Author's Note: Hi, everyone! I've had this idea for this FF for a while and I just knew that I had to get it out there. Enjoy! 😊
Chapter One
Shivaay drummed his fingers impatiently against the steering wheel of his car as he waited in Mumbai's afternoon traffic. He huffed with impatience. It had been Dadi's idea for him to personally go pick up Anika from the airport. He had argued against this, saying that it was unnecessary. An Oberoi driver or a driver from Anika's family could easily pick her up from the airport, after all. His afternoon had been swamped with meetings but, he had been forced to clear it up, all because Dadi had insisted that he personally go pick up his fianc from the airport. He was even further annoyed with Anika who had insisted on taking a commercial plane instead of a private jet like some peasant. Because of this, he was headed towards a public airport terminal. He would likely suffer through a stampede in order to find Anika. An hour later, Shivaay parked his car against a curve and leaned against his car, waiting for Anika. Her plane had landed 40 minutes ago according to her itinerary and she would likely be stepping out any moment.
Anika stepped out of the sliding doors of the terminal and took a deep breath. Ah, how she had missed her precious Mumbai. London had been beautiful but, oh, how she had missed her city. She had been there for the past two weeks. Her event planning firm had been responsible for planning a socialite wedding in London. She pushed her sunglasses on and headed out. Papa had called her before her flight and told her Shivaay would be picking her up from the airport. She silently groaned at that. She would have to sit alone in the car with the baghad billa all by herself. She walked over to where she knew he would be waiting for her and braced herself. She spotted him and waved. As she walked over, Shivaay opened the trunk of the car. He silently took her suitcase from her and put it in. Not even a greeting? Anika automatically knew that he wasn't in a good mood. She sent a silent prayer to gods, asking to give her strength to survive the car ride with Stone Singh Oberoi.
A few minutes into the drive, Shivaay finally broke his silence. "How was your trip?"
His voice jolted her out of her trance. She had gotten used his silence and hadn't expected him to start a conversation with her. "It-it wa-was good. The Singhania wedding went well. There were a few minor glitches but, my firm handled them well. Well, actually, Pooja, the bride, decided last minute that she wanted the flower arrangements to be changed which was a headache and a half for me. I had to reorganize the floral arrangements last minutes but, everything else went perfect.
Shivaay hummed in acknowledgment. "And the flight?"
"The flight was fine. No delays or anything. I had a layover in Dubai."
"You could have taken a private jetyour or my family's. It's not that big of a deal. I don't understand why you insisted on taking a commercial flight like some middle class peasant."
"Why do you keep insisting that I take a private jet? It's a waste of money and gas, Billu ji. Just because you have the funds, does not mean that you should simply waste it," Anika replied exasperatedly.
"Don't call me that! How many times have I told you not to call me Billu?! I have a name."
"Haan, toh? Aap hai hi baghad billa toh main aapko billu ji se hi bolungi," Anika countered.
"Anika, do not keep calling me that!"
"Achcha theek hai, baba. Please, calm down before you pop a vein in your anger."
Shivaay gripped his steering wheel tighter. This woman could infuriate him like no one else. "Anyways, I don't want you to use the commercial airlines from now on. What if the media catches a whiff of this? Shivaay Singh Oberoi's wife uses a commercial airline instead of a private jet,' I can already see the headlines. I know you don't care for your own image but, at least think of mine before you insist on your childish behavior."
Anika's eyes narrowed into slits at that. How dare he? "First of all, I'm not your wife. I'm your fianc. There's still a few months till the wedding, thank god. Second of all, why must everything tie back to your image and the media? It's not that big of a deal. You don't need to feel like you're above this. It's just a plane ticket, for god's sake. There's no need to make such a big deal out of this. It's a waste of money and gas for me to just use it for myself."
"Then, it shouldn't be such a big deal for you to take the private jet. Both of our families own private jets. I'd argue that it's even a bigger waste of money to own private jets and not use them and allow them to simply collect dust".
"Aapse baat karna hi bekaar hai," Anika muttered.
And that was the end of that. Anika and Shivaay rarely found themselves in predicaments where they would be sitting alone in the car like this. She usually avoided him and he, her. They had been engaged for three months already. Their wedding was to be a huge socialite wedding. A wedding expected to be even larger and grander in scale than the one she had just come back from in London. Her own firm, of course, was handling the preparations for the wedding and the other functions. It would be their biggest event yet, her own wedding. Pinky Aunty had argued that, perhaps, a more established event planning firm would be able to better take care of their demands but, Dadi had insisted that her Anika bahu would be the one handling her own wedding arrangements.
Her and Shivaay's engagement was typical of their society and class. There was nothing new about it. Papa's company was doing a deal with Shivaay's and he had thought to kill two stones with one bird, two deals in one. He, of course, did not take his precious Anika's nuptials lightly. He had been working closely with Shivaay for the past six months and had seen his work ethics and commitment to his business. He thought that with a personality like this, there could be no one better for his daughter than Shivaay. Shivaay had agreed to Anika's father's proposal. The deal was a 150 crore deal and he wasn't willing to risk this business deal. So, he had agreed to Mr. Chowdhury's proposal. Anika had always imagined herself falling in love and marrying a man that she loved. She wanted what her sister had. She had never imagined getting herself into a socialite wedding. However, she didn't want to disappoint her parents. They had done so much for her. In a way, she felt like this was her way of paying them back for everything they had done for her. It would break her parents' hearts to know that she thought this way but, she couldn't help herself. She often felt like she didn't deserve the opulence and love and care with which she had been privileged enough to receive from her parents. She couldn't ask more from them so, she had agreed to the engagement when she had realized how much it would mean to her father.
She nervously twisted the gaudy engagement ring around on her finger. She hated the large rock on her finger. It felt heavy, like a burden, and the ring didn't suit her tastes at all. It was a ring with a large diamond with several smaller diamonds surrounding it and set into the band. It was meant to be a sign to the rest of the world. She was the fianc of the richest businessman in India, after all, and the world better know it. She knew that Shivaay hadn't cared enough to select the ring himself. He had probably been too busy or didn't care enough to pick something out and Pinky Aunty had probably selected something to her tastes. Anika continued to nervously twist the ring around her finger.
"Stop it," Shivaay groaned. It had been some time since they had quieted from their last argument.
"Huh, what?" Shivaay had once again interrupted Anika from delving further into her thoughts but, she continued twisting the ring around.
"The ring. Stop fidgeting it around. I know you do that when you start having second thoughts about us and this marriage."
"Huh? I don't know what you're talking about, Billu ji. I was just playing around with it just because." Still, Anika continued to twist it nervously. This time, Shivaay decided to take matters into his own hands, literally. He reached over and took Anika's left hand into his right one. He continued to steer the car with his left hand. Shivaay's show of endearment shocked Anika. He had never done something like this before. They usually fought like cats and dogs. She stared at him with wide eyes. Shivaay took a deep breath. He had not expected taking her hand in his to fill him with a warm comfort inside.
"Look, Anika. I know you fidget around with the ring when you get nervous and have second thoughts about the wedding. I've noticed it before. I know the engagement happened under less than ideal circumstances. I know that you might have expected something else but," Anika scoffed at this. Less than ideal circumstances, my foot, thought Anika.
"But, Shivaay continued, "Let's try and make this work somehow? I don't think either you or, I will survive any longer if we continue like this. I know we may never come to be what you had expected out life but, let's at least have some type of companionship?"
Anika had not expected this level of maturity and thoughtfulness from Shivaay. She found him to often be rash and hot-headed. He was a baghad billa, after all. An uncontrollable wild cat. She had not expected him to be care about her feelings regarding their unique engagement. It saddened her that even he acknowledged that their engagement and eventual marriage would likely never be what she had dreamed for herself. However, she appreciated that he was willing to make some type of compromise in the future to make this situation work better.
"Thank you for that. You have no idea how much I appreciate that."
"Good. I'm glad to hear that. Besides, I feel like I'm basically stuck with you. Dadi, Prinku, Om and Rudra would all throw a riot if we broke up at this point. They all love you and would have my head on a platter if we didn't try to somehow make it work."
Anika chucked at that. "I'm sure my family feels the same way about you."
Anika and Shivaay continued in silence for a minute.
"Billu ji?"
"Anika, I've told you not to call me that multiple times, but what is it?"
"My hand."
"What about your hand?"
"You can let go of it now."
"Oh, right. Yes, of course." Shivaay had not realized that he was still holding onto her hand. He abruptly let go of it upon her reminding him that he was still holding on to it. He tried to diffuse the embarrassment. Shivaay cleared his throat and slowed to a stop and turned the engine off. They had arrived at Oberoi Mansion. During her silent contemplation of their engagement, Anika had not realized that Shivaay had taken a different turn. They had arrived at Oberoi Mansion instead of her home.
"What? I thought you were going to drop me off home?" Anika asked.
"Dadi and Mom wanted you to come by to finalize some decisions about the wedding," Shivaay said as they both got out of their seats.
"Oh, accha theek hai. This way, I'll at least get to see everyone. It's been a while since I've seen everyone. I've missed them," Anika replied.
"What about me?" Shivaay countered.
"What about you?"
"Nothing," Shivaay muttered and quickly headed into the house, leaving Anika both confused and baffled at what had just happened. What had the baghad billa expected from her? Had he wanted her to miss him too while she was away? She thought as she headed into Oberoi Mansion.
Author's Note: And that's chapter one! The next chapter will have Anika interacting with he Oberoi family and I have another Shivika moment planned for the next chapter. In this FF, Anika does belong to a high society family but, she is still adopted. I haven't revealed who her family is yet but, any guesses? Please do hit the like button and give me some feedback! I want to know if I should continue with this. Also, I understand Hindi fluently and I can read and write in it but, it's my third language so, the parts in Hindi with it may have some grammar mistakes from time to time. Let me know if I need to make any changes!😉
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