Author's Note: Hi, you guys! I'm so sorry about the delay for this chapter! I know I said that I would have it up in less than a week, but I took longer than a week! I had some personal things come up which is why there was a delay. Thank you so much for your love and appreciation for little ol' me and my little story. And thank you for being patient with me. I love you all!
IMPORTANT: I realized that I gave this hint in reply to someone's comment and that it wasn't in one of my author's notes. So, Shivaay does know about Anika's adoption. However, Anika doesn't know that Shivaay knows that she's adopted! ~mystery~
Chapter Eight
It was 6:45 P.M. Anika's meeting had finished already and now she was just finishing up some last minute work. All of her employees had already left for the day. It was just her left in the office now. She changed out of the formal attire she had been wearing for her meeting. She had brought an extra change of clothes to work that morning because she had known that she wouldn't have time to stop by home to change. She didn't know where Shivaay was taking her out tonight. So, she was now dressed in a crepe, coral-hued sundress designed with a tailored bodice and a small side slit. The dress was held up with two thick straps and it ended half way past her knees. Her hair was held up in a loose pony tail and her waves cascaded down her back. She freshened herself after the long work day and touched up on the light makeup she had already been wearing. To accessorize the dress, she wore white flats and a couple dainty gold necklaces. Of course, her engagement ring and chand bracelet were gracing her left hand. Her look was simple, yet classy. She would be dressed appropriately for whatever Shivaay had planned for them.
She read the clock which told her that it was now 7:05 P.M. She was expecting Shivaay to come pick her up any moment now. She thought it was odd that he wasn't here yet. He was usually very punctual, but decided to not think much of it. To pass the time until Shivaay came to pick her up, she decided to organize some last minute things that she needed to finish up.
True to Shivaay's word, she had come home yesterday night to find a new scooter. It had been sitting outside on the driveway, complete with a big red bow. It was big and shiny and white. She was sad to put Champa into retirement. Her trusted girl had gotten her around since she was 18 years old. Papa had bought it for her upon her admission into university and she had gratefully accepted his gift then. Over the years, Champa had certainly served her well, but she had also grown old and weary. However, Anika had refused her Papa from buying her a new one. She had argued that Champa was still capable of doing her job. When she and Shivaay had first gotten engaged, he had nagged her, telling her that no member of the Oberoi family, future or otherwise, should be seen in public driving around "that piece of garbage". Those had been his exact words.
Of course, Anika had been infuriated when he had told her that. It was her life and she was going to do whatever she wanted, the reputation of his family be damned. Although she had come to love this family, she hated that Indian society, especially for people at their status, dictated that a family's reputation and honor come down to a woman's actions. She would never do anything that would truly harm the family she had come to love. However, Shivaay's demands had been overbearing and pretentious. Although she knew that Champa's health was deteriorating, she continued to drive Champa around just to spite Shivaay. It was her little way of managing to get under his skin. However, when he had requested that she no longer ride Champa around because of his concerns about her safety, she had simply melted. It didn't help matters that he had just kissed her senseless and had made her feel tingles inside that she didn't even know she was capable of feeling. His voice had been especially low and sultry too. She simply hadn't been able to help herself. So, she had readily agreed. After all, it couldn't hurt to sometimes compromise, right? The arrival of the new scooter at her home had earned her loads of teasing from her family. Malika and her parents had teased her all evening long the night before. She honestly didn't have a straight explanation for how a new scooter with a big red bow had turned up in front of their home. So, she had ridden her new scooter to work this morning.
Anika was preoccupied in her thoughts and hadn't noticed the time pass by. She paused from her work and looked at the clock again. It read 7:45 P.M. Her eyebrows crinkled in tension. Where was Shivaay? It was so unlike him to be late. She grew worried. She picked up her cellphone and gave him a call. Irrational thoughts of him maybe getting into an accident entered her mind. No answer and it went straight to voicemail. That meant that either his phone was dead or that he had turned it off. Or maybe something had happened to him. It's okay, she told herself. It happens sometimes. She decided to continue finishing up some work. Shivaay was running just a little bit late. It was no big deal, she repeated to herself. But a nagging voice kept repeating in her head. Where is he?!
At the moment Shivaay had stepped out of his office, his executive accountant and lawyer came up to him, citing a problem with the upcoming takeover of the up and coming pharmaceutical company. He sighed and glanced down at the Rolex watch on his wrist. It was precisely 6:24 P.M. He had planned to head out to pick up flowers and then Anika. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Is it completely necessary that I look at the paperwork right this moment?
"Yes, Sir. I apologize, but there are some delegates here from Hong Kong. There are some problems with the deal and they're demanding some last-minute clauses. They're only here for a short time. Their flight is tomorrow morning so this really can't wait," Mr. Mehra, his executive accountant answered for him. With that, Shivaay promptly followed his employees to the conference room, completely forgetting about his impending date with Anika and that she would probably be waiting for him by now. When he got in the zone, he forgot everything else. It's how he focused on his work.
At 8:15 P.M., Anika grew frustrated. She had called Shivaay multiple times, but all of the calls had gone straight to voice mail. As a last resort, she finally called his office. His personal assistant answered his office number. "Hello, Mishra Ji. How are you?"
"Hello, Anika Ma'am. I'm doing well. How are you?" He politely replied.
"Mishra Ji, I'm doing okay, but how many times have I told you that there's no need for you to call me Ma'am. It makes me feels so old Just Anika is fine! And if Shivaay has a problem with that, then you can tell him to take that up with me!" She exchanged pleasantries with him. She quite liked the man and appreciated that he worked for Shivaay so loyally. She then asked about Shivaay's whereabouts. "Mishra Ji, I called to ask about Shivaay. I've tried calling him, but it's going straight to voicemail. Did something happen?"
"No, it's nothing of that sort. You know Shivaay Sir becomes unreachable when he's in meetings with business partners."
Anika's heart sank. Of course, it had been too good to be true. "Wait, he's been in a business meeting this entire time?"
"Yes, there was a last minute meeting that Shivaay Sir had to go into. He should be about..."
However, Anika didn't let Mishra finish his sentence. "Okay, Mishra Ji. Thank you for letting me know. I'll talk to you another time." Anika promptly hung up the phone. She took a deep breath and calmed herself. She took a few moments to herself and mulled things over, just processing what Mishra had just told her. It's okay. I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up high. This relationship is just a deal, after all. It was stupid of me to assume that this was going to actually go anywhere. So, we kissed a few times. What does that change nothing? It was just a momentary lapse in judgement. She tried reasoning with herself as she hastily packed away her stuff and left herself.
As Mishra hung up the phone, Shivaay walked by. The meeting had just finished.
"Shivaay Sir?"
"Yes, Mishra?"
"Anika Ma'am just called. In fact, I just got off the phone with her and..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Shivaay literally ran off. "Mishra, call downstairs and make sure my car is ready and already waiting for me!" He called over his shoulder. The remaining employees at the Oberoi Group building gave the young CEO questioning looks as Shivaay zoomed by. As he ran, he turned on his phone and saw that he had six missed calls from Anika from the past hour. He groaned at how he had managed to ruin everything. Just as he had expected, his car was waiting for him at the front by the time he exited the building. He got into his car and sped through the traffic. He was lucky that the Mumbai traffic was not as bad as it usually was. Where it usually took him about 20 minutes to drive to Anika's office from the Oberoi Group building, he made it there in 10 minutes tops. As he drove, he tried calling Anika's cellphone, but it just rung. She was ignoring him now. When he arrived, he spotted her calling for a taxi. He hastily got out of his car and ran towards her before she could catch a taxi.
Anika exited the building and eyed her new scooter which was parked out in front. Just looking at the shiny new scooter angered her. It reminded her of him. She chastised herself for letting Shivaay buy her the new scooter. She didn't want to ride it home. Her phone started ringing and she checked to see who it was. Shivaay. She didn't even want to even dignify his attempts of contacting her now by even rejecting the call. She simply just let her phone keep ringing. She walked out front and tried to call a taxi. There weren't many taxis out at this time, but after looking for a couple minutes, she was able to finally call one down. She opened the door and just as she was about get into the taxi, someone else shut the door from behind her and grabbed her arm and yanked her around. She collided with a solid, firm chest. She gasped in shock. She didn't need to see who it was it was to know that it was him. She could smell the heady scent of the cologne and that something else that made Shivaay Singh Oberoi. Before she got lost in his solid form and intoxicating fragrance, she cleared her mind. Now was not the time to get lost in him.
"Let go of me, you ape! Why must you always grab at me? Let go of me this instant!" Anika began struggling against Shivaay's form.
Instead of letting go of her, Shivaay twisted Anika's arm behind her and pulled her flushed against him. "Where do you think you're going?"
"I'm going home, Shivaay! Where else would I be going?! And let go me, you caveman!" He still hadn't let go of her. She was too tired to play this game with him.
"Anika, at least let me explain... Shivaay tried to reason with her.
"There's nothing to explain, Shivaay! You're perfectly fine. Just let go of me, please. I'm tired and I just want to go home now." Her voice got quieter towards the end. She honestly didn't have the energy to fight with him tonight. She was exhausted and she was more mad at herself that she was at him. She mentally kept chiding herself for actually getting her hopes up.
Shivaay noticed that Anika did look tired. She must have had a long day, he thought. He sighed. How had he managed to screw up so badly?
"Fine, I'll let go of you, but please just hear me out." Shivaay tried reasoning with her.
"Fine, but I'm giving you two minutes before I just walk away."
Shivaay let go of Anika and put his hands up in a show of surrender. Anika folded her arms over her chest defensively. "I'm extremely sorry, Anika. There's no excuse for me just standing you up. I ruined tonight and that's on me. There was an emergency with one of my deals and I had to attend to it, but that's no excuse. I'm sorry. I truly am." Anika looked into Shivaay's eyes and noticed that they were a warm azure. He was pleading with her with his eyes. It reminded her of the ocean. His words and his kaanji aankhein were breaking her resolve already. However, she reminded herself that he had put his business before her. He had completely forgotten that she existed and had only cared about his business in that moment. Should she even be surprised? Their relationship was a business deal for him, after all. She told herself that she should just accept this fact of their relationship instead of getting her hopes up. After all, she was in this relationship for her family. She tried convincing herself that she should just accept that this was all she would ever get from Shivaay.
Anika sighed. This baghad billa was driving her mad. "Shivaay, if something urgent came up, all you had to do was call me and let me know. I would have understood, but just forgetting to let me know? How could you just forget to let me know? Do you know how worried I was? I thought that something had happened to you when I couldn't reach you." Her voice grew quiet again.
Shivaay softened at that. He cupped her cheek softly. "You were worried about me?"
"Yes, you idiot. I thought you got into an accident or something!" Anika shot back.
Shivaay softly rubbed her cheeks with his thumb. "I'm sorry, Anika. This won't happen again."
"Good! She paused and sighed deeply. "Next time, just give me a call, okay? I understand that things will come up at the last minute and you need to take care of them. I get that you won't always be able to make it to things. "Her voice was still small and quiet and Shivaay noticed this.
"No, Anika. You should not need to make sacrifices like that. I made a mistake today and I won't do this again. It's just that, before today, I really didn't have to answer to anyone before. However, I won't make this mistake again."
Anika nodded quietly. "Okay, fine. Can we at least get some food? I'm starving."
"Okay, let's get in the car first." He knew that she still wasn't convinced of his sincerity. Shivaay led her towards the car and they got in. He started the car and headed out.
It was now 9 P.M. In the car, Shivaay made a call to the restaurant he had placed a reservation at. It had been hard enough to get the reservation on such last notice, but now they had missed their reservation. "Isn't there any way you can still fit us in? NO?! What do you mean "no"?! Don't you know how I am?!" Shivaay grew frustrated as the restaurant refused his request to fit Anika and him in. The restaurant cut off the line and Shivaay cursed. Anika smirked at the great Shivaay Singh Oberoi being told that he couldn't just simply demand something. She wondered where exactly Shivaay had been planning to take them in the first place for them to now not allow him to still make their reservation even though they were now two hours late.
"Shivaay, just let it be. Raita phel gaya. There's no point in trying to fix it now. What's done is done." Anika tried reasoning with him. They slowed to a stop at a red light near Marina Drive. Anika looked out the window and gasped. "Pani puri! Bhel puri! Samosa! Kulfi!" She excitedly tapped Shivaay's shoulder to look as she pointed in the direction of the food stalls on the side of the road.
"Anika, just because we missed the reservation doesn't mean that we have to resort to eating that! What's so appetizing about that?"
"Arre, have you ever eaten any desi streed food?"
"Why eat samosas and chai from the roadside stall when you can afford caviar and truffle?"
"You've never eaten street food?! What did you do with your friends when you were in school?!"
"Street food? Humare jaise addmi raasta ka khana nahi khata hai. We played polo and golf! We ate food made by our family chefs. What else would we do?!"
Anika rolled her eyes. Phir se, yeh naam, khoon, khandaan bakwaas, she thought. "Okay, it's settled then. We're eating desi street food today."
Shivaay scoffed. "Anika, you don't know what ingredients they use in this food. Yeh khana ghanda ho sakta hai." He tried reasoning with her.
"Please, Shivaay? I haven't had it in forever and I've craving it too!" Anika put extra emphasis on saying his name and tried her best to woo him.
"Ugh, fine. We'll have it your way just this once." Shivaay relented as he turned in the direction of the food stalls. He parked the car and they stepped out of the car. Anika went ahead of Shivaay in search of the pani puri. There was a certain bounce in her step, indicating her excitement for the food. Shivaay smiled at that. He was just happy that she was in a good mood again. Anika started ordering pani paris while Shivaay eyed the stall with questioning eyes. "Ooof, Shivaay. Please don't start your taadibaaz now. Just let me eat in peace. Plus, don't you dare let your naam, khoon, khandaan nonsense effect my love for pani puri and kulfi!"
"I thought you loved eating puris for breakfast?"
"Well, yeah that too. How can one only love one type of food? Now, be quiet and let me eat!" Anika said and she ate her first pani puri. Shivaay was still eyeing Anika and the pani puris suspiciously. He opened his mouth to say something. However, before he could, Anika decided to shut him up by shoving a pani puri into Shivaay's mouth. Shivaay spluttered in shock, but he had no choice but to begrudgingly bite into the spicy, tart snack. He munched and accepted that the snack was, in fact, pretty tasty. They filled their stomachs with pani puris. Shivaay paid the pani puri wala. Anika took his hand and dragged him towards the kulfi stand. They bought a pista kulfi and an malai kulfi. There was a nice area to take a walk around so, they walked and talked as they ate their kulfi. Anika innocently ate her kulfi and didn't notice the little bit that was stuck on the corner of her mouth. Shivaay gave her a funny look. Anika noticed this. "Hmm? What is it?"
"You have something..." He said as he pointed at her face.
Anika wiped her cheek, not understanding what Shivaay was trying to say. "No, here, let me." He leaned in and kissed the corner of her mouth, completely taking her by surprise.
"Mmm, I like the flavor of your kulfi," he told her.
Anika smacked his arm. "Shivaay! What are you doing? What if people see? Log kya kahenge?" Anika looked around to see if anyone nearby was watching them.
"Offo, Anika! What does it matter if people say anything?"
"Ironic that you're the one who's saying that," Anika muttered.
Shivaay tried placating her by wrapping an arm around her shoulder.
"Relax, darling. I'm just kissing my fiance. Nothing wrong with that!" He said as he placed another chaste kiss on her temple. Anika's cheeks heated and blushed at his words which didn't go unnoticed by Shivaay. "Anika, are you blushing right now?"
"What blush? That's just my makeup!" Anika tried to play it off.
"Mhm, sure. I see that your cheeks became more flushed with heat when I kissed you. Is that the effect I have on you?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Anika snootily pointed her chin up and led them in another direction and changed the topic of the conversation.
They finished their kulfi and continued to walk, enjoying the ocean air. Shivaay grabbed her hand and held it tight, intertwining their fingers together. This felt new and it was a new turn in their relationship. Anika looked down at their intertwined fingers and looked up at Shivaay. She smiled at him and he returned the smile. It took Anika aback. She couldn't recall another time when Shivaay had smiled at her so genuinely before. They continued their walk and talked for a bit more.
Anika yawned. "It's getting late. We've both had a long day and we have work tomorrow too," Shivaay said.
Anika nodded in reply. They made their way back towards Shivaay's car and headed back home. The drive back to Anika's house was quiet, but calm. Shivaay reached over and held Anika's hand, their fingers intertwining again. There was no need to fill every quiet moment between them with mindless banter. There was a certain enjoyment in just being in each other's presence in silence. Mumbai's night lights flashed by and they arrived at the Choudhury home.
Shivaay shut off the engine and parked his car in the driveway. "Anika?"
"Hmm?"
"I really am sorry about today. I know our first date wasn't that amazing. I'll make it up to you soon."
"That's okay, Shivaay. I still had a good time tonight. You don't need to worry about that," she said tiredly. Anika cupped his cheek and brought his face closer to hers. She pressed her lips to his softly and kissed him goodnight. It was a chaste kiss, not too long, but not too short either. They released each other's lips and they rested their foreheads against each other's.
"Goodnight. I'll see you soon."
"Goodnight, Shivaay." It still took his breath away when she said his name like that. It fit perfectly, like it was meant to be.
Author's Note: And that's chapter eight! Please like this and leave me a comment! How do you guys feel about the pace and flow of this story? Am I characterizing Shivaay, Anika and the other characters well? I would love constructive criticism. Love, Lamia
Chapter Nine Part A
Edited by lamz325 - 8 years ago
Marathi TV
