I know I promised that very first Shivika Shipper next, our own Khanna, but this one came out of me instead, and since its done I didn't want to wait! I thought you guys wouldn't mind getting an extra Drabble!
ANIKA AND SHIVAAY SINGH OBEROI
As the rest of the family surged towards the dining room, Anika hung back. Desperate to go upstairs and change into something less...bridal, she almost made it to the stairs. So much to do, and there was Sahil to reach, on the phone. She would go and meet him tomorrow, before she left Mumbai. And of course, Shivaay would have to get divorce papers ready. Papers that he actually submitted this time...she would have to pack.. her arm was grabbed. Anika swung around, gasping. "Event Planner Kalavati Madam, turned Same to Same Anika Bhabi, Version 2! Apka aur Shivaay Bhaiya ka wedding dinner aapka intezar kar raha hai.." Rudra grinned at her, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.
Anika couldn't. She couldn't face him, face his grief.Couldnt face his anger that this final attempt on his part, this final, symbolic way to make her stay, to be tied to him had... just made her even more determined to leave. Had made her see how impossible it would be to stay with him. When it was all a game of control, a game that was tearing her heart out, while leaving his own intact. "I'm not hungry, Rudra. Itna stress ke baadh. And your bhaiya woh second surprise bhi daali, after all the Tia and Mrs Kapoor nonsense. I'm tired, soh jati hu..."
"Nahi bhabi! Bilkul nahi! Dinner karna hoga, sab ke sath! After all, it's not everyday that Shivaay Bhaiya takes a second turn around the mandaap, with his first and only wife! Aur aap dono ke liye first walo ke jaise second pandit bhi asli tha, Bhabi! Double marriage, this one full and final, with all witnesses! Bhaiya khud kaha that you come eat! Waise Bhabi, humara original plan pe yeh nahi tha, that you would marry Bhiaya again! That too in front of all his invited guests, the full Oberoi family! Woh googly bhaiya ne maara, aur dekho aap bhi tayyar thi, second time phera ke liye!"
He pointed laughingly at her bridal looking ghagra and jewels. Anika smiled uncomfortably, about to explain about Dadi and her gifts, but Rudra knew what he wanted right now. And it was his Bhaiya and his ASLI WALI Bhabi sitting next to each other, at the dining table. Dazed, Anika let herself be taken. She sat down, only to find that Rudra had removed her plate, placing a gold thali in front of Shivaay instead.
"Pati Patni ek saat khana khai, toh pyaar bar jaate hai.." Dadi giggled from the head of the table.
"Actually, tum dono love birds ka pyaar dugni ho gayi, nai? Dusri shadi, woh bhi pehle pati-patni se"Om said, softly, a smile in his voice.
"Shivaay, you did a great thing, marrying Anika openly like this! She deserves the respect, and it made me very proud of you" said Janvi.
"Well, at least, it will help with the Kapoor scandal. Everyone who didn't know you were a couple saw it happen today. So itna explanations nahi hoga. We can use today's ceremony as your official wedding date. Your old one can be a private celebration within the family." Tej was nothing if not practical.
"Jo bhi hua, Maata rani ki kripa aur tum sabko ka plan ke waje se accha hua. And now we will handle the rest. Aur Shivaay, Anika, mera ashirwaad hai, tum dono ke sath. Tum dono khush raho, jug jug jiyo." Shakti's blessings were a touch more heartfelt than normal, given that his sobbing wife was missing from the dining table.
As the blessings poured over them, the silent couple sat, staring at the untouched food before them. A cough from Rudra startled Shivaay, who picked up a morsel, automatically bringing his fingers up to Anika's lips. For the first time since their talk after the wedding ceremony, Anika dared to look into the eyes of the man she was sitting next to, right now. Shivaay Singh Oberoi. Her pati. For one more day.
The devastating fury, the desolate despair she saw in his flinty grey orbs made her own eyes tear up now. Looking down, one crystalline droplet fell onto Shivaay's fingers as she lowered her head. He lowered his own lips, to kiss the droplet away from his wrist, his burning gaze never leaving her face. Memorizing her trembling lips, her lashes as they clumped together, as her tears flowed. Memorizing the cadence at which her breath hitched at his closeness, her nostrils as they flared to take in his scent. Memorizing the softness of her hands, as he grabbed her fingers, sitting in her lap. Memorizing the bite of her charm bracelet, as he twisted her hands with his own, touching her, feeling her warmth, hating her for it.
Hurting her, hurting himself. He couldn't take it anymore. It felt like he was suffocating, and she was his last gasp of air. He wanted to... hold her in, never let her go. And yet, like the last gasp before death, he could feel her slipping out of his contorted heart, leaving him breathless, alone. He had begged, pleaded, threatened, bribed, screamed. And now all he could do, was ... wait for it to end. So he fed her. Slowly, morsel by morsel, he fed his one-day wife, who would leave him before he saw another sunset.
Anika looked at him, as their family celebrated a wedding that was actually a wake. Because tomorrow, she would be gone. From his life, from theirs. He had tried his last gamble, his last toss of the loaded dice. He didn't know what she wanted. How to make her stay. He had offered her everything he could think of, to make her stay. His name, his family's heritage, money, Sahil's future, on a platter. Financing for her company, jewels, cars, Khanna, even. And she? She knew what he wasn't offering, what he could give her to make her stay. She KNEW, but she would not tell him. But she could feel him breaking, right? He stared at her eyes, willing her to feel, to just FEEL. Just.. just goddamn feel. Feel what he was burning alive from, what he knew he KNEW she was hiding from. Just feel..Anika..
Anika looked at him, And, slowly, she opened her lips, to eat from his hand. Letting him take care of her, for the first, and the last time, in her life. She didn't taste one particle of what Shivaay fed her tonight. All through an infinite dinner, she stared into his eyes, silently opening her lips when his fingers brushed against them. Staring at him, she swallowed, gulping water, kheer, puri..she didn't quite know. She just knew that this was more than food, it was a craving for him, coming from her very soul. He fed her his love, his despair, his longing, his need. He didn't know that he felt any of these-- not one emotion... and she knew them all, as she ate from his hands. With greedy gulps, with tortured eyes, with complete, shameless need in every bite.
She pretended, that all this was for her, the real her. All his love, his cherishing, care, respect was for this Anika. Not the nameless orphan he would regret being with in a fortnight, hate in a month, leave in a year. Tomorrow night, Anika knew that she would be eating alone, at a dhaba or a woman's hostel somewhere. Somewhere far away from him. But tonight...she had tonight, to feed her hunger, for a lifetime. So she did.
Shiv Shakti
Madhubala - Ek Ishq Ek Junoon
Cricket
