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He checked his phone again only to be disappointed: fifty texts, a hundred emails, five missed calls.
One of them: Anika. Time: 3.30 am.
His heart in his throat he jumped from beneath the covers, wide awake from the slumbering state he was in. This was not good.
Meanwhile in another room in the Oberoi mansion, in Omkara's room
Anika: OM, are you sure this is a good idea? Tum aadhi neend se jagah kar mujhe sketch kyun kar rahe ho? Tumhare bhai ko pata chala toh hum dono ko daantenge.
Om: Relax Anika. How will Shivaay know?
Anika rolled his eyes and thought about how he could always sense her. She thought it best to omit telling Om that she had in fact called the oldest Oberoi grandson and he had not picked her call. Of course, why would he? He must be sleeping sab kuch bech kar.
Aloud to Om, she said
'Waise toh poore din khareed kar thak jaate honge, toh neend mein sab bech kar hi so rahe honge. Unhe kya ki main kahan hoon'
Om: Stop moving your eyes so much. How will I sketch you? And Shivaay is a light sleeper. He's up like a spring every time there is some disturbance around him. And tum toh tum ho.
Anika could not find in her heart to be reassured by her soon to be brother-in-law, so decided to stay quiet and focus on his long, lean, beautiful artist hands.
Continuedđł
Sensing his footsteps before hearing them, she looked at Om with huge, dark eyes, bright with longing.
By the time Shivaay knocked and entered, the canvas Om was working on was turned away from the door and Om was working on cleaning his brushes and humming.
'Om why are you still up?'
'Shivaay, it was very important that I finish this order. It was urgent and I thought to not waste time in sleep'
Shivaay smiled at the dedication of his brother. He moved closer to Om to put a hand on his shoulder when a sudden change in the air rippled across his skin.
With tingling hands, he turned to the canvas
'May I see this painting?'
'Huh? why? This is the first time you have expressed such profound interest in my painting'
'Shut up Om, I'm serious. It, how do you say it? It calls to me. As soon as I walked closer, it just, it calls to me. I felt as if, as if...'
'Let me tell you a little bit about this painting. This was requested by someone who knows love, who has loved someone for life, and who will continue to love'
By that time Shivaay had all but moved to where the canvas pointed, and then, there was a loud noise and a voice called out from the bathroom
'PHAIL GAYA RAITA. UFF'
Shivaay looked with wide eyes towards the bathroom, and then towards Om, just as Anika came out with a limp.
After a lapse of just a second, Shivaay was by her side, asking if she was okay while she kept trying to tell him something.
Finally she shouted his name, the name that sent shivers down his spine (the good kind of shivers):
Shivaay
'Hmm?'
'Main thik hoon. I fell in the bathroom'
With incredulous eyes, Shivaay looked at Om
'Meri fiance mere BHAI ke bathroom mein kya kar rahi hai?'
'Ek minute, aap Omkara ko mat laayie beech mein. I am NOT talking to you. And aapko kya, jaaiye shares bech kar so jaayie. Hume aapse koi baat nahi karni. Chalo, Om.'
Saying which, she all but stomped off and then suddenly stopped and stared, and turned back to a baffled Shivaay
'You did not pick up my phone. Why should I answer your questions. But phir bhi, jaanti hoon so nahi paaoge jab tak pata nahi karloge. Isliye bol rahi hoon: I had come to meet Om. He needed to finish an order and I was helping him with his work. Ab ho gaya, bye. Goodnight'
'Anika is correct, Shivaay. And I have just 8 more hours to complete this order so let me finish it. It'll anyway take time for it to dry'.
Rolling his eyes, Shivaay thought it best to stay quiet when Anika got worked up like this. You see, she loved to throw things NOT on the ground but AT him, more often than not, with outstanding aim.
So he decided to leave.
Two pairs of shoulders sagging with every step he took away from her, both of them lost the sparkle in their respective eyes, all thoughts of sleep forgotten. Shivaay's gentle shutting of Om's door shattered in Anika's heart. Taking a deep breath, she turned to Om, and said in a voice that would have made an arctic storm envious:
'Shall we continue?'
But as she was about to reclaim her seat, the door opened all of a sudden, and Shivaay stormed in gently. Shivaay moved closer to Anika, close enough to see the way her eyes moved in rhythm with hers, and knowing better, Om walked out of the room.
Gently, softly, Shivaay pushed a stray curl behind her ear and whispered
'I am sorry. Don't be upset'
and placing a kiss on her cheek, without making further eye contact, turned away from her.
For the second time that early morning,
Anika stopped him with a whispered, strangled
'Shivaay'
'Don't ask me'
And nodding without looking at her, he walked out, this time leaving the door open.
Smiling to himself, Shivaay encountered Om in the hallway
'Go, do what you have to. Just make sure she sleeps a bit tonight. And you too'
He could not explain to anyone what he felt when he saw Anika so distant from him tonight. But he knew he trusted her to make it okay. And sometimes, that had to be enough. He could not bear to see her alone with anyone else for long, he could not share her. But often, he found himself in a good mood, especially seeing how amazing she was with his family, with his brothers. But, it still hurt to not be with her. He thought when he proposed for the third time, and she finally accepted him, that after spending so much time with her, he would be okay with some space. But it was like the concept could not even exist where they existed. Shivika. He smiled to himself. Rudra and Sahil had come up with their couple name, and it was sweet, he thought. When he thought Shivika would be married in a month's time, he never expected Anika to be the one to express doubts. No one did. Usually, it was Shivaay who was the indecisive one, considering his history. As it was, Anika told him later:
'I was giving you an escape if you needed one. Aap na bohot hi toofani ho Billu ji...errr...Shivaay. Aap baraste ho, nahi toh gayab ho jaate ho garaj garaj ke. I'm not sure how long I would last in your life'
And Shivaay had stilled her with a look. As softly as he could, using the voice he used to intimidate the biggest industrialists, he said
'You think I will tire of you? Tumhe lagta hai main tumhe use karke phenk doonga? Is that what you think of me, Anika?'
'Har cheez ko itni intensity se kyun lete ho?'
But before she could continue, she found herself wrapped in Shivaay's arms
'What do you think you are to make these claims? Tum Anika ho. Anika'
He repeated her name like a talisman, like the talisman it was to him.
'Anika...Anika'
All he could do was whisper her name till he calmed down
And then he pulled away from her till he could look at her
'Listen to me'
'I don't need to. It's okay. I believe you'
What had Anika seen in his eyes and heard in his voice that she did not want him to verbalize?
So she cupped his face with both her hands, as he leaned onto one of them
' I need this, Shivaay. I need to get used to this. Get used to you. Please?'
And seeing the rare tear on her cheek that she had never allowed to fall from her eyes, he had nodded, sighed, and hugged her tight.
'Whatever you want'
And since then, both of them had been living this way: Each day was spent together, and every night was spent on the phone.
Shivaay initiated most conversations, irritated beyond measure when Anika did not call back, until she finally had to break the habit of not picking calls, when he showed up on her doorstep after a call missed per hour. Which was why when he had missed Anika's call, it was an affair to be scared of. You see, she NEVER called without a reason, unlike him.
Would Anika ever think he was clingy?
She was sitting in his house in the middle of the night, leaving her brother alone with his second to-be brother, with the second eldest Oberoi brother, lying to her husband-to-be.
She didn't think the normal labels ever would apply to this family, which now included her.
But she pulled herself back to the present, where Om was saying something
'Anika. If I wanted you moony-eyed, I'd have given you Rudy's fruit punch. What's up with you? Kahaan khoi hui ho?'
'Tumhare bhai..No. Nothing. What were you asking?'
'I was asking whether you wanted this particular look in your eyes. I swear, your eyes are so hard to sketch. No wonder Shivaay keeps...'
He suddenly checked himself, knowing he'd said too much already
'Shivaay what?'
'Nothing. Shivaay should be the one telling me about your eyes, not you. You have no idea. So just think of him, and I'll do the rest'
Which suited Anika just fine, as she sat and thought back to the moment the great Shivaay Singh Oberoi had proposed to her and won her heart and soul, made her acknowledge it, and had become her second most important reason for being.
Thoughts, critiques welcome.
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