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

38.Ladies Talk

After all the dancing and enjoyment, Shivaay came to Annika.

"Come, let's go to the room", he said to her.

"No, actually I have to see the preparations for the wedding once. You go to the room, I will come soon", she replied.

"Okay, but take your phone", he said and gave her the phone.

She took it with a smile. He also reciprocated before retiring to the room. She went to the venue and inspected the preparations. She was going towards the room when she felt a sudden pull that turned out to be Shilpa.

"Shilpa yaar, I got scared. You could have also called me. Mein aa jati", Annika panted trying to get back her breaths after the sudden pull.

"Hum hain hi unpredictable Annika. Anyways tell me what will you have? Like we don't drink but you can have something if you want." It was then that Annika noticed that they were at a bar. Shilpa and Saloni had a glass of orange juice in their hands.

"No no. I don't drink. So the orange juice is only fine", Annika said and sat on the chair beside Saloni. She ordered it and turned towards the two ladies.

"By the way, now will you tell me why did you pull me here?"

"Arre, actually, ever since we have come, we didn't get a chance to interact only. You seem like a very nice, genuine and lively person. And we are leaving kal raatko after Sumu's marriage, so socha ki, let's talk", Saloni said while forwarding Annika her juice.

"Of course. I was also looking forward to talking to the both of you. Jabse aaye hai, we have always been with the group", Annika replied.

"Annika, you and Shivu look really good together and your daughter is also so beautiful. She has Shivu's smile and his eyes. You know, those are the best features of his face and she has inherited the best of her parents. But apart from this, I can easily say that she also must be very good natured, kind and loving", Shilpa said genuinely.

"Thank you Shilpa. But tell me more about your childhood, your friendship and the fun you all did", Annika asked inquisitively.

Shilpa and Saloni exchanged glances before Saloni replied, "We were together in school from the first standard to tenth standard. Then all of us went to different colleges owing to our careers. To tell you the truth Annika, Shivaay was never the one who would indulge in fun or teasing in school. Actually we met because Tej uncle, Raj's father and Aarav's father were known to each other in the business world and Raj and Aarav already knew the both of us. And about Advait, he was always loitering around and we still don't understand how he came to be with us. Waise coming back to Shivaay, he used to remain quiet always. And be really focused on his studies. But you know, he was also good in sports. He and Raj were also in close contention in swimming and cycling. But, as we grew up, we used to plan outings, like one day trips or going out for dinners. But, he was always missing. He used to say that he is more needed at home"

Saloni paused for a drink and Shilpa took over, "And when we used to ask him what the issue was, he never used to reveal it to us. He only used to tell us that his brothers and his sister couldn't be left alone. At the beginning we used to tease him but then later, we realized that he wasn't joking and he really had to really take care of them. He was very committed to them and spent all of his free time either studying or taking care of his siblings. Everytime our parents used to come to pick us up, he would automatically become sad because he had to go with the driver but would never let us know. And so, he would always wait for his younger siblings. Actually, he never told anyone, but we were aware of the condition of his house. I am sure you would also know, but he always tried to maintain the balance in the house. Can you imagine, at that age! But anyway, he was damn good at that. But the only drawback of that we couldn't spend time as we wanted with him. He is a very firm friend and a loyal one at that. He couldn't even attend Salu and Aaru's marriage. He was busy in some business crisis that had cropped up. Regarding studies, you already know he was such a wonderful student. Amongst us, he was the highest scorer. He had scored 95% in his exams and that was the only day that we had seen his mother in school. That day, when he had excitedly gone to her, we couldn't hear what she said to him but we clearly saw his smile falter. Before we could ask him, he went away and then we didn't ask him anything coz we understood that his family was really messed up and only his siblings meant the world to him."