Purely on request of three people who I continue to bore with endless theories and other non-sense. Wondering if this was one of their ways to shut me up🤣
Blessy, I love you
Momo, I hope this makes up at least by one percent as we cannot expect too much from this epi.😳 Please dont wake up in the middle of the night to read this
Sahar, this may not be as hot but hoping its hot enough for u😆
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|| Shivika OS: Hide & Seek ||
The Oberoi Mansion was decorated with fairy lights and flowers while it basked in an aura of festivity and romance on the occasion of Karva Chauth. The servants ran from one end to another... busy handling the decorations and other arrangements of the giant mansion. Shivaay Singh Oberoi sat by the poolside with his laptop, his watchful eyes on his newly wedded wife, Annika.
His personal Annika admiring session was interrupted by Tanya and Shivaay had to take deep calming breaths to stop himself from lashing out at her.
"You haven't had breakfast and now you are refusing lunch. I have told you before that there is no point of pulling on this charade".
Tanya plate laden with food beside him. Shivaay, in turn, signalled a servant to take the plate away.
"It isn't a charade." He replied, his eyes on his laptop "It's a tradition that Oberoi men fast along with their wives on Karwa chauth."
Tanya shook her head in exasperation. Why were these two hell bent on punishing themselves? She couldn't let Shivaay break Annika's fast or let anyone know that Shivaay had kept a fast for Annika. Her hands were tied.
She had tried forcing Annika have breakfast but she had an inkling that Annika had thrown the food away and now Shivaay was blatantly refusing to eat.
"Well your wife isn't fasting for you." She lied hoping he would give in and eat. "I made sure of that. After all, why would she fast for a man capable of forgetting her in fifteen days and getting another woman as his wife?"
Tanya's tactic of making him break his fast failed miserably as Shivaay smiled.
"You don't know Annika too well if you think that."
Tanya rolled her eyes.
"There isn't any point of you fasting either. You cannot give my game away. It will be better if you don't trouble yourself and eat something". She said pointedly
"Don't concern yourself. I don't find fasting for the woman I love much of a trouble". Came the cool reply.
"Love" laughed Tanya, her voice bitter thinking about everything she was reduced to do in the name of love "What an emotion to invest into when it is capable of bringing the great Shivaay Singh Oberoi to his knees?'
This time Shivaay looked up at her, his blue eyes sharp.
"If it is powerful enough to bring Shivaay Singh Oberoi to his knees, it is powerful enough to make him destroy everything if Shivaay Singh Oberoi finds his footing. You might as well remember that."
Tanya turned around and walked away without saying a word. She knew what Shivaay's love was capable of and that was the reason she was given instructions to keep them apart. And yet, her biggest fear was that someday, Shivaay Singh Oberoi would destroy the man who ruled her heart.
***
Annika was walking along the corridor on her way to her bedroom upstairs when she felt a hand grasp her wrist and pull her unceremoniously in the washroom. Body plastered against the tiled wall, she looked at the blue depths of her husband's eyes.
She swallowed and her heart rate increased. He closed the distance between them and placed both his hands on the wall, trapping her, preventing her escape. Not that she had any plans of escaping.
"Why are you hiding in here?" she whispered, her eyes on the unbuttoned portion of his white shirt that exposed his strong throat.
"Waiting for you to come along and hide with me from Tanya's prying eyes." He replied huskily, leaning closer to her than he already was, as if irresistibly drawn to heat. She wrapped her arms around his neck and tilted her head towards him, letting him brush his lips over hers.
"I hate that we have to spend our first Karva chauth hiding from the world". She said breathlessly as they broke apart for air. Annika looked at Shivaay "She will come looking for us any minute"
Shivaay smiled, his eyes warm and loving.
"That is what makes these stolen moments all the more precious and the hide and seek game all the more interesting". He replied bending his head down, nuzzling along her collarbone.
"But..." She protested
"Shhh" was all he said as he continued to press kisses on the expanse of her neck. Annika closed her eyes, drunk on the feelings that were exploding within her.
"The first rule of the game is to be very, very quiet." He said, his breath hot against her neck. He raised his hand and traced his thumb over her bottom lip. He then entangled his fingers into her hair and pulled her to him.
"The second rule is to let your senses rule" he said, kissing the tip of her nose and then pressing butterfly kisses over her upper lip
Annika unbuttoned his shirt, feeling confident and let her fingertips brush against his chest.
"Is there a third rule?" she asked, her voice low and passionate.
"The third rule is to never get caught." Came the muffled reply
***
Annika smiled to herself remembering the moments spent with her husband in the confines of the washroom, as she placed diyas in obedient rows along the pool side. She could see Tanya standing at a distance, in deep conversation with Pinky aunty. After placing the last diya, Annika stood up with the empty tray and was about to collect a few more diyas when Shivaay once again cornered her from behind the pillar
"What are you doing?.". she is just there she told him, looking around wildly, hoping Tanya wouldn't catch them.
"Stop working" he asked, his voice sharp. He looked angry.
"What?"
"You fainted the last time, remember?" he rasped, holding on to her wrist "And now you are running around managing everything"
Annika smiled gently. She could see that he was both irritated and upset; not to mention extremely concerned for her health.
"I'm fine and besides there is a lot of work " she said trying to free her wrist from his grasp but he held on.
"There is a reason I employ staff." He mentioned sharply and then let out a sigh "Please don't let me worry over you especially when we have to hide from the world"
"So what will happen if I faint?" she asked, kissing his fingers that encircled her wrist. Shivaay stared at her for a long moment before answering with a smile, the earlier anger forgotten.
"Our cover will be blown and Shivaay Singh Oberoi will lose the game."
**
Annika was dressed up in red and gold salwar and was in the process of decorating her thaal for tha karwa chauth Pooja when Khanna told her that she was called in Rudra's private gym, that was closed at the moment due to Rudra's absence. Wondering who would possibly have work with her, in Rudra's gym of all the places, she collected her thaal, to avoid leaving it lying around in Tanya's presence and went to the room.
The room was dimly lit and there was a wide window that was open giving a glimpse of the starry night sky. Shivaay was standing by the window, dressed in an off white sherwani, looking so very handsome that Annika's breath caught in her throat.
"What are you doing here?" She asked happily, unable to keep the grin off her face. He quickly closed the distance between them and pulled her into a brief hug.
"Tanya has gone out... I have a feeling that she has kept a fast for someone." He replied, with a raised eyebrow and Annika's eyes widened in surprise.
"It must be something about that place." She told him "Last year it was Tia pretending to fast for you while she was fasting for someone else. This year its Tanya."
"History repeats in more ways than one" Shivaay said smiling. He took the thaal from her hands and placed it on a table nearby and then snaked his arms around her waist.
"What do you mean?" she asked, putting her own arms around his neck.
"This year I'm pretending to fast for Tanya while I'm fasting for someone else and last year, I was pretending to fast for Tia but I was fasting for someone else". He replied, his eyes fixed on her lips.
"Who?" she asked huskily
"It was for the same girl who had this irritating habit of being wherever I was, in the temple, in my house, inside a box... under my skin". Shivaay whispered dropping a kiss on her brow.
"Why would you fast for such a girl who had such irritating habits?" she asked cheekily.
"Because she was rapidly becoming that irritating habit, I couldn't live without" he said sincerely.
"Did you really fast for me?"
"I did. In fact; if I remember correctly, you were the one who broke my fast."
"No way."
"Yes." Shivaay said amused "Do you remember I had given you a glass of juice after you fainted but before you could finish that juice, I snatched the glass... Why do you think I did that?"
Shivaay saw the look of confusion in Annika's eyes as she tried to remember that incident and when she did, her eyes widened and her jaw hit the floor.
"But Shivaay that was a year ago. You didn't even love me then. You used to fight with me all the time."
"I used to fight with myself all the more." He said simply, moving closer till the tips of his shoes touched hers. Annika placed her palms along his chest and looked beyond him at the night sky. The moon that had just appeared, decided to hide back again behind the scurrying clouds.
"Looks like the moon has decided to play hide and seek" She said still looking skywards while Shivaay's eyes were fixated on her beautiful face.
"The moon knows that there are certain things that need privacy" said Shivaay mocking. Annika then, broke apart from his arms and got her thaal from the table, preparing herself for the ritual.
"It should also know that there many hearts that wait for a single glimpse of the moon." She said giving him a sideways glance.
She watched the moon slowly peak from the dark clouds and she felt Shivaay hug her from the back and kiss her on her cheek
"Well, even I wait the whole time for a single glimpse of my moon" he said burying his head in her hair.
"You do?" she asked turning around and looking at him.
"I wait for my moon to come out of hiding every single day." He said. On a cue, the moon, now free from the clouds stood tall in its solitary splendour. Annika prayed with all her heart, watched the moon through the sieve and then held it in front of her husband. After they broke each other's fast, Shivaay once again kept her thaal on the table and pulled her close.
"Then looks like your moon lost this game of hide and seek" she told him, resting her head on his chest.
"Why would my moon lose?" he asked, holding her loosely as they swayed tunelessly, content in each other's arms.
"Your moon doesn't understand the rule number three. Because her favourite part of the game is when she gets caught"
As she said that, he bent his head and placed his lips over hers and neither spoke for a long, long time.
They did not know that the moon wasn't the only witness to their passionate embrace. At a distance, from the Oberoi grounds, Tanya watched them, her eyes shining with anger. She now realized how both Shivaay and Annika reeled her in and fooled her all along. Pulling her phone, she angrily began to dial Abhay's number. But as she looked up at Shivaay and Annika, she saw the pure love for each other behind that passionate embrace and suddenly all the anger drained out of her.
In resignation, Tanya looked away, letting Shivika win this round of hide and seek. She decided to pretend as if she had never seen them. Who knew better than her, how painful it was when your love had to remain hidden from the world.
Abhay had once again stood her up on karva chauth, not risking being caught by the Oberoi's. Once again, the flames of his revenge burned fiercer than his love for her. Giving one last glimpse of longing towards the window, Tanya turned around and looked skywards at the moon.
"Wonder what it would be like to be loved by him the way Shivaay loves Annika" she whispered to the moon and like always, it was only the moon who listened to her loneliest thoughts.
"I guess that is one thing, you and I will never know." She said sadly to the moon, which for all its glory, beauty and worship; was destined to live in the confines of solitude.
***
"I was searching for you". Said Tanya walking inside Shivaay's room, hours later.
The words interrupted Shivaay's thought process as he snapped shut a jewellery case that held Annika's moon bracelet which was repaired and delivered by the jeweller moments ago.
"You wouldn't have searched properly." Shivaay replied pocketing the velvet case and thinking about their private Karva chauth celebration in Rudra's gym. "Perhaps I was in the last place you could possibly look for me"
"I guess..." said Tanya but her thoughts were on Abhay. "Why is it that every time we search for something with all our heart, they are always at the last place we could ever look for them?"
Shivaay considered her question knowing that she was talking about something else or perhaps someone else. He then thought about his Annika and their own game of hide and seek in their journey towards each other.
"Because we stop looking further when we find them." He replied.
On a cue, the moon, disappeared behind the clouds, once again.
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Before you kill me for giving so much screen space😆😆 for Tanya, I build it around her just to do justice to the title..
This IF needs to fix the bug of their closing inverted commas. Its annoying
