Falling in Love - A Shivika Romance ✔

42. Tranquility

Annika's lips thinned. She got reminded of Shivaay's faith through Omkara's sentence. It was something she thoroughly despised yet could do very little about it. Had she been someone like Dev or Mallika, he would walk over her body without an ounce of guilt. Her palm rolled into a fist thinking about the same. Her jaw clenched, afraid of the gravity of the situation. Until now she knew no way to convince a person as adamant as Shivaay to see beyond the world of lineage.

"Bhabhi," Priyanka's voice brought her back to focus on the small celebration they were having.

***

Only when the sun reached below the horizon, Annika's husband stepped inside the mansion. His face owned not even a tad bit of disappointment having missed more than half of his wife's special day. She wanted to convince herself saying it was not realistic for someone to spend an entire day with her leaving behind all the important work yet the most delicate corner of her heart remained unconvinced.

"Hey," he quickly muttered a greeting while going through the closet in search of something to wear.

She whispered a "hi."

"You sound off," she was glad he noticed but unfortunately he could not do much about the same as of now.

"Nothing, maybe a bit tired because of all the studying I did," she lied.

"Oh yes, how is your course going?"

"Just fine. I was thinking why don't I start coming to the office more often. That way I will learn something hands-on and my time will be spent in a better way," she shared.

He nodded in agreement. His shoulders slumped, his hands placed on the chair kept in front of the dressing table got some motion when he heard a loud noise coming from downstairs.

"Don't tell me Rudra has arranged for another party," he sounded the opposite of hopeful. Quite contrarily his face showed no sign of disappointment. Yet.

"Not that I am aware of," she shrugged her shoulders. His lips curved a bit upwards after receiving the reply he wanted.

"Do you usually have parties on your birthdays?" he queried. Annika gave him a look he couldn't decode, so he added, "I mean like I told you, sometimes I throw parties on my birthdays for the sake of it. Associates come in, we mingle around and it creates a good space for networking. Judging based on what I know about you, you might like having parties with your friends. Am I right?" he leaned more onto the chair he was holding onto. His eyebrows twitched. A few quiet sighs that escaped his lips went unnoticed by Annika.

"I am an alien to the type of parties you are describing. Until last year when I was in London, I did spend my special day with my near and dear ones. Now do you see anyone special in Mumbai?" the words left her lips at the speed of a bullet train. Shivaay left his hold on the chair. His feet struggled to keep himself at his place.

"And me?"

Annika's eyes dilated, her fingers opened and closed, and her breathing thickened as she tried to find an apt answer to his question. He left her on her birthday, that too when it was a weekend. He was special for her, but she was not special for him. Or at least he showed no gesture that could make her believe that she was.

He coughed which even she knew was fake. She was grateful to him for not making her answer the question. She moved from her place and acted like having some work near the bedside table.

"Do you want to go somewhere?" he asked to her disbelief. Her sharp ears caught music coming from Rudra's party downstairs which made her doubt what she heard in the very room she shared with Shivaay.