[Annika - A, Shivaay - S, Rudra - Ru, Gauri - G, Bhavya - B]
At Oberoi mansion
Shivaay told his brothers about Annika and Sanket
Om: Well good for her, she deserves to be happy
Ru: Yes and Sanket sounds like a great guy
S: Sure he is, but she moved on so quickly
Om: So, why has that got your knickers in a twist? Do you have feelings for her?
S: No, of course not. She can date whoever she wants
Rudra noticed that the chapati was burning because he was lost in thoughts
Ru: Oh no, it's charred because you were busy talking about Annika didi, what will I eat now?
S: Stop talking about her, Muje koi fark nahi padta {{I don't care}}.
Om: Yeah Rudra, what the fark man
Om high fived Rudra
S: I'll prove it to you guys. Let her come to the party tomorrow. I will neither think about her nor look at her. Because muje
OmRu: koi fark nahi padta
The two of them laughed at his behavior.
S: make your dinner yourself
Ru: Arrey relax na bhaiyya! It's your birthday tomorrow. I have already made all the preparations just focus on that
The next day many of Shivaay's friends had already arrived at the club for the party but he couldn't help checking the entrance repeatedly. He was surrounded by some of his close friends, talking about their times together. He didn't see when Annika finally arrived with Sanket
A: Hi guys!
G: Annika! What took you so long?
The two of them embraced.
A: Sanket, this is Gauri, Om, Rudra, and Bhavya. And guys this is Sanket, my boyfriend
G: WHAT!
Some of the guests turned around to look at Gauri when they heard her loud reaction
G: You're coming with me young lady, I want details
Gauri pulled Annika to a corner and Bhavya followed them
The waiters brought in a huge cake and everyone gathered around
A: Gauri, what's the party for? Shivaay didn't tell me
G: Of course, he didn't. It's his birthday
A: Phail gaya raita! Why didn't anyone tell me? I haven't even wished him yet
B: Relax Annika, bhaiyya isn't very keen about celebrating his birthday. OmRu forced him to this party.
A: Still I should have known, what kind of a friend am I
G: Relax, he won't mind.
A: Where's Mallika? Haven't seen her since I got here
B: Didn't you hear? They broke up a few days ago
A: Okay, now I'm definitely a bad friend.
Shivaay cut the cake with his brothers and fed them. The waiters then served it to all the guests. Annika went to talk to Shivaay
A: Happy Birthday Shivaay!
She took him in for a hug. Shivaay didn't want to let her go out of his arms but he controlled himself
A: We really need to sit and catch up. I'm so sorry to hear about your breakup.
S: It's okay, it wasn't meant to be. I'm totally fine
Sanket came over looking for Annika.
Sanket: happy birthday Shivaay
S: Thanks man
A friend of Shivaay came to wish him so he got busy talking. Sanket took some cake from a nearby waiter. He was about to feed Annika when Shivaay pushed his hand away
Sanket: What the!
S: She can't eat the cake. It has walnuts, Annika is allergic
Annika looked at Shivaay tenderly
Sanket: You didn't tell me about this Annika
S(in his mind): wow, what a boyfriend, doesn't even know her allergies
A: It's okay Sanket. And thanks Shivaay, for saving my life again
Shivaay stopped a passing waiter and took a bowl of ice cream. He filled a spoonful and pushed it towards Annika.
A: This is amazeballs Shivaay, have you had it yourself?
She took the spoon from him and fed him
S: yeah it is amazing
Sanket noticed how comfortable both of them were while feeding each other
A: Sanket, do you want to try this?
Sanket: Sure
He was hoping Annika would feed her with her spoon but instead she stopped the waiter and got another bowl for him and continued to share her own bowl with Shivaay.
Anyone who saw this would think Annika was dating Shivaay and not Sanket. Sanket clearly felt that.
Om: Rudra, didn't someone say he wasn't even going to look at her?
Ru: Yeah O, and did you see how that someone was feeding her ice cream just now?
Om: Some people are all bark and no bite
S: Shut up both of you
Om: Denial is not a good place to live in, just saying
Shivaay walked away from his brothers and mingled with his friends.
Annika joined Gauri and Rudra on the dance floor and a pair of Kanji eyes followed her moves.
B: Bhaiyya, at least be subtle. I could tell from over the bar that you were checking her out
S: No I wasn't looking at Annika
B: I never said I was talking about Annika.
She gave him a smug smile before leaving to join the others on the dance floor.
And Bhavya was right, Shivaay should have been careful. All of this did not go unnoticed by Sanket.
A while later as everyone danced, Sanket pulled Annika aside to talk
Sanket: Annika, you and Shivaay, you both seem quite close. And considering he was with you in Delhi, I should have connected these dots earlier. Is there something going on between you both? Am I coming between you two? Do I need to worry about Shivaay?
Annika was stunned. She hadn't even thought about how her old feelings for Shivaay affected Sanket.
A: Sanket, it's nothing like that. We're just friends. Yeah, we are comfortable with each other but that's it. I'm sorry if I made you feel that way. You have nothing to worry about
She placed her hand on his arm to comfort him.
Sanket: Are you sure? I don't want to be the third wheel
A: I'm one hundred percent certain.
Sanket: Okay, I trust you.
A: You know what I like the most about you? You're very open. You feel something, you talk about it and clarify things. Not a lot of people do that. Anyway, you wanna head home now? I'm beat
Sanket: Sure let's go
A(in her mind): I need to be careful. I should have behaved myself around Shivaay. Sanket must have been hurt looking at me feeding Shivaay. I have to set boundaries, I can't let Shivaay be a priority anymore.
Sanket dropped Annika at her society's entrance and left. She went home, changed, and sat with Chanda to talk about her feelings
A: I don't know what I'm doing, Chanda. I'm seeing Sanket but I still have some feelings for Shivaay. And today because of that I hurt Sanket. And the whole evening instead of spending time with Sanket, I was more interested in checking if Shivaay was having a good time.
Chanda: Tell me something, why didn't you invite Sanket inside when he just dropped you home?
A: I don't know, it didn't cross my mind
Chanda: have you kissed him yet?
A: No, he wanted to but I'm not there yet. I want to take things slow
Chanda: And yet you kissed Shivaay even though you weren't dating
A: That happened in the heat of the moment. And I think Shivaay regrets that also. We never got the chance to talk about it
Chanda: Just tell him how you feel, he's single again. It's better to break up with Sanket now when it's still new
A: There's no point Chanda, he has made it clear multiple times that he just wants to be friends. It's a dead end. He's not interested in dating me. And after what he did, spying on me, spiking my drink, I don't want to date him. I have forgiven him but I have not forgotten. He needs to learn to trust, I want a relationship, not a new test every day.
Chanda: Then stop thinking about him. Move on, Sanket seems to really care about you, focus on him.
A: You're right. Sanket does care about me and he likes me and most of all he trusts me. I'll sort out whatever lingering feelings I still have.
Hey guys I hope you like this chapter
Gauri will soon see Annika in a hospital.
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