Falling in Love - A Shivika Romance ✔

67. Unsigned Papers

The end of a long day at the office brought very little to no hope for Shivaay. It had been a long time since he interacted properly with Annika. This morning he was happy about their last night conversation. However, as the day dawned, realization too dawned upon him that she wasn't ready to trust him until and unless he confessed.

How could he confess when he was not sure of it himself? The idea of romantic love was as alien to him as it was for Annika before she met him. Then how did she realize? Should he ask her straight up?

He sighed at his own stupidity. There was no way he could ask her and she would answer him straight. She would deny being in love with him. And on the inside, she would start building hopes. He wanted none of that. Especially the latter until and unless he was confident about his own feelings.

He opened the desk drawer to pick up a phone he used less and dialled a call to a person he knew had his answers. He didn't care if the answers were bizarre or made no sense to him at the moment.

"Hello, how is Belgium?" Omkara almost chuckled as he said so.

Shivaay held the phone at a safe distance from his ear in order to check if the one he was using was the right one. The right one being the one he used when travelling internationally for half his family thought he was in Belgium with Annika.

"It is nice," he hesitated a little, "I won't forget your list."

"Ahuh. How is the snow there? Are you enjoying?" Omkara asked from the other end.

"Yes, yes, why not? Why won't we enjoy it here? Of course, we are," he rambled along, making Omkara break into laughter.

"Om?"

When Omkara was finished, he replied, "Recently I called your regular number by mistake. It told me your phone was engaged in Marathi."

Shivaay massaged his temples in embarrassment. Omkara continued, "When I called the office for further query, it turned out both of you are in Mumbai."

Shivaay hadn't seen the least chances of anyone calling the office for one reason or the other. If they do need something, they know to call Khanna. Khanna had been told to keep the secret.

"Khanna told you, right?" Shivaay asked.

"No, he lied which I knew he would," Omkara answered, "It is when I called Mishra that I got to know the truth."

"Damn Mishra!" he cursed under his breath. The family had little contact with Mishra, so he never thought either of them would call Mishra over Khanna.

"What is happening, Shivaay?" Omkara asked, "Any problem between you and Bhabhi? Look, I don't want to interfere, but if you need to hide something from the whole family, it must be something big."

"Did you fight with her?" he added.

"I am not fighting with your Bhabhi. Your Bhabhi is fighting with me," Shivaay replied in frustration.

"It's the same."

"No, it's not the same," Omkara could tell his brother was almost losing his cool.

"Okay, okay. Whatever it is, solve it and come back home. I hope you are not planning to live like this forever."

"Of course not," Shivaay answered, suddenly afraid of Omkara's words becoming true in the far future. He made his caller wait a lot more before he spoke further, "I just don't know how. She is adamant this time. She will never accept me back."

"Why don't you come back? Leave her to herself and come back to your previous life. No need to follow her like a lost puppy," Omkara sounded a bit harsh, but he recognized Shivaay's feelings and knew that the latter needed a push to accept them.