The meeting with the sponsor didn't really go well. The man was too demanding. They left sooner than they had expected.
"Mam, Dadiji had sent a location. She expects you there", Vidhi said looking at Annika who was driving.
Annika sighed. There's no way she could escape this, except for going there.
"Turn on the GPS. I'll drop you home and go and, inform dadi", Annika said taking the next left. Vidhi nodded.
*
"Bye Vidhi, See you in the morning!", She said as the car came to a halt.
"Bye mam! Sure. I'll give a wakeup call.", Vidhi said as she got down.
Annika smiled waving at her and looked at the location.
Aurus, Juhu. It read. She sighed, the restaurant was apparently fifteen kilometres away from her current location. Given the traffic, she expected that it would atleast take an hour for her to reach there.
But, she was excited. The restaurant had amazing food and a very pleasant ambiance, she hoped Shivaay had booked a table overlooking the sea.
Annika reached there in forty-minutes, sooner than she had expected. Parking the car, she headed inside and searched for Shivaay and others.
"Good to have you here mam! How may I help you?", The manager asked smiling.
"Umm... I've come here for Mr. Shivaay Singh Oberoi".
"This way mam", he said leading her to the lounge where they were seated. Annika felt really happy to see everyone there.
The table was on the farthest corner of the lounge, facing the sea. She saw Sahil and Gauri on either side of Shivaay and Saumya was sitting to Om's right and Rudra on left, opposite to Gauri.
"Hey all..", she said softly as she neared them. She nodded at the manager and he left immediately.
"Annika Didi!", Ru ran to her squeezed her in a hug.
"Ru.. I can't breathe", she struggled to get out of his hold.
"Sorry di!", He said smiling sheepishly.
"Annika, it's so good to see you!", Om walked to her and gave her a quick hug.
"Good to see you too O!", She responded with a warm smile.
The rest didn't care to greet her or even make place for her to sit. Annika rolled her eyes. Them and their drama. But, this time she was at fault.
"Hey guys!", She tried again. But, there was no response. She looked at Om and Rudra. They sighed and made her sit between them.
The breeze was mild and soft music was playing in the background and they could hear the waves touching the shore. On any other day, Annika would have found that romantic, but right now she found it like she was watching a thriller, anticipating the climax.
The table went silent as soon as she entered and no one uttered a single word after that. Except for Ru, ofcourse. He went on telling her about the courses he was looking up to pursue. She felt nice to find him talk about Universities and Courses.
She looked at the table, there was nothing except for Couscous salad and Basil risotto.
Oh man! She hated them.
It was not hard for her to guess that they were waiting for the desserts. She was hungry and looked at the table to find something eatable. She could order something, but she didn't want to waste their time and also Saumya and Gauri looked tired. It was almost half past eleven. She didn't want them to sleep late because of her. She found a glass of blueberry drink. She tried to reach that out. It was before Gauri. But, she made no attempt to help Annika.
Annika slouched back on the couch. Om noticed this.
"Here you go!", Om passed her the glass with a smile.
"Thanks O!", Annika said taking the glass from him.
"Didi, shall I order something for you?", Rudra asked her finding her gulping down the drink in one go.
"I've to go home Ru. Sooner the better!", Gauri said in a clipped tone.
"Guys, listen! I'm really Sorry. I didn't mean to shout and...", Annika stopped finding the waiter bringing the desserts.
The others without a word started eating. Annika felt odd sitting there. There's no way she'd have dessert before actually having something. She decided to have an other drink and ordered it.
"Shivaay, I'm sorry. I didn't know that you were planning this, had I known, I'd have cleared my schedule.", She tried again.
Silence. She looked at Om and Rudra. They nodded at her.
"Guys, she's apologising and moreover she came here for us. This is not how we treat her", Om said looking at them.
No-one looked at their direction and continued to do whatever they were doing. Om looked at her apologetically.
"Gauri, how was your exams?", Annika asked her.
"I'd like eat peacefully!" The reply was curt.
"That's not how you talk to your sister, Gauri!", Om snapped.
"Ofcourse!", She scoffed and made a move to leave the table.
"Fine. Be at peace", Annika said as anger got better of her, picking up her phone and bag and tried to leave.
"Annika! No, don't leave", Om stopped her.
"Let's talk it out didi, please!", Rudra looked at her with puppy eyes.
"Fine."
"Prinku didn't come?", She asked Om.
"Ah.. no. She had some assignments and as everyone are coming to Oberoi Mansion tonight, she said, she wanted to complete that as soon as possible," Ru told as he took a bite of Tiramisu.
"You are all staying in?." Annika asked surprised looking at the others.
They didn't reply even this time. Annika had had enough. Everything had a limit and so does her patience.
Agreed, she was at fault and she had apologised for that. They just can't keep ignoring her like some trash. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply to control her anger.
"Annika di! Here just have a bite, this is so good with caramel", Ru said as he made her eat a spoonful of cake and winked at her. Annika nodded understanding what he was upto.
It tasted so damn good. "Wow! Ru, it's just amazing", Annika said as she took an other bite.
"Here, let me have some!", Om too tired it.
"Damn! This is just awesome", Om mumbled helping himself with an other piece.
From the corner of her eyes, Annika could see Sahil and Saumya looking at them expectantly.
"Sahil! You want this? This is so amazing", she asked him, licking her lips.
Sahil tried hard to not give up, but the dessert looked better than anger. He slowly got up from his seat and moved to the other side to sit with Annika. Ru made some place for him to sit.
She passed him a plate with a small piece in it.
"I want you to brush before you sleep!", Annika said.
"Ok didi, I will! Thank you", Sahil said with a toothy grin. She hugged him.
"Bubbly, you want some?", Annika asked looking at Saumya.
"Di! You promised, you'll not call me that!", Saumya whined.
Annika grinned. Two wickets out and two remaining, the toughest two, Bhagad billa and angry Chirraya.
Gauri and Shivaay looked at each other and then at Saumya.
She bit her tongue and mouthed a 'sorry' and, turned to a grinning Annika.
"I didn't forgive you yet, didi", she crossed her arms, pouting.
"Aww.. baby didn't forgive didi", Ru teased her in baby voice.
"Arghh! Rudra, I'm going to kill you", Saumya said taking the knife and pointing at him. Rudra widened his eyes and hid behind Annika. Om and Annika laughed at him, so did the others.
"But, on a serious note! Will this piece of cake melt my little girl?", Annika asked once they stopped laughing.
Saumya leapt forward and hugged Annika with all her might.
"I'm sorry di! I know you were busy. I'll never stop talking to you. Ever.", She mumbled.
"I'm sorry too Bubbly!", Annika said breaking away from the hug.
"Di... Don't call me that!", Saumya whined again.
"Alright! Alright! Have the cake. It's really yum!", Annika laughed as she passed the cake.
"Jiju, I'm done", Gauri said loudly.
"Let's go, I'm done too", Shivaay said and looked at the others on the table.
"We aren't done, yet! Let's go later." Om said.
"We are leaving early, and Om I think, you can drive all home, safely."
"But, Shivaay. We've sent back the car with the driver and Annika is going to Trivedi Villa. So, you've to take us along with you", Om smirked at him.
"Fine." Shivaay muttered, sitting back on the chair.
Om looked at Gauri, who was still standing.
"Alright. FINE.", She too sat back.
The others looked at that and went back to eating, leisurely. But, Shivaay noticed Annika not having anything. He sighed. How much ever he tried, he couldn't stay angry with her. He turned to look at Gauri and she was already looking at him.
"Jiju, she..."
"I know, I'll do something. Alright! Don't worry.", He smiled at her assuring.
To be continued 🐾
Spread Love 💙