[Annika - A, Shivaay - S, Rudra - Ru]
Goa airport
Annika and Chanda's flight landed at the airport. They saw a car with a driver waiting outside for them. He held a board with Annika's name on it.
The Oberois already had a villa in Goa. The groom's guests were going to stay there. Gauri's family rented the neighboring villa for their guests. It was going to be an intimate wedding, close friends and family only.
Annika and Chanda were going to stay with Gauri. Bhavya sided with Om since she had been with the Oberois for so many years, she was practically like a sister to Shivaay and Om.
The first event was a cocktail party that evening at the Oberoi villa. In the evening, everyone dressed up in black as per the theme and went there.
Om and Gauri got busy welcoming all their guests.
Ru: Annika didi, you look so beautiful
A: Thank you Rudra. You're looking very handsome yourself.
Ru: I know, I always look hot. Come, let's go eat
A: It's fine, I'll eat later. I'm sure you've got a lot of people to attend
Ru: You're coming with me didi, bhaiyya has ordered me to look after you
A: Oh! Where's Shivaay anyway?
Ru: Scolding the wedding planners over something I think
A: Poor thing, they're so dead. Where's Bhavya?
Ru: She's on duty today, she'll join us tomorrow
The three of them sat at a table and a waiter served them some appetizers.
A: Who is that guy speaking with your mom?
Ru: That is Verma uncle, dad's college friend, absolutely weird people. He divorced and remarried his wife 3 times. The last time they got the same judge that they got for divorce number 2, the judge remembered them and he scolded them
A: Who is that girl looking creepily at Om?
Ru: Oh god, who invited the Arora's! She's Riddhi Arora, she was crazy about O but you know O, he's an old soul. He likes poetry and Riddhi is more into Badshaah songs. Poles apart. But she was crazy about him, she followed him at every party. Finally, O asked us for help and I said I'll take care of it.
Chanda: What did you do?
Ru: I told her O had fits of madness. He threw stuff around, broke stuff, screamed at people
A: So basically he's Shivaay's bagadbilla avtar
Ru: yes and that did it. But don't tell Shivaay bhaiyya about this, please
A: My lips are sealed
Looking around her eyes settled on the man she had been looking for. Clad in a black tuxedo and a bow tie, his hair nicely set, beard well-trimmed, he looked so handsome. And next to him was a sexy looking a girl laughing with him
A: Who's that with Shivaay?
Ru: Lady baba
A: What?
Ru: that's Tia Kapoor, I call her lady baba because she's obsessed with Reiki and aura cleansing and all that
Chanda: Aren't Kapoors in business with you guys?
Ru: yes. And many times they've tried to take this business relationship to the next level. Mr. Kapoor suggested Shivaay bhaiyya's marriage with Tia. But obviously, bhaiyya refused. They would have merged Kapoor Industries after the wedding, which would have been one hell of a deal for bhaiyya, 400 crores. But he would never marry anyone for money
Chanda: Looks like they're having a good time
Ru: She just got back from the US after a year. They are pretty good friends for exes
A: She's his ex?
Ru: Bhaiyya hasn't told you anything about his dating history.
A: How many girls has he dated? He's clearly friends with all his exes
Chanda: Are you jealous?
A: What! No! I'm just curious and we're just friends and we're going to stick to that. So Rudra, how many?
Ru: Hmm (he counted on his fingers) 2.5
Chanda: Mallika, Tia and half?
Ru: Yeah, I consider Annika didi as half.
A: we never dated
Ru: Please, everyone saw your chemistry. Something was going on before Bhaiyya royally screwed things up.
A: When did they date?
Ru: They weren't together really, it was just a couple of dates
Shivaay came to meet them with Tia holding his arm
S: Hey guys, everyone's looking nice today (his eyes were only on Annika)
Tia: Shivaay baby, introduce me
A(in her mind): baby!
S: Guys this is my friend Tia Kapoor and Tia this is Annika and Chanda.
They chatted for a bit before some other guests dragged Shivaay and Tia along with them. Rudra went with them
A: She calls him Shivaay baby
Chanda: Yeah and Neil calls you honey, what's your problem?
A: When did I say I have a problem?
Chanda: It's all over your face. Fix it before anyone else sees you
A(in her mind): Am I really jealous? We're just friends, I can't date Shivaay. Stop this obsession Annika, you can't repeat your mistakes
The rest of the evening she kept noticing how Tia was clinging to Shivaay, how they were laughing together and how good they looked together. Two people from rich families, their parents were already interested in getting them hitched. They belonged to the same society and the cherry on the cake was the merger. Had Shivaay been interested, they would have been the power couple of the city.
The next morning, there was still some time for the mehendi ceremony. Annika took a stroll down the beach. There was a shack on the beach. Annika decided to get a cold beverage. She ordered some juice for herself.
S: Annika!
She turned around to see Shivaay and Tia seated together at a table, sipping mimosas with breakfast
A: Hey guys
Tia: Shivaay baby, why don't you ask her to join us?
S: Yeah, I was about to. Have breakfast with us
A: No, I have to get back actually for the dance practice, you guys carry on. I'll see you later
S: Don't stress out your left shoulder too much. You've just gotten the brace off
Shivaay looked at her as she walked away
S: I don't know what's up with her. Something's wrong
Tia: Why don't you tell her already about your feelings?
S: She has gone through a lot recently, she needs some time. We've just gone back to our previous dynamic
Tia: No, I think she's ready. You should tell her. At least give her a hint that you want more than friendship
S: After the wedding
All the women got mehendi designs made on their palms at Gauri's place.
In the evening men joined them for the sangeet ceremony. The evening began with a special couple dance by Gauri and Om, followed by a performance by Annika, Chanda, bhavya and some more girls. Obros also performed together and were later joined by Tia and their other friends.
Annika was getting furious looking at Shivaay and Tia dancing together. She drank glasses of water one after the other to calm herself.
At last, everyone joined in and danced to a punjabi party number. Annika noticed daadi had been dancing for a long time. She took daadi aside with her and made her sit
A: Daadi, I know you're super excited about your grandson's wedding but you have to look after yourself. You haven't eaten all evening and you've been dancing for so long. I'll get something for you, don't go anywhere okay
She brought a plate of food for daadi and sat with her
Daadi: Bless you puttar. It's a privilege to see your grandkids getting married. Their daadu would have done bhangra nonstop
A: Yeah, I'm sure he's dancing up there.
Daadi: I hope Shivaay and Rudra also get married soon
A: Might happen soon
Daadi (in her mind): have things progressed between billu and Annika?
A: look at Rudra, he looks at Bhavya like she's the only girl in the world
Daadi: Oh you meant Rudra and Bhavya
A: Yeah, what did you think?
Daadi: No, nothing. Those two fight all the time but they can't live without telling each other everything.
A: What do you think about Shivaay and Tia?
Daadi(in her mind): oh god! Why is she thinking about Tia? Is billu up to something?
Daadi: You know puttar, I have a philosophy in life. When you have something in your mind, you should talk about it. When you want something, you should make efforts to get it. Otherwise, those things haunt you for the rest of your life as regrets. You keep wondering what would have happened if you had done that, if you had told so and so how you felt about them. What do you kids call it these days? YOLO, yes, YOLO
Annika's ears were registering what daadi was saying but her eyes were glued on Shivaay and Tia dancing together with Om and Gauri.
Shivaay had also been stealing glances and looking at Annika. He wanted to spend time with Annika but he also wanted to give her space. Hurting her again was the last thing he'd want to do. He saw how caring Annika was. Everyone was busy dancing and didn't realize that daadi shouldn't be dancing so much when her knees already hurt so much.
He had tried to ask her to dance with him but whenever he tried to approach someone came in between.
He got off the dancefloor and Tia accompanied him. They were talking about something when Shivaay felt her presence.
Annika came from behind and held his hand
A: Can you come with me for a second?
Even before he could answer, Annika had started walking, his hand still strongly held in hers. She took him to her assigned room in the villa, away from the party.
S: Is everything okay?
A: I don't want you as my friend anymore
Hey guys I hope you like this chapter
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