***
The morning after saw Priyanka's return to Oberoi Mansion. As suggested by the doctors, none tried to make her feel guilty because of her attempt. They all knew she needed to be taught a lesson. They also understood that talking about the same right now may cause her to fall into depression.
Annika knew they needed to make Priyanka realize the importance of life, but she didn't know how to. She wanted to discuss the same with Shivaay, however, they were not normal again. She needed time and he chose to give her that time.
"Prinku, let's go beta, rest in your room for some time," Kalyani made the suggestion.
"Dadi, all she did the last three das was rest. Prinku, will you have a protein shake? I am making one for myself," Rudra offered.
"Oye! Bada aaya protein shake! Let her rest. Hospital isn't the best place to live. And Prinku, make sure to eat lots of dry fruits, peas, and beans. Dr. Shah has asked you to eat lots of iron-enriched foods to recover from the blood loss." Kalyani said.
"Dadi, I have ordered iron supplements for her as well. I will pick them up this evening," Om informed
"It's okay Om," Shivaay interrupted, "I will send Khanna to get them. Just forward him the email confirmation."
Om nodded. Annika's eyes traveled from Om to Priyanka. Following Priyanka's gaze, her eyes stopped at the blue-eyed cat. Apart from the little exchange these two had in the hospital that morning, Shivaay and Priyanka had no conversation with each other. Annika realized she was not the only one mad at Shivaay. Priyanka was. Dev was.
And Mallika was.
The other three for one reason and she for an entirely different one. And Shivaay being Shivaay will not even make efforts to justify his decision. He did to her probably because their situation was different. Dev was an outsider. She feared bringing that up now will only cause more stress if the last few days were not enough.
She caught a glimpse of Priyanka retiring to her room with Kalyani following her. A sigh escaped her lips. Priyanka shouldn't stay mad at her brother for long,
An arm wrapped around her shoulder. She craned her neck to find Shivaay. These types of touches weren't so bad.
"Did I?" he only began his question when she shook her head in seconds.
"Just tell me," he patted on her arms and took her back to their room.
***
"Why don't you talk to Prinku?" she asked once they were in the privacy of their bedroom.
"It's not like I didn't try," he fiddled with his cufflinks for a bit, "I talked. It is only after I talked to her that she attempted to kill herself."
That was new information for Annika. She couldn't guess that possibility in her dreams for that matter.
"What did you tell her?" she asked.
"Facts!" he replied.
"Helps a lot," there was a hint of sarcasm in her tone. Shivaay was surprised for he never took Annika to have sarcasm in her personality.
"I know right," he said, "Are you done then?"
He closed his eyes in disappointment as soon as the last few words escaped her lips. Only last night she decided to give their marriage another chance and he had to mess up today.
"I am—I am so sorry," he stepped towards her and placed his palms on each side of her arm, "I shouldn't have. Annika, believe me, I just asked her to be normal. She wasn't eating, talking, or going to college. Om and Rudra were terribly missing their sister. Dadi wasn't here for two weeks. And I—I was not in a state of thinking. That evening I decided to talk to Priyanka and see if she gets convinced."
"What else?" she demanded.
Shivaay heaved a sigh. "I told her the truth. She can't keep any relation with Dev," he replied honestly.
Annika nodded, well known about how he talked, "Your sharp tongue will destroy you one day. What was the need to say this? You could have talked to her nicely. She was not Dev or Mallika, right?"
"Where did Mallika come from? You women connect things no matter they relate or not." He was annoyed.
"The reason was the same right," Annika countered.
"I talked to Priyanka like I should have. Don't just assume," Shivaay warned.
"I will," she stood persistent, "I know how you talk."
"Annika, please," he pled, "I don't want to fight with you."
She took a deep breath. Fighting him wasn't her hobby either.
"Sorry, I believe the first few days our conversation may allude to the incident directly or indirectly, but I will try to forget it."
Shivaay shook his head and palmed her left cheek. "It's okay," he grabbed her right hand, "I too will try to make you forget it."
"Shivaay, a person can't make you forget an incident," she said.
"Who told you that?" he asked.
"I read somewhere," she replied.
"I have to prove that wrong whatever it is," he spoke in a typical Shivaay Singh Oberoi manner.
"We were talking about Priyanka, right?" she asked.
"Then let's talk about us," Shivaay offered.
"What's gotten into you?" she whispered.
"You," he replied.
Annika shifted her eyes off his face. A shy smile graced her lips so were her cheeks pink due to blushing. He used his index finger to tilt her chin up so her eyes met his.
He kissed her left cheek. "I will do what I can to make it up to you."
***
Annika sat talking to Rudra and Omkara about Priyanka's recovery process. None had any hopes from Shivaay to say yes to Dev. And giving Dev to Priyanka so she comes back to normal looked more like a bribe than helping her realize where she went wrong.
"Bhabhi idea," Rudra spoke up, "We will throw a party, have Priyanka meet a bunch of boys and dance. She will forget Dev."
"This is called distraction, not giving life a second chance," Omkara went on to chide his younger brother.
"Om, Rudy, we need to make Priyanka understand the worth of life. Your brother will never say yes to Dev. We can talk to Dadi, try and see if Shivaay listens to her, but I don't think now is the right time. Let Priyanka recover, let her and Shivaay talk properly once. For a new relation, we should never destroy an old one. After a couple of months, we can bring this topic back. Not now," Annika suggested.
"I think Bhabhi is right, " Omkara seconded her.
"How so?" Rudra asked, "Don't you remember when Dadi brought Mallika didi home and tried to set her up with Bhai? Did he listen to her?"
"Mallika lived in Oberoi Mansion," Annika uttered in a low voice, trying to digest the fact, still enough for Rudra to hear.
"Yeah, she was here for a month. First, our buddhu Bhaiya did not understand what Dadi was up to. When Dadi talked to him directly, he ran a background check and two days later kicked Mallika Didi out. Less than a week passed and we get to know that he is seeing you," Rudra explained.
Rudra's voice rang in her ears for a long time. Shivaay never told her this part. If a conservative woman like Kalyani favored Mallika so much to make her stay in the mansion before any sort of alliance with Shivaay, it wasn't easy for another girl, in this case Annika herself, to make a place in the elder woman's heart.
"Our plan is still vague. What can we do to make Prinku realize the importance of life?" Omkara brought her back from her train of thought.
"Let's not celebrate her birthday this year," Rudra suggested.
"What?" Omkara looked in disbelief, "Where's the logic?"
"When does a person get a life? On her birthday, right? And if we don't celebrate that day, Prinku will understand the importance of life. Logic?"
Omkara rolled his eyes and Annika hid her laughter in the pretense of a cough.
"All you can do is laugh. You got to see the logic. A person's birthday is imprinted on his mind. Like 5th February is the world's best day for me. And yours is?" Rudra asked Omkara.
"22nd May," Omkara replied.
"And Bhabhi?"
"Huh?"
"When is your birthday?"
"Um—next week on Saturday"
"What?" Rudra fell off his bean bag. "Next week is your birthday and Bhaiya did not plan anything!" he took out his phone as he spoke, "Such a boring man you married."
Next week Saturday ko Bhabhi ka birthday hain aur apne mujha bataya bhi nahin?
A text was sent to Shivaay who was currently busy in a meeting.
"Rudra what did you do?" Annika asked in disbelief.
"I just took Bhaiya's class. How can he not tell me it's your birthday? I almost lost a reason to party," Rudra complained.
He would tell if he knew. Annika did not voice out that thought.
"Anyways, what I was thinking, if Priyanka agrees, let's schedule an appointment with a counselor," Annika jumped back to the old topic in their hand.
"Will she agree?" Omkara asked. Annika and Omkara looked at each other. Convincing Priyanka would be one task and convincing Kalyani and/or Shivaay would be another.
***
Shivaay, Annika, and Kalyani sat together at the dining table having their evening tea or coffee. Priyanka's matter dominated the conversation. When Kalyani chided Shivaay for being so insensitive towards Dev and Priyanka's matter, he seemed inconsiderate. Annika felt strange by how someone could behave such with his own grandma. Then again, Shivaay was Shivaay. If she started finding logic in his ideologies, she would get as old as Kalyani before finding her answer.
Shivaay seemed totally uninterested in the conversation after a matter of minutes. His eyes were fixated on the screen of his phone. Annika tried to peek at his mobile screen. If he received Rudra's message, there ought to be the least sign of acknowledgment. He acted as if nothing happened. Had Rudra joked with her about texting Shivaay?
"You know when Pinky was with us, we used to celebrate Karwa Chauth with pomp and grandeur. All the ladies would arrive in our mansion by late afternoon. I would recite Ramayana, the ladies would talk, have something from their sargi, and eagerly wait for the moon to show up in the sky. Men would arrive by early evening. We would gather by the pool area l beside your room. You won't believe some men would keep fast too. Shakti did. And as soon as the moon showed up, Pinky and Shakti would fight over who will break their fast first while all other couples would have finished eating by then," Kalyani reminisced the past with glistening tears and a smile on her face.
"Annika," she placed her hand on Annika's, "If you don't mind, shall I invite the ladies this year too? After all, it's your first karwachauth. With other fasting ladies around, your time will be spent well. An invitation to all those who could not attend your wedding was long due. I would love to take this opportunity to invite them."
"Sure," was Annika's one-word reply.
Shivaay's eyes shot up in Kalyani's direction. His grandma did not even ask his wife if she would keep fast or not. He was disappointed.
"When is karwachauth?" he asked.
"In four days." came her reply.
Annika's birthday in six days. He noted in his mind.
"And come early from the office that day. Else Annika will have to stay hungry because of you," Kalyani reminded him. Shivaay nodded. Kalyani stood up from her chair and left the couple saying she wanted to check on Priyanka.
"Look, you don't have to do this if you don't want," Shivaay made it clear.
"What if I want to?" she asked back.
"I never thought. I mean it's old-school Annika. Do you really believe keeping fast for a day will change anything? It will make me live longer? I don't believe in all this and I think you don't as well," Shivaay said.
"Really?"
"I mean. You are a twenty-first-century girl, studied in London, and will make a great career woman after a bit of polishing. That made me think you might not believe in these," Shivaay said.
"I am not fasting because I believe in it," Annika revealed, "I want to."
"Because Dadi said?" Shivaay placed his cup on the table with a low sound.
She shook her head, "Because I want to."
She recalled the moment when she wished Shivaay would die for what he did to her in anger. She could never take back her words. By observing a fast meant for the longevity of her husband's life, she could at least lessen her guilt.
Please note that karwachauth is placed before Annika's birthday in the story. I may update on the weekends, but the story's timeline isn't similar to our timeline. You have to wait and see how they celebrate this day. I also understand that many of you want me to update faster than I do. All I have to say is that I update as frequently as my schedule allows and it's not easy to make your mind to write at times.
Precap: Karwachauth and a guilty Annika