Falling in Love - A Shivika Romance ✔

20. Beyond Agony

"Hello?" he answered the call.

"Hello, Shivaay! I am your Gayatri bua, remember me?" he rolled his eyes. Of course, he remembered. Not really.

"Yes, of course. How are you?" Oh! How good a liar he was!

"Congratulations on your wedding, beta. I hope you and your wife are doing fine."

He was. His wife wasn't. But he was certainly not sharing it with a relative he didn't know the name of until a minute ago. By the way, didn't she see the news? If yes, she was just a shameless tattler. If no, he knew no other uninformed person.

"I called Kalyani bua this morning. I missed your wedding, so I wanted to visit you and bless both of you personally. I don't know why but when I shared the same with your Dadi, she said no. Any problem?"

By then, he was sure that she was a gossipmonger. For once, he considered hanging up, but then she will get another thing to gossip. God forbid if she complained about the same to Kalyani, he was done for.

"No problem at all," he changed his tone to seem all happy while talking of his wife, "I and Annika are just trying to spend time with ourselves as of now. With relatives you know, we don't get time for each other all that. We would love to meet you after some time."

Gayatri let out a dry chuckle on the other end, "Great to hear that," Shivaay could feel the distress in her voice, "I pray to God that both of you stay happy."

"Thank you."

He hung up without hearing you're welcome. He breathed out in relief.

Another thought crossed him. Today he had to answer one Gayatri. Tomorrow, ten more will show up. He approved of the decision Kalyani made by not letting Gayatri or anyone else meet Annika at the moment. He wondered how long that was going to go. One day or the other, Annika had to come out and interact with society. Exactly how long was he going to cover up for her like that?

She needed to come out. Else, she will sink into her apathy so deep that coming out will be unlikely.

***

A knock on the door brought Annika out of her muse. She turned to see Om with a cellphone in his hand. She knew it was Shivaay. He had been calling her for more than half an hour and she had been ignoring the calls no matter how annoying the repetitive sound of her ringtone was.

"Shivaay called," Om stepped inside the room, "Here you go."

Like instructed by Shivaay, Om pressed the mobile close to Annika's ears. Having no other option, Annika grabbed the phone so Om's hand could get some relief.

"Hello."

"I have been calling you since ages. Where were you?"

Impatience was dripping from Shivaay's voice. Annika groaned inside her head. He was an impossible man. Was it not obvious why she won't want to talk?

"Sorry."

"I will pick you up at six. It's an informal place if you are wondering what to wear. Be ready."

He disconnected the call. Annika couldn't be more surprised, read shocked, by his behavior. Was that an order? she asked herself. He could have said a bye!

***

According to the plan, Shivaay arrived on time to pick Annika. He texted Annika to come in the driveway while he waited for her in the car. As much as Annika wanted to deny, she couldn't because Shivaay hadn't given her the opportunity to speak. Part of the reason was also that she was bored staying inside the room of the mansion for about four days straight and decided a change of air wouldn't be so bad.