“No… No I don’t. I love the fact that she is the Oberoi family’s wealth. When I marry her, all that can be mine!”

“You know I’ll never let that happen.”

“I’ll make sure you never tell anyone. I’ll cook up something and I’ll make sure Shivaay never believes a word that comes out of your mouth ever again.”

“Shivaay knows me, he trusts me. He won’t believe you over me.” 

“You don’t know what kind of things I can do. I can make him turn against you in a heartbeat.”

“Never, Shivaay l…”

 

Annika stopped herself. No. She wasn’t going to tell Daksh that Shivaay loved her. That was none of Daksh‘s business, he didn’t need to know. What was between her and Shivaay was theirs and Daksh didn’t need to hear it. 

 

“Shivaay trusts me, he knows me.”

“You’re acting all high and mighty. Three months you’ve spent with Shivaay and you’re acting like he’d give the world for you. Don’t you even know the man you’re living with?”

“What do you mean?”

“Shivaay doesn’t believe in marriage, he doesn’t believe in love. He was marrying my Di, because she’s high class and has wealth to her name. He never loved her or cared to get married, he was just doing it for the sake of his family.”

“Why are you telling me all this, what has it got to do with me?” 

“Di and Shivaay were going to get married.  Everyone was fine and happy. The Oberoi’s were happy to get Shivaay married to Tia Di, she would have gotten married to him and she would’ve had access to his wealth but then you…” 

 

He took a step towards Annika and she took a step back. 

 

“By god ki kasam… You just had to come into our lives and you just had to stick your nose in, you had to tell Shivaay about me, you had to follow me to Lonavla…”

“You were there?”

 

Action time.

Daksh smirked and took a step closer to Annika. 

 

“Yes, I was there, I took the pictures of you and Shivaay.”

“But you realise that worked in our benefit. Though it didn’t seem like that at the time, we are happy together so, we thank you for that. If you hadn’t taken those pictures, we wouldn’t have got married. So really, it’s because of you your sister didn’t get to marry Shivaay. It had nothing to do with me. But yes, thank you for doing that, me and Shivaay are now very happy together thanks to you.”

“Happy together, who are you trying to fool? Anyone with half a mind knows that Shivaay would never want to be with a woman like you when he could’ve had my sister.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means Shivaay can never be happy with you. He wants someone with money, status, class… Like my sister. I bet you, soon enough when he’s done with you, he’ll throw you away.”

 

That hurt. Annika had never thought like that  but… Did Daksh have a point? No, no, Shivaay loved her. She knew that. She knew for a long time and last night… No, Daksh was just trying to get under her skin. 

Daksh saw Annika was preoccupied and took another step towards her, closing the distance between them. 

 

“Shivaay may not what you, but I’ll have you. By god ki kasam, the day I saw you, I knew I needed to have you.”

 

As he moved closer to her, Annika kept moving back until her back hit the wall. Oh no! She was trapped. Starting to panic slightly, Annika knew she needed to wrap this up fast. 

 

“You tried to force yourself… I… You attacked me!”

“Nope, no. I like to call it worship. By god ki kasam, the moment I laid eyes I you, I knew it. I knew I needed to worship you and your body, but you… You had to resist. But it’s okay, we’re home alone now, let’s pick up where we left off that day.”

 

Annika’s eyes widened, no no no… This wasn’t the plan. 

 

“I doubt Shivaay has ever touched you yet, I doubt he ever will… I can do all the things he hasn’t done, I can make take you to the stars.”

“No!”

 

Pushing Daksh with all her might, Annika rushed away.  

Had Shivaay gathered the evidence that they needed? Was he coming down, what was happening? 

 

“Annika listen…” 

 

He grabbed her hand and tried to stop her from running off but Daksh was unable to finish his sentence. Annika turned to find that Shivaay had slammed a punch across Daksh’s face and the police were running in after him. 

Grabbing Daksh by the collar, Shivaay pulled him up to full height before punching him across the face again. 

 

“How dare you! How dare you try to touch my wife!”

“Shiv…”

 

Unable to finish his name, Shivaay punched Daksh once more. 

 

“You played with my sister’s feelings, you lied to my entire family, you tried to defame me and you attacked my wife twice. For two of those things I can forgive you, but playing with my sister was your first unforgivable sin, and even laying eyes on my Annika was the second.”

 

The police came forward and pulled Daksh away from Shivaay because they could tell he was going to hit him again. Annika threw herself into Shivaay’s arms, hugging him tightly. He wrapped his arms around her as he watched the police officers take Daksh away. As the rest of the officers cleared out, the ACP stayed back. 

 

“Mr Oberoi, I have Daksh on tape confessing his crimes and we have heard him too. We will reopen your cases against him and this time we have his confession so we can put him away for a long time for his crimes.”

“Thank you officer.”  

 

Bowing out, the ACP left and Annika let herself break down in Shivaay’s arms. She hadn’t realised at the time but looking back now, it sunk in just how stressful that had been, how terrifying…

 

“Sh, it’s okay, I’ve got you, it’s all over now…”

 

Shivaay stroked her hair as she cried, holding him close to herself. Daksh’s words about their relationship came to mind and it made Annika cry harder. What if Daksh was right? What if Shivaay really was just maintaining this relationship for the time being because he had to? What if he really would get bored of her? But he told her he loved her? He’d kissed her all night, made her feel loved and special and… 

“Annika…”

 

Breaking the hug, Shivaay brushed Annika’s tears and her hair out of her face and led her to the sofa. They sat down and Shivaay took Annika back into his arms. 

The feeling of needing to cry subsided, and Annika placed her hand in Shivaay’s.

 

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine… That was just so much more overwhelming than I thought it was going to be.”

“It was intense. But you were so brave Annika, so so brave!”

 

Cupping her face, he leaned in and kissed her. Placing his hands on her waist, he pulled her into himself, while she wrapped her arms around his neck, and pressed herself against him… 

 

***** 

 

When finally they were content and done with making out for a while, Shivaay got to his feet and went into the bedroom to call Priyanka and debrief her about all that had happened, and to tell her that it was all finally over and that they could all finally breathe in peace again.

 

***** 

 

Much later the same day, night fell outside and Shivaay and Annika were sat on the sofa, she watching tv, him working away on his laptop. He had suggested that they go out for dinner, but Annika had wanted to stay home and just spend some time with him. 

Looking over at him, Annika just wanted to cuddle up with him, and just rest her head on his chest. But he was busy and she didn’t want to seem needy and annoy him. 

Shivaay too was sneaking glances at Annika at regular intervals. He wanted to speak to her about what Daksh had said to her, wanted to reassure her of his feelings. 

Saving his work and turning the laptop off, Shivaay put it down before getting off his chair and sitting beside Annika on the sofa. 

 

“Annika can we talk?”

 

Nodding, Annika turned the tv off and turned to Shivaay. 

 

“What’s the matter?”

“I wanted to talk to you about what Daksh said to you. I was listening to everything and I just…”

“You don’t need to say anything.”

“No Annika, I do. There’s something things I want to make clear to you.”

 

Annika felt her blood pressure rise, what if he was going to say that Daksh was right about what he was saying? What if he was going to say that he doesn’t actually love her the way she thought he did? 

Taking her hand in his own, Shivaay pressed a kiss on her hand. 

 

“Once upon a time, I didn’t believe in the institution of marriage, or in love. You know about my parents, you can understand why I felt like that. But Annika in these past 3 months since our marriage, you started changing me. You showed me what it means to have a true life partner. You… Your unwavering support, your concern, your care… Even when you were feeling rubbish, you focused on me and always made sure I was okay. You made me feel like I was always your number 1 priority… You kept giving me attention and care and you asked for nothing in return.” 

 

Placing his other hand on her cheek, he looked into her eyes. 

 

“You made me want to be your husband, you made me want to take on this relationship and work on it. At no point have I thought, I don’t want this, or that I want out. At no point did I think that I want everything to be sorted so that we can end this. Annika… I don’t want to end our marriage. I know when we got married it was just meant to be long enough so we can file for a divorce… But I don’t want that anymore. I want to carry on being with you, I want to keep working at our relationship… Living with you… It’s a new adventure every day and this is an adventure I want to keep living for the rest of my life.” 

 

Annika felt her heart swell with happiness, she wasn’t wrong. He really did love her and want to be with her. 

 

“Also, what he said about Tia…”

“You don’t need to say anything more Shivaay, I know. I trust you and I know…”

“I know you know but at the same time I want to make it clear. I saw your expressions when Daksh was speaking to you, I could see that you were uncertain and I don’t want you doubting anything.”

“In that moment I was uncertain but I know…”

“Please Annika.”

 

It was clear he wanted to say what he wanted to say, so there was no point trying to stop him. 

 

“It’s true, I was just marrying Tia for Dadi’s sake, and that at that time all that mattered to me was that she was from an upper class family, but I never felt anything for her. She never made me want to become her husband. I was never actually attracted to her like that. But you…”

 

His hand dropped away from her face down to her neck. 

 

“The moment I laid eyes I you, I was attracted to you. You’re so beautiful and cute… The way you speak, the way you walk, you have such an innocence about you. I feel like all the women I’ve been around have always been so sure in themselves. They knew they were sexy and they weren’t afraid to flaunt it. But you… You are the most gorgeous and perfect woman I’ve ever met, but sometimes it seems like you don’t even realise that yourself.”

“I… I don’t… I’m just me though, just average Annika?”

“You may just be average to yourself, but to me… You’re so fine… I can’t even express how perfect you are to me.” 

 

Blushing, Annika looked down. His words were reeking havoc on her emotions. His words were overwhelming her. 

 

“Daksh also said how I would never come near you, how I’d never touch you…” 

 

His hand dropped from her neck and let it slide down to her waist. Taking hold of her waist, he pulled her into himself. 

 

“I will admit, I fell in love with you after we got married, but Annika, I’ve been attracted to you since the first time I saw you. Whenever you came near me, I just wanted to reach out to you, hold you… And then we got married. Living with you and keeping a respectable distance has been so hard, especially when you cuddle up with me every night. But I wanted to make sure, I wanted to make sure that I really did love you and that you felt the same way about me before I acted on my attraction. But Annika what Daksh said about me not watching to touch you like that couldn’t be further from the truth.”

“Matlab?”

 

As he tightened his hold on her waist with one hand, he brought the other one back up to cheek and he caressed her lips with his thumb. 

 

“Matlab I really love you and I want to take our relationship to the next level… I… I want to make love to you.”

 

Her eyes widened as she looked into his. He wasn’t holding anything back, just by looking into his eyes she could see his sincerity. 

 

“Next level…”

“Only when you’re ready.”

 

She had already had a huge amount of respect for her husband but somehow her respect and love for him increased by ten folds. 

Placing her own hand on his knee, she leaned in and kissed his cheek. Dropping her voice to a whisper, she expressed what her heart desired. 

 

“I want that too…”

“You want…”

“I want you to… I want us… I too want to take our relationship to the next level…”

 

Hearing her say what he had hoped would be her response made him feel another type of happiness. Cupping her face, he kissed her. With his kiss he tried to convey everything he felt for her. His love for her, but also his need for her. Wrapping her arms around him, Annika brought Shivaay to herself, closing any distance, trying to get as close to him as possible. Planting his hand on her back, he brought her closer so her body was flush against his. Leaning into her, he guided her down onto the sofa as he moved over her, removing her dupatta and kissing her neck. 

Lacing her fingers into his hair, Annika brought Shivaay’s head closer to her, making him kiss her harder. She felt his hands touch her body and she did the same, letting her hands go under his shirt. 

The feel of her slightly clammy hands on his bare skin was causing his control to slip away. But he knew he wanted to take this slowly, he couldn’t lose control. He wanted to make love to her not just have sex with her. 

Breaking the kiss, Shivaay watched as Annika’s eyes fluttered open, a questioning look in her eye. Getting off of her, Shivaay got to his feet and scooped her off the sofa and started walking towards their bedroom. Just as they got to the door of their room, Shivaay heard his phone ringing in the living room. Ignoring it, he walked into the bedroom and placed Annika down onto the bed, before going on to unbutton his shirt. Shirt off, he came back over Annika, claiming her lips while she let her hands roam over his shoulder blades. 

The phone began to ring again, this time their house phone. Annika broke the kiss causing Shivaay to let out a groan of protest. 

 

“Go answer the phone, someone’s looking for you.”

“I’m busy, they can wait.”

“Shivaay go, it could be important.”

“But this is important too.”

 

Biting her lip, Annika blushed. Taking advantage of the moment, Shivaay tried to move back in for a kiss but was pushed away by Annika. 

 

“Go and check the phone, I’m not going anywhere.”

 

Rolling his eyes, Shivaay got off the bed. 

 

“I’ll be 2 minutes, don’t move.”

“Waiting.”

 

Smirking to himself, Shivaay made his way down the hall and answered the phone that had started ringing for the fourth time now. 

 

“Hello?”

“Billu?”

 

Shivaay felt himself go cold. Dadi… After 3 long months she had finally called and was speaking to him. He and Annika had called home multiple times but dadi had refused to speak to them. And now… 

 

“Billu, are you there?”

“Dadi… How are you?”

“I am fine, how are you and Annika?”

“We are… We’re well thank you.” 

 

He felt at a loss, what was he supposed to say? He had waited for months to be able to speak to dadi and here the moment was yet he couldn’t speak. 

 

“Billu, Priyanka spoke to me. She also showed me the footage you sent her. Billu, I don’t even know what to say and how to say it, I feel… I’m ashamed of myself…”

“No dadi please, don’t speak like that.”

“I am ashamed though. Even up until this morning I thought ill of you and Annika and now… That girl went out of her way to protect Priyanka and our family from Daksh and I thought… I don’t know how I’ll ever face her Billu.”

“Dadi please…”

“Forgive me Shivaay. Forgive your old Dadi. The amount of rubbish I said to you both that day and then again that night after you got married… I should’ve been welcoming my new bahu with open arms, instead I questioned her character…” 

“Dadi, that’s all old now…”

 

It was abundantly clear that dadi was deeply troubled by her own actions. 

 

“Dadi it wasn’t your fault. Please let it go. Neither me nor Annika are upset you with.”

 

As if on cue, Annika came out of the bedroom and came to stand beside Shivaay. Dadi, he mouthed as he pointed to the phone. Nodding, Annika took his arm and stood close to him as he carried on with the phone call. 

 

“Enough is enough now, you and Annika have to come home. My mistake has caused us all to stay away from each other for so long, you need to come home and bring my bahu home too. Will you come back?”

 

Smiling, Shivaay wrapped his arm around Annika. 

 

“We will come home! Of course! Please just give us a few days to sort everything here and then we will come back!”

“We will all be waiting for you.”

“We’ll be back soon Dadi.”

 

Round off the conversation, Shivaay ended the call and turned to Annika. 

 

“Didi wants us to go home!”

“I know I heard!”

“It really is all over, we can finally all go back to our normal lives!”

 

Wrapping his arms back around her, he smiled at her. 

 

“We’re going home Annika, our home, our real home.”

 

Lifting her into his arms for the second time that night. Shivaay looked into her eyes as he spoke.

 

“But before we go home, there’s something I want us to do here.”

“Oh, what’s that?”

 

Smirking, Shivaay carried Annika to their bedroom, kicked the door shut and placed her down in the bed. As he came down over her, Annika raised her arms and wrapped them around her husband as they finally embraced the next step of their relationship… 

 

***** 

 

The first rays of morning sun hit Annika in the face. Scrunching her eyes up, she pulled the covers up, covering her eyes. But alas, the thin blanket provided minimal protection from the bright morning sun. Frustrated, Annika lowered the blanket, and rolled into Shivaay’s chest, his body shielding her eyes from the sun. 

It was then she remembered.

Holy shit.

Moving the blanket, she took Shivaay’s naked form and then her own and covered back up again. Holding the blanket to her chest, the flashbacks of the night before played before her eyes and she felt herself blush. 

They really had done it. 

Propping herself on her elbow, she leaned over and pressed a kiss on Shivaay’s cheek and then settled back down in his arms.

How far had they come in such a short space of time. From that first meeting, to the first time they actually spoke, to the incident that caused them to run away and get married… Their wedding… The last 3 months together, their first kiss and last night…

She had never thought their elopement was going to turn into a lifelong relationship, but it had. She had hoped that their relationship would last, but she had never thought that they would find each other so quickly. They’d fallen in love and they had now consummated their marriage. They were finally one…

The temporary marriage was no longer temporary. Their elopement was now a lifelong commitment. What had started off looking like a game was now a beautiful journey into the future. 

This was the ending of one chapter of their life, but they still had their entire lives in front of them… Their beautiful, love filled life… 

 

*****

 

*Authors note* 

So this of course was another mammoth, even longer than the original mammoth. Again, thank you to everyone who has supported me during the writing process. Even though I am happier with this part than I was with the first, it still isn’t quite what I wanted it. But alas, this is just the start of writing on Shivika, only way is up! So thank you for you time and your patience. Please do leave your comments on this part and the previous and hopefully I will be back soon with a new project. 

Bhaag Ke Shaadi ~ TS ~ Part 1

(Banner by @akzcreations, do check out her work over on twitter and instagram)

 

Peering through the peep hole in the door, Annika waited to see Daksh arrive at Payal’s door. But the longer she waited, the more irritable Shivaay became. 

 

“Let’s go, your flop plan isn’t going to work.”

“Mr Oberoi please! I know Daksh will come.”

 

Rolling his eyes, Shivaay turned away and carried on tapping away at his phone. Annika carried on looking out of the peep hole, willing for Daksh to arrive. She was certain that Daksh would arrive any second, he had to! 

Opening the door slightly, she stuck her head out and carefully had a look around. No Daksh to be seen anywhere. 

Shutting the door, she turned her attention to Shivaay who was now watching her closely. 

 

“Annika…”

“Please Mr Oberoi, for Priyanka, we have to wait and see if Daksh arrives. I know he will!”

 

Running his hand through his hair, Shivaay come over to Annika and nudged her out of the way slightly. 

 

“I’ll look out for him, you go and sit for a bit. You’ve been stood at the door like that for over 2 hours now.” 

“I…”

“Go.”

 

Moving away from the door, Annika went and perched on the end of the bed while Shivaay took over look out duty. 

 

***** 

 

From across the hall, Daksh rubbed his hands together and smirked. So Shivaay and Annika had thought they were so smart that they would catch him out, they hadn’t realised that the D was always one step ahead of them.

When Tia had informed him that Shivaay was coming to Lonavla, Daksh knew something was up. And when he had seen Annika and Shivaay walk into the hotel together and ask for Payal, he knew they were on to him. 

Almost running for it, Daksh made sure that he got back to his and Payal’s room before Shivaay and Annika could get to theirs. It was then that he started forming his plan… 

 

***** 

 

“Annika we should go home. Your plan flopped. We’ve not left the door unattended for even half a moment and we haven’t seen Daksh. Face it, he isn’t here.”

“Mr Oberoi, I know it’s looking more and more unlikely, but please, I know he’s here, I just know it.”

“Have you seen the time Annika, it’s almost 10. If he was to come he would’ve already been here. We’ve been here for hours now and there’s been absolutely no movement from that room.”

 

Looking at the clock herself, Annika gasped as she realised it was five to 10. Where had time gone? How had they been here so long?

 

“He’s not coming.”

“Maybe he’s going to come tomorrow.”

“Maybe he isn’t going to come at all. Come on Annika, we need to get home. If anyone notices were going, it may start looking a little weird.”

 

Sighing, Annika realised that there was no point in being stubborn and wanting to stay longer. Shivaay thought her theory was false from the start and after a completely unfruitful day, she knew there would be no way to keep him here. 

 

“Okay, let’s go.” 

 

Gathering their things together, they made sure that they had picked everything up. Just as they were doing a last quick check, a loud clap of thunder sounded outside, followed by the sound of heavy rain. 

 

“What on…”

 

Rushing over to the window and pulled the curtains aside, Shivaay saw the rain pouring down, with flashes of lightening tearing through the sky. 

 

“Shit!”

“What happened?”

 

Walking over to the window herself, Annika saw the issue. The rain was falling thick and fast, and visibility was reduced to the point where she couldn’t even see the balcony in front of them. 

 

“We can’t drive in this weather. We’ll have to wait until the rain stops or at least until it slows down a bit.”

“But it’s getting late.”

“I know Annika, but there’s nothing for us to do. I can’t drive in this weather.”

 

Pulling his phone out of his pocket, Shivaay looked at the time once again, but found that is phone was totally low on battery life and that he had no network any way. 

 

“Dammit!”

“Mr Oberoi…”

“Don’t.”

 

Brushing passed her, Shivaay went and sat down on the sofa and switched the tv onto a news channel. Reports of the heavy rain and flash flooding were everywhere. Everyone was advised to stay indoors and not leave their homes.

 

“It looks like we’re going to have to spend the night here and just hope that it clears up enough so that we can go home tomorrow.”

 

Annika had wanted this, she had wanted to stay so that they could keep their eye out for Daksh but this wasn’t how she wanted it to happen at all. And considering that Daksh hadn’t arrived yet, it seemed unlikely that he would get here now in this rain. The trip was a waste and the plan indeed was a flop. 

Sitting down on the edge of the bed, Annika watched as Shivaay flicked channels.

 

“Mr Oberoi?”

“Hm?”

“I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean for all this to…”

“It’s okay, what’s happened has happened. There’s no point speaking about it any more.” 

“I’m still sorry. For wasting your entire day like this.”

“Don’t be. I’m actually glad we did this.”

 

Annika looked up at Shivaay, confusion written all over her face.

 

“I’m glad we came here today because it’s helped me see that you are genuine. I mean we haven’t seen Daksh, but the way you’ve been behaving all day, the way you haven’t moved from that door even to check your phone when it rang, it showed me that you were being serious, that you really do believe that Daksh is going to turn up.”

“So you believe me about Daksh? And you will call off the wedding?”

“No… I’ll need to see him to believe that and to take such a drastic step like that.”

“Then?”

“I’m just trying to say that I know now that you really are doing this for Priyanka and that you mean well. That you don’t want her to get deceived. I know now that whatever happened, whatever you saw, you are convinced that it was Daksh and you want to protect my sister from him.” 

 

Unsure of how to reply, Annika smiled before looking at the clock again. Time was passing so slowly, how would they spend the night? 

After a while of channel surfing Shivaay realised that they hadn’t eaten anything all day. 

 

“What would you like to eat?”

“Anything, I’m not fussy.”

 

Nodding, Shivaay picked up the hotel food and order a little bit of everything that was on the evening menu along with a pot of coffee. 

 

***** 

 

Making small talk over dinner, Shivaay and Annika realised that they quite enjoyed each other’s company. Taking a sip of his coffee, Shivaay reached across the table to grab a napkin, but managed to spill a whole lot of his coffee onto himself. 

 

“Shit!”

 

Noticing the mess Shivaay had made, Annika grabbed some napkins and went over to him, dapping at the coffee to get it to soak up. He watched as she dabbed away at his shirt and he took her in. He took in her long camel like eyelashes and then took in her lips. She had the most beautiful lips. They were the softest shade of pink and just looked so plump and soft. Shaking his head, Shivaay pulled himself out of his thoughts.

 

“It’s okay, I got this.”

 

Taking the napkins from Annika, Shivaay attempted to make the best of the mess he’d made. Unable to soak up the coffee, he removed his jacket and threw it aside in a state of annoyance. Sitting back down, he carried on eating his dinner, making a conscious effort to not get distracted by Annika’s lips again.

 

***** 

 

Daksh looked at the clock and then looked to Payal. She was fast asleep and the clock had just struck 3am. Time to get his plan into gear. 

Quietly getting out of bed, Daksh padded over to the door of their hotel room and opened it. Looking around, he checked if the coast was clear and then quickly made his way across to Shivaay and Annika’s room. To his pleasure, the door was unlocked so he quietly pushed it open and made his way inside. 

Daksh had been hoping to get some dirt on Annika, to get back at her for making Shivaay doubt her and to try to cause a rift between them, but what he found was more than what he had been hoping for. 

Snuggled up in bed, with her arm around Shivaay’s waist, slept a peaceful looking Annika. Shivaay too had his arms wrapped loosely around Annika. 

 

“By god ki kasaaaam. How can I not take advantage on the situation when they hand it to me on a plate?”

 

Pulling his phone out of his pocket, Daksh quickly snapped a picture of the slumbering Shivaay and Annika. After making sure that the shot he captured looked perfectly scandalous, he returned the phone to his pocket and turned away to go back but found himself standing on an item of clothing. 

Stepping off it, Daksh picked it up. Shivaay’s jacket. Smirking, Daksh dropped the jacket to the floor by the foot of the bed and pull his phone out once more. Taking a quick snap of the jacket, he realised he had more than enough content to cause waves in Shivaay and Annika’s lives. 

Daksh was back in the game.

 

***** 

 

Back in the car the next morning, Shivaay took a sideways glance at Annika who looked completely bummed that they hadn’t been able to get anything against Daksh. Though he felt slightly bummed out for her too, he couldn’t help but feel relieved too. Relieved that she’d been wrong, meaning he was right about Daksh. Whatever it was that she held against Daksh, she had to have been mistaken and last night proved just that.

 

Last night… The thoughts of last night made Shivaay’s mind move to a completely different topic. When they had decided to call it a night, Shivaay had insisted Annika to take the bed and he would take the sofa. But after 2 hours of tossing and turning, Shivaay had found himself unable to get to sleep. The sofa was hard, not ideal for sleeping on. Taking a glance in Annika’s direction, he saw that she too was still moving. Sitting up on the sofa, he looked to Annika, trying to work out how he should approach her. Sensing the movement Annika turned, switching the light on. 

 

“Mr Oberoi?”

“I couldn’t sleep and seeing as you’re not sleeping either, I thought… Maybe we could just sit and talk for a while, get to know each other? Or maybe we can watch something?” 

 

Nodding, Annika sat up, and scooted over, making space on the bed for Shivaay to sit. Taking her up on her invitation, he got off the sofa and went and sat down on the edge of the bed. He felt himself relax a little more. 

Conversation between them flowed easily and they talked about all kinds of things, getting to know each other a little better. 

When had they finally fallen asleep, he couldn’t be sure, but he was certain they had fallen asleep well away from each other. But what Shivaay had woken up to had been something completely different. He had his arms wrapped Annika and she had tucked herself into him completely. 

When had that happened? 

Carefully untangling himself from her, Shivaay quickly scooted off the bed and made his way back to the sofa. It could’ve been super awkward if Annika caught him in bed with her like that…

 

Shaking his head, Shivaay turned his full attention back to the road. He didn’t need to worry about what happened last night. There was no way Annika would ever find out what happened. He wouldn’t have to explain to her what had happened and that awkward conversation could be avoided completely. It was fine. 

 

***** 

 

Daksh and Priyanka stood in front of the tv, watching the same segment over and over again. Across all news channels, all they were covering was how Shivaay Singh Oberoi, businessman and industrialist, had been spotted with an unknown lady at a hotel. As time went on, pictures from the night were revealed to show Shivaay sleeping with that said woman. 

Turning the tv off, Priyanka turned to Daksh.

 

“What is this? How could this… How do they even have those pictures of bhai and Annika?”

“I don’t know Priyanka… Perhaps they were taken from the CCTV?”

“That’s an invasion of privacy, how can anyone do that? How can they just release those pictures like that.”

“When the Oberoi family is in question, people don’t think about right and wrong.”

 

Priyanka ran her fingers through her hair, and wiped beads of sweat that had formed on her face. 

 

“We need to make sure no one at home sees this.”

“But how…”

“I don’t know how but we must! If dadi sees this she won’t spare bhaiya. Can you call the news office on my behalf and ask them to stop airing it. Please?”

 

Nodding along with everything Priyanka was saying, Daksh looked over his shoulder, checking if it was time to play his next move yet. 

Just as Priyanka was turning away ready to leave, Daksh spots dadi coming. Time for some more action! 

Taking hold of Priyanka shoulder, he stopped her and pulled her back to himself.

 

“But Priyanka, at some time or other, everyone will find out. And if Shivaay and Annika really like each other that much then they won’t be able to stay away from each other. Especially after last night… They’ll be trying to use every opportunity to be with each other.”

“That’s not our business. That’s their matter to tell everyone the truth of their relationship when they are ready. What they do, is no one else’s business.”

“Do you think they have a relationship though? And do you think it’s serious enough that they will actually tell everyone about it?”

“What do you mean?”

 

Checking dadi was still nearby and listening, Daksh went in for his master stroke. 

 

“I mean, Shivaay and Annika? Do you really think Shivaay would get involved with an average, middle class girl like Annika? I think… Perhaps they just had a one night stand or maybe…”

 

Dadi’s gasp at the suggestion was so loud, Priyanka’s eyes widened as she spun round. Walking over to Priyanka and Daksh, dadi demanded to know what was going on.

 

“Nothing dadi, don’t worry, you misunderstood.”

“Where is Billu? Has he called?”

“Dadi…”

“And why do you think something has happened between him and Annika?”

 

Priyanka felt herself starting to panic, if she told dadi what she had seen on tv, dadi would jump to the worst of conclusions. Noticing Priyanka’s hesitation, Daksh took advantage of the moment. Might as well stir the pot some more. 

Picking up the tv remote, he turned the news back on. 

 

“We didn’t want you to see this, but everyone’s going to talk about it, you may as well find out from us.”

 

As the same segment played again, with the pictures going round again, dadi gasped as realisation hit her. 

Just as Priyanka turned the tv off again, Shivaay walked into the house, his jacket slung over his shoulder, a small grin on his face. Dadi noticed him instantly and was ready to attack.

 

“Billu!”

 

Walking over to dadi, Shivaay smiled. 

 

“Ji dadi?”

“What’s the meaning of all this?”

 

Clicking the tv back on, she pointed at the screen. 

 

The first thing Shivaay saw when he turned to the tv was him and Annika, cuddled up in bed. Shit. 

He heard what the reports had to say, what assumption were being made about him and Annika. The things people were assuming about Annika… 

 

“Dadi…”

 

Turning the tv back off, she turned to her grandson, demanding answers. 

 

“Well, what is the meaning of this?”

“Didi I… This isn’t…”

“You told me you were going to Lonavla to talk about catering and that you were staying because of the bad weather. I didn’t know you were taking Annika. Nor did I know this…”

“Dadi I promise you… Nothing happened between us.”

“We can see how much didn’t happen between you. I knew, I knew bringing a girl like her to our home would be a bad idea. I knew it. I told you I didn’t approve but you didn’t listen to me. How long has this been going on between the two of you?”

“Dadi nothing happened! I don’t even understand how they got these pictures.”

“That’s not the point, the point is these pictures are real. Meaning you did sleep with Annika.”

 

Opening his mouth to reply, a thought hit him. Annika. If her chachi had seen this news… He needed to get to her. Now! 

Rushing out of the house, Shivaay made his way to the outhouse. But even before he approached the door, he could hear chachi shouting. 

 

“Chachi please, listen to what di has to say!”

“Chachi I…”

“Shut your mouth. I…”

 

Going over to the door Shivaay pushed it open, causing chachi to stop talking. But the moment she saw Shivaay, she turned her attention back to Annika. 

 

“Wah, this was all that was left. Now your lover has arrived at our door.”

 

Stepping into the house, Shivaay took Annika’s side before turning his attention back to chachi. 

 

“Chachi ji, whatever is being shown on tv isn’t real.”

“So you’re telling me someone faked these pictures?”

“We didn’t even sleep in the same bed. I slept on the bed and Mr Oberoi slept on the sofa, someone must have done this to defame Mr Oberoi!”

 

Chachi shook her head, she wasn’t buying it. And she was right not to believe it. The picture was real, but poor Annika didn’t know that they had fallen asleep and managed to get entangled with each other. He should’ve told her the truth this morning, he should have apologised and just told her. Now because of his choice of keeping the truth from her, she was looking like a fool in front of her family.

Refreshed and ready to go again, chachi turned her attention back to Annika. 

 

“I can’t have you under the same roof as me. After what you have done, people will point there fingers at me, saying I haven’t brought you up right when the fault is in your b…”

“Chachi…”

“No. You have to leave!”

 

Gauri, who had remained quiet due to her sisters insistence finally spoke up. 

“How can you throw Di out? If we are living here, it is because of her. If you throw her out then we have to leave to.”

“If The Oberoi’s throw us out we will see, but now I need Annika to leave. I can’t have her under this roof with me. And I can’t have her near you. You will pick up everything she does and then you will humiliate me too.”

 

Enough was enough for Shivaay. He couldn’t take it any more. 

 

“Chachi ji please, you are being unreasonable. Nothing happened between us.”

“You can keep lying but the whole world knows your truth. This picture say everything they need to say plus so much more.”

 

Taking Annika’s arm, chachi led her over to the door and pushed her out. 

 

“Don’t come near us again.”

 

With both Shivaay and Annika outside the house, chachi slammed the door shut. Refusing to let her tears fall in front of Shivaay, Annika looked away from him, trying to make sense of what to do. 

Shivaay realised what he needed to do before Annika had a chance to make her mind up about what to do next.

Taking her hand, he led her back to Oberoi mansion. 

 

“Mr Oberoi… I can’t.”

“You can. We haven’t done anything wrong. Until chachi doesn’t calm down, you can stay here.”

“But your family…”

“I will handle them. When I explain, they’ll understand.”

 

With faith in Shivaay, Annika let him guide her into the Oberoi house. Maybe it would be okay. Chachi would calm down in no time and she’d be able to go back. This whole thing would blow over, it would all be okay. 

The moment they stepped into the house however, dadi was at the door. 

 

“Billu…”

“Dadi I have brought Annika with me to stay here. Her chachi has gotten the wrong end of the stick and won’t let Annika stay with her. So I have brought her home.”

“She can’t stay here. I can’t have this girl under my roof.”

“But dadi…”

“I cannot have the both of you, under this roof, together doing what you did last night. I will not allow it. I will not allow such filth to be happening in my house.

“Dadi, nothing happened between us!”

 

Annika looked down, tears stinging her eyes. This wasn’t good, this wasn’t good. 

 

“I can see just from the way you’re holding her just how much isn’t happening between you two.”

 

Shivaay hadn’t realised when he’d locked his fingers into Annika’s, but he had, and he was holding onto her with all his might. Letting go of her hand, he turned his attention to dadi.

 

“Dadi, you know me, you know I wouldn’t…”

“It’s not you that I don’t trust billu, it’s this girl. I knew when Priyanka brought her to stay here it was a bad idea. I knew it was a recipe for a disaster…”

“Nothing happened dadi, I swear on you.

“Maybe nothing happened last night, but this girl has her claws in you, I can tell. Whether or not anything has already happened, it will happen. I cannot allow her to stay here. I won’t allow it. Middle class girls like this will go out of their way to trap men like you Billu, and I can tell she has already started working her magic on you. I cannot allow her to stay here.”

 

A surge of protectiveness filled Shivaay. This wasn’t right. How could dadi speak like that about Annika when she hardly knew her? 

 

“I’m sorry Billu, Annika can’t stay here.”

“Fine. Then I shall make arrangements for her and I will return only when I have sorted something.”

 

Taking Annika’s hand again, Shivaay turned away. He hated speaking to dadi like that, but this was wrong. Annika’s character was being questioned when she had done nothing wrong at all. It wasn’t fair and he wasn’t going to stand for it. 

 

***** 

 

The car ride to his Mumbai apartment was a short one, but felt so much longer due to the eerie silence. Annika didn’t speak, nor did she look up. 

 

“Annika…”

 

He didn’t know what to say. What could he say? How was he meant to reassure her that it was going to be okay?

Soon enough they reached the foot of the apartment block. Parking the car, Shivaay got out and then let Annika out. 

 

“My apartment is on the 6th floor.”

 

Nodding, Shivaay and Annika waiting for the lift in the lobby when a couple walked passed them. 

 

“Isn’t that Shivaay Singh Oberoi?”

 

“Yes is it, and that’s that girl that was in that picture with him on the news. He has an apartment in this building too.”

“He’s probably moving her into his apartment so that…”

 

Annika stopped listening but she knew exactly what they were saying about her, she knew exactly what people thought about her. Shivaay heard too, but he turned a blind eye to it. People would talk, that’s what they did best. They just wanted dirt on other peoples lives. He didn’t want to react and add more fuel to the fire. Besides, if his own family didn’t believe that nothing happened between them, then outsiders would hardly believe him. 

As the lift pinged open, Shivaay attempted to usher Annika in but found her taking a step back.

 

“Annika?”

“I’m sorry, I can’t… I can’t stay in your apartment.”

 

As the lift shut, Shivaay walked over to her she was standing. 

 

“What’s the matter?”

“People… People are talking about us like… I can’t. People think I…”

 

Turning his attention back to the people who had followed them out, Shivaay addressed them to shut them up once and for all. 

 

“Before talking crap about a couple check your facts first. Annika is my wife.”

 

There was a prolonged silence before people started muttering. Asking those next to them if they were aware of this union.  Walking away Shivaay took Annika’s hand as he led her back to the car. Getting into the car, Shivaay tried to think what he should do in attempt to try and sort this situation. He realised how much more awkward he had just made the whole situation for both of them.

 

“Why did you tell people I was your wife?”

“It was the only way to get them to stop talking rubbish about us.”

“But when people find out…” 

“In a few months we’ll release a statement saying that we are getting a divorce, no one will be able to say anything.”

“But Mr Oberoi… Our families. They know we aren’t married. They already think ill of us, you’re family already hate me… We can’t…”

 

It was then he came up with the idea. 

 

“Let’s get married.”

 

Turning her head so fast she could’ve got whiplash, Annika’s eyes widened as she looked at him. 

 

“Are you…”

“Bhaag ke shaadi, let’s do it?”

“Are you insane? Lying and saying that we are married is one thing but to actually get married… I… Plus they would know that we weren’t married last night. If we did this, it would just make them believe that the rumours about us are true, hence why we rushed and got married.”

“If they choose to carry on believing the rumours over us, then that is there problem. But if we get married, at least then they can’t speak rubbish about us any more.”

“But Mr Oberoi… We have no proof to show anyone that we are already married. It won’t work, we might just make a bigger mess for ourselves. This is all such a mess.” 

“I have a friend, who produce our marriage certificate and backdate it so I can hit back at the news reports. I can say that when those pictures were taken, we were already married.” 

“But Mr Oberoi…”

“Do you not like me? I mean… Do you not trust me?” 

“I do but shaadi…”

“Like I said after a few months, we can file a divorce, citing that we just weren’t compatible  and that we had rushed into marriage without actually really getting to know each other properly.” 

 

Looking away, Annika buried her face in her hands, trying to understand how things went so badly wrong. 

Pulling up on the side of the road, Shivaay parked and turned to Annika, placing his hand on her shoulder. 

 

“Hey, hey please don’t cry, it was just a suggestion, if you really don’t want to then we don’t have to, there’s no pressure. It was just a suggestion but I know how crazy it sounds, forget I mentioned it.”

 

Lifting her face and turning to Shivaay. 

 

“I’m just so confused, I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how we are going to make this go away. I’ve seen this type of thing happen to other people and even if it goes away, it never really goes away. It always comes back. When someone accuses a woman of sleeping with them, it never truly leaves them, and here the whole world have seen our pictures…” 

“It’s okay, I’ll find a way to deal with this.”

 

After thinking for a while, Annika realised what they needed to do. Perhaps it really was the only way to sort this issue.  

 

“Let’s do it.”

“Do what?”

“Let’s get married. Bhaag ke shaadi kar leti hai…”

 

*****

 

Arriving at the mandir, Shivaay turned to Annika and placed his hand on hers. 

 

“We don’t have to do this. We can find another way around this, if you really don’t want to…”

“Like you said, if we don’t, this will hang over our heads forever. Especially mine. Being accused of sleeping with someone stays with you, however if we get married and get divorced then at least at some point that will go away.”

“As long as you are certain this is what you want Annika.”

“It is.”

 

Annika looked down at their hands. This was in no means something she wanted, they were turning marriage into a game but… It seemed like their only option? Was there a way around this? What could they do? Was eloping really their only option? Yes, their options were limited, this was the only way.

 

“Then let’s get this show on the road.”

 

Getting out of the car, Shivaay walked over to Annika’s side and waited as she got out before offering his hand to her. 

She looked at it, paused for a moment and then took it. 

With her hand in his, Shivaay could feel her hand trembling and he tightened his grip on her hand, before turning to her. 

 

“Whatever happens, I will always be here for you. I am equally responsible for this mess and I will be with you until we get this sorted. Even after this is all over, I will always be here for you, no matter what happens.”

“Thank you.”

 

It was all she could say. As they walked up the stairs to the mandir, the pandit watched as they grew closer to him. 

 

“What can I do for you children at this time of night?”

“We want to get married pandit ji.”

“At this time of night?”

“Yes.”

“Your families?”

“They don’t approve of our relationship and do not want us to get married. But we want to get married and… And spend our lives together.”

 

His words hit her in the heart… Spend their lives together… But that wasn’t the case was it? This was just a temporary fix? But could this temporary arrangement become something more?

 

“Are you sure children, are you sure this is something you want to go against your families wishes?”

“Yes.”

 

The pandit turned his attention to Annika.

 

“Do you feel the same way child?”

 

Looking up at Shivaay and then down at their interlocked hands, she nodded. Maybe this wasn’t ideal, but marriage was marriage. No matter the circumstance, she wouldn’t reduce their marriage to a joke, she would fulfil her responsibility as his wife. She would carry on standing by him and supporting him for the duration of their marriage.

 

“Ji, this is what I want.”

“Then step forward.”

 

Shivaay and Annika followed the instructions of the pandit. They waited momentarily while he made the arrangements for the wedding. Throughout the waiting period, Shivaay’s hand didn’t leave Annika’s, and he stayed close to her side. 

 

“If at any point you realise you don’t want to do this, just tell me and we’ll stop.”

 

He was being so supportive and respectful. He was constantly making sure that this was what she wanted. Her respect for him grew.

When the arrangements were done, the pandit ji asked them to take a seat and they began with the rituals. Thought it all, Shivaay’s hand never left her. 

Once they had completed their phere, and Shivaay had applied the sindoor and fastened the mangalsootra, they took blessings from the pandit and got back into the car. 

 

“What do we do now?”

“We go home.”

 

And with that, they were off, on their way back to Oberoi mansion. But what they were faced with was far worse than anything they had faced earlier in that day. Dadi went ballistic and demanded that Shivaay remove Annika’s wedding ornaments and make her leave the house. But he refused.

 

“I married Annika and I will not ask her to leave. She is my wife and I want her to stay with me.”

“But I do not accept her.”

“Then I’m afraid, I cannot live in this house any longer. If everyone cannot respect my wife and the relationship we share, then I will not stay here, I will leave and take Annika with me.”

“Go, there is no space for you two in this house, leave.”

 

So packing a bag each, Shivaay and Annika left the Oberoi house with a heavy heart. Shivaay had known that it would be difficult to make Dadi see sense but… He had never expected her to actually throw them out. He had thought as they were now married, Dadi would respect and accept their relationship. Alas this wasn’t the case. But Shivaay was on a mission now. He would take care of Annika and he would make sure that he cleared their names. He wasn’t going to allow his mistake to ruin Annika’s life. He was going to value their marriage and he was going to take care of her.

It was time to begin a new journey in their lives. One that they were going to live through together…

 

*****

 

*Authors note*

 First and foremost, thank you for taking time out to read this mammoth of a chapter.

There’s so much I want to say about it but I’ll try and keep this note short. This is a project I’ve been working on for about 5 months now. It’s taken so long because I just haven’t been getting it right. Even now, after reading the final edit, I’m not entirely happy with it but I have gotten to the point that if I keep tweaking it, I will never post it. So even though it is substandard according to me, here it is.

I would also like to take this moment to make it clear that I do not approve of Shivaay and Annika’s choice to get married like this, however with everything that’s happening, they have panicked and gone for what they believe is the best option.

 

I would like to thank all my friends who have waited patiently for this project and who have motivated me. I can’t take all names because this has been ongoing for so long and at this point I can’t even remember who said what but thank you Priya for motivating me since the conception of this idea and for waiting the longest. Thanks Naina for bugging me every day and motivating me to just get it done. Just thank you IB fandom for making me want to write on Shivika and motivating me to do so. This is just the start of many Shivika projects!

Thank you for taking the time out to read this and for staying back for the note. Part 2 will be up tomorrow!