Author's Note: Thank you so much to everyone for the love for my last chapter. I appreciate it! I'm sorry this chapter came out a little late; I was experiencing some writer's block with this chapter. Monday's episode with Shivaay kissing Anika's neck in the pool had me hyperventilating! I wasn't expecting that! It felt like I was watching the scene from my own fanfic!
Chapter Three
After borrowing some clothes from Prinku and haphazardly drying her hair, Anika rushed downstairs to the dining room. Explaining to Prinku how exactly she had gotten wet and why she needed a change of clothes had been embarrassing. It had already been 15 minutes since she had left the pool area. Her hair was still damp, but she couldn't do more since the entire family was already waiting downstairs. She couldn't keep them waiting any longer. That would only lead to more questions about where she had been all this time and she didn't have answers for them.
When she got down, the entire family was already seated and the only seat left open was next to...Shivaay. Oh, great, thought Anika, I have to sit next to the baghad billa now. Honestly, Anika was still confused about their moment in the pool. She didn't know what to make of it. It had been so out of character for Shivaay. She was still trying to wrap her head around it, but now was not the time to think about it. She would save thinking about what had happened for later. "Sorry, Dadi, for taking too long.
"Koi baat nahi, puttar. Shivaay bhi abhi aaya." And with that, the family started eating. A few minutes into eating, Rudra started his teasing. "Anika Bhabhi... Rudra shot Om and Prinku a look. He had already filled in his siblings on what had happened.
Anika paused eating and looked up. "Yes, Rudra?"
"How was London, Bhabhi?" Everyone at the dinner table tuned into the conversation.
"It was good, Rudra! The wedding was a total success. I'm so happy with how everything turned out."
"That's good, Bhabhi! I'm so proud of you."
"Thank you, Rudra." She smiled to him in return.
"But, Bhabhi?" Shivaay eyed his brother. He didn't like where this was going. Knowing Rudra, he wouldn't let go of what he had walk in on.
"Hmm?" Anika replied.
"Don't people in London in bathe or shower?" The elders shot each other confused looks. Shivaay shot Rudra a warning look. He knew where this was going. Om and Prinku shared a chuckle together. They were in the know so, they knew where this was going.
Anika was the most confused of all. Yeh kaise ajeeb log hai. What family am I getting married into? "What? Of course, they do. Why wouldn't they?" She took a sip of her water.
"But, then Bhabhi, why would you jump into the pool with Bhaiya right after getting back from London?" Anika started choking and coughing on her water. She hadn't expected Rudra to bring up what had happened at the pool.
"Shut up, Rudra!" Shivaay warned. He needed to mediate the situation before the elders got a whiff of this. He needed to save face before this got out of hand.
"No, I get it. You lovebirds were separated for two weeks. You didn't see each other. Yeh toh hota hai. No need to get so embarrassed." Rudra continued.
"Rudra!" He was in hot waters and he didn't know how to get himself out. Anika continued coughing harder and wished that the earth would somehow swallow her up.
"Oh my mata, Rudra, what are you saying?" Pinky asked.
"Choti ma, you don't know? Bhaiya was romancing Bhabhi in the pool!" Rudra declared. Anika's fit of coughs only got worse. The elders looked at each other and chuckled to themselves.
"Haan, choti ma! Anika babhi even had to borrow my clothes since hers got wet!" Prinku chimed in. Anika shot Prinku a look. Et tu brutes? She had thought at least the quiet girl would keep her little secret. She hadn't expected that of Prinku of all people.
Shivaay reached over and rubbed Anika's back in soothing motions. "Are you okay, Anika?" This little thing had two effects on Anika. Her heart beat erratically at Shivaay's touch. She felt like she was in the pool again. She couldn't think properly. Yet, his touch was soothing, comforting. It wasn't meant to evoke the same emotions as the ones that his kisses in the pool had meant to. Anika's coughing calmed down. "I'm fine; it's okay. Anika nodded to him."
"Look, Bhaiya is even romancing Bhabhi at the dinner table! These two lovebirds can't stop!" Rudra exclaimed.
"Rudra, please shut your mouth!" This situation could not get any worse for him.
"Arre, Billu, tu toh bade ishqbaaz ban gaya!" Dadi chimed in.
"Oh, please, Dadi! Not you too!" Shivaay tried to defend himself.
At this the whole table erupted into laughter. Even, Tej, who was always too serious, joined in for the jovial mood. Shivaay tried to hide his own smile. Anika bowed her head in embarrassment. Today, really couldn't get any worse, she thought. The table calmed down and the family continued on with their dinner. After a few moments later, Pinky broke the silence.
"Anika, I hope you won't have to take long trips like this in the future."
"Kyun, Aunty? Anika replied.
"It's clear that Shivaay missed you!" Anika's cheeks reddened at that. She hoped her in-laws would stop teasing her soon. She didn't think she could survive this any longer.
"Mom, please..." Shivaay cut in.
"Arre, Shivaay mujhe bolne dena. We all missed you, beta." Pinky turned back to Anika. "I'm so proud that my future bahu has such a booming business! All the other ladies in the society are jealous that I am getting such a capable daughter-in-law. Vaise, yeh saab shaadi ki pehle theek hai lekin shaadi ke baad..." The meaning of Pinky's words wasn't lost on Anika. She knew perfectly well what Pinky Aunty was saying.
Her event planning firm was everything to her. She had started it all on her own; she had refused for her father to initially help her out. She wanted to prove that she could do something with her own merit. Her work brought her joy; it gave her a certain sense of satisfaction. It was her baby. When she and Shivaay had first gotten engaged, she had made it very clear to him that she would be able to continue her work after they got married. She would play her part of the high society bride, but that does not mean that she would stay at home all day, waiting on him. She needed her own sense of satisfaction in life and she wasn't going to get that by simply being married to a rich businessman. Anika was upset. She wanted to give Pinky Aunty her two cents on the matter. She wanted to defend herself. However, before she could reply to Pinky, Shivaay intervened.
"Mom, of course, Anika can continue her work after we get married. It's not like I am going to change my work hours after marriage."
"Shivaay, that's different. You handle the family business. Anika's little shaadi business..." Pinky continued.
"...is just as important work as what I do. She'll continue her work as she wants after marriage." It's her decision, of course. And that was that. Nobody said anything more. Pinky pouted but, she didn't try to refute him. She hadn't expected for him to come in her defense, especially against his mother. Anika sat there, gaping at him. She noticed everyone else at the table resuming their dinner and she did the same.
Dinner ended and the family gathered in the great hall to catch up on their day. After all, it had been a while since they had all seen Anika too.
Sometime later, Anika decided that it was getting late. She hadn't gotten to see her own family since she had arrived.
"Dadi?"
"Haan, puttar?"
"Actually, Dadi, it's getting late. Aab mujhe jaana chahiye."
"Haan, of course, puttar. But I think all the family drivers have already left the day."
"Koi baat nahi. I can take a taxi or auto."
Before Dadi could say anything, Om cut in. "Bhabhi, there's no need for that! I can drive you home."
But, Shivaay was already up. "No, it's okay, Om. I can take Anika home." Om raised his eyebrows at this. Hadn't Shivaay just been complaining yesterday about having to pick Anika up from the airport? Hadn't he been annoyed, saying that he wasn't her chauffer? He shared a look with Rudra. He hadn't believed his ears when Rudra had told him what he had walked in on in the pool area. He had argued that the situation could have been coincidental. Although he thought that Anika and Shivaay suited each other, he knew the current nature of their actual relationship. He wasn't blind. He had seen the way the two regarded each other. But, now, upon seeing this, Om decided that, perhaps, Rudra had been right. He noticed something different today. Shivaay was a little different around Anika today. Something had changed and he wanted to find out what. "Theek hai, Shivaay. You take Bhabhi home, then." And with that, it was decided. Shivaay would be the one to drive Anika home.
Anika cursed herself. What great luck I have, she thought to herself. Knowing Shivaay's mood swings, who knows how a second ride in the car in one day would be like with him. Anika said her goodbyes to everyone and followed Shivaay out to where his car was parked. They were silent, but she noticed that his mood wasn't as dark as when he picked her up from the airport earlier that day. As Anika got into the car, she sneezed. She felt tired from travelling and she hadn't gotten a chance yet to properly rest.
"Here, put this on," Shivaay said as he took off his own jacket and handed it to Anika. "You didn't dry your hair properly and you've been sitting in the cool mansion for hours. Your body is probably still tried from London and you were travelling. You're catching a cold."
Anika looked at him with wide eyes. She quickly composed herself and murmured a quiet thanks in return. She hadn't been expecting him to be that considerate towards her or to pay attention to her in such detail. How had he noticed that her hair was still wet throughout the time that they had been eating dinner and sitting with the family?
Anika's home wasn't too far from the Oberoi Mansion. It was only a short 15-minute drive to another neighborhood of Mumbai's upper class elite. They were both quiet in the car, but this time, it was a comfortable silence. It wasn't like the silence that they had shared earlier in that day. Anika's mind wandered to the events of that day, but she had to stop herself. Not now, she thought. She would wait for the comfort of her room and her sister's support to hash out everything. They arrived at her home and Anika moved to remove Shivaay's jacket.
"No, it's okay. Keep it. You can just give it back to me some other time."
Anika nodded to him return and turned to get out of the car. However, he stopped her. "Anika?"
She turned back to him. "Hmm?"
"Never mind. It's okay, go on. Say my greetings to Aunty and Uncle. I'll see everyone on Saturday." Anika gave Shivaay a quizzical look. He looked like he was just about to say something important. She tried to read his expression, but she couldn't figure out what he was going to say. Giving up, she turned and go out of the car. Before closing the door of the car door, she murmured to him, "Goodnight, Billuji.
"Goodnight, Anika." And with that, Anika headed inside while Shivaay headed home.
The Chowdhury Mansion exuded the same opulence that the Oberoi Mansion did. However, the two homes were so different in many ways. While the Oberoi mansion was modern and had marble flooring, the interior of the Chowdhury mansion reflected the traditional architecture of the family haveli that Rajeev Chowdhury had grown up in. When he had been just 20 years old, he had set out for Mumbai, hoping to make it big. He wanted to make something of himself, based on his hard work and his merit. He had dreams and only Bombay would only be able to fulfill them. However, this led to him missing his beloved family home. When the hard work and perseverance had finally paid off, Rajeev had built this home, with inspiration from his own childhood home, with dreams of raising his own family here with his wife.
The Chowdhury Mansion was warm with earthy rich tones of brown, terracotta, and reds. The color scheme contrasted the cool blues of Shivaay's room and the bright colors of the rest of Oberoi Mansion. Anika loved her home dearly. It was a mansion, but it was homey. It was comfortable and it was her safe space. It felt familiar to her. She never found herself getting lost in this mansion. When she walked in, she headed straight for where she knew her Ma and Papa would be.
At the end of the day, her Ma and Papa would sit next to each other and just read. They would each do their own thing, but they would still do it together. Even after so many years of marriage, her parents were still so affectionate towards each other. She had hoped that she would find something like this for herself one day, but alas, destiny had other things planned for her. Never mind that, she would think of these later, when she would be in the safety of her own bedroom. She entered the reading room and broke into a wide grin. "Papa! Ma!"
Rajeev looked up from his papers and broke into an equally wide grin. Sunita put down her book and she smiled. Rajeev opened his arms to hug his daughter. "Ani! Meri beti! When did you come?"
Anika rushed into his arms and gave her father a tight hug. "I just came. Shivaay dropped me off."
"Good. How is he?" Sunita asked as she stroked her daughter's hair.
Anika's expression became unreadable. "He's...uh... he's good, Ma."
Rajeev knew his daughter well. He could detect when something was wrong. "What's wrong? Is there something wrong?"
Anika schooled her features. She smiled softly at her father. "No, of course not, Papa."
"Are you sure? Is everything good with Shivaay?" Sunita inquired.
"Arre Ma, no! I'm just a little tired. That's all. I haven't gotten a chance to rest and I may be coming down with something."
"Theek hai, baba. We just worry for you. That's all."
"There's no need for you to worry, Ma. Where is Sahil and Di?"
"Mallika is in her room. Your bhai isn't coming back from school until the weekend. He's coming down for Shivaay's award reception." Her mother answered for her
"Okay, I'm going to go find Di. I need to go catch up with her!"
"Theek hai, beta. Go on and rest too."
"Goodnight, Papa, Ma." Anika kissed her father's cheek hugged her mother and went off in search of her sister.
"Don't stay up all night talking with your sister! You both need to sleep!" Her father called out as Anika left.
Sunita chuckled at Rajeev. "Is there any point? You know how those two sisters are. They're inseparable."
The Chowdhury family found Anika when she was seven years old. At that time, it was just her parents and her sister. One day, Papa found her wandering the streets. She was stranded in the rain and he had seen her from his car. She had been malnourished and lightly injured. She was soaking wet from the rain and she looked cold. There was a certain innocence about the girl that had pulled him to her. He brought her home with him and called a doctor to tend to her injuries. Upon calling the police, the Chowdhurys found out about Anika. She had no one else. She was alone, but they decided that would be no more. There had been no need for discussion. Rajeev and Sunita had decided right there and then that Anika would live as their daughter from that point on wards. They had fallen in love with her immediately after meeting her. It had been destiny for Rajeev's path to cross Anika's on that day. However, Anika hadn't been able to speak to anyone when she first arrived. She had been too traumatized. She had been still too scared. Five days later, Mallika was able to finally crack a smile out of Anika and that was the start of a beautiful sisterhood. Anika called Mallika "Di" even though her sister was only six months older than her. Twenty years later, and no one would ever guess that Anika wasn't born into this family.
Anika went up to her sister's room. Their rooms were adjacent to each other, but they shared a balcony. At night, they gathered on their lounge chairs together and just de-stressed from the day. They would vent to each other about their day. They knew everything about each other; they had no secrets. That included Mallika knowing about the true nature of Anika and Shivaay's relationship. When their Papa had first talked to Anika about getting engaged to Shivaay, Mallika had advocated for the engagement. She knew that her sister had dreamed of finding love like she had with Siddharth, but she knew, just knew that, something would blossom between Shivaay and her sister. She had seen them interact before and had seen the way they lit electricity in each other. Sure, they had fought and bickered even the first time they had met, but she had never seen two people emit such strong emotions from each other like that before.
Before Anika could even reach her room, Mallika was already running towards her from their rooms. "Ani!"
"Di!" The two sisters hugged each other. "Wait, Di! I can't breathe! You're hugging me too tight."
"Sorry, sorry. Mallika released Anika from her hug. "Arre. Anika! What are you wearing? What's this?"
Anika realized that she hadn't taken Shivaay jacket off yet. "Oh, Shivaay just let me borrow this. It's nothing."
"Arreh, vaah! Looks like Shivaay is really stepping up his game."
"Eeesh! Not you too, Di! I've had enough teasing for today. You don't even know what trouble the baghad billa got me into today."
"Do tell! I'm dying to know." The girls walked to their rooms as Anika relayed her story to her sister.
Forty-five minutes later, Anika was washed up and finishing up her story to her sister. "Wow, I didn't know that Shivaay had it in him to finally make a damn move!"
"Oh my god, Di! You're giving me michmichi. Is this the only thing you've gotten out of this whole story?" Anika said as she sipped her hot chocolate. Hot chocolate out on the balcony was a tradition of theirs.
"Anika, you need to focus on the bigger picture! This is why I liked Shivaay all long. You guys have a certain effect on each other."
"Offo, Di! You're getting carried away. I think the effect you're talking about is wanting to kill each other when we get near each other. Anyways, how is Siddharth jeeju?"
"Oof, you know how men are!"
"Hmm, touche!" Anika replied. Mallika chuckled at that. The girls continued talking about the men in their lives and eventually went to sleep some time later. As Anika lay in bed that night, she thought about that day's events. She still couldn't wrap her head around everything. She thought about his kisses in the pool. Even thinking of it now, Anika felt heat spread across her face and her neck. She could still feel his kisses on her neck and jaw. Did he almost kiss me on the lips today? There had been a moment there where Anika had thought that he would finally kiss her on her lips. No, no, no! Anika don't think about that. Besides, this is just physical attraction between two people. There's nothing more to this. Sleep deprivation and exhaustion from the flight took over and Anika eventually fell asleep.
Author's Note: And that's chapter three! What did you guys think? So I gave some background on Anika's family, but I haven't revealed everything just yet! Anika and Mallika's relationship reminds me of that song from Har Dil Jo Pyaar Karega. It's called "Piya Piya o Piya Piya." You guys should check it out! What do you think Shivaay was going to tell Anika in the car? Writing this story is keeping me sane with everything that's going on in the show! Unfortunately, there won't be an update next week since I'm approaching the end of my semester and my finals are coming up! ! However, the next updates will be special treats to make up for that! You guys can expect the next update in approximately two weeks. Do hit the like button and leave me a comment! Love, Lamz
Chapter Four
Edited by lamz325 - 8 years ago
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