Kya Pyaar Karoge Mujhse....

Chapter 4- Surprise!

"You have to work, am I right?" Sona said with squinting eyes and crossed arms.

"It's only for an hour, please! Then I will be free for the whole day I promise! You can have my phone and laptop after that! Ok?" Annika pleaded as Sona rolled her eyes and nodded, looking away.

"Thank you!" Annika grinned and hugged her muh-boli sister, as Sona squirmed.

"Uhh, morning breath! Go have a shower; I will get Shivi showered in my room." Sona said as Annika kissed Shivi quickly, and pointed towards her clothes on the bed.

"Take her clothes and I will give you her toothbrush!" She fished in her toiletry bag and took out their toothbrushes, handing Shivi's to Sona.

"Come on Shivi!" Sona stretched her arm towards Shivi as she held her towel tightly.

"I can't go like this! It is shame shame!"

Both the women laughed and Sona took the duvet from the bed and wrapped it around Shivi as Annika laughed a little more.

"Now no shame shame? Ok?" Sona wriggled her eyebrows as Shivi tried to hold the huge sheet around her, failing miserably.

"Okie dokie Mumma?" Shivi said and looked at her mother with a pout, asking for permission.

"Okie dokie!" Annika gave a thumbs-up and wrapped the sheet around her securely. Sona took the clothes and Shivi ran out of the room and straight into Vikram and Sona's room, which was just across the hall, in front of her own room.

"Anni, we will be down in an hour, by that time complete your work, ok?" Sona instructed Annika as she nodded.

"I will try to be as quick as possible, meet me in the garden restaurant by nine and please give Shivi something to eat, she is hungry!"

"Will do, now go!" Sona said and walked out of the room, closing it behind her.

Annika quickly got dressed and went to the garden restaurant. Exactly forty minutes later, she finished her work and got up, gathering her files and laptop in one hand and her phone in the other.

As she walked towards the stairs of the restaurant, her stomach grumbled, the air filled thickly with the aroma of various dishes and drinks, the restaurant slowly getting filled with the guests. She had to keep her stuff in her room and come back quickly, as Sona had just messaged her that they all were coming down. She almost ran towards the exit of the restaurant, and failed to see a young woman coming from the other direction and bumped into her rather harshly.

"Ouch!" Annika exclaimed as the young woman's elbow jammed into her waist, her laptop and file almost falling down.

"Aah!" The woman cried, rubbing her elbow.

Annika looked up at the woman, who was caressing her elbow with a pained expression on her face. She realized that her laptop had hit her elbow, and she must be bruised a good amount.

"Oh my God, I am so sorry; I was in a rush and did not see you at all!" Annika apologized and bent down to pick some medicines which had fallen down from the woman's hands.

"Oh no, its fine, even I was not looking!" The woman said sweetly, taking her medicines from Annika's hands.

Annika looked at her; she looked newly married. The red and white bangles clinked on her wrists; long hair flowed till her back. Heavy earrings hung from her dainty ears, a diamond studded mangalsutra adorned her neck. Her maang was filled with sindoor and she was dressed in a rather expensive and stylish navy blue anarkali suit, and Annika immediately knew one thing, this woman was quite beautiful.

What she didn't know was that she was looking at her own sister-in-law.

Gauri's heart thudded severely as she looked at the gorgeous woman in front of her. She looked way different from the photos back home, in which she had looked rather shy and traditional. The woman in front of her was everything but shy and traditional. She had an air of power and sophistication around her. She was dressed in pure western clothes, a black tank-top with blue ripped jeans. A checked shirt hung from her waist, her hair was in a stunning messy bun, lips red, and no jewellery except an expensive watch on one wrist and her signature bracelet on the other. She looked casual, and Gauri almost felt a little bit intimated, as she sometimes felt around Tej papa, Jhanvi maa and Shivaay bhaiyya. They all had this thing in them, this air of authority which automatically attracted people's attention. She now realized why everyone was so enamoured with their Annika bhabhi. She managed to blend in, yet she was different from everyone.

A snap in front of her eyes hauled her out of her thoughts, and she saw Annika waving her hand in front of her.

"Hey, are you fine?" She asked and Gauri nodded quickly.

I have to tell everyone, now!

Annika looked at the woman questioningly for a moment, and then walked away.

Gauri ran towards the table where her family sat, having their breakfast. She almost ran straight into Rudra, who had a plate filled with food.

"Bhabhi! What's the rush? There's a lot of food, you don't need to run!" Rudra exclaimed, handing the plate to Somya, who immediately dug in.

"Beta, did you get my medicine?" Dadi asked as Gauri nodded and gave her the medicines.

"Gauri, why were you running beta? Is everything fine?" Jhanvi asked, as everyone looked at Gauri, who was trying to catch her breath.

"Ann..Annika...bhab..bhabhi..."