We Will Always Come Back......Together

14.Family Time

Annika looked up. Her face looked flushed. Was it so easy for him? She slowly turned back to see Shivaay looking straight and not at her. Was she hallucinating? But then, she did notice that he had a lopsided smirk on his face. That meant that she wasn't making up things.Did he just call her his world? Things surely had changed in the past 7 years but somethings remained constant. And today, she had been assured of one thing. He still loved her like before, if not more. Was she wrong here? Didn't she love him? These questions plagued her mind. The smile disappeared from her face. She was dreading the thoughts coming into her mind. He had wronged her and hadn't she also made it clear to him that how hurt she was. But, it has been 7 years. The matter isn't just about the both of them now. They have Amu between them. There is a relation between them. She turned to her side and saw him smiling at something Bhavya had said. She had seen him smile like this yesterday when she had seen him with Aarav and Saloni. She suddenly lost her appetite. Suddenly, she felt his gaze on her. Not looking at him, she quickly got up and went to the poolside under the pretext of a phone call. She raced till there and was huffing by the time she reached there.

"Have this water"

She immediately turned behind recognizing the voice. It was undoubtedly Shivaay. He was holding a glass of water towards her. She took it, settled on the sofa there and gulped it one go. Shivaay, who had sat beside her, asked her animatedly and teasingly," I had made the Aloo Puri as you liked, but suddenly today, you found it to be so spicy, that you had to come her near the huge pool to quench your thirst. Impressive!"

She looked at him seriously keeping the glass down.

"Given that you still can identify my thoughts, let's just cut to the chase. We both know why I escaped from there. You would want to talk about it."

Shivaay also let go of his smirk and gave her a straight face but it was so damn serious. For a moment, Annika was taken aback.

"Did you feel uncomfortable when I called you my world? If that is the case, then I am extremely sorry. I didn't mean to."

Annika was dumbfounded. She hadn't expected him to give such an answer. But then, she remembered this morning. Maybe, he was still on that tangent. And that hurt her more. She scooted a bit closer to him. He looked at her and saw a thin line of unshed tears in her eyes.

"Its not that. I was just very surprised by the way you addressed me. I had not experienced such feelings in the past 7 years. So just got stupefied. That's all"

Once she said this, she could see Shivaay's stiff figure relaxing. He let out a sigh of relief. He then looked at her more softly.

"Annika, remember one thing. I don't know if the people of this house understand your fears and vulnerabilities, but I do. I do because you still are one of the two most important people in my life right now. But, that doesn't at all mean that you need to reciprocate that feelings. I am also aware that you are hurt, with me being the reason. And that is why the feelings you harbor towards me now are absolutely justified. Just remember one thing in your mind Annika. Never run away from your feelings. Be it anger, love, irritation, fear or even jealousy. It does no good to anyone. Trust me, I am speaking from a personal experience. And I am not talking for the relation of husband-wife between us, but as parents to Amu. If you keep negative feelings bottled up inside you, then how will you experience the positive feelings. Now see this glass," he bent forward and held the empty glass in front of her. "This glass is now empty. Now can you fill more water or any drink that you like in it?"

Until now, Annika was patiently hearing what he was saying and when he asked her the question, she just nodded in head in affirmative. Seeing her response, he just smiled at her.