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| Prompt: 2 or 3 Shots told in Ragini's POV as she and Shivaay team up to make Annika admit her farak and truth. Ragini is sane and really does care about Shivaay, but as friend, and by extension Annika. |
2nd Shot
3rd Shot
Note: No proofread or spell/grammar check.
Second Note: When Ragini perceives someone's emotions or thought process, they are dead-on accurate.
1st Shot
Honestly, if someone told me Shivaay Singh Oberoi could be like this, I would have turned around to laugh. There was no way this apathetic man could possibly feel for anyone, let alone his ex-wife. I prayed for someone to pinch me just to make sure I wasn't dreaming. My friend, Shivaay, has gone insane.
It started when his ex-wife claimed that she now owns this house and was going to be living here until she got married to her fiance. When Shivaay told me this, I was horrified, what of person would stand in front of her ex-husband, that she divorced, walk around his own house as she owned it. And the weirder part, everyone except Pinky Aunty was okay with it?!
I become lost in thought. What did this all mean, and how is this possible. How did she take this house from right under Shivaay's nose. Why was this happening?
As much as I tried thinking, I was snapped out of my thoughts by Shivaay. "Ragini, are you okay?"
I stared at Shivaay for a few moments to realize I was sitting in his room and he was sitting beside me on his bed. "Yeah, I- I'm fine Shivaay. I was just thinking."
"About?" He asked calmly, raising an eyebrow.
"About Annika." I replied ultimately. I wanted to understand all of this. There must have been more than meets the eye. There is something we can't see for sure.
"Look Ragini, we'll deal with Annika eventually. You just don't worry, it'll be sorted out eventually." Shivaay looked away. I can see the pain just pouring out of him. Something happens to him whenever he sees her face or hears her name. Something awakens in him. He comes alive. He comes to life at her presence. I just see it. He became angry out of JEALOUSY when he saw Annika with Samar. He has started showing some level of emotion every since she came back. What is she to you, Mr. Shivaay Singh Oberoi?
"Why did you two separate?" I asked, regretfully uttering the words as I saw him turn to me with an expression of pain I had seen for the first time. Who is this hallow man and how did he become this way? "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"
"It's okay. I don't think I could even answer it. She just changed one day, she did all kinds of things. And so we went our separate ways." Shivaay spoke roughly.
"That sounds so strange. So she just up and left and now she's back just like that?" I spoke, introspecting the fact.
"What do you mean?" Shivaay asked, he didn't understand my point clearly.
"Shivaay, look around. Your family is acting so sweet to her. Your brothers still call her 'bhabhi,' she came back and took the house from Omkara and Rudra so easily, and no one said anything against her, doesn't that strike you as odd?" I asked, holding his hand, trying to make him understand. This is all too odd, there are too many unanswered questions. Nothing makes sense here.
Shivaay looked in the distance. He seemed to be starting to understand. What was going on? "Are you saying, she left for a reason? Ragini, even you just say the weirdest things sometimes. Nothing was wrong with Annika, I was around her and she didn't seem particularly bothered by anything." Shivaay pointed out to me in his testimony.
I stopped and stared at the blue-eyed man as he looked at me with honesty. I couldn't even begin to explain what I wanted to say. I just tried in the sweetest way possible. I held his hand again, pulling close and rubbing it gently. "Shivaay, I care about you and hope for the best when it comes to you, but I'm not taking that at face value coming from you, after it took you this long to realize something was off about your own family, much less your ex-wife." I looked at Shivaay with sympathize eyes as she pursed her lips shut. Honey, you're too innocent for this game.
Shivaay looked away, embarrassed almost. "S-So what do you supposed w-we do. Investigate? I mean, even if there was some sort of reason for her to leave me, does that justify that she broke my heart into pieces?" A pain entered Shivaay's voice as I felt for him.
"No. However, Annika is human, she's not a perfect pedestal of no mistakes. I'm sure she had her own logic or thought process when this was happening which allowed her to do this. Or maybe it's just something else. All I know is that we should try to dig into this." I said, trying to reassure Shivaay. I know he wasn't going to accept it. He's way to stubborn unless some cold hard fact came his way to make him believe. "I know your heart is not ready to buy this after Annika stepped on it brutally but give me a chance. And if this doesn't work out, you can hate me for giving you hope, but I just have gut feeling about this." I stood up and walked a few steps away from the bed, just trying to persuade Shivaay.
I heard him stand up too. He placed a hand on my shoulder. "Okay, Ragini, let's see where this goes." I could feel his gaze wasn't on me at all, my suspicions turned out true when I turned to face him. I could see a warmth in his eye that I'd never seen before. Is this what Annika does to him? Does she inspire that much emotion into him that she can light a fire in his eye and fill him with determination? I can't even perceive the depth of this relationship. A love like this breaking is too tragic.
Accepting his confirmation for help, I became ecstatic. "Oh, this is so exciting! This calls for a selfie." I took out my phone and began posing with Shivaay, who seemed to be put off by the idea. "Atleast look at the camera, Shivaay. We might be working to a good thing here and I want to capture the moment." Shivaay shook his head at me and formed a small smile of his face as I clicked the picture. It turned out well.
"Alright Watson, lets get to work." I ordered defiantly.
"Watson? Why do you get to be Sherlock?" Shivaay protested.
"Because I discovered something was wrong with the picture, therefore I am a better detective than you and you should listen to me." I pointed at Shivaay dominantly, concluding my point as he huffed digressing.
"So what do we do now?" Shivaay asked rudely, not accepting me as the lead.
"Well, YOU need to look around the cameras from three months ago and find any suspicious activities with Annika or anyone in general. That'll be your job, which I recommend you get help for."
"Of course." Shivaay stated with 'obviously' tone.
"I'm going to snoop around, we'll meet at 8 pm to discuss our findings right here, understood?" I explained.
"Understood." Shivaay confirmed, nodding. "Let's get started." Shivaay flicked his hair back as his signature style.
I made my way to the main hall. I snooped around looking for Annika, Omkara, Rudra or maybe even Gauri. Maybe they're planning something with Annika. It's best to suspect everyone and anyone. I wondered where everyone could be. It was past noon. I walked around the house. Were they even home?
I found Omkara with Rudra in Rudra's room. They seemed to be alone. The door was slightly open, I began to eavesdrop, just listening.
"But O', why are you always fighting with Chulbul-bhabhi? You guys need to talk. Atleast don't be like Shivaay bhaiya and royally ignore bhabhi." Rudra pleaded to his older brother.
Omkara sighed. "Rudra, it's not that simple."
They talked about Omkara and Gauri's relationship. I kept waiting for them to move onto Annika. I hoped they would say something that could point me into some clues. Just listening to the conversation made my heart go out to Gauri. That poor soul, what kind of deluded man did you find? I left after a while. I went back to the main hall and sat down on the couch.
What else can I do now? Where is Annika anyways, I haven't seen her all day. I guess I shouldn't have expected the clue to come to me as soon as I started looking for it.
I got a text from Samar.
Samar - When are you coming home?
Me - Late, I'll be having dinner here.
Samar - Are you trying to win Shivaay? He's not going to notice you.
Me - Ugh, I'm not after him. He's just a friend. I don't drool over every guy I find.
Samar - Sure.
Me - Really? I still haven't said anything about you and your little date with Annika, which by the way, why?
Same took a few minutes to reply back to me. I can tell he just got frustrated. He clearly stepped back. Serves him right!
Samar - It was not a date! She just came to tell me she isn't taking the job.
Me - Aww, you got rejected~ there, there..
Samar - Oh shut up, I'm going. I have a meeting. You can find your own way back home. Don't count on me to send you a ride.
I chuckled to myself. I have a phone to get my ride for me. My dear older brother. You are too funny.
A few minutes later and I noticed Annika passing by me. I stood up slowly. She headed to the kitchen. I followed her discreetly. Where are you going?
Annika met up with Omkara and Rudra in the kitchen, I hid behind the pillar trying to eavesdrop on their conversation.
"What happened, bhabhi?" Omkara asked curiously.
"Nothing much, I just saw that Nagini laughing to herself on her phone. I don't know what she thinks of herself. Why is she even here?" Annika spoke bitterly, I bet she made a funny face.
I gasped silently as she called me 'Nagini'. I am not a snake, Ms. Annika. That is so mean.
"Nagini- I mean, Ragini," Omkara started, "Is Shivaay's friend. They met after you and Shivaay got divorced. They've been friends for 3 months now."
"I can't believe he's all, 'you've moved on' when he clearly moved on with her." Annika mumbled.
"Bhabhi, I think you should be honest with Shivaay bhaiya. He still loves you, if he knew the truth then he would come back to you." Rudra solemnly suggested to Annika.
My eyes widened when I heard "the truth." This means that Annika is totally hiding something from Shivaay, but what? I continued to listen.
"The truth? No, we can't. Shivaay won't be able to handle it." Annika refused.
"But bhabhi, how much more are you going to lie to him? You already lied about having a fiance named Rohit and being engaged. How long will this go on?" Omkara pleaded to Annika.
I agree with Omkara. How much longer is this going to go on? What is actually stopping them? Fake fiance, a truth that she's hiding, and everyone knows. I noted these down in my head to tell Shivaay later. This was very fruitful information. I kept listening hoping more would come out, preferably this truth.
Annika took some time to respond. She was probably in deep thought. I could bet she was contemplating revealing this truth to Shivaay but obviously him finding out whatever it is, is going to hurt him.
"If we tell him everything Pinky Aunty did and what she used to blackmail me into making me do all that, he'll break down or break everything else." Annika said ultimately. That was her decision.
I couldn't help my horrific shock escape my lips when the culprit was revealed. I didn't even know how to respond to that. Is what Annika just said true? Could Pinky Aunty have done this?
"Who's there?" Annika called out. My cover was almost blown. I had to retreat and fast. But how?
To Be Continued.
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