Shivaay looked around the room, scrutinizing his gaze through each and every wall of the mansion. He left Annika in their bedroom to take a shower. He knew it was unkind enough to leave her alone in the state she was in. However, sadly the rituals suggested otherwise.
When he came out of the shower, she was not around. Like a maniac, he searched for her throughout the big room of his and ultimately the rest of the huge Oberoi Mansion.
***
"A few days ago they got married and now this. If Annika mourns over her Dad over the honeymoon period of her and Billu's marriage, how will she focus on her married life?" Shivaay heard Kalyani say to Omkara when passing through the latter's room in search of Annika.
"My poor Billu," she added.
Shivaay stopped in his path when he heard Kalyani's last few words. A part of him was concerned about it too. Annika wasn't giving him his husbandly rights anytime soon.
Sighing, he shoved that thought out of his mind and left the place without hearing Om's reply.
***
It was close to midnight when Shivaay entered the terrace in search of Annika. The word responsibility was echoing inside his being. If Annika was not found soon, he would be disappointed with himself. His phone rang before he could look around. Switching that off, he strode around the terrace and looked even in the smallest of corners for her.
His phone rang again. He ignored the ringtone and continued his search.
And then, his phone rang for the third time. Frustrated at his inability to find Annika and the repetitive tune of the ringtone, he banged it on the ground.
Silence consumed near him.
"Annika!" he continued looking for her.
***
"Bhaiya!" Rudra's voice was heard. Shivaay heard some footsteps and turned to the direction.
"Bhaiya," Rudra walked up to Shivaay. He had a phone in his left hand and tensed lines on his forehead.
"What happened?" Shivaay asked, "you seem tense."
"Bhabhi," Rudra huffed due to exhaustion, "bhabhi wants to talk to you."
Shivaay snatched the phone from Rudra and talked to Annika.
"Annika?" he called.
"Shiv—Shivaay," he heard her broken voice.
"Where are you?" he asked.
"I—I don't know,"
Shivaay could barely make out her words.
"Annika, can you hear me?" he asked.
"Shivaay," he heard her let out a dry chuckle.
"Where are you?"
"I don't know."
Shivaay sighed, "Turn on the location on your phone and text me your current location. Fast."
"Okay," Annika said.
Shivaay did wonder about her slightly changed voice, but his priority was to find her. And for that, he could ignore everything else at the moment.
"Where is Bhabhi?" Rudra asked.
Only then Shivaay realized about Rudra's presence in the terrace.
"She is—" Shivaay stammered. He did not want to lie and the truth was unknown to him too.
"I left her at her mansion earlier this evening. She called so I pick her up," Shivaay chose to lie.
"Bhaiya, I heard what you said," Rudra tried to counter Shivaay's lie, "if Bhabhi was at her mansion, why would you ask her to send the address? You know the address already." after a while, Rudra's expression changed, "and when I talked to her, she seemed—"
Shivaay could tell that Rudra knew something he didn't even imagine till now.
"What?"
Rudra whispered the next few words in Shivaay's ears, "She seems drunk."
And then, Shivaay started thinking along that line. Now when he recalled his little exchange with Annika, the fact that she was drunk could aptly substantiate to be the reason behind her slurry voice.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
Shivaay half-ran half-marched towards the exit before turning to Rudra once again.
"Until I come back, please don't say this to anyone else." Shivaay meant Kalyani when he said anyone else. Overhearing part of her and Om's conversation was not something he did intentionally. But now that he did, he knew that he wasn't ready for solving any issue between Annika and Kalyani on top of all the responsibilities he suddenly acquired upon Harsh's demise.
"Okay, I won't," Rudra promised.
Shivaay nodded to that and quickly went down the stairs to get in his car. By then, the ping in his phone told him that Annika might have successfully sent the address.
***
When he checked his phone after starting the engine of the car, it was indeed a text from Annika. He only hoped that the address she sent was the right one and Rudra's presumption was a wrong one.
At the moment, he was in a debate with his two minds. If he wanted, he could easily get help. But that would give the media some more gossip to show in the news. In addition to that, if what Rudra said turned out to be true, the media won't take a minute before defaming Annika and the rest of the Oberois.
***
The GPS took him to a remote corner of the city. For once, he thought that the address Annika sent was wrong. However, when the board of Kabeer family caught his eye, he decided that looking through the place won't be a waste of time and energy.
The GPS stopped directing him when his car reached the front of a beautiful chateau. With french designs and fortifications, it was nothing less than the house of Gatsby from The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald. He stared at it in surprise. He had no idea that the Kabeers owned such an elegant country house in remote Mumbai. Not only was it unusual for Annika to be in this place at this hour, but it was also unsafe for anyone to be in such an isolated area at this part of the city so late at night.
"Annika."
He stepped out of his car and looked around in search of Annika.
"Annika,."
He scanned every visible spot. Then, he walked around the garden in search of Annika.
Finding her nowhere, he finally stepped inside the house.
He rang the bell, then knocked. Once, twice.
"Annika!"
Getting no reply, he turned the doorknob to see if the door was open. Turned out it was.
Entering the house, shock consumed his being seeing Annika sitting on a couch with an empty bottle in her hand. The label around the bottle was familiar to him. Everclear, the beverage with the highest ABV (alcohol by volume). Rudra's assumption turned out to be true. Shivaay was concerned. He had no idea if Annika was used to alcohol, but common sense said anyone who drank the whole bottle won't be in her sense for the next twenty-four hours at most.
"Annika!" he ran towards her.
Annika tried to stand seeing him. He placed his arms around her shoulders and stopped her from standing.
"What are you up to?" he sounded mad, "Do you know how insulting it would be for both of our companies if the media finds that the Annika Shivaay Singh Oberoi was found drunk on the night of Harsh Vardhan Kabeer's demise?"
Annika chuckled. Tears escaped her eyes. She didn't bother to wipe them. After all, who cares if she cries or dies. Reputation and public image are all that every rich person cares about these days. And her dear husband tops the list.
"Annika," he held both her hands to help her sit steady.
"Have you ever had any sort of alcoholic beverage before tonight?" he asked.
Annika smiled. First, she shook her head, and then she nodded.
"Yes or no?"
Annika closed her eyes. Shivaay sighed. She was way too drunk. Even if she replied to his questions, there was no guarantee that those will be true.
"We will talk when you feel better. For now, come with me," Shivaay pulled her with him. She stopped and left his hand. She sat back on the couch.
"I am not going anywhere."
Shivaay turned to see her comfortably sitting with no mood for going with him.
"Annika, try to understand. We are newly married. And your Dad just died. The eyes of the media and business rivals are on us. They are always up to looking for ways to defame our family or company. This news, if leaked, will spread like fire tomorrow."
Shivaay received no reply from her side. All he heard were occasional sniffs and a few high-pitched sobs.
"Annika," he neared her and tried to carry her.
Annika started moving her arms randomly in an attempt to resist him.
"Annika," he tried to hold her, "listen to me."
Annika shook her head and continued moving her arms all around.
"I won't go with you," she said.
"Why?"
"You are bad," she replied, "Very bad."
"I am—not bad."
"You are!" she accused, "Very bad."
"What did I do?" he asked.
Annika stayed silent for a long time. Her lips formed a cute pout. Her eyes were closed. Shivaay felt relieved when she did not reply.
He noticed her pout shaped lips. He had a desire to kiss them since he saw her first. And now, with her drunk state and cute lips, voluminous desires evoked inside him. He was attracted to her. The dark side of his mind argued that he should. She was his wife. He could kiss if he wanted. With that thought, he brought his lips closer to hers. Only a peck, he decided.
Just when he was about to kiss her, she opened her eyes. Shivaay found her looking back at him with her innocent, doe shaped, honey brown eyes. He moved his face away from hers. That was not something he wanted to do. Their first kiss will happen when she is ready. He didn't want to kiss her against her wish. Even if she was his wife and the society believed that he had all the rights.
"Let's go home," he carried her in his arms.
"I want to stay here. This place has so many memories," she said.
Shivaay stared at her as she continued talking.
"You know, —Papa used to bring me here every time there was a vacation and we couldn't visit abroad. I enjoyed it a lot.— In this chateau, with all the fortifications and architectural designs, I used to feel like a real princess. —Every summer, Papa would show me pictures of different countries and he would ask which one to go. I would say no to all that and —come here. One time, he said that he couldn't —join me and send me with my nanny. But then, I realized. It was his and my nanny's plan. He came here after night to surprise me. I was so happy. —Not once, I missed my mom. I had no memories of her, so why would I? But Papa, he was my only family. I am going to miss him so much."
With that Annika started crying. Shivaay was shocked by the fact that Annika managed to say so much in such a state. She must be feeling very strong about it to say all that.
"You can come back when you are conscious. For now, let's go back," Shivaay said.
"I don't want to go with you," she said.
"But why?"
"I don't like you."
Shivaay pondered on the lie. The blush on her face during their visit to Crete said otherwise.
"What did I do?"
"You don't love me," she started crying again.
Shivaay rolled his eyes. Girls and their idea of love. Of course, he didn't love her. He had no expectations from her to love him either. He wanted a wife because society expects him to have one. He wanted to share marital intimacy because he too has physical needs like any other human. He only wanted a decent married life and the reputation and money that comes along with the marriage.
"We will talk about this later. For now, let's go."
"I won't," she wriggled in his arms. He managed to block her continued resistance and carried her with him.
"Who are you?"
"Your husband," he said.
"I never wanted to marry you. Go away!"
Shivaay stopped walking after hearing that. He turned her face so she could see him. She couldn't be telling the truth. Could she? And then Harsh too said that she agreed. Harsh couldn't be lying. Could he?
"You didn't?"
"No," she shook her head, "I wanted to complete —MBA, take over Dad's business, and then marry according to my —choice. Who wants to be stuck with a— boring —man like you?"
"I am not boring," Shivaay rejected that notion of hers, "and you can do whatever you want—" and then he added, "except the marrying according to your choice part. We can't be divorced."
I won't receive any alimony, a part of him thought but that went unsaid.
He closed his eyes and cursed himself for bringing that thought so abruptly. He couldn't be that selfish when poor Annika was in such an emotional state.
The next time he looked at Annika, she passed out. Sighing in exhaustion, he carried her till his car. The next morning would be unexpected for Annika. There was no way Shivaay would come between her and her dreams. He was surely after business but not when he would have to fall as low as snatching his wife's dreams. She wanted freedom and he will give her that.
While I was away for a month, this book got nominated and won third place in Rainbow Awards 2020 organized by Rainbowusers. Thank you so much to all those who nominated and then voted for it. I had no idea about it and it was a pleasant surprise when they tagged me on their winner's list. It means a lot to know that this book is so loved by the readers. Thank you.
Precap: Shivaay sat beside her and passed her some papers and a pen.
"I need your signs in these papers," he said.
Annika took the papers in her hand and without looking at them, she asked, "Divorce papers?