III | An Uphill March
"Finally found something decent to wear from the mine of lingerie?" Saumya asked dryly, as she peered out of the leather-bound novel that had been previously covering her sight. It was hardly past seven in the morning, but she was already engrossed in the newest installment of the Studies of Fungi series that Rehaan had recommended. Rehaan, the man she should be talking about. Her future fiance. But somehow, that made her feel slightly dizzy, so she quelled any other incoming thoughts, and focused on the woman before her, who looked quite haggard.
"Barely." Annika looked down at what she was wearing; a high neck lace blouse, and a pair of powder blue cigarette pants that she had found tucked at the base of the suitcase, and sighed in relief.
She thanked her lucky stars that Badi Ma had had the foresight to throw in some proper clothes; so unlike the ones that her own mother-in-law had ambitiously sowed, in the hopes of certain arrivals. She felt the heat rise to her cheeks at the very thought, and hastily buried her face in her palms so Saumya wouldn't notice.
Annika cursed the fact that her husband was so goddamn attractive, and even more goddamn irritating, because attempting to resist him was proving much more difficult than she had mused. Just the thought of him had the power to make her cheeks burn, and make heat pool between her legs. God, what was wrong with her?
"What's wrong, Di?"
"Nothing much. That kanji-akhon wala idiot tried to corner me last night." She almost shuddered as she recalled their encounter in the kitchen. She had wanted to get herself a glass of water, and he had turned up there, in his trademark loose, white shirt and insisted that he help her. Then, he had proceeded to trail his fingers down her arms, as he reached around her waist to pour her a glass of water. So she had pushed him away, because she did value her self-respect, but Shivaay was relentless. He didn't know what once bitten, twice shy was. His pursuit of her would only get more deep, every time he got rejected. Well, he could pursue all he wanted, because she wasn't used to being easy.
Saumya watched as Annika's eyes glazed over, in the thoughts of the idiot she was supposedly furious with. And while she knew that she should be encouraging her to let go of the past, she didn't, because she could play testament to all that Bade Bhaiya had put his wife through. She had stood on the sidelines, and helplessly watched as the woman that had always been so strong in the face of a cruel world, broke mercilessly in the palms of the man that she loved. She felt her heart go out to her sister-in-law, especially because she knew what it was like to have your heart broken, by the people that mattered the most.
Wait, what?
She caught herself mid-thought, and shook her head furiously at her own folly, concentrating on Annika instead. Whatever she had just thought was just a stupid mistake, and nothing she would take seriously. Time for a distraction.
"Hence, I said that we should put our plan to play."
"No, I love Rudra too much." Annika shook her head firmly. As much as she wished she could get back at Shivaay for making her feel the way that he did, she refused to let her beloved brother-in-law get caught in the crossfire. Or judging by the blazing shine in Saumya's eyes, in the line of fire.
The breakfast table was already laden with dishes when they finally went downstairs. By the looks of it, the Oberoi men had prepared for a royal feast over a breakfast for four. Everything from eggs benedict to Belgian waffles adorned the table. Saumya's eyes didn't miss the parathas, and Annika's didn't miss the aloo puri.
Chef's hat still elegantly resting atop his head, Shivaay stood behind the table, smiling in pride at the sight before him. Rudra had actually had a bit of an intelligent idea, for once. What he had dubbed as Mission: Courting Mrs. Oberoi had involved them waking at five in the morning to cook, and countless hours of seduction training.
Against his better judgement, Shivaay trusted his brother's plan. He assumed that Rudra knew what he was talking about, after all, he was the Casanova of the Oberoi empire. Some of the details of his plan seemed slightly off, and not what Annika seemed to usually appreciate, but Rudra insisted that all women secretly sought the same things from their relationship.
Oh well, it would probably work than his approach; which had involved tiptoeing around his wife's being, avoiding her like the plague, in the fear of her displeasure.
Next to him, Rudra beamed as the two women came and begrudgingly took seats at the table. Sitting down opposite Saumya, he gestured at the seat next to him, for Shivaay to sit. His brother just smiled, and picked up the plate of aloo puri from the table.
"Let's dig in, shall we?" He announced, as he moved towards Annika, fully intending to serve her the puri that he liked to believe he had almost completely perfected. However, before he could do anything else, his wife moved her plate away from him.
"Rudra, pass me the oats, will you? I'm starving."
Shivaay watched, crestfallen, as Rudra unwillingly served her heaped spoons of the white, diet porridge that he, himself, had unwillingly started eating. Both of the brothers' eyes met for a brief second, as the younger man apologised wordlessly. Saumya watched the scene unfold, and knew what she had to do, albeit reluctantly.
"I would like to propose a truce." Saumya lightly tapped her glass with her fork, cutting through the tension that the other three had silently indulged in. All that she managed to elicit were three, majorly distracted reactions.
"Huh?"
"I think we should all have a truce during these two weeks. You know, we do have to live with each other and all." She went on, casually, playing with the eggs on her plate. She looked down as she waited for a response, and she got one, in the form of an enthusiastic slap on the back.
"Aah, apparently talking to me has finally recovered your brains again!" Rudra flashed his teeth at her, in excitement. He was met with a look of utter disdain. On the other hand, Annika looked less than pleased at what Saumya had just suggested.
"But - "
"I think it's a great idea! Can I just add something in?"
Shivaay cut in before his wife could go on - Saumya had set up the perfect opportunity for a make-up, and he refused to let it pass by so easily. Rudra nodded in encouragement, and he could swear that Saumya's lips tilted upwards too.
"It's obvious that Annika and I are fighting, as well as Rudra and you. We need to spend time together, so that we can sort out all our differences. Isn't that what Daadi wanted?" However, as soon as he spoke, Saumya now looked harassed. In the process of getting Bade Bhaiya and Annika Bhabhi to make up, she had dug herself into a pit.
"Is that really - "
"Great! So that's decided!" This time, Rudra followed his brother's lead, and didn't let his annoyed wife foil their plans.
The rest of breakfast was filled with enthused planning, and tacit compliance, as Rudra and Shivaay allocated duties and planned times for what they were now calling, bonding sessions.
***
"If I must remind you, Annika, we're under a truce. Stop sulking, and talk to me!"
Elbow-deep in warm, soapy water, Shivaay and Annika had spent the last twenty minutes in awkward silence. Rudra and Saumya were sorting through the vast pantry upstairs to find ingredients for their next meals, and they had all but forced the elder couple to wash the dishes.
Together, Saumya had pointedly said out loud, as she just caught Annika trying to sneak out of the kitchen. She was not going to be the only one that had to suffer with the very bane of her existence, after all.
So, Annika had done the best that she could do, and was staunchly ignoring her husband. Said husband, on the other hand had stopped soaping the dishes altogether, as he fruitlessly tried to bait Annika into talking to him.
When he started talking about the truce for what seemed like the fiftieth time that day, she finally snapped. Annika turned to Shivaay, her hands accidentally brushing his, under the deep water that the sink was housing.
"Listen to me. Whatever I said there was just to make Rudra and Saumya happy. When we're alone, don't expect anything from me - in fact, I would appreciate it if we could keep the talking to a bare minimum." Her words, and her fury, sounded empty, even to herself, but she had expected Shivaay to back away for the moment, anyway. The man usually did know a thing about good timing.
But to her absolute shock, Shivaay's hands found hers under the water again, and began rubbing circles onto them, with his own thumbs. His eyes dilated to a clear aquamarine blue, he stepped closer to her, and leaned into her ear. She nearly trembled at his warm breath on her neck, her defenses completely diminished.
"We can take other things to a bare minimum too."
Her knees weakened, Annika unwillingly leant against his solid frame. His words, sensuously spoken in his husky voice, had made her cheeks flush again, but swallowing audibly, she still braved a quick answer.
"Wh..what?" Her voice was shaky at best, and if Annika was not so aroused, she may have caught hoe extremely weak she sounded. Her husband, however, had completely noticed this, and had decided to take full advantage of the situation.
His lips, warm and tender, trailed from the shell of her ear, across her blazing cheek, stopping a breath away from her lips. Their hands still entwined inside the sink, her hand instinctively tightened in his, seeking more of his touch. Her eyes fluttered shut, she teetered on her heels, desperate for him to claim her. Internally, she knew that he was taking his time, being a tease, punishing her for the avoiding. If she had been half in mind, she would run the hell away from that kitchen, but right now, all she needed was him. Annika was attuned to all things Shivaay, however, so she felt, more than saw, his smirk as he answered testily.
"You very well know what I mean, Mrs. Oberoi."
And just like that, the spell broke.
Something about reminding her of their marriage undid all that Shivaay had managed to do in the past few minutes. Annika twisted her fingers out of Shivaay's grip, and hastily took her hands out of the water, stepping away from him in an instant. Shaking them in the air, she noticed with slight satisfaction, that she had managed to get some of the spray onto his bewildered face. Wordlessly she exited the kitchen, ignoring his calls from behind her.
That was where the satisfaction ended.
What had she been about to do?
So, Shivaay was semi-okay to look at. So, she was attracted to him. So, everytime that he was near her, and even when he wasn't, all she could think about was being back in his arms. So, she remembered what she had told herself on the flight here; that she knew he was sorry, and that would be enough for her.
And it would have been. If not for him being here, right now.
Annika had needed some time away from the halls of Oberoi Mansion. Some time away from the life of Mrs. Annika Shivaay Singh Oberoi. This holiday had given her exactly that, and two weeks from now, when she was refreshed and charged again, she would have gone home and talked to Shivaay. They would have worked things out, like they always did.
She knew he was sorry. She knew that she had forgiven him too. The only issue now was, forgetting.
Shivaay had left scars that she didn't know how to erase. He had burned images into her soul, vandalized her very entity.
She didn't know to stop thinking about the day he pushed her onto the bed, threatening to -
He wouldn't, Annika knew that too.
And yet, she still couldn't find it in her to let go of all that had happened.
And so, she decided, she wouldn't.
Trailing behind a determined Saumya, Rudra quietly marveled at his blatant underestimation of her fitness capacities. Who knew that Sumo, plump and unhealthy, could move so fast when she wanted to?
He tried to ignore the fact that she was moving faster, because she wanted to be away from him, and tried to focus on the task at hand. They had reached the large, walk-in pantry, and according to Shivaay Bhaiya, had to now look for ingredients that he could make Neapolitan sauce with. Rudra smiled as he thought about dinner, today was his cheat day, after all.
He worked in silence, because his partner didn't seem to want to converse. However, when he noticed that she was blocking the way to the rack filled with canned foods, he nudged her to pass him the can of sundried tomatoes.
Almost jerking at the soft touch, Saumya all but threw the can at his taut chest. His fast reflexes saved him from dealing with any bruising, because he had just managed to catch the heavy metal cylinder in the tips of his fingers. His save, however, seemed pointless, as his next actions did quite the contrary.
He tossed the can onto the floor, and moved towards his best friend, stepping forward almost predatorily as she moved backwards, in reproach. Like he had estimated, soon, he had her backed up against a wall.
Unnoticing of her clammy palms and reddened face, his calloused hands found her round wrists, and held them in a staining grip. He watched as she ineffectively struggled for a few moments, and then eventually felt her slacken against his fingers.
"Someone looks like they're in a bad mood." His tone was surprisingly soft, so unlike the maddeningly cruel mask that he had painted on his face. It was a gift that he had obtained from his father, an Oberoi classic; something that intimidated anyone he had ever used it on. Saumya too, visibly paled in front of him; but he still admired her nerve, as her eyes met his in challenge.
"Wow, what a fantastic observation!"
Rudra dropped her wrist, making sure that she was still unable to move away. They weren't touching, but there was a magnetic distance between their bodies that he had to will himself to ignore. Not breaking the eye lock, mask down, he stared back at his best friend, his voice even softer.
"What happened, Sumo?"
Saumya was increasingly confused. Between the cold abhorrence in his eyes, and the soft, understanding placation, she didn't know how to react. But she wasn't willing to trust that his kindness, because Rudra had a tendency to go back on promises. Or so she told assured himself, as she answered with her characteristic indignance.
"Excuse me?"
"Huh?"
"What makes you think you have the right to ask me if I'm okay?" She slid out of their afar embrace, and pushed past him, marching towards the door. She was already done.
"So I'm not even allowed to ask my best friend if she's okay?" Rudra asked weakly, his eyes still not moving from her face. She scowled back at him, arms crossed in frustration. Once, him calling her his best friend, would have made socially-awkward Saumya Tendulkar extremely happy, but then again, Rudra had ruined it all.
"You aren't if you're the reason I'm not okay!"
"What did I even do?"
She left then, letting his words ring in the air and surround them both. She felt tears burning in her eyes, and she dabbed at them furiously, because she had no idea why she was crying. His obliviousness had come as a shock, for someone who had wholeheartedly considered him one of her own.
The expectation that he would even recognise, let alone care about their current situation had been fruitless. It was almost laughable, Saumya decided, as she sobbed into her pillow later. For a while, Rudra stood where he was, staring at nothing as he pondered about what had just happened.
Contrary to popular belief, Rudra Singh Oberoi was not stupid.
He knew why Saumya had been ignoring him. He was just playing unaware, because his options were limited, and so was support. The accidental marriage that he had told himself was nothing, was becoming something. It had always been a something.
It terrified him, more than anything, because he didn't regret it.
The timing had been wrong, as had the circumstances. But the woman that he had married, now that was a completely different thought though.
He knew though, that he would never be enough for someone like Saumya. She wanted care, intellect and commitment; and he had always told himself that staying with one woman was like wasting his aptitude for seduction. He had always believed in it as well, but Saumya had messed that all up.
Not that what he though mattered; as she had reminded him time and time again, she was dating Rehaan, and she had no space for memories of something as wrong as what they had done. But then, if she was so ready to let go of what had happened, why was she so upset when he had tried to do the same?
Women were so confusing.
***
Later that evening, Annika stormed into Saumya's bedroom.
Briefly recounting what had unfolded in the kitchen, and noticing Saumya's red-rimmed eyes as they widened in fury, she finally relented.
"Okay, I've changed my mind. Let's go through with the plan."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Okay so this chapter was originally supposed to be published together with what is the now the next part of this story, but it's already longer than all of the past updates without that whole bit. Things are kind of hard on a personal front right now, so I'm trying my best to keep up with this story, but as usual, life likes to get in the way sometimes.
Saying that, I'm desperately trying to update the next chapter fast, because I'm well aware that this part isn't exactly the most exciting. However, there was respective ShivIka and RumYa scenes, so I hope that that will count for something. Saying that though, I hope you are aware that this isn't supposed to be a very dramatic story, so a lot of the parts will come off as being fillers. Sorry about that!
For now though, hope you enjoy this one!
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Udne Ki Aasha
Members Lounge
