Author's Note: Hi, you guys! This is part a of Chapter Nine! Think of this as a mini chapter. It's slightly shorter than my normal chapters. This chapter will be focusing on the sibling dynamics. I decided to write the Chowdhury sisters' part first since it's a new concept in my story. I wanted to explore this more and explain some of Anika's background.
Chapter Nine- Part A
Anika and Mallika sat out on the couch on the terrace shared between both of their rooms. On this particularly late Friday night, the two sisters were both free which was now a rarity, given how busy they had recently been. They were mindlessly flipping through fashion magazines, drinking garam-garam chai, and conversing on anything and everything. With both of them working and managing their own careers, they did not always have free time at the same time now. Anika was now especially busy with the wedding preparations.
"Anika?" Mallika asked as she inspected the newest Sabyasachi bridal collection on the glossy magazine pages.
"Hmmm, Di?" Anika said. She didn't look up as she flipped through her own magazine. She was gathering ideas for her own bridal lehenga.
"You might need to plan another Chowdhury sister wedding very soon," Mallika murmured.
Anika looked up very sharply at that. "KYA?!? Really, Di?! I'm so happy for you! Tell me the details! Don't be shy, girl." She put away her magazine and sat up straight, ready to hear Mallika's spiel.
Mallika smiled at her sister's enthusiasm and excitement. "Well, you remember what happened last year?" Anika nodded in understanding. Mallika and Siddharth had actually been dating for a couple years now. Last year, in the Spring, Siddharth had proposed to Mallika. However, Mallika had rejected him. It wasn't that she wasn't in love with him. At that time, she was still struggling to establish her career as an architect. She had had many pending projects and she had been trying to focus on her work at the time. When she had first rejected Siddharth for marriage, they had broken up briefly. However, they realized that they still loved each other and they ended up coming out from this breakup stronger than ever. It strengthened their relationship. Mallika promised that she wanted to marry Siddharth, but just not at that time. She wasn't ready for it. Siddharth had readily agreed to wait for her. He had promised that he would propose again when she was ready. Such was the love story of Anika's Mallika Di and her future jeeju. Mallika continued, "Well, you know how I was working on that new project, right?"
Anika nodded in reply.
Mallika continued further. "Well, it's going to wrap up soon, as in I'm closing it this week. Siddharth has been hinting that he's going to pop the question again soon and I'm going to say yes this time."
Anika squealed and gave her sister a tight hug. "Di, I'm so happy for you! Of course, I'll plan your wedding. I would be so sad if someone else planned it instead of me. It'll be perfect, I promise."
Mallika giggled. "I expect nothing less from my sister."
As if on cue, Sunita came to the balcony to join her daughters. Anika and Mallika made room on the chaise for their mother to sit down. "I actually came to give my two chand ka tukra a gift, she said as she held out a box."
"What is it, Ma? Anika asked.
Sunita opened the box and showed her girls the inside of the box. Both Anika and Mallika gasped and looked at each other in shock. They had never seen such a beautiful pair of kangaan before. They were encrusted with diamonds and were simply gorgeous. "Before I got married, my mother gave these to me as a gift. I've kept these kangaan all these years for my two daughters. I told myself I would give these to you when you've both found men who are worthy of your love and affection. Now, I'm giving these kangaan to my daughters for they have found their jeevan saathi. She cupped Malllika and Anika's cheeks with each of her hands. "My daughters are going to take the next step in their lives and I couldn't be happier. Shivaay and Siddharth are amazing men and I couldn't have found two better men for my beautiful daughters even if I tried. I pray that you build strong bonds of marriage and that you endure any hardships thrown your way together. I pray that you have relationships built on friendship, trust, respect and love. May you become the number one person in each other's lives." Sunita took one kangaan and placed it on to each of her daughter's wrists. Both Malika and Anika teared up and hugged their Ma.
"Why the tears?" Sunita said as she wiped her daughters' tears away. She started tearing up herself. "Ro mat, betiya. I can't even tell you how happy I am for the both of you."
"Arre, Ma, aap bhi toh roh rahi hain," Anika said as she wiped her mother's tears.
"Arre, pagli, yeh toh khushiyon ki aasoon hai," Sunita replied.
"Ma, humare bhi," Mallika replied. The three women laughed and held each other. They released each other from their tight embrace.
"I should get going. Your father is waiting for me." And with that, she bid goodbye to her daughters and went off to bed.
Mallika looked over at Anika and found her sister to be looking at her kangaan oddly with tears still running down her face softly. "Arre pagli, why are you still crying too?" Mallika teased.
Anika wiped her tears away. "It's nothing, Di," Anika softly murmured. Mallika realized that these were actually tears of sadness, not happiness. She got worried.
"What is it, Anika? Tell me. What's wrong?"
"It's just the words that Ma said. All that about love, relationships and growing a strong bond. Coming first in somebody's life is just a fantasy for me," Anika said as she wiped her tears away.
"Did something happen, Anika? I thought everything was going well between you and Shivaay?"
"I don't know, Di. He's such a confusing man. When we first got engaged, I was resigned to the fact that our marriage would be a typical society wedding. It would be loveless. It would simply be a part of the deal between Papa's company and his." Mallika nodded in understanding. Even though she personally liked Shivaay and believed that her sister and him made a great match and that they would someday fall madly in love, she knew how her sister had felt at the beginning of the engagement and how she still felt about him. She knew all about Anika's insecurities. She knew that something was slowly blossoming between the pair, but she also knew that they had their downs.
"Didn't you guys have your first official date earlier this week? How did that go?"
"It was...okay? I don't know what his plans were, but he didn't show up."
"Wait, what?!?!?" Mallika was shocked.
Anika told Mallika how the entire story. When she finished, the sisters sat in silence for a few minutes, contemplating and trying to decipher Shivaay's actions.
"Di, I just don't know what I should make of everything. There are some moments that we have and...meri saasein rukh jaati hain. It's like there's electricity between us and I know he feels it too. I start getting hopeful that maybe we can have more than just a deal between us. Then, we'll have moments where we I just doubt everything. I start thinking that this relationship isn't going anywhere. Then, I just resign myself into thinking that our marriage will just be a deal in the end. I resign myself into thinking that we'll just have a loveless marriage. He's just so confusing and I feel like we're at a crossroad right now. We can either change the dynamic in our relationship or let it be, but I don't know what exactly what he wants," Anika finished her rant. Mallika nodded in understanding and rubbed soothing circles on to Anika's back.
"Anika, I don't know what to tell you. I still believe that you guys are made for each other. That electricity you were talking about? It's so potent that others in the room notice too. I don't want you to think that you are obliged to marry him because of Papa's deal. Of course, Papa would understand. He wants your happiness too. Anika, why must you think that you need to do this to make Papa happy? I still believe that there's something that's destined to happen between you two. Give it some time and try to figure things out. However, if you feel that you can't bear this, then I will support you in whatever decision you make and Papa and Ma will do so too." Mallika hugged Anika again in reassurance.
"Thank you, Di". Anika yawned "Can we go to bed? It's getting late and I'm tired."
"Yes, yes. Let's go to bed, sis."
When she walked into her room, Anika slipped the kangaan off her wrist. She placed it with her other jewelry for safe keeping. She didn't feel like she was ready to wear it. At least, not for a long time. She knew that the things her Ma had been talking about were not what she and Shivaay had. At least, not yet. A small voice at the back of her head nagged at her. She wasn't sure if she would ever be able to wear the kangaan.
Anika settled herself into bed. She was still contemplating everything. Her insecurities were coming to the surface. She hadn't even mentioned the other thing she was worried about to Mallika. She generally didn't talk about her insecurities regarding her adoption with her family because she didn't want to hurt them. She didn't want them to know that she still had some insecurities regarding her place in the family. However, she had noticed over the last couple months that things like naam, khoon, and khandaan mattered to Shivaay. She hadn't known this when they had first gotten engaged. She still didn't know what to make of this. Her eyes drifted off slowly with things like her adoption and naam, khoon and khandaan swimming through her head.
She was back in that all too familiar dark and wet room. However, she was a spectator in the dream. She spotted her younger self sleeping. The windows were covered up. The room was cold and it smelled musty. She had no idea where she was. All she knew was that she was no longer in Delhi. They had transported her and the other children, but they had not told her where. She was sleeping on the scraps of cloth which she had made into a makeshift bed. It was the only thing separating her from the cold, hard floor. She was exhausted. She didn't even remember the last time she had eaten a proper meal. Her stomach hurt too much from hunger to properly fall asleep. However, the fear and crying had lulled her to sleep slowly. She couldn't allow herself to be scared. She kept telling herself that she needed to be strong. She hadn't seen Choti since two days ago. It had been the last time the men had allowed them out of their rooms. Suddenly, there was sharp knocking on the rickety door. Her heart thud against her chest in panic. She started screaming at her younger self to wake up. However, she couldn't speak. There was no sound coming out of her mouth. She tried telling her younger self to run, to hide, anything. Just as her younger self woke up from the noise in the dream, Anika, herself, woke up from her horrid dream.
She sat up straight in bed, her heart still thudding against her chest. She was breathing sharply. It felt like she had been back in that room. It had been years since that incident, but how could she ever forget? She remembered it like it was yesterday. She would never be able to forget that room. It had been a while since she had last had her nightmares. She crawled out of her bed and walked over into Mallika's room. Mallika was her source of comfort when she had nightmares. She walked over to Mallika's bed and softly shook her awake.
"Di?"
"Hmm?" Mallika's eyes were still closed.
"Is it okay if I sleep with you tonight?" Anika's voice cracked. She was close to crying now.
Mallika's eyes opened at Anika's tone. "What's wrong, Anika?"
"I had a nightmare, so can I sleep in your bed tonight?"
"Yes, of course! Mallika said as she shifted over in bed to make room for Anika. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Anika crawled into Mallika's bed. "Not right now, Di. Maybe later. I'm just too exhausted right now."
Mallika nodded in understanding. She hugged her sister and rubbed soothing patterns on Anika's back. Anika cried quietly into her sister's shoulder. Mallika continued to comfort her sister. After some time, Anika quieted into hiccups.
"Let's go to sleep, sis," Mallika murmured
Anika nodded in reply. They laid down on Mallika's bed and faced each other.
"Anika, I think you should visit your girls on Sunday. It's been a while since you've seen them. You've been so busy with your work and the wedding preparations. Don't worry too much about my own wedding preparations. Focus on yourself if you need to," Mallika said.
Anika nodded and closed her eyes, eyes drifting off to sleep slowly. This time, she had a dreamless sleep.
Author's Note: So, what did you guy think? Please do like this and leave me a comment! :) In case you didn't catch it, the kangaan that Malika and Anika receive from their mother are the kangaan that Anika receives from Malika in the show! I wanted to incorporate it into my story! I hope I did a good job of giving more insight into Anika's character. Part B will focus on the OBros, of course. I won't have it up immediately, but I will hopefully have it up soon. Love, Lamia
Chapter Nine- Part B
Edited by lamz325 - 8 years ago
