Falling in Love - A Shivika Romance ✔

25. Dev

The whole family settled down for breakfast early in the morning. Annika found it nice to see Kalyani warming up to her. Now that Annika was working hard to develop her relation with Shivaay, the elder woman helped familiarize herself with the fact that Annika was the Oberoi's daughter-in-law and not Mallika. Shivaay was quiet as usual. He only spoke when spoken to. There were a few banters between Om and Rudra but they subsided as soon as an imaginary hand hit Rudra's head.

Priyanka looked more nervous than usual. Annika recalled the first time she met her sister-in-law. She was not close to Priyanka, so she was confused if it was normal for her to be nervous or not. It could be a test or an activity in college that made her act such. Otherwise, at least someone in the family would have asked by now.

"I am waiting for you in the car," Shivaay tucked in his chair and left towards the driveway of the mansion.

Annika now recalled her own set of tensions. Today was her first day of MBA lectures. Four hours long and if the professor did not finish, he might have the students stay even longer. A small relief was that she had to attend those lectures only two days a week, Mondays and Wednesdays. The rest of the days she could use to study or an internship. Possibly the latter.

Another item was added to her mental list: look for an internship. This was going to be hard. Both her maiden name and husband's name carried weight with them. No employer would want her to work for them. Some may laugh, some will say no fearing she would leak sensitive information to bring profit to her own company or that of her husband's.

***

The moment she entered the car, Shivaay started driving towards their destination. Annika was taking deep breaths to calm her senses. It had been more than two months since she last attended a lecture in her college back in London. Only God knew how she would endure such long lectures. MBA concepts were hard. In college, she would sometimes make use of her professor's office hours or have a graduate student tutor her.

Now she was a graduate student herself. And she had no idea if MBA professors worked the same way as to how they did in undergraduate studies. If she didn't understand, she might well have to help herself all along.

"Shivaay?"

He hummed.

"You have an MBA, right?"

"You have doubts?" Shivaay asked.

Annika bit the inside of her cheek, "I didn't mean that."

Shivaay stopped her by showing the back of his palm.

"It's fine. You had a question?"

"Yes," she replied, "Let's say you don't understand something. Like in undergraduate studies, professors would have office hours or we had the option to get tutored by a graduate student. Is it the same in MBA too?"

"They have office hours too," Shivaay said making Annika feel relieved, "While they pay more attention to undergraduates than graduates, of course, but they help you the best way possible. And you can always create a group with your classmates and help each other."

Her lips curved up in an unknown smile and she finally sighed in relief.

"I can help you too if you want," he hesitantly offered.

Her heart was overwhelmed by the small gesture of kindness. Shivaay was inherently a good man. After all, spending a life with him couldn't be disappointing.

***

Thanks to Shivaay, Annika was in time for her class. The students were unusually quiet. In college, these people would share fun, laughs, and banters together. It was different. Everyone was a mature individual. Their ages ranged from people like her in their early twenties to as old as people in their later forties. Annika couldn't feel more glad. Those who study in their forties had a lot of persistence. They just didn't give up because they couldn't study when young. They were not content with an undergraduate degree either. They strived for higher and Annika couldn't feel prouder to be in the same batch as them.