Finding Forever, Together ~

Chapter 3

In the evening, Shivaay and Annika are both ready for the party, when Gauri is looking after the last minute arrangements, and Shivaay walks to her.

"Gauri...tumne Annika ko dekha hai? Kahan hai woh?" He asked her, and she smiled.

"Bhaiya woh...maine di ko apne room me jaate hue dekha tha. Keh rahi thi ki kuch kaam hai." She told him.

"Oh okay. Thank you!" He said, and went towards her room.

Opening the door, he entered quietly. He knows he should have knocked but he has the privilege of not listening to any rants about this from her.

Inside, he saw her all ready for the party, and sitting on the bed with a smile on her face, as she caressed a picture.

He sat beside her, and looked at the picture. A smile formed on his face immediately, looking at it.

Instinctively, he put his hand over her hand, which was caressing the picture, and she looked up at him.

"Shivaay!" She whispered, before her own face broke into a full-blown smile.

Shivaay noticed that her eyes were glistening with tears.

"Annika..." He held her face in his hands, and wiped the stray tear with his thumb.

"Itne khoobsurat din ko yaad karke bhi tum ro rahi ho, haan?" He asks her, nodding negatively at her, telling her to stop crying.

"Shivaay," she held his hand on her face, looking at him, "chaar saal ho gaye, Shivaay. Four years. Aaj hi ke din, 4 saal pehle, meri zindagi ka sabse khoobsurat din tha." She told him with a smile.

He smiled back at her.

"Lekin mere liye nahi tha." He told her, and she looked up at him in shock, "mere liye sabse khoobsurat din woh tha, jiss din mujhe pehli baar pata chala tha ki mai tumse kitna, kitna, kitna zyada pyaar karta hoon." He said, making her smile at him.

"Maine shayad aapko kabhi bataya nahi hai," she told him, "but I was only sixteen, when I realised ki mai aapse kitna pyaar karti hoon."

"Uske baad bhi tumhe 4 saal lag gaye confess karne me?" Shivaay asked her, surprise evident in his voice. He had a crush on her since he was 18, too, but it's not for her to know.

"Aapne toh abhi tak bhi nahi kiya!" She told him, like a whining baby, "maine atleast kar toh diya tha. Aur aap 3 din tak lovesick teenager banke ghoomte rahe the." She said with a giggle.

Shivaay pouted. That was the consequence of getting to listen to a confession of love by someone who you already know you love from the bottom of your heart.

She knows he loves her. It's not like he hasn't confessed yet, but he hasn't said those 'three magical words'. He still remembers, the day she had proposed to him, at the beach, with the sun setting at the back. It was as beautiful as it could get.

The picture with which the conversation started was one clicked by Gauri, she had known Annika's whole plan.

He still remembered how overwhelmed he had felt when she told him that he had changed her life, for the good, and kept doing it every single day. He still remembered how his heart had fluttered when she said....

*Flashback begins*

"I love you, Shivaay. I don't know what else to say because it's just- it's crazy that I am finally saying this, after four years of knowing and believing. I just cannot imagine a life without you, not anymore. I love you, from the bottom of my heart, and beyond. I love you."

*Flashback ends*

Shivaay could have sworn he would have died at that moment. One full affectionate sentence, and she said the words he wanted to hear so madly, thrice. Three whole times.

But the Shivaay Singh Oberoi had been his own idiotic self, as he replied to her.

*Flashback begins*

"Annika, I..." He extended, looking into her eyes. He was speechless, really.

And Annika was high on her love for him.

She moved closer, and held his face in her hands.

"I love you, Shivaay." She said, with shining eyes. It was a beautiful moment, until Shivaay decided to open his mouth to reply.

He held her hands on his face, and as dazed as he was, smiled awkwardly.

"I love me, too," he told her, and probably didn't realise what he had said until he saw her smile go from the widest to being non-existent.

She let go of his face from her hands, and looking at him seriously, did not waste a moment before turning around to leave.

*Flashback ends*

Shivaay smiled, recalling that memory, and Annika just knew what he was thinking about.

She placed her hand over his.

"Koi baat nahi, Shivaay," she told him, and he looked up to see her looking at him with a smile.

"Mujhe pata hai aap yahi soch rahe hain ki jab maine confess kiya tha toh aapne kya kiya tha... aur yeh ki aapne abhi tak confess nahi kiya hai."

"But sach batau? Aapko kabhi bolne ki zarurat hi nahi hai. Kyuki aap jo mere liye karte hain na, usse saaf saaf pata chalta hai...ki aap mujhse kitna pyaar karte hain." She told him.

He smiled at her.

"Annika mai..." He was interrupted by a voice.

"Bhaiya, didi!" Rudra and Bhavya entered the room together, calling them out.

"Jaldi chalo, sab aapka wait kar rahe hain!" They said, and nodding at them, Annika stood up.

"Chaliye Shivaay, baatein toh hoti rahengi." She said, and quickly walked out.

Shivaay looked at her retreating figure.

"Mujhe pata hai Annika... Ki tumhe woh sunne ki zarurat nahi hai. Par mai phir bhi kahunga. In my own way. Kyuki mujhe pata hai... ki jab woh sunte hain na, toh kitna khoobsurat feel hota hai." He said, and closed his eyes, recalling his conversation with Om and Gauri. He knew Annika would be apprehensive about getting a marriage proposal today and so he had talked to them.

The best part was that Gauri had told him, that she had managed to make Annika understand that her apprehensions didn't matter, but their families' opinion did.

So it was decided, that he was going to propose her for marriage today.

Smiling, he went out of the room. Going quickly into the party area, he was greeting all the guests who were also congratulating him, until he saw a sight that took his smile away.

There stood the idiotic, annoying, stupid, Daksh, talking to his Annika.

He cannot stand the sight of that darned man close to her!

He could have gone and ripped him apart if he wouldn't have had his ethics in mind, and that he couldn't create a scene in this party.

At this moment, an idea clicked him, and he smirked.

How about he taught him a lesson, without letting anyone know he was doing it?

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