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CHAPTER 4
A Ray Of Sunshine
The next day at breakfast was a fun affair again, Shivaay was in the kitchen with his Bluetooth cooking for everyone, it was a sweet treat today with maple pancakes and blueberry muffins. Om had just strolled in, he leaned against the counter, waiting for his brother to finish his phone call. A few moments later "Ok Mr Simonelli, I will ask my assistant to forward you the details." He shut of his Bluetooth and proceeded to finish cooking and catch up with his brother. Om filled in with his recent inspections of space for his permanent studio/gallery. They were discussing possible location, where they could acquire land build one instead of looking for pre built offices/ buildings.
Staff had come in to collect the food and set up the table, when Shivaay enquired about their younger brother. Om laughed "Oh Rudy boy won't be up until midday atleast, he was indulged in an intense scrabble game with all of us last night and obviously lost, he demanded rematches until he lost about 7 times and gave up, definitely would've taken a toll on his brain." Shivaay chuckled at that. "Please O! I'm not that dramatic and for your kind information I did NOT lose 7 times. It was 6!" Rudra said walking in to the kitchen. They had all finally gathered at the dining table, after initial greetings; Tej whilst looking over files mused; "Oh wow Shivaay, this investment plan is amazing! It's so different, its a great idea to invest by integrating businesses like this, the profit margin looks great too. Remind me to give our banking guys a nice bonus this year". "You might want to hold on to that bonus Bade Papa, because its not our investment team that came up with it, it was Annika" Shivaay said. "Annika? Really? That's impressive Shivaay, this sort of insight in a massive corporation like us is really useful, she's graduated right? Maybe we can steal her first before she starts to applying to other companies, would not want Oberoi industries to lose out on a talent like this".
Dadi interfered "Stop it Tej! She just got back, let the poor thing breathe and take a break, she was going non stop for the past few years, let her enjoy solitude for a couple of weeks before you guys pounce on her with employment opportunities and she might not join the Oberoi Industries Tej! Don't get your hopes up too high" Tej pouted "But Ma! Why we have a fantastic internship program if she wants to go down that route, but I'm more than happy to employ her straightaway, she would get a fantastic salary package as well, not to mention that will be under close guidance of myself and Shivaay. This is really exciting; I can't wait for all the amazing possibilities. " Dadi slapped her forehead, "Oh my bright idiot, DON'T get your hopes up Tej, don't forget she has her own empire to run! Why will she join our company? Kishore may not be running it right now but the Suryavanshi empire rightfully belongs to Annika, it's what her grandparents would have wanted for her, how can we be selfish and use her an employee when she potentially the CEO of an empire of her own? "
Tej backed out, he had totally forgotten about that. It strange because he never associated Kishore to business and therefore that thought entirely slipped his mind. His mother was right, her priorities would lie somewhere else. Tej promised himself - he would help her no matter where she wanted to go. He would give her all the guidance and tips she would need. It was a little heart breaking for Tej, he adored Annika. He had made it a point to check up on her everytime he went on an overseas business trip to Europe. He always spent a day or two in Cambridge. He was shocked the first time he visited her, she was living in a basic one bedroom rented apartment, despite a decent view of the nearby lake and campus, working two part time jobs and studying a honors degree with a maths major. He was outraged at Kishore and Madhu that they did not even bother to ensure that she wall provided for. It wasn't until she ensured him that she wanted to do this and had not used her trust fund money. Tej had argued and argued and even pleaded her to let him atleast find her a comfortable place to live in, she refused but accepted the laptop he bought as an admission present. Then onwards, with the help of Jhanvi who sometimes accompanied him on his trips he bought her little things for the house, under the pretense of gifts that she could absolutely not refuse. Such was his attachment to her. He always considered her a part of his own family, which is why it was natural for him to induct her into their family business, the same way he would for Rudra or Prinku.
It was like dumping a giant bucket of ice on himself when he realized that end of her the day only her 'parents' had any sort of legal rights on her. How he wished that wasn't the case! Tej would never admit it; even under a gunpoint that he had always wished for Annika to be part of his family in other ways. Her and Shivaay indeed. If Shivaay ever took a break from his work and paid any attention to her, they would make a charming pair, a powerful pair if anything. But alas! such things cannot be forced. He should really stop his wishful thinking. he looked up from his pretend reading to see his beautiful wife looking at him with concerned eyes. He smiled and nodded at her.
Jhanvi was not completely oblivious to Tej's dilemma, infact they had a similar conversation last night. He must have taken it hard, hell! it was hard to Jhanvi to even fathom that they were close yet so separated from Annika as a family. Jhanvi still remembered the first time she had seen that little scared girl, her, Pinky and mummyji spent hours at a time trying to calm her down and feed and make her sleep. The poor girl would just cry and cry, it was days before she spoke and the first thing she said Jaanu aunty. Jhanvi generally hated nicknames but she melted like butter in a hot pan when that poor little vulnerable girl called that. From then she had a piece of Jhanvi's heart and she was a part of her prayers.
Pinky sitting a little further away was also not completely oblivious to the entire scene, it was hard to point out one family member that wasn't absolutely in love with Annika, except her darling son! She wished and prayed so hard for years for something to spark between those two, for things to happen and Annika being related to her permanently for the good. She either had not prayed hard enough or wished for something impossible because she was yet to see anything close to that sort of a connection. She still remembered as clear as it might have happened yesterday, all the games her and Jethaniji had come up with to distract that little sad girl and get her to talk or atleast smile. Pinky still laughs remembering that one time she tried to sing Inky Pinky Ponky thinking it must be funny as it had her name in it, it was not until her beloved sister in law told her that it was nothing to do with her name and sang the rest of it. To this day Pinky got teased with that song. Oh well there is so much a person could hope for. She knew one thing for sure, the family would be really heartbroken when she would choose her path and move on, there by automatically distancing herself from the Oberois.
With heavy thoughts and heart they all moved to their respective jobs for the day.
Annika woke up feeling well rested, she checked the time to see that it was past midday, knowing that she would adjusted to the clock by tomorrow morning, she got up to get ready and grab some food.
--to be continued--
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon
