Annika sat up in her bed and stretched with a yawn. A smile spread across her lips as she saw the beautiful Sunday morning sky through the open window.
"Good morning, Anu." Annika greeted herself with a smile.
Just then a knock sounded on her bedroom door before Bhavya walked in with a smile.
"Morning didu !" Bhavya blew her elder sister a kiss.
"Morning, Bhavu." Annika greeted back. "Tum subah subah yaha ?" ("You here at this hour, how come ?")
"Aj Sunday hai toh ek game khelte hai." ("Today's Sunday so let's play a game.") Bhavya cracked a grin before dropping an envelope on Annika's duet covered lap.
Annika frowned.
"Mein nahi khelne wali tere silly games." ("I'm not going to play your silly games.") Annika grimaced. "Last time tere game ne mujhe electricity pole pe phasa diya tha." ("Last time your game had got me stuck on an electricity pole.")
Bhavya stifled in a laugh while Annika made a face at the reminder of the memory.
"Arey di, ab waisa kuch nahi hoga, I promise." ("Hey no such thing will happen, I promise.") Bhavya said convincingly. "Aj ka khel apko bahut pasand aayega." ("You'll love today's game.") She winked.
"Mujhe nahi khelna." ("I don't wanna play.") Annika deadpanned before getting out of her bed.
"Di yar, don't be a spoilsport." Bhavya whined. "Yeh lo aur isme jo likha hai waisa karo." ("Hold this and do as it says.") She said and pushed the envelope in Annika's hands.
Annika frowned again. Her sister really had this weird obsession with making up stupid games.
Annika got an idea, she decided to dispose off the envelope in the dustbin and making up an excuse to Bhavya for not playing.
Bhavya walked up to the door but turned around before leaving.
"Aur envelope phekne ke baare mein sochna bhi mat." ("And don't even think about throwing away the envelope.") Bhavya narrowed her eyes at Annika, catching Annika off guard. "Just so you know, Jiju- I mean Shivaay bhaiya bhi khel rahe hai." ("Just so you know, Jiju- I mean Shivaay bhaiya is also playing the game.")
With that said Bhavya smirked and left Annika's room.
Annika stood shocked on her place. She couldn't just believe that her sister had actually convinced Shivaay to play some silly game with her.
Annika glanced at the envelope in her hand.
It wouldn't hurt her to at least see what's written in it, right ?
Curiously, Annika opened the unsealed envelope and pulled out a card.
"Apko sabse jyada kya pasand hai ?" ("What do you like the most ?") Annika started reading the card. "Mogra or Peony ?"
Annika's lips pressed in a thin line.
Annika liked Peony but Mogra were her latest favourite flowers cause Shivaay liked Mogra and he had once gifted her mogra garland to put it in her hairs.
Annika almost chuckled when she recalled Shivaay's blushing face when he had given her the mogra garland.
"Um...Mogra." Annika finally decided.
"If it's Mogra, go to Gauri and if it's Peony, go to Om." Annika read at the end of the card.
Annika raised an eyebrow at the card before walking out of her room to find Gauri.
She didn't need to search a lot as Annika found Gauri just at the end of the dining table.
"Morning di !" Gauri chirped, already knowing why had Annika came to her.
"Morning." Annika smiled. "Yeh envelope mein-" ("This envelope-")
Annika was cut off by Gauri.
"Samjh gayi." ("Got it.") Gauri said and produced another envelope. "Yeh lo." ("Here.")
"Aur ek envelope ?" ("One more envelope ?") Annika pouted with an eye roll but opened it nonetheless.
Gauri went back to her breakfast.
"If you love the movie DDLJ, go to Rudy and if you love Swarg, go to Dadi." Annika read out loud. "Now what's this !"
Annika huffed before walking away from Gauri.
Annika was now pondering over the choice of films. She loved DDLJ but when she watched Swarg with Shivaay last week she liked that movie too.
Shivaay had put on that film to watch a few days back and Annika had accompanied him. Throughout the movie Shivaay kept adding his own similar moments from his hard past and also kept pinching his eyes to stop the tears.
"This movie reminds me of my hardships and my down times." Shivaay had told her with a faint smile and teared up eyes, but he was trying his best not to show his emotions on his face.
"Annika, puttar aaja." ("Annika, dear come inside.")
Annika was startled by the sudden voice and looked around to see that her feet had automatically taken her to Dadi's room.
"Aaja." ("C'mon in.") Kalyani aka Dadi invited her inside.
"Dadi, woh mein..." ("Dadi, actually I...") Annika trailed and mentally slapped herself.
"Mein jaandi ha tenu ki chahida hai." ("I know what you want.") Dadi grinned and took an envelope out from her bedside drawer. "Ae le." ("Here.")
Dadi pushed the envelope in Annika's hands and hauled her out.
"Dadi, suno toh-" ("Dadi, hear me-") Annika tried to speak but Dadi had already pushed her out of her room and was about to shut her bedroom door.
"Jaldi jaa. Apna agla clue dhund." ("Go fast. Find your next clue.") Dadi grinned at Annika before shutting the bedroom door close.
Annika was surprised.
How the freak had Bhavya managed to get everyone from the family involved in playing this weird treasure hunt game ?
Annika shook her head as she exhaled loudly and pulled out another card from the envelope.
"Come to the basement...?" Annika distorted her face but decided to visit the basement anyway.
Annika took long strides and sped walked as she traced her way to the basement. She was now very excited to know what was there in the basement.
The basement was dimly lit with candles and as much as Annika could see it was also beautifully decorated.
In the middle of the basement was an envelope with a spotlight fixed on it.
Annika smiled to herself before walking towards the envelope and picked it up. She quickly retrieved the card and read it out loud.
"What is more dear to you ? Shivaay or Aloo Puri ? Tell your answer out loud." Annika's eyebrows shot up and she cautiously glanced around.
Annika didn't see anyone in the room and frowned a bit. She turned her attention back to the card and her frown deepened.
"Um..." Annika's eyebrows furrowed slightly and a pout appeared on her lips as she thought over the options.
"Skip." Annika yelled out loud, unable to choose between her favourite dish and Shivaay.
Suddenly a projector screen lit up across from her with the writing 'Answer invalid. Try again'.
Annika grumbled under her breath before looking around again and saying, "Mujhe nahi khelna. Mein jaa rahi hu." ("I don't wanna play. I'm leaving.")
The door leading to the staircase out of the basement suddenly shut close and a click sounded throughout the close room signalling that it was now locked.
"Yeh kya mazak hai, Bhavya ? Darwaza kholo." ("Is it some joke Bhavya ? Open the door.") Annika crossed her arms across her chest and yelled sternly.
"Nope." Bhavya's voice came from outside the door. "Answer do pehle." ("Answer the question first.")
"Bhavya yeh kya zabardasti hai. Mein nahi de rahi koi answer vanser." ("Bhavya I don't want to. I won't.") Annika retorted.
"Thik hai toh fir raho yahi locked. Bye." ("Ok then stay locked here. Bye.") Bhavya replied and made loud noises of her sandles to indicate that she was leaving but actually she was still there.
"Accha accha ruk !" ("Okay fine, wait !") Annika whined. "De rahi hu answer." ("I'll answer the question.")
Bhavya grinned from the other side of the door.
"Shivaay ! Mujhe Shivaay jyada pasand hai." ("Shivaay ! Shivaay is more dear to me.") Annika answered.
-
Bhavya giggled and came back upstairs to join OmRuYanka and Gauri around the small indoor pool.
"Kya answer diya di ne ?" ("What was Di's answer ?") Gauri asked as soon as she spotted Bhavya.
"Shivaay ! Mujhe Shivaay jyada pasand hai." ("Shivaay ! Shivaay is more dear to me.") Bhavya mimicked her elder sister with a chuckle and added, "Obviously."
"Hum sab jaante hai ki Annika di ko Bhai se pyaar hai bas woh yeh nahi jaanti ki Shivaay Bhai ko bhi unse pyaar hai." ("We all knew that Annika di loved bhai, it's just di who doesn't know that bhai loves her back.") Om said.
"Lekin aj unhe pata chal jayega." ("But today she'll get to know that.") Priyanka grinned. "Kitni khush hongi na woh." ("Oh how happy she's going to be.")
"Khush toh woh hongi..." ("She'll be happy...") Rudy frowned slightly. "...but Bhaiya ka idea bahot hi unromantic hai. Mera idea jyada romantic tha." ("...but bhaiya's idea is very unromantic. Mine was better.")
"Rudra, bhaiya ka idea hume unromantic lag raha hai lekin di ke liye woh sabse romantic idea hoga." ("Rudra, we found bhaiya's plan unromantic but for di it'll be the most romantic idea in the world.") Bhavya smiled softly.
"Yes." Gauri added. "Kyu ki woh idea Bhaiya ka original idea hai." ("Because it's bhaiya's own original idea.")
"Aur bhaiya Anu bhabhi ke liye pehli baar kuch kar rahe hai, so it's special." ("And bhaiya is doing something for Anu bhabhi for the very first time so it's special.") Priyanka added.
"Aur di ke liye bhai ka pyaar zahir karne ka tarika nahi, pyaar zahir karna jyada maayne rakhta hai." ("And for di, bhai's feelings are more important than the way in which he's expressing his feelings.") Om said. "Annika di yeh jaankar hi khush ho jayengi ki bhai ko bhi unse pyaar hai." ("Annika di will be ecstatic when she gets to know that bhaiya loves her too.")
"Plus, di ko already pata hai ki bhaiya pyaar vyaar ke subject mein weak hai." ("Plus, di already knows that Bhaiya's is not a romantic kind of a person.") Gauri spoke.
"Aur nahi toh kya, jab di ne unse apne dil ki baat ki thi tab woh waha se bhaag aaye the." ("Of course, he had ran away from her when she had poured her heart out to him the last time.") Rudy recalled with a laugh.
All the others joined Rudy in laughing and silently hoped that everything goes as planned in the basement.
-
"Annika, kash tumhe mein yeh pehle bata sakta....I love you, I love you very, very much, Annika." ("Annika, I wish I could tell you this earlier....I love you, I love you very, very much, Annika.") Shivaay's voice sounded throughout the room but Annika couldn't see him anywhere but she knew he was speaking live and it wasn't a pre-recorded voice. "Mein jab bhi aankhen band karta hu tumhe dekhta hu. Ankhen kholta hu toh tumhe dekhna chahata hu." ("Whenever I close my eyes, I see you. When I open my eyes, I wanna see you.")
A smile crossed Annika's lips when she recognised her favourite dialogue from her favourite movie.
Flashback
"Kal ho na ho meri favourite movie hai !" ("Kal ho na ho is my favourite movie !") Annika cheered as she settled on a beanbag in Shivaay's room. "Aao jaldi, movie bas start hone hi wali hai." ("Come fast, movie is about to begin.")
Shivaay smiled and sat on a similar beanbag beside her.
After a while, the scene came up where Shah Rukh aka Aman reads Saif aka Rohit's diary to Pretty aka Naina, and Shivaay noticed Annika's eyes getting moistened.
"Annika kya hua ?" ("Annika what's wrong ?") Shivaay asked softly, even though he knew that she was emotional due to the emotional scene.
"Kuch nahi." ("Nothing.") Annika replied and pinched the corner of the eyes and flashed a bright, beautiful smile. "Agar koi mujhe yeh dialogue bolke propose karega na toh mein fatt se usey haan bol dungi." ("If some one proposed me with this dialogue then I would definitely accept his proposal.") She chuckled softly. "Sounds crazy right ?"
Shivaay didn't reply. He just stared at his hands with a small smirk on his lips.
Flashback ends
"Oh.." Annika pulled the sound of the vowel long. "Toh yeh chal raha tha apke dimaag mein uss waqt." ("So this is what you were thinking at that time.") She whispered to herself with a smile.
"Tum pass nahi hoti toh tumhe charo taraf mehsoos karta hu, har pal. Har ghadi. Har waqt." ("When you're away, I feel you around me, every moment. Every minute. Every time.") Shivaay went on. "Mere naina, meri Nai- I mean, Annika ko dhundte hai." ("My eyes keep searching for a glimpse of my Nai- I mean Annika.") He chuckled softly.
Shivaay had spoken the wrong name on purpose to add some humour.
Annika to chuckled softly and blushed a bit. She had waited so long to hear this from Shivaay.
"Isey pyaar kaho, pagalpan ya mere dil ki dhadkan...mere liye ek hi baat hai." ("Call it love, madness or my heart's beat...for me it's all the same.") Shivaay slowly walked out of the shadows and took slow steps towards Annika, who was still standing in the spotlight. "Lekin mere jaisa pyaar koi nahi kar sakta kyu ki, kisi ke pass tum jo nahi ho." ("But one thing is sure, no one can love like me cause not everyone has you.")
Annika was blushing madly, smile never abandoned her lips but at the same time her eyes were moistened cause she knew even though it was a movie dialogue Shivaay still meant everything he was speaking.
That dialogue may have been written by someone else but every emotion it held belonged to Shivaay for her.
And she also knew that she was the first and definitely the last girl who would get to see this side of Shivaay. The side of Shivaay where he was trying to be romantic but ended up being cuter than ever ! The side where he was pouring out his emotions for someone other than his brothers and sister.
Shivaay reached Annika and held her hands in his as he locked his eyes with hers.
"Mein tumhe bhul nahi sakta, Annika, mein tumhe...mein tumhe bhulna hi nahi chahata." ("I cannot forget you, Annika, I don't...I don't want to forget you.") Shivaay's voice was cracking slightly, with the overwhelming amount of emotions he was feeling, as he spoke and his eyes were moistened too. "Tum meri ho. Mein tumhe zindagi bhar pyaar karunga aur marte dam tak pyaar karunga aur...uske baad..." ("You're mine. I'll love you my entire life and till I die and...after that...")
Shivaay looked down at his and Annika's entwined hands with a small chuckle cause dialogue of the movie ended there.
"Aur uske baad..." ("And after that...") Shivaay looked back at Annika again. "...uske baad bhi tumhe pyaar karunga Annika, kyu ki tum woh Annika ho jo mujhe taakat deti hai, mera hosla badhati hai, mere jeene ek aur wajah ban jaati hai...kyu ki tum woh Annika ho jo mujhe pura karti hai. Tumhare bina Shivaay Singh Oberoi kuch nahi hai, Annika." ("...I'll love you after that too Annika, because you're that Annika who gives me strength, who is my power, who gives me one more reason to live...because you're that Annika who completes me in every way. Without you Shivaay Singh Oberoi is nothing, Annika.")
Happy and overwhelmed tears flowed down Annika's cheeks as she smiled at Shivaay with numerous different emotions in her eyes.
Suddenly Shivaay sat on his one knee before Annika and produced a ring box. He held the ring box open in front of her with a big smile.
"Annika, kya tum mere sath apni puri zindagi bitaogi ? Kya apne iss bagad bille ki bagad billi banogi ?" ("Annika, would you like to spend your entire life with me ? Will you be your Mr Wild cat's Mrs wild cat ?") Shivaay asked. "Will you...marry me ?"
Annika gasped after chuckling at Shivaay 'bagad billa, billi' ('Mr and Mrs wild cat') comment.
Annika wasn't expecting a marriage proposal...After the amount of time Shivaay had wasted to realise his love, she thought it would take him another year or so to speak about marriage and to be honest, she thought Shivaay was commitment phobic.
When Annika kept staring at Shivaay without any reply, Shivaay's smile flattered.
"Will you marry me Annika, please ?" Shivaay asked again.
Annika snapped out of her thoughts.
"Yes !" Annika blurted. "Yes ! Of course yes !" She yelled and pulled Shivaay on his feet before twirling him around and hugging him tightly. "I'll marry you."
Shivaay grinned from ear to ear and wrapped his arms around her before pulling away.
Annika raised an eyebrow at him when she saw him staring at her with a smirk.
"Tumne jo mujhe apni manali trip se pehle diya tha...woh toh mein interest ke sath lautana bhul hi gaya." ("I forgot to return something which you had given to me before going on manli trip.") Shivaay smirked as he leaned in towards her lips.
Annika's eyes widened when she realised that he was talking about the kiss and she quickly pushed him away and ran towards the door.
"Woh sab shaadi ke baad." ("Wait until we get married for that.") Annika teased before running out of the basement.
Shivaay just stood there with a smile as he watched her running away and scratched the back of his head.
♥
"Kya hua ?" ("What happened ?")
"Kya bola aapne ?" ("What did you say ?")
"Kya ab hum apko bhabhi bulaye ?" ("Can we call you bhabhi now ?")
"Bolo na !" ("Spill !")
Annika was bombarded with all these questions as she ran out of the basement.
Annika blushed hard again and nodded.
"Yay !")
OmRuYanka and RiVya cheered and danced around with utmost happiness.
♠
"Dadi !" ShivOmRuYanka said in unison as they entered Dadi's room.
Kalyani aka Dadi smiled at her grandchildren.
It had been a routine to Oberoi kids since Dadi had came back, ShivOmRuYanka would go to their Dadi's room every night and spent at least an hour with their grandma.
"Dadi aj mujhe kahani sunni hai." ("Grandma I wanna hear a story today.") Priyanka said as she kept her head on Dadi's lap and laid on Dadi's bed.
"Kahani ?" ("A story ?") Dadi smiled. "Chal thik hai. Kaunsi kahani sunegi ?" ("Okay. Which story do you wanna hear ?")
"Snow-white." Priyanka spoke.
"Nahi dadi, Beauty and the Beast." ("No grandma, Beauty and the Beast.") Rudy piped up.
"No, no..." Om interrupted. "Dadi, Mahabharat."
Dadi looked at her 'grown up' grandchildren and chuckled before turning to Shivaay.
"Aur tum konsi story sunna chahte ho billu ?" ("And which story do you wanna listen to Billu ?") Dadi asked Shivaay.
OmRuYanka silently giggled at Shivaay's nickname which didn't go unnoticed by Shivaay.
"Dadi, billu mat bulao mujhe." ("Grandma, don't call me billu.") Shivaay whined like a baby. "Ab bada ho gaya hu mein." ("I'm a grown up man now.")
Dadi chuckled at Shivaay softly.
"Accha thik hai mere bade bacche, batao konsi kahani sunoge ?" ("Okay my grown up child, tell me which story you wish to hear ?") Dadi pinched Shivaay's cheeks.
"Mujhe apki aur dada ji ki love story sunni hai." ("I wanna know your and grandpa's love story.") Shivaay smiled.
"Haan dadi mujhe bhi." ("Yes grandma, me too.") OmRuYanka agreed.
"Thik hai." ("Alright.") Dadi smile distantly and started narrating her love story to her grandchildren.
♦
After listening to their grandma and grandpa's love story ShivOmRuYanka decided to call it a night and dispersed to their respective rooms after greeting each other good night.
On the way to his room, Shivaay heard someone's whimpers and sobbing.
Shivaay furrowed his eyebrows.
Who was crying at this hour of the night and why ?
The sounds led Shivaay to Janvi's room.
The door was slightly open so Shivaay peeped inside and saw Janvi sitting on her desk chair and crying. She was holding her and Tej's photoframe.
"Aisa kyu kiya Tej ?" ("Why would you do that Tej ?") Janvi sobbed. "Mere baare mein kyu nahi socha ? Meine tumhare liye apne maa papa ko chhod diya, tumhari har baat mein tumhara sath diya, tumhe beintaha pyar kiya...fir tumne mere sath aisa kyu kiya !? Kyu ?" ("Why didn't you think about me ? I left my mom dad for you, I supported you in your every step, I loved you till infinity...then why did you do this to me ?! Why ?")
Shivaay's heart ached to see his badi maa like that.
Janvi always put on a smile and pretended to forget about Tej when she was with her family so Shivaay or anyone else from the family had no idea from how much pain she was going through.
Shivaay frowned deeply.
How could he have been such an oblivious son ?
Why couldn't he see his badi maa's pain earlier !
Shivaay felt terrible to see his badi maa's condition but he knew that she would only deny to open up if he went to help her directly.
Just then an idea came up in his mind.
Shivaay jogged away and came back with a bowl full of massaging oil and knocked softly on Janvi's room door. He watched her wiping away her tears and clearing her throat.
When Janvi asked him to come inside he stepped inside her room with a sheepish smile.
"Badi maa, kya aap mere sar par tel laga dengi ?" ("Badi maa, will you apply oil to my hairs please ?") Shivaay asked.
Janvi nodded with a smile and sat on the edge of the bed and signalled him to sit on the floor before her.
Shivaay smiled and sat down before her. He kept talking about random things and made her laugh occassionally, for hours and when Janvi finally started feeling sleepy, he left to go to his own room.
He knew that by doing this he had only managed to postpone her cries but that was the only thing he could do, until he found a permanent remedy to take away her pain.
--------------------
Hey bubblies !
The more I try to finish this book soon, the more longer it gets !
When I started writing this chapter I had thought about writing at least 5 different scenes, but look at this chappy, almost entire chappy is about Shivika proposal !
*Sighs before smiling a bit*
Anyways, there will be Ruvya and Rikara scenes in the next chapter and...okay I don't know anymore how many more chapters there will be...🤦
Ik, ik I'm a very weird writer. 🤪
Oh...How was the proposal ?
Ik it wasn't romantic and stuff but I tried okay ? I mean as you all already know I'm a very unromantic kind of a person (and I'm glad Shivaay is the same) so that was the only thing I could come up with...
I love those lines from KHNH movie so I used them too. 😁
Until the next update
Have a safe and great life 😇