Bound by Circumstances

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Annika felt something between her hands; she opened her eyes to see what she was holding. She saw Shivaay sitting on the ground sleeping soundly. His mouth was adorably ajar and there was a drool on the corner of his mouth. She realized she dozed off in the couch when she had come down, she noticed she had a blanket on. She shifted a little and Shivaay woke up with a jerk.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to wake you up!" She said apologetically. He stretched his arms and yawned while shaking his head. Annika involuntarily wiped the drool on the edge of his lips. He looked at her intently and she immediately retracted her hand. He got up and went towards the kitchen while she called him out,

"I actually came down..."

"It's alright Annika; you don't have to explain anything! I'll go make us some coffee." He smiled at her proceeded towards the kitchen. She smiled involuntarily to herself. Usually, she was bombarded with questions by everyone for the littlest of her actions. But he didn't... It was almost as if she could breathe again. Almost.

*

"Hmm... Aloo Puri!" Annika raised her eyebrows. He didn't eat oily food, if she remembered right.

"Mom called up and asked me not to be selfish and feed you bread!" Shivaay rolled his eyes and she chuckled.

"I honestly would be fine with anything! You didn't have to do all this for me."

"It was nothing actually. Mom said they'd be home by lunch, along with lunch, so we have nothing to worry what to do!" Shivaay took a bite of puri after patting with tissues to take out the extra oil. Annika looked at him weirdly. She'd probably lose the will to eat if she saw him eat. He was such a killjoy!

"Well, you mean you have nothing to worry! You don't let me inside the kitchen at all." Her reply made him chuckle. Well, he didn't want anyone to die soon. They lazed around rest of the morning reading magazines and newspapers. Both actually liked being around each other, even in silence. Annika chose to ignore the grave voices of her demons that tended to gnaw her away from people. She felt maybe she should give herself one chance. Things won't always be bad right?

It was quarter past two and Annika had a roaring hunger. The two of them kept glancing at the door, hoping to see the family in sheer anticipation for food. So, it wouldn't be a surprise that they rushed to the food in Om's hands before greeting the family when they were back. The whole family settled down to eat lunch together, while sharing the stories from the previous days. The galore of laughter filled the living room. That was when Shivaay looked at her. For a moment, her expression turned grim. Shivaay failed to understand which part of the conversation brought that on.

"Annika, you don't have to come to the temple, but do come with us the next time alright?" Tej patted her head and Annika nodded.

Shivaay cleared his throat. "Seems like no one missed me." He said to himself aloud making the rest of them laugh. Jhanvi ruffled his hair, which he clearly hated. He closed his eyes tightly and raised his hand. In no time, Rudra and Om went to him to mess his hair. Shivaay kept protesting, which made the rest of the family do the same. Annika sat afar and saw them laughing. It brought back memories from the time when her family used to annoy Sahil that way. Her chain of thoughts broke when Rudra dragged her into their fun. She noticed how Shivaay stopped complaining when Rudra took her hand and made her ruin his already disheveled hair.

"I hope everyone had fun."Shivaay gritted his teeth while he adjusted his hair with his hands. Trust his family to behave like downright uncivilized people.

"Actually, I was thinking we should take a trip together!" Rudra yelled excitedly making the elder Oberois roll their eyes.

"I think we just did Rudra." Tej chided.

"Who is calling you Papa? I was talking to the youngsters here. And Shivaay Bhaiya!" Rudra's reply made Shivaay glare at him, while Annika and Om just chuckled.

"Okay then. You kids go. Why don't you take Gauri along? Bechari, she hasn't gone anywhere in holidays." Dadi was immediately greeted by a 'No' from Om and Shivaay.

"Well, Gauri isn't free this week. She'd be able to join us if we went next week instead." Shivaay explained, making Annika frown.

"She didn't tell me anything about being busy!"

"Well, you should spend less time with Om-Ru and more time with her!" Shivaay scoffed. These three always left these two out anyway.

"I'm sure she told that to Shivaay. Annika, she hates it when I talk to you. Even during the puja, she kept shooting daggers at me!" Om complained. That girl was so fake. She was overly sweet to everyone. When she had spilled oil on him that day, he was made to ask sorry to her. Needless to say, Om hated her.

"You can go only if you take Gauri with you. Bas!" Jhanvi glared at Om before leaving to her room. Om hung his head in dismay while Annika just chuckled. Why do Gauri and Om hate each other is a question that wasn't meant to be answered maybe.

*

"Goa?"

"NO!"

"Kashmir?"

"Nah!"

"Thar?"

"No deserts please!"

"Jaipur!"

"You go there for your honeymoon O!"

"Rishikesh?"

"Dadi would join us there!"

Annika, Rudra and Om argued on destinations for about an hour. Shivaay got off his phone with Gauri and she was alright with next week. Gauri was secretly writing an entrance exam to get into a fashion institute. Her conservative parents weren't fond of the industry; hence she kept it under wraps. She took Shivaay's help for the preparation of the exam. He took her to one of his friends in the industry who helped her out a little. Shivaay, however, didn't know why Gauri was adamant in hiding it from Annika as well.

"Have you guys planned anything?" Shivaay was met with three faces full of despair. They shook their heads and looked down to their Tabs.

"You know what, I'll do it myself. You guys just tag along!" Shivaay left from there to make a few calls.

"Where are we going?" Annika asked curiously.

"Jim Corbett National Park!"