The New York Trip (Shivika SS) Chp 6 Pg 42 - Page 21

Chapter 5

"Why are looking at me like that?" Shivaay backed away from his wife, who snubbed him and tugged him along, pulling him even closer to her as they walked out of the boutique, bags dangling from their hands.

She squinted at him, her eyes narrowing in a way that made him gulp in fear, though he hadn't done anything to upset her.

"As if you don't know?" She muttered, letting go of his arm, and starting to speed walk.

"Okay, now you're scaring me." He said, matching her pace and grabbing her hand.

"Oh, toh theek hain. Maybe you should go back by the not so scary cashier, hmm?" She said harshly.

"Where did she come in all this?" It was safe to say that Shivaay was now utterly disconcerted.

"Oh please, how can you not notice her giving you those... those.. tuchi 2Rs wala looks and making excuses to touch your hands when she gave you your change? And you were encouraging her... 'oh have a nice day,' why do you care what kind of day she has?" She frowned.

He held her hand back and stopped along the sidewalk.

"Are you serious?" He questioned, completely aghast by this drama queen, his eyes widening and his eyebrow raised in disbelief.

"Yes. Waise, it's okay. I'm supposed to be accustomed to seeing these vamps look at you like that. I shouldn't say anything na?" She pouted, tugging her hand out of his.

He shook his head and pulled her in, interlocking their fingers, with a smug look plastered on his face.

"Jealous, are we now?"

"Jealous? Even my new... Angrezi wali Chamki isn't jealous." She said gesturing to her new sandal, and then looking away, blushing as he leaned down.

"You're impossible, Ani. You're jealous of a random cashier. Besides, don't take out what she was doing on me!" He whined.

"Fine. Where next?" She just huffed as they continued walking.

He muttered incoherently, before draping an arm around her shoulder.

"I didn't notice her 2 Rs looks because I was too busy looking at you, you idiot. " He purred into her ear.

"You called me an idiot." She stared at him, her mouth in an O shape.

"Oh my goodness. Jeez, is that all that you heard?" He groaned, wondering what to do with this nutcase of a wife he was stuck with.

"Chal theek hain theek hain." She said sheepishly, as she remembered what exactly he had said, and wrapped her arm around his, as she mouthed a sorry to him.

"You are one infuriating woman." He grumbled and she cackled loudly, as if the evil woman actually enjoyed torturing him.

He sighed exasperatedly. Maybe this is what it feels like to be a husband!

They shopped till they dropped, well not literally, for themselves but more so, for everyone else. Annika was particularly delighted when she picked up some normal pjs for herself at Aeropostale and a couple casual pieces for her and her sisters-in-law and Sahil in the children's section. Shivaay, on the other hand, was busy selecting for OmRu. Both helped each other in their tasks as they hopped from store to store, GAP, H&M, Banana Republic and much more. Somehow they ended up with mostly clothes for everyone but themselves.

So when they finally walked into Loft, Shivaay demanded Annika got a few good pieces for herself, and he even helped her selected a couple, okay more than a couple, for her to try, all the while Annika whining about going to another boutique to get things for Shivaay instead.

Shivaay sat in the small lounge area as Annika was in the changing room, occasionally stepping out to show him. The clerk who was attending to her all the more encouraged " the typical bored husband" to come see how his wife looked. Little did she know, that he actually was not that bored at all, for he was somewhere in between choosing clothes for her and helping her decide what looked good, and being busy on his phone occupied with something.

One of the dresses she had picked up, a black flowy maxi dress with an open back, was a bit too small and so the clerk went to retrieve a bigger size for her.

Meanwhile, she smiled as she plucked the floral off-shoulder dress Shivaay had selected for her and tried it on. He was really one doting man, never failing to surprise her, to show an interest in her, even with shopping. She remembered in their early days when he complained about Tia's obsession with likes on social media and shopping. And here he was, genuinely wanting to shop with her. Crazy Bhagad Billa!

She reached around her back, trying to zip it up, and when she failed sorely, she peeked out the dressing room and called him.

"I need help to zip up, your specialty." She teased, as she opened the curtain and allowed him in with her.

The room was quite huge, there was a small rectangular seat to the corner and of course, hooks all around. He pulled in his lips as he noticed what was apparently her black lacy strapless bra, dangling from one of the hooks. She lowered her eyes in embarrassment when she noticed.

He shook his head at her, before stepping closer, right behind her.

He smiled warmly as he observed her in the mirror, his hands carefully zipping up her dress, revealing where all her curves were as it tightened in all the right places. She took a few deep breaths as his fingers brushed her neck absently, before he stepped away and drank in the sight of her.

The dress was held up by two thin straps, and the actual sleeves were off shoulder and frilly around her arm. The v-neck was also adorned with a frill, the same colours as the entire dress, only a little more subtle and with smaller motifs. The dress itself was orange and cream, small floral designs all around and it clung to her like a second skin, till it flared slightly to her ankles.

"What do you think?" She asked, tilting her head towards him in the mirror as she smoothed out the dress.

"You look... stunning. Take this one for sure." He said, touching her arm softly.

"I like it, but don't you think it's a bit much?" She asked with uncertainty.

She was already annoyed that knowing that shopping in the city would be way more expensive than in the regular malls and outlet stores, and highly irritated that her husband brought them there to shop on the first day. She had sighed and rolled her eyes when he told her that she needed to stop being a miser. Realising he was not going to listen to her, she gave up and continued shopping along with him.

But when he selected something so elegant, so royal, she fumbled a bit. She wasn't used to wearing these ridiculously expensive and gorgeous gowns, and here he was selecting a million fancy ones for her to try. It reminded her of how extravagant of a man he was. Shivaay Singh Oberoi was a man of a certain stature, class, charisma, and she was simple and feisty Annika.

"I know what you're thinking, but you should at least take a few dressy ones, definitely this one. You'll need some glamorous dresses for functions in the future anyways, being my Mrs. Oberoi and all."

"Oh the horror." She groaned playfully, to which she earned a slight chuckle.

"Don't fret. That's what you signed up for when you decided to marry me." He grinned, adjusting the sleeve which was curled, running his hand down her arm before letting go.

This time she laughed and raised her eyebrow at him, he was wearing his winning smirk and she mischievously retorted, without thinking twice about what she was going to say.

"Technically, I didn't exactly decide that, Mr. Oberoi." She joked and looked up at his reflection, eager to see his playful tug of smiles fading as he surrendered in defeat.

However, she was met with something she hadn't contemplated.

All the colour drained from his face, and almost every muscle in his body was clenched, his face contorted into a numb and grim expression.

She face-palmed at her words internally, and turned to him but before she could say anything, the helpful sales clerk returned with her dress.

He cleared his throat before opening the curtain to receive the black dress, and handing it to Annika, he faked a smile as he regained his composure.

"It looks perfect on you. But you decide, if you want it or not." He said a little too politely, before he left her to try the next.

She felt guilty for bringing up possibly his sorest memory, and decided to take everything that fit from what he had selected for her, much to his delight. This man just needed an excuse to pamper her. He was glad to see her thinking about herself, purchasing a variety of dresses and tops, a couple Capri pants. Little did he know that she hadn't for one moment cared about what was packed into the bags. She just studied him as he swiped his card excitedly, as she finally let him go all out on updating her wardrobe and coddling her, his previous thoughts slowly vanishing, his troubled face no longer visible.

Her heart warmed at the sight. She had known he was never able to fully forgive himself, and even if he did, reminders of it all sent him into a temporary state of dismay and shame, despite how far they had come. She sighed wondering when her love would be enough for him to forget. She had moved on from it all, she wanted him to as well.

She pushed the door open for him, much to his annoyance, as he stumbled out with one too many bags. She knew he wouldn't let her add to the ones she was already holding and so she let him be. She slipped her hand into his as they walked along to PAX to grab a bite.

After devouring two slices each of possibly the best mushroom pizza she had ever eaten, they both decided to move on.

He told her he wanted to stop off at B and G Wine and Liquor store and so that was their next stop. She was fascinated at the array of wines. Of late, she had a greater appreciation for wine after her culinary exposure, and not to mention, her husband's love for sampling aged wine. She had discovered he was an aristocratic man, even more classy than she had once thought. Types of wines and when to have them, with what type of food, was something he enjoyed learning about, and he imparted this passion to her.

They left with a bottle of Graham's Tawny Port after several moments of indecision.

He informed her that a driver from the hotel was stopping by to collect their bags, as their shopping for today was over.

"But Shivaay, we barely got anything for you!" She protested.

"Another day we'd do that. I want to take you around now. I have a surprise for you later too." He said mysteriously.

"You and your surprises." She shook her head.

"Trust me, this one is gonna be the best surprise. Ever." His eyes opened up like saucers, clearly quite confident.

"Okay okay. So tell me, where are we headed now?" She knew she could not fight him down.

Shivaay and her walked about, taking pictures of each other, of the busy city, of themselves together. He was thankful Rudy had lent them his selfie stick. He smiled adoringly as Annika went on a craze seeing persons dressed as characters walking around Times Square. She squealed in delight as she posed next to Wonder Woman, and he captured every version of her dorky smile.

Hand in hand, they ventured further down and he took her to Madame Tussauds, and amazed was she, at all the wax figures, the majority of which she hadn't known though. He showed her around, having been there a few times before, explaining who most of the wax figures were. She seemed too impressed by the figures themselves, to even care about what he had been saying, though she nodded religiously at his every word.

As they left, she wittily asked him, "Waise, why don't they have a wax figure of the great Gusse ki gold medalist, Sri Sri Sri Kanji Annkhon Wala Bhagad Billa Maharaji Ji?"

"Because they know that if Mrs. SSO sees girls swooning over him and taking pictures with his wax figures, all hell will break loose." He snorted.

"Glad you know."She grinned as he pulled her along.

Next, he took her to the New York Public Library, intending to just spend a short time, but he most definitely was taken aback when she went insane, completely berserk, fawning over the books, just the feel of being around so many shelves upon shelves of history, of novels. He had never seen this side of her before. Well, actually, he hadn't known this side of her existed. She looked nerdy, almost, she was excited, but she wasn't her usual jittery mad self. She seemed to be lost in thought as she admired it all. He knew they'd run a bit late for his surprise, but he let her be. She was too caught up for him to have the heart to whisk her away.

He had loved reading so he understood her excitement, the smell of literature, the appreciation for such a place.

As they headed out, they sat on one of the little tables in the area opposite the library, surrounded by lots of crowds and mini cafes and huts and flowers, having ice- cream, courtesy the ice-cream truck which had passed at the perfect moment.

"Mmm. This is sooo good." She cried with her mouth full, licking her ice-cream almost as quickly as it melted.

"It is good." He agreed, having his own.

When they were done, they sat for a couple moments more, just looking at the passers-by, taking in the atmosphere.

It wasn't too hot, after all, it was almost Autumn there. There was a cool and calm feel, a subtle peacefulness, even in the midst of the busy city.

"I didn't know you liked books and reading so much." He broke their silence.

"Mmm. I always did. I just never got the chance to read a lot and I forgot all about it as the years passed by. That's why you wouldn't know." She clarified.

"How so?"

She sighed before answering him, shrugging her shoulder nonchalantly.

"I always enjoyed reading but I read my school books or the daily paper. Novels were always pricey so I'd pass up on indulging most times. I had other priorities." She said it so simply, not an ounce of regret or dismay or discontent.

Shivaay was, yet again, surprised by her love for life, her grace, her contentedness. He quickly dismissed these thoughts and stood up, holding his hand out to her.

She took it, nodding her head up towards him.

"I have the perfect place for you to check out!" He beamed.

"Kinooo, kin what is this?" She tried to pronounce it until she failed and looked to him for help.

"Kinokuniya." He told her as they entered.

"It's Japanese based store, but as you can see there's so many books to choose from, not just Japanese. Take a quick look around and let's get you some. You can keep yourself occupied while I'm out this week." He said gesturing to the Best Selling Section.

Annika's longtime dream had been fulfilled. They left the store a few minutes later, with Shivaay literally shoving her out the store, the entire Harry Potter series and a few others in her possession.

"You're the best Shivaay." She couldn't stop blabbering as they walked.

He just smiled at her childishness as they finally got into a cab.

~~~

"But where are we going?" She asked for the umpteenth time.

"You'll see."

When they stopped off, she looked around confused.

"Didn't we come here yesterday?"

"Yep, but today we're going up to the Observation Deck." He grinned knowing she wouldn't have a clue what the hell he was talking about.

"No more questions, come along, you'll see." He cut her off before she could bombard him with more questions.

~~~

Annika gasped loudly, causing the other 5 persons in the elevator to turn and look at her. The lady in uniform smiled softly at her, and then continued to inform all patrons about the rules and details about the three observation decks.

The 68^th, 69^th and 70^th floors were where they were located, the highest one not being surrounded by the glass partitions. On the first two decks, there was an inside sitting are should they want to relax indoors for a bit. The third one, also the highest, had a ledge like sitting area around the deck, totally exposed to it all. This was a particularly smaller group compared to the usual size of groups going up at a time, thanks to Shivaay, of course, who managed to pull some strings through John. Hence, they had a relatively empty place to themselves, though they did have to leave within the hour.

"70 floors." Annika voiced what was freaking her out as the elevator lurched up, her eyes wide in horror.

Shivaay just held her hand, his thumb brushing against her palm in an attempt to soothe her.

"It'll be fine. You'll be too amazed to even think of the height." He assured.

And damn, was he right!

As they stepped out, Annika was dumbfounded.

She literally had no words. No description of her depth of emotion, no words were known to accurately sum up her awe.

Shivaay looked to her, and walked her to the edge, for she was too stumped to move on her own accord. This was too much. It was not real.

He stood behind her, holding her hand as she processed the fact that the only thing separating her from the view of the entire expanse of the city was the tall, thin pieces of glass. She drank it all in, wide-eyed, almost spinning around where she stood, to take it in.

Her bamboozled expression belatedly broke into a wide grin, as she clasped her palms over her mouth, squealing.

"That's the Empire State Building! Oh my goodness, H&M! We were there a few hours ago.. and now we're here.. and.." She stammered, as she pointed out in the distance to the H&M sign, totally losing her shit.

And then with no warning, she turned, and lunged for Shivaay, wrapping her arms around him giddily, causing the few other persons present to go "Awww" at their cute moment.

He took a few moments to process the fact that his jungli billi was hugging him, in the open, in front of strangers, while they were 70 floors high in his favourite city.

His arms tightened around her, the feeling had his heart soaring to heights he had not ever conceived.

"Thank you Shivaay! This is just too much. She said, her words muffled against his shoulder.

He pulled away, his arms on her waist.

"Come on, it gets even better." He confided, noticing the change in the sky.

They took the escalator to the second deck, which was basically the same as the first. After spending a few moments there and clicking a couple pictures, he finally took her to the last deck, where there were no glass partitions. And once more, Annika literally lost her shit, astounded by the view.

They got up just in time for sunset, as Shivaay had ensured, and now the Empire State building was caressed by hues of orange and pink, streaks of crimson ran across the sky, almost as red as Annika when she blushed.

They walked around the deck a bit, he showed her where Central Park was, promising to take her there sometime during the week. They sat for a while, just absorbing it all, before Annika stood and walked to the edge again, just feeling the wind in her hair, the delicate sky smiling down at her. The sun was setting, the skies a myriad of colors, purple and slivers of navy blues slowly making their debut, accenting the prior warm shades.

Shivaay walked up behind her after a few minutes, and placed his arms around her shoulders, joining them where they rested on her bosom.

"Is this even real?" She asked, wrapping her fingers around his wrist as she leaned back into him.

He smiled softly, he knew exactly what she was feeling.

"It is. Amazing, isn't it?"

She nodded. "It's like, looking out at a totally different world. A world that's so unfamiliar yet it feels like a part of me. It's beautiful. I think I like places like this, places that make you feel so small. I understand, Shivaay, why you like to travel so much."

"It's an amazing feeling. To think there's so much to see, and so little time we have to see it all."

Annika smiled at that, suddenly her enthused mind drifting to the man who held her in his arms. She wanted to do it all, to see it all with him. He sounded dazed, completely blown away by the thought of travelling and seeing the world. He made her want to feel the same way. To see every nook of this world. Yet, she couldn't contain the whisper of her heart, the very one that told her that she had seen everything there was to see, just by looking into his kanji aankhen. Looking out at the view, she felt so minute, yet the man who owned her heart held her as if she were the most priceless thing that ever existed.

"Hmm. It's like you feel so connected to everything yet we are so insignificant. Ani, imagine, this is just a dot on the entire globe, this is just a speck of what's out there, yet it feels like the whole world is in front of us... " He drifted off, becoming lost in awe.

A soft laugh finally escaped her lips, as her continued thoughts rolled off her tongue with complete abandon, "Maybe you don't know, ... but you are the whole world, at least to me."

He had been lost in thoughts, when she spoke up, a whisper of a chuckle breaking his reverie. He felt his breath hitch, his body froze up as the words left her, softly, almost so quietly that he had figured he had to have been dreaming.

When it dawned on her what she had said, she bit her lips, but sensing his reaction, she closed her eyes and exhaled. She was not going to take it back or change the topic.

She had sensed his hurt, his guilt, the way he was upset with himself when she had mentioned not being able to decide to marry him. And now, being there with him, in a place like that, in his arms, she had no desire to hide anymore.

"What did you just say?" He, at the eleventh hour, asked shakily.

She leaned back a little more, turning to her right to look at him, and he looked straight ahead, as if he were holding his breath, hopeful that she would not break his dream.

"I said," she confirmed, and continued in a voice that was barely a whisper, but somehow, it was the only thing, the clearest thing, the most important thing Shivaay had ever truly heard, "but you are my whole world, Shivaay."

His eyes glistened a bit, the crimson hues bouncing off the sky and into his sapphire like eyes, hints of reds and blues and purples and pinks, glittered with the stars now becoming visible, all combining into a galaxy of everything he felt for her.

At last, he tilted to the left to look down into her eyes, and he moved one arm down to her waist, the other rose, and delicately brush against her cheek. She shuddered at his touch, his fingers gently fondling her skin.

In that moment, the entire universe hushed itself, the stars seemed to twinkle a tad bit more than usual, the assortment of chromism above them emitted an aura which was more than enchanting, spellbinding. The setting sun was slowly disappearing, proud of having conquered a job well done, grinning at the man with his heart on his sleeve. Shivaay was at the last juncture, one step closer to his realization, just as the sun was almost done for the day. The moon blinked in reassurance, as the sun said its goodbyes, vowing to guide the remaining moments well, and promising that they'd unite to aid him in threading across the last step in the days to come.

Shivaay thought she looked transcendent as the last ray of sunlight stroked the face in front of him, immaculately so, thus gracing him the chance to stare into those clear, innocent brown eyes, her pupils dilated to an immense extent.

"How was it, that one person, one moment, one pair of eyes... And one pair of lips could look this divine?" was the question he asked himself before leaning down.

His forehead was crinkled a bit, one eyebrow raised, his eyes in a daze and his breath aching to mingle with hers.

She waited for him, he took his time and when their foreheads joined, she let out the breath she had been holding and closed her eyes. Two silhouettes, choreographed by the sun, inching close to meet each other into the beyond. As the sun finally disappeared once and for all, the sky darkening, he closed his eyes and his lips brushed against hers faintly at first. Just a mere touch, his top lip gingerly grazing between her lips as she parted them, inhaling him. And when he felt her fingers wrapping around his wrist where he held her, her thumb brushing against his skin, he latched his lips tightly against hers, pressing a lingering kiss, lips pressed to lips, his lips fit in the perfect configuration with hers. She tilted up to firmly reciprocate, her lips tightly holding on to his. Missing puzzle pieces finding their place, things finally began making sense in the bigger picture, as if every thing that ever existed had found its purpose.

When he released her lips, he looked at her and found her staring up at him, disoriented, high off their first kiss, a whisper of a blush creeping onto her face. Her lips were parted, her eyes were wild, darting across his. No words were exchanged, but his expression told her he felt the same pounding in his heart. Something was trembling inside of them, yet at the same time, there was an utmost tranquility. Something in the air felt lighter, and there was dead silence. All they could hear were the sound of each other breathing, the world being terribly irrelevant. Nothing about this moment felt a thing close to terrene.

She broke her eyes away from him, lowering them, and turned away from him, standing with her back touching his torso, her fingers groping for his.

He interlocked his fingers with hers, the other hand, wrapping around her waist, as he tucked his head onto her shoulder.

He saw her close her eyes at his closeness and he nuzzled her ear. He felt her grip his palm tightly, and her breaths became ragged. Slowly, he was becoming undone, and this was not the place to kiss every square inch of her body, to memorize the bridge of her nose, to kiss her until she was breathless.

"Shivaay.." she said longingly.

As if on cue, he achingly parted from her, and she turned to look at him, hurt, for she couldn't comprehend why he had disentangled his body from hers in a moment of such a grandiose magnitude.

He cleared his throat, regaining his composure.

"We need to get home." He said softly, swallowing.

She leered at him, suddenly understanding his urgency, and chuckled loudly, unable to control her mirth. He shared in her merriment for just but a moment before he led her down.

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Chapter 6