Falling in Love - A Shivika Romance ✔

7. Her First Day (ii)

Kalyani passed her some tomatoes and onions along with a knife.

"Let me help you. Why don't you cook Paneer butter masala?"

Annika was scared. The thought of cooking was scary enough, to add to it paneer butter masala was hard to make in her opinion.

"Dadi, I will cook. But I want you to rest. You go rest in your room and I will cook here" she didn't care if she sounded weird or awkward. All she wanted was for Kalyani to leave, so she could come up with something on her own.

Kalyani left. She had no desire to help Annika. All she could do at the moment was for her to compare Annika with Mallika. Needless to say, if it was Mallika who had no idea of how to cook, she would do so on Mallika's behalf.

Annika sighed in relief once Kalyani left. She started to slice the tomatoes. Halfway through, she realized that she was murdering them rather than slicing them.

She kept the knife aside and paced inside the kitchen. What could she do now? If her cooking was not good enough everyone would point it out, possibly taunt her. Amidst all this, she didn't know if Shivaay would side with her in front of his family. They were still formal around each other. God knows when they will break the ice, let alone if he ever sides with her in front of his own family.

Rudra entered the kitchen. Annika stopped pacing around. He saw her timid countenance.

"What's up, Bhabhi?" he asked.

Annika hesitated for a second but later decided to share it with Rudra. In this family, he was the only person she found was easy to approach.

"I have to cook Paneer Butter Masala. But-"

"But?" he asked.

"First promise, you won't say anything to anyone, especially Shivaay or Dadi," she asked.

Rudra smiled, "It's hard to hide something from Bhaiya, but I promise."

Annika gave him a grateful smile. Shivaay knew it anyways, it was Kalyani who worried her.

"I have no idea of how to cook the dish," she disclosed.

"That only?" he asked, "you can easily look up the recipe on the internet."

This clicked her. She was too nervous to think of it. She thanked Rudra and started to look up for the recipe.

"Anytime," Rudra assured her and left.

She began to prepare for the dish. First, she cut the onions and tomatoes as shown in the video. Aside, she heated the oil in a pan at medium heat. Adding the onion, garlic, and ginger, she sauteed the mixture until the onions were translucent. Later, she added diced tomatoes and cashews to the mix. Then, she added water to the mix.

She covered the pan with a lid. Now, she was to wait until fifteen more minutes to proceed.

Looking at the time, she decided she wanted to see Shivaay. Poor her, Mr. Shivaay Singh Oberoi left his wife to herself on the first day itself.

***

She followed the directions he provided her earlier and reached his study. She knocked on the door.

"Come in," his voice came.

Oh, even his voice was sexy. She covered her mouth. She shouldn't be saying that, pardon her, she shouldn't be thinking that even.

She entered the study room. His eyes shifted from the laptop screen and fixed on her. The little frown on her face caught his attention.

She was exerting herself too much on the first day itself.