Anika wiped the sweat from her forehead as she slumped down on a mattress. "God. I'm done. Can't anymore." She said aloud.
"I'm done too." Shivaay sat down beside her both resting their heads against the wall.
They took a look around and smiled seeing the result of their 3 hour long hard work.
They looked at each other, "Humara ghar." With a proud smile on their faces.
~Flashback~Anika handed over Shivaay the cup of tea. He sipped it and immediately made a face. "Tea!"
Anika laughed as she sat beside Shivaay on the bench opposite to the roadside tea stall.
"You don't get your now what was it, Saira Bano?" She pretended to not know the name of his coffee, "No no. Americano?"
"Espresso." Shivaay rolled his eyes.
"Right. Espresso. You don't get it here. So you have to manage with Tea for now." She smiled. Just then a man came and handed them over a plate of samosas.
Anika dipped it in ketchup and took a bite. She offered it to Shivaay but he shook his head refusing her.
"Not hungry." He muttered just when his stomach rumbled which didn't go unnoticed by her.
She put down her samosa and went up to the chai wala and asked him for some newspapers. She packed the samosas and kept it in her bag.
"How much, bhaiya?"
"70 Rupees." Anika nodded and fetched for her purse. Shivaay was behind Anika drinking his tea when he saw Anika hesitate. She was calculating something on her fingers and then handed him the money. She turned around and bumped into him.
"Oh God. You should really stop sneaking up on me like that." She gasped, her one hand on her chest.
"Sorry." He said softly and went to grab the suitcases.
Before they had left the Oberoi Mansion a couple of hours back they had packed a few necessary things.
No one except Om and Rudra had stopped them. What shocked Anika the most was Pinki. Pinki who had always been boasting about how much she loved Shivaay hadn't even come to bid him goodbye.
Shivaay had not shown even a hint of emotion. That scared Anika. Shivaay usually didn't share his emotions with anyone and always kept it within him. And his heart was already very weak. Even a little bit of stress would affect his health dangerously.
Shivaay stopped a taxi and motioned Anika to sit. She looked at him questioningly.
"Let's stay at a hotel tonight?" He said blankly.
"I thought we'd go and stay at my friends place. Wouldn't a hotel be expensive?"
"Yeah okay. But she wouldn't mind right?" He asked.
"I don't think so. I'll just call her an check." She felt her pocket and took out the phone.
"What happened?" Shivaay asked seeing Anika dial again, "She's not picking up the call."
When suddenly she answered the line, "Oh. Hello. Chanda? It's me Anika." Anika said into the phone.
"Yeah. Hi Anika. Long time na. What happened? Everything okay?"
"Yes. Everything fine. I just wanted a little help."
"What he-" And the line went dead.
"Hello? Hello?" Anika said loudly into the phone. "Crap. The phone's battery had to die now itself!" She cursed.
"You could use my phone." Shivaay offered.
"But I don't remember her number." She frowned.
"Bhai saab, kahan jaana hai?" The taxi driver yelled.
"Sorry bhaiya. Aap jaiye." Anika apologised.
"Kya log hai." The taxi driver muttered something more angrily and drove away. Shivaay looked at the taxi driver in disbelief.
Anika pocketed her phone, "Shivaay, let's go to her house. I'll ask her there. I'm sure she wouldn't refuse. Her house is nearby only, so we'll walk." She didn't wait for Shivaay's reply and started
walking.
A part of her feared that Shivaay would suggest going by a taxi or an auto. She didn't want to tell him that they didn't have enough money. And she had no idea when they'd find a roof to stay or even a job. They needed money for food and other necessities.
*"Anika wait. Please." Shivaay kept his hand on her shoulder panting. "You said that it was nearby. It feels we've walked a 100 kilometres."
"We've walked just 5 kilometres Shivaay." Anika laughed. But she was grateful that Shivaay had asked for a break. She was exhausted herself.
She knew Shivaay could've walked more, but he was empty stomach. She felt terrible for making
Shivaay walk so much when he wasn't so used to this.
As if reading her mind Shivaay said, "Don't feel bad, Anika. It's fun walking. And we need to save money, don't we?" He gave her a small smile.
She was surprised seeing Shivaay's understanding. Her eyes teared up suddenly, but she held back her tears. She couldn't fall weak now.
The clouds rumbled and it started raining.
They ran and stood below the shed of shop for shelter.
Shivaay sat down on the step facing the road. She grabbed her bag and fetched the packet of samosas. She sat down beside Shivaay and held it out for Shivaay. He took a samosa and started
eating it. When he saw that Anika wasn't eating anything, he took the samosa and fed her. Anika looked at him and then took a bite. She took the samosa and starting eating her share herself.
"Don't worry Anika. Everything will be fine." Shivaay told Anika seeing her tensed. He tried to convince her when he himself wasn't a bit convinced.
*They both reached Chanda's colony. Anika knocked the door for the third time when a voice came from behind and they both jumped.
"Anika?" Chanda asked. She looked at their drained faces and led them in.
"I had some extra work in office, that's why I got a bit late. What're you doing here?"
"Chanda, we actually need some help. Can we stay here for sometime. As soon as we find a house to live, we'll leave."
"Of course, Anika. Tu yeh apna ghar hi samajh." She smiled. After talking for a while, Chanda showed them their room.
Anika and Shivaay sat down on the bed next to each other.
"I'm sorry. It's all because of me that even you have to go through all this. I would've asked OmRu or anyone else for help but I want to show Bade Papa and other that I, Shivaay can stand up on my own feet. You're listening right? Anika?"
Anika slowly let her head fall on Shivaay's shoulder as she drifted off to sleep.
Shivaay smiled and caressed her face. After a while he leaned his head on hers and almost instantly fell asleep too.
~The next morning as Shivaay went out in search for a job, Chanda and Anika went out in search of apartments. We had found a small house for rent in Chembur.
A middle aged lady, Sumita was giving the upper part of her house on rent as her daughter was away for for studies. Because she would be alone, her daughter insisted that she give it on PG as she would have company. And so Shivaay and Anika had found a place to stay.
Shivaay had returned and they both moved into their rented place.
Shivaay pushed the door open and almost instantly jumped back.
"What happened?" She asked. She followed his gaze inside and saw a spider on the door. The house was in a complete mess. Totally dusty.
The room was big enough. There was a attached bedroom and a kitchen. There were cobwebs almost everywhere and lizards too. There was a old TV, a wooden chair and single wooden diwan in the main room. Anika motioned Shivaay to stay outside, even though he wouldn't come inside. His expression terrified. She went in and almost instantly spotted a broom.
Even though Shivaay didn't like things untidy and was scared of insects, even though he wouldn't admit it, he and Anika together cleaned up the place.
Anika wiped her wet hands on her jeans. She was pretty satisfied by how the house looked. It wasn't much furnished but it was good.
The main hall had wooden diwan in the middle, with a TV which didn't work in the corner in front of it.
A tiny little table with a earthen water pot, a steel glass on top of it. In the kitchen there was basic Indian cutlery and a mini fridge.
Anika who had gone out to buy some house items returned with a big packet of food.
"Shivaay, I can't believe that we found a house for rent." She placed it on the table. Shivaay who was arranging their clothes in their bedroom came and sat down beside her. "I even made friends down there. Ramesh Kaka and Sita Kaki. They said they'll come here in the evening to meet you."
He opened up the newspaper parcel. "Ramesh kaka has a dhabba down the road." I said as Shivaay simply nodded and he took a bite.
"What happened? Why're you so tensed?" Anika asked swallowing the chappati.
"Shivaay, we need to find a job. And it's not that easy." He said slowly.
"Don't worry Shivaay. Everything will be fine. Just like we found a roof we'll get a job too." She gave a small smile.
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
