ShivIka FF: PROMISES- The Final Promise: I Love You (Pg 39) - Page 4

Shivaay left his home to go to work.

Anika stayed in Shivaay's home and got to work.

Drowning herself in tasks, distracting herself by talking to vendors and suppliers, as well as occasionally taking time to get to know the various, non-infuriating members of the Oberoi family helped Anika get through the rest of the day. There were several questions which she needed to ask Shivaay himself, but decided to just jot them down in her notebook and delay asking him them until absolutely necessary. She really did not want to see him again after accosting him earlier. Oh Chandra (because of course she had named her notebook), why would you reveal your dark side to that Bhagaad Billa?

Anika spent most of the afternoon looking at wedding invitation designs. Somehow nothing really seemed right. She thought about Shivaay and Tia together, and ignoring the invisible fist which seemed to be squeezing her heart, she tried to think of the impression she got from them. "No," she shook her head, "none of these will do."

A few minutes later, Anika stood up and went down a corridor of the Oberoi mansion she rarely ventured down.

She knocked on the closed doors and waited for the voice which called "Come in."

"Hi, do you mind if I ask for your help with something?"

"Not at all." Omkara put down his paintbrush and turned to face her. "What can I help you with?

"This." Anika turned Chandra around to show him what she had quickly sketched.

Omkara looked at the sketches and tilted his head to the side. "So this would fold over the top kind of like an envelope, and this would be the invitation inside?"

Anika nodded. "I think it... fits. Somehow. I thought maybe I should ask someone else though-" Her voice trailed off and she hugged her arms around herself.

Omkara took the notebook gently from her with one hand and picked up a pencil with the other. "Do you mind?" He inclined his head towards the notebook and Anika nodded.

"No of course not, go ahead."

Omkara turned the page and started drawing. Anika's jaw almost dropped open as she watched the graceful way his hand moved over the page. Each line as quick as it was assured, bringing dazzling life to the bare bones she had given him. He truly was an artist. And it was a pleasure to watch him work. A few minutes later, he held it out towards her so she could look properly.

"The two sides fold over the invitation in the centre, and you want them to be cut out like intricate vines? Obscuring most of what's hidden inside, but you still want the gold of the invitation to be visible through the gaps between the vines. I know you've written black for the vines but I think a dark navy would work better."

Anika nodded.

"And then to actually open it, people will have to break apart the ones twisted together like a lock in the middle?"

"Yep."

"And then once they do that, the invitation will be on this gold card beneath?"

"Is it tacky? I mean, obviously it'd be a gilted gold and not a bright, shiny LOOK AT ME kind of gold. I just thought that since these are the invitations to be sent from Shivaay, they should... reflect him. Somehow."

Omkara laughed. "Dark and twisted on the outside but with a hidden heart of gold?"

Anika laughed too. "Of course not, it's a message to Tia. Even though she's marrying someone dark and twisty, he'll open the doors for her to a family worth more than their value in gold."

Omkara stopped laughing and tilted his head to the side again. This time, it was Anika he was observing.

Although Anika liked Omkara, she was always slightly unsettled by him. He was by far the quietest and most mysterious of the Oberoi brothers, and his eyes always seemed to see much more than his mouth would say. If she was honest, Anika wasn't really sure how to deal with that. She shifted uncomfortably and, of course, Omkara's all-seeing eyes noticed and understood immediately. He smiled, shaking his head and looked back down at the sketch of the invitation. "You understand Shivaay well."

Anika shook her head vigorously, raising her hands and shaking them too. "Don't say that, bhai. To understand a lunatic, one must also partially be a lunatic themselves. And to understand the King of the Crazies, I'd have to be the Queen of-"

It was Omkara who started shaking his head vigorously at this. His eyes widening as he looked at something just past Anika's shoulder.

She, of course, knew what she would see even before she started to turn around.

There, leaning against the door frame, Shivaay Singh Oberoi. Eyes glaring, arms crossed. He was wearing a cream kurta with the sleeves pushed up to his elbow and a mandarin collar that grazed his throat. "What are you doing in here, Miss Anika, unsupervised in my brother's room badmouthing me?"

"I wasn't badmouthing you, I had a favour to ask Omkara."

"Oh, really? You think you're important enough to ask favours of Oberois, now?"

"It wasn't for me, it was a favour for-"

"I don't care who it was for. If it isn't related to the wedding, you shouldn't be be talking to my family members about it."

"Shivaay she-"

"No, Om. Don't try to defend her. She needs to learn her place. How dare she come in here and think she has the right to ask my brother for favours." His voice was rising as he stormed towards them.

"Shivaay, enough!" Omkara placed himself as a barrier between Shivaay and Anika.

"No, Omkara. Don't fight with your brother because of me." Anika stepped around him and confronted Shivaay directly. "I know my place, Mr Shivaay Singh Oberoi. I know where I stand. I know exactly who I am here and what my role is and I have no intention of trying to step out of line. I was asking him for a favour related to your wedding, but upon reflection I can see that my idea was wrong. Omkara, please don't worry about it. I'll pick a different one. Thank you."

And with that, she left the room before the tears stinging at her eyes could betray her by falling.

"That was wrong, Shivaay. Almost everything you do or say to Anika is wrong. I thought you realised that by now."

"Why are you getting so annoyed, Om?"

"I want you to be happy, Shivaay. Now go and apologise to her."

"Why should I? And anyways, what does apologising to her have to do with my happiness?" Shivaay folded his arms and pouted.

"Because she was here having hand-designed your wedding invitations and asked me to draw them properly for her, and I wouldn't be surprised if in revenge she now goes and picks ones shaped like a kitten with a ribbon just to spite you."

Shivaay's eyes widened as he realised his error. And then widened further as he realised just how plausible Om's prediction of Anika's next actions were. "I'll..."

"Go and apologise and make sure that your wedding invitations are not animal shaped?"

"Shut up."

Anika picked Chikni up from the room she had set up as a makeshift office. She had been sure to conduct a thorough expedition of the house and chosen one which was completely disused and relatively small (though still, she'd venture a guess, bigger than her own bedroom at home). She had cried a little, but was now indignant. She would look through the pre-made wedding invitations and use the tackiest, ponciest design she could find.

Stupid Singh Oberoi.

Interacting with him was like riding a rollercoaster blindfolded. She had no idea when it would go up or down or suddenly veer off to the side. All she knew was that it would eventually end and she'd already passed up her one opportunity to get off the ride. So she'd just have to ride it out.

"Ahem." She jumped, startled by the throat-clearing from the doorway.

Her heart immediately jumped into gear as she realised it was Shivaay. Again. "If you're here to accuse me some more, can you do me a favour and just save it for tomorrow? It's been a long day and I'm tired."

"No I- that is- Om told me." He looked away from her, "I may have overreacted back there. A little."

"Are you telling me," Anika's tone was full of mock-surprise, "that yet again you yelled at me without waiting to hear what was actually going on and are once again having to admit that you're wrong." She made a twisting gesture with her hand. "Wah! Who would've guessed it? You really don't learn from your mistakes, do you? How the hell are you even running a business?"

"Language."

"Should I repeat in French? I learnt some of that while I was teaching myself patisserie."

"You speak French?" Shivaay looked gobsmacked.

"About as well as I speak English. Now, if you don't mind, if you're not actually going to apologise to me then vous etes dans mon chemin. You're in my way."

She made to barge past him, but he put his hand on her arm to stop her. He didn't grab her, and she could have easily pulled away... But she didn't.

She stopped.

"What?"

"I'm-"

He didn't speak for a few seconds, wrestling with something internally.

"I'm sorry."

"Huh?"

"When I saw you in Omkara's room I was... annoyed? I don't know why. You just annoy me. Maybe I didn't want you annoying my brother. I don't know, I think I just want to be the one who- Whatever. Just... don't go to a man's room alone. It's not safe, even if it's someone as decent as Om or as stupid as Rudra."

The blood whooshed in Anika's ears as her heart started beating so quickly she could feel it racing.

"What about you? Are you safe?"

"Especially not me, Anika. For you, I'm the most dangerous of all."

5th Promise: "Call A Truce"

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Thank you all so much for all the amazing comments and feedback you've been giving me for this story. I have a pretty solid idea of where this story is going and how I want to get there, so I'm kind of rushing to release chapters daily. It's so fun to write. This chapter was a bit more serious than the previous ones, but I think a ShivIka story needs a bit of depth to push it forward as opposed to just being carried by the humour. I really hope you enjoyed reading it.