After a bit of sweetmeat, Annika drank water from Shivaay's hands. Shivaay tried to walk away as soon as the rituals were done. Annika stood there, pressing her lips, unable to voice out her wish of making him drink from her hands.
"Shivaay," she caught up with him. He turned and asked her the reason.
"I have some water left here," she gestured the pot in her hand, "There are a lot of things in the kitchen as of now. You might have difficulty finding water on your own," he shook his head because she was making no sense, "so why don't you drink from here?"
"I am not a toddler to not get water by myself when there are things in the kitchen," he reasoned, "I will get myself."
"Shivaay, listen," she put forth the pot in his direction. His eyes stuck at a B written on her face up palm.
"Okay, I will drink from here," he grabbed her hand in the pretense of taking the water pot when in reality he wanted to see the name on her hand. Annika was surprised by how much time he took to drink water. Meanwhile, he tried hard to move her hand to supination without letting her know.
"Shivaay," escaped her lips when she felt Shivaay's fingers all over her palm.
"This henna," he said, "Design is good."
She was confused. Shivaay was the last person on earth to pay a compliment. She looked at her henna. "I agree. The artists did a good job."
"Of course. I remember on our wedding you applied the same henna," he said. He knew he was being awkward.
"I applied henna, but it was likely of a different brand. And the designs or the designers were not the same," she recalled.
Shivaay took a second peek at her palm. Now he was sure it said B and not S.
"And if I am not wrong, husband's name is written on mehendi, right?" he scratched his head.
"Usually," she replied. Usually. He made a fist.
"Shivaay," she held him. He finally looked at her after shifting his eyes from her hand.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Yes," he lied, "I will go eat something and then have my medicines."
"Shall I join you?" she asked, "You don't look alright."
"Maybe because I starved all day. Nothing I cannot handle alone. I will go and change first, then have food and medicines," he said.
"Let's do one thing. Go and change. I will bring food for you," she offered.
She started to leave when he pulled her back.
"Wait, you had nothing except the sweet and water as well. If you are bringing food for me, bring for yourself too. We shall have dinner together," Shivaay suggested.
"Okay," she replied before leaving.
***
Annika was heating food when Kalyani entered the kitchen to check on the kheer on the stove.
"What are you doing, Annika? Did you have dinner?" Kalyani asked.
"I was just heating food for myself and Shivaay," Annika replied.
Kalyani began stirring the kheer on the stove when Annika served food on two plates kept in front of her.
"I have a suggestion," Kalyani began, "Wait for some time. The whole family can have dinner together."
"Dadi, it's a great idea. In fact, every family should eat together. However, I am afraid to say that today it's not possible. Shivaay didn't have food all day. And thus couldn't take the meds. I want to get him some food as soon as possible otherwise his health will be affected," Annika replied while placing the plates and glasses on a food trolly.
"Annika, did I not ask you to not expect him to keep fast?" Annika stopped in her path hearing Kalyani's words.
Annika turned to face the elder woman and said, "I agree. He should not be fasting. Neither I expected nor I told him to keep fast. Yes, I did bring it up as a joke. Nothing more. He had an important meeting with foreign delegates today, so he couldn't eat. He hadn't been fasting for me."
When Kalyani did not reply, Annika turned back and walked away towards her and Shivaay's room.
***
Shivaay had changed by the time she reached their room with the food trolly. He tried to take a third peek at her palm but couldn't bring himself to do that due to the look on her face. She looked upset.
"Did something happen?" he asked.
"Your Dadi doesn't like me, does she?" she asked putting him in a tough spot. He somewhat had an idea. Annika saying it confirmed his suspicion.
"Why do you think so?" he asked.
"Her behavior," she replied, "From the day I came to your house, her words and actions make me feel like that. All-day today she was fine. Her Billu's wife should look the best today, that's how she put it earlier. Just now something happened that tells me she sees me as your wife and not her granddaughter-in-law."
"Where's the difference?" he smiled, "you are indeed my wife, Mrs. Oberoi, Om-Ru-Priyanka's sister-in-law and her grandaughter-in-law."
"No Shivaay," she denied seeming unsure, "There is a difference. She has accepted me as your wife. With her, I have no relation. I am not sure if I am able to express it properly. Do you understand what I am trying to say?" She looked at him helplessly. He blinked his eyes twice and thrice. Aren't marital relations supposed to be like this? What was she saying?
"Annika, if any of Dadi's words have hurt you, I am sorry on her behalf. Look I am saying sorry as I consider you my own. She must have said something because she considers you her own. Many times a day she addresses Rudra as Khotteya. She calls me Billu. Who calls someone by that name? We don't mind. She is our Dadi. If something Dadi said has hurt you, don't take it to heart. Elders do that. I am sure your Dad did too."
He hoped Annika was not hurt by the mention of her Dad. She still missed him, but she seemed much more friendly with the fact that he was no longer on this earth
"If she said something that an elder say to youngers, I won't have mind," she said, "I am not so immature."
"That's why I am asking. What happened?" Shivaay pressed.
Annika looked at the food and changed their conversation, "You should eat. It's getting late. Dadi once said your blood pressure gets low when you don't eat and you faint. I am surprised by how you did not faint by now. Not that I am hoping you do."
Shivaay took the plate from the trolly and began to eat.
"It happens if I miss more than a few doses. One day is okay," he replied intentionally so she does not worry.
"Shh, don't talk while eating," she said. Shivaay sighed. If she did not want to share things, how was he supposed to help?
***
Shivaay and Annika joined the rest of the family later in the night in their family living room. They were watching Three idiots for possibly the nth time which irked Shivaay. Nevertheless, he maintained his cool and talked with Omkara while Annika, Rudra, and Priyanka kept passing comments here and there as each scene passed by. Kalyani felt happy seeing Priyanka laughing with her family after a long time. It was also the first time in a while that Priyanka and Shivaay sat in one place for more than five minutes.
Shivaay glanced at Rudra who seemed overexcited while texting someone. He got reminded of Rudra's text and his plan. He looked intently at Annika. It had been five days. His brothers knew it was her birthday. Of course, she told them, else how would they know? But why on earth would she not tell him, her husband? And which B-named creature had his name on her palm? Shivaay was losing his cool.
"Rudra, kya kar raha hain?" he hit Rudra's head.
"Ouch!" Rudra shifted away from Shivaay, "Party. Any problem?"
"Which party?" he asked.
"The same party that you are unable to throw. Meri bhabhi ka dil dukha ke," came Rudra's reply.
Annika and Shivaay looked at each other. She shrugged her shoulders. He sighed. Rudra could say anything without making sense. He hoped this was one of them.
Annika smiled seeing Kalyani caressing Priyanka's hair. Priyanka too seemed happy, quite opposite to how she had been in the past few days.
"Priyanka, I can't tell you how happy I am after seeing you like this," Annika said, "Stay like this always. These past few days weren't great, but we can decide to be happy for ourselves, right?"
Priyanka's eyes glistened with tears. She threw a glare at Shivaay's side and wiped her tears to stop them from falling in front of everyone else.
"I need to study," she excused herself and ran away from the family living room.
"What was the need to remind her of all that?" asked Kalyani, "After long my whole family sat together and talked like this. You couldn't see that too. With Shivaay, I cannot say much because you both are husband and wife. If you plan to hurt my grandkids, no one will be worse than me," she warned.
"Dadi," it was Shivaay.
Annika placed her hand on his forearm and signed him to not say anything.
"Dadi, I did not mean that. I had no such intentions. Still, if you felt bad, then I am—"
"She is not sorry," Shivaay interrupted Annika's speech, "I mean she did not mean anything hurtful, right? I don't understand why Priyanka feels bad for the illegitimate of a boy in the first place. Now that she is slowly recovering from her pain and trying to give time to people who actually matter, where is the problem if Annika appreciates her for the same?"
"And what about my granddaughter getting hurt. You have hurt her once. Only because of your stupid beliefs. You won't marry Mallika, okay that was your decision. A decision I still don't agree with. You could have let Priyanka keep her side of the story. And now your wife—"
"Exactly. My wife," he emphasized the last word, "I request you to stop bringing Mallika in our conversation. Mallika meant nothing. I had nothing with her, okay? Annika is my wife. I didn't marry her without informing you for you to feel sad. Mallika is nothing that Annika is. Harsh Vardhan Kabeer's daughter, BBA from Oxford, one of the most beautiful women I know in my life and she makes me happy. That's what you want, right? My happiness."
"Mallika could make you happy too. And maybe Dev can make Priyanka happy," Kalyani claimed.
"No, no, no. Mallika and Dev both are the same. Gold diggers. They wanted only one thing from me and Priyanka respectively: money. On the other hand, Annika. It has been more than two months of our marriage. I have been handling her business for one and a half of it. For once she did not ask me for money or property when it's all hers. This is what a girl from high class with blood and lineage is like. Annika matches me in looks, intellect, and status. She has willpower and goodwill. For Priyanka, I will find a good match like Annika is for me."
He finally saw Annika's way. She was trying hard to not cry. Of course, how could she? She only cried for him. His heart ached after seeing her like this. He had no idea why tears affected his heart like that nowadays. He felt angrier at his grandma. He fisted his palms in a ball. There was a lot more about Annika he wanted to say. All about how her presence left him assured and her absence killed him, how she could make him smile and how he had grown to love the fact that he was the only one who would make her cry. He wanted to say how he forgot everything when Annika was with him. He wanted to say that he no longer wanted Annika because of her wealth but because of her personality.
Like many things he kept at heart, this too remained in his heart.
"From now on, before comparing my Annika with anyone else. She is different and she is for me. Five years later when you will see myself and Prinku happy with our partners, you will know.," Shivaay concluded and pulled Annika along to their room.
Precap: Someone kidnaps Annika from Rudra's party