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That night was a  long one for him as he pushed sleep a little far when his mind was surrounded with thoughts of what happened during dinner today . Tej misunderstanding his deeds has to have an end now . Domination was never his thing , but Tej always has words like such to poke him with . Shivaay disliked it much but he hardly argued over it just because Tej is his father figure. He always thought this would end one day  but everytime Tej lands up with the same claim which troubled him.

' these aren't worth your sad face '

Her point hit his head instantly and that's when he felt a weight landing on his legs in full force. He turned to find the so asleep her .This sudden correlation of  his thoughts and her action seemed like she was asking him to throw off everything and sleep .

Obeying these omens , he closed his eyes after engulfing some peace from her words .

S- it's good right ?

A- it's beautiful!

She expressed watching his sceptical reaction. Indeed ,until now she wasn't aware that he's so good in selecting gifts , especially for girls . He had exclusively bought a pair of hoops and studs for charu ,knowing how much she fancies earings . It's Charu's birthday tomorrow.

Annika has to admit , shivaay is one idle yet thoughtful man . He behaves as though he hardly notices anything but his actions  speaks much . Maybe she's overthinking , shivaay and charu are best friends so it's obvious of him to know about her likes and dislikes well.

The man whom she thought had no time for anything rather work , is now seated on the bed with some shining  gift wrappers and labels , trying to pack the little box perfectly. That too, in his busy scheduled afternoon....ok , she has missed many things about him .

Her thoughts were broken when he spoke .

S- well , I think she would like these and the colours too. You know once  she had lost her hoop in our campus somewhere , and all day she dragged me along  to find it. You can even imagine?To find that tiny ring like thing in such a big campus  !

Annika inched her lips slowly to smile hearing his complain.

A- you found it then ?

S- no ! For that we should have  got some microscopes fixed in our eyes .

He widened his eyes in terror ,while she chuckled to his expressions.

There remained a complete silence for a few moments expect for the  sound of the wrapper sheets until annika  decided to ask something.

A- shivaay? How you both became friends ?

Trying her best to not look eager , she quizzed and noticed his pleasant smile as he taped the sheet .

S- not a very special start . Just that we were bench mates from since the very first day of college and eventually we got together. That's our flashback , but you know ? I never thought that my best friend in college would be a girl .

Annika furrowed her brows thinking why he highlighted this point . He noticed this in a glance and added  .

S- you see annika , I'm not like you . I just don't talk to anyone as like that , you can take me as an introvert in that case . And with girls? No way ! Even in my school days , we were a gang of 8 with just boys . So obviously charu is my one and only female friend . Indeed ,she's a special friend . Initially we conversed very less and formal , but when you have to spend a more of the day with a person you can't just remain idle right ? That's how we grew , like she would come here or sometimes I would visit her house to study and

A- stop ! Where was I then ? I'm from the same house too .

Interrupting him right there , she frowned.

S- that you should blame the coincidence.

He replied showing his empty palms signifying he didn't have any hand in that  .

A- damn coincidence.

She muttered to herself when he started again .

S- but I did know that a girl named annika exists . There's no day when charu would stay quite without complaining of you . And after that , one day I got to see the girl for real . A girl with her pet , remember that day ?

Shifting his eyes from her to the side where oreo was playing ,he looked at her again . Annika just took a time and stared at him after that. 

Is that day even anything which she could forget anytime? Never !

A- yeah ....you proposed charu first? I mean for the marriage ?

She whispered the first word and continued after a good pause . He didn't actually expect this coming ,so he stopped his work and gazed up at her  .

S- Hello psychiatrist? I ain't your patient . What's this question therapy going on now ?

A- nothing,  just like that .

She shrugged to seem causal but she really was curious to know what were his visions on marriage with Charu .

S- yeah , I did .

That was all he said , he didn't want to elaborate because he knew ,annika is the last person with whom he can share about this . How can he speak of this with a girl who actually has feelings for him ? Maybe she'd be hurt or maybe not, but he didn't want to take any chances .

He would never want to hurt her indirectly too . But little did he know that he had already sowed some seeds of thoughts in her ?

She could feel how genuinely shivaay liked Charu ,ok ,as a friend. And that served the license for him to look up to her as a life partner . He was happy with his decision , happy to accept his friend as his wife . But the reality is ,it's she whose sitting in his room now ,as his wife . 

Agree that , he himself had spoken of their relationship , she being his wife and all that  but after this night ...after listening to him , she can come up with just one thought.

He has compromised himslef .

Evening

T- Jhanvi, tea dena .

Seated there in the living room , Tej peeped towards the kitchen and voiced before concentrating on the laptop again .

But since there was none there in the kitchen expect annika who had come to have some juice , she herself poured some tea from the kettle for him .

A- uncle ,

He looked up to find annika lending the cup and received it from her.

T- thanks annika.

She placed the tray on the table and turned when he asked something.

T- how's your dad now? I came to know that he was sick before few days .

A- yes uncle ,he's good . Just work stress aur BP low hogayi thi but he's ok now .

T- hadn't he applied for VRS yet ?

She took a seat beside him before replying.

A- even I asked him about it but he denied saying he'd want to work until he's pushed out . Actually he had worked hard for this job in age ,so he's kind of emotionally connected with it .

She smiled completing , while he nodded in acknowledgement.

T- hmm , none would want to leave their aspired job and sit at home even if they're at age of retirement .

A- exactly uncle ,only very few get to grab their dreams . In that case,  I'm really proud of Om , he really made till this with just his talent . Isn't it amazing uncle ?!

With the  glint of happiness in her eyes , she expressed this, while Tej fell silent for a moment. He slowly travelled his eyes straight on the awards arranged at the vitrine kept near the TV . Indeed , he can never deny being proud of his son . Yes , he was proud that Om is standing successful in his stream .

Since he had always wanted Om to lead the business after him , some decisions of Om did saddened him . And unfortunately,  shivaay becomes to end up at stake for his troubled mind at times.

Halting his thoughts, he reacted showing a simple smile to her.

Annika had secretly planned to gather some of charu's school friends and college friends whom charu would love to meet after unfortunately having lost touch with some . Even shivaay helped contacting those friends  and booked a table in the restaurant ,mentioning it to be Charu's favourite. Annika liked the way he kept everything noted to make Charu happy.

Well, she had heard from charu saying that shivaay did this,  shivaay did that on her previous birthdays when she celebrated it in college  but when annika's  here by his side witnessing it for real  , she was moved .

The plan was perfect , annika asked shivaay not to wish her until evening . Not even any message and she herself followed the same .

Since it was a working day , Charu had gone to office after visiting the  temple with her parents in the morning . She was totally screwed ,  none wished her except them . Her monster behen who would start blowing balloons sitting right infront of her sight , before since a day itself,  was seen nowhere now. Not even a message since morning. And what happened to shivaay who never fails to be the first caller at 12 PM ?Not only that , she'd receive an anonymous letter and gift every year which she hides secretly knowing from whom it is , she never opens it but keeps it safeguarded always  . But this year had no surprises like such, ok everyone forgot ! She concluded .

At office as per the usual custom , her birthday was celebrated with her colleagues . She convinced herself saying that was all for today .

Charu was totally pissed off when her scooty went out of fuel in halfway . It was only yesterday when she filled the tank ,then how ...? She frowned standing right in one corner of the road .

Adi who just passed by her in his ride mentally smirked on his plan and rode back till her .

Ad-  charu ? Kya huwa ?

She  was baffled on finding him there all of a sudden.

C- vo , I guess the petrol tank is empty .

Ad- acha , then let me

' hello Mr , what are you doing here ? Who's this girl? Mam , is he troubling you ? '

A cop from nowhere entered the scene and questioned charu who looked at Adi in bewilderment.

C- no sir , my scooty is punctured and he is

'  eve-teasing kar raha tha na ye ?
hey Romeo , because of people  like you it's a great shame for all men . '

Before charu could even say anything , the man held Adi's collars and dragged him .

C- sir , sir what are you doing? Leave him sir !  Sir please !

She followed the both asking him to leave Adi .

' I'm sorry mam , I shall leave him  only after the enquiry  '

Saying this he dragged Adi along who turned  every now and then , showing  an innocent face to charu .

By then, without her own knowledge she blindly followed them and failed to notice that she was inside a building already . But since the place looked so dark , she hardly was able to see anything . She was frustrated much .

C- Adi ! Where are you ?

And immediately she felt someone's palms covering her eyes from behind .

C- what the hell!!

She pushed her elbow backwards to hit straight at the person's stomach . She heard a wincing sound .

The person just didn't give up but pushed her from behind so that she walks forward . Charuka was damn annoyed and scared with these sudden stupid events .

She decided to give her masterstroke and fetched something from her handbag.

She held it tight in her hold and within next few seconds her eyes were free to open .

Simultaneously , the lights came back .

But , before anything. 

Ssssss.

A- hap

' Happy Birthday Charu ! '

Charu face fell horror stricken finding a bunch of her friends standing around  her,wishing aloud . Her breath remained uneven for a few seconds.

Oh god ! On whom did she spray the pepper thing now ?!!!

Only then everyone noticed annika who stood beside shivaay , crushing and rubbing her eyes like a zombie. Charu bit her lips in fear and went near her .

C - sorry sis

A- pa pa pagal !

Still rubbing her eyes which burned like anything,  she stammered to scream. And that's when the others realized what had actually happened and how charu had sprayed that thing on annika's face in dark .

Ofcourse friends are friends,  they laughed . Laughed like hell .

C- hey hey sorry annika , sorry haan .

She neared to hold her face when annika jolted and hid behind shivaay who was trying to control his laughter.

A- have you got anything called  eyes even ? . Why did you do this idiot ? Tere liye surprise tho laga meine ,koi bomb nahi.

Squeezing her eyes with the fingers , she argued when charu replied .

C- muje kya sapna aayega ki tum ye sab karnewaale ho ? Suddenly some cop came and,  ek minute...where's Adi ?

She quizzed and turned around to immediately  find him standing among the others. And when he saw her staring at him , he waved his hand  and mouthed ' Happy birthday ' to which she shook her head realizing that was all his plan.

By then ,shivaay pulled annika who stood  behind him and caught her hand with which she was rubbing her eyes .

A- ahhh ...sss!

S- if you keep doing this , aur jalega . Dikao muje ,

A- arey kya dikao ? Have I put some mehandi design on my face that your asking me to show now ? Ahh! jal raha hai !!

Shivaay sighed huge and blinked hard . Her type of answers are ...!

S- annika , chalo mere saath ab . I'm sorry guys just two minutes ,we'll be back .

He excused and dragged annika to the washroom .

Twisting to hold  her hands behind tightly, he managed to splash some water on her face with his other hand while she jumped feeling the burn .

A- is it pepper spray or some acid spray ? ssss !

S- hilna mat tum.

While she tried her best to obey and stand still, he splashed more water and wiped her face with his bare hand.

A- all my wing liner and ka

S- chup !

She frowned hearing his order. How was she going to pose for pictures now ? With  these smudged black eyes , like a real zombie?!

But she needn't worry when he already used tissues and wiped out everything. Her face was clear now .

' Wah ! What a plan Adi ! Charu must have become  insane for a minute . Haina charu ? '

While everyone were seated around the table ,  one among the gang spoke after passing a well done type of look to Adi who in turn hi- fied .

C- don't even ask me Rehaan . I was clueless  of what was even happening then ! 

She expressed widening her eyes .

' that's what Adi is special for , thrilling surprises ! '  another one added.

All the time Adi just did one thing,  looking straight at her  with a small grin on his face  which he tried hiding . And she spared some glances on him between seconds while she was speaking with the person beside her.

S- you're ok now ?

Annika brought her hands in front when he loosened his hold . She finger - combed her hair a few times , focusing on the mirror .

A- you tell me how I am ? Good , bad , worst or ghost? 

He chuckled  first and started laughing within few seconds which made her grumpy .

A - tum bhi hass rahi ho ?

Instantly he shook his head and gulped to control his grin .

He then slowly tucked some strands of her wet hair behind her ear and she tilted her head very lightly feeling his finger rolling over the wet spot on her forehead in process of sliding her hair to one side.

S- you look like you've just got up from bed , so natural and fine . Trust me , pictures are going to come out very well . Chalo ab .

She nodded approving his honest reply and followed him out .

As soon as annika came by their table,  charu pulled her in a crushing hug .

C- thank you behna! and sorry too .

A- chal , if only it wasn't your birthday today I  would have  burned your cheeks by  now , par kya karoon ? Ok take this now .

She clutched onto her tightly and pressed a kiss on her cheecks whispering , ' Happy birthday ' .

C- you're ok ?

A- haa haan ! I thought of making it a memorable day for you and in reflex I ended up tasting this pepper spray on my face . Memorable tho hogayi !

Charu just chuckled and smacked her head lightly after pulling out from the hug .

Then she squeezed her eyes at shivaay who in turn looked at her innocently before hugging her.

C- so you planned to keep me awaited for your wish right? No thank you for this surprise.

She pretended to be stern , he just smiled muttering  ,

S- Happy birthday charu! It was annika's strict order to not contact you today . By the way , one more is desperately waiting to wish you since morning.

She pulled out hearing this and quizzed him through eyes . She noticed shivaay quietly signalling Adi .

Charu was super amazed watching Oreo inside the basket which Adi just passed to her .

C- wow guys! Don't let me die in an heart attack today . Hey baby !

Scooping oreo in her arms she exclaimed while caressing his head .

A- you told you were missing him right ? He wanted to see you too , so here he is ! Par careful  haan ? sit down first . They won't allow pets inside. Keep him hidden,

Charu completely agreed to her and sat holding oreo on her lap who was continuously licking her hand . Fortunately her seat was beside Adi's.

And what followed was the cake cutting session where all her demon friends clearly focused on the main custom and emptied half the cake on charu's face who kept whining like a  kid throughout.
With the same murdered face she roamed around to collect her gifts from everyone,  which was a dare given  to her right then .

Though she was still not in a very easy state with Adi  she can't just deny his genuine gift . She uttered a thanks and received it . On not finding anything which seemed  a parchment , she kept checking the package noticing which he spoke with a smirky little grin .

Ad- the letter is inside the box only , read it when you're alone .

C- I never read your letters .

She whispered and just then oreo jumped from her lap to his . Adi welcomed  him with open arms . Well, oreo hasn't forgotten Adi yet .

Ad- you wanted them atleast, I'm happy.

She mentally smacked herself for searching for the letter sitting  right beside him .

Annika bit her tongue and nudged shivaay  on noticing the security barging in straight to their table.

' mam , aap please de dijiye isko . Pets aren't allowed  inside '

A- baiya he won't be a trouble I promise .

' mam , please understand. We can't allow this .'

A- but where will you take him ?

' to the security booth,  you can take him when you leave '

A- but  ,

' I'm sorry mam , it's my manager's order . I can't do anything '

Annika looked at shivaay defeatedly and he passed a blink .

Charu frowned sadly before giving oreo to the man . But within few seconds,  oreo barked  jumping off his hands and crawled onto shivaay's lap .

S- it's ok , it's ok ( he caressed oreo's head  and looked up at the man again) Uhh , the manager is Mr. Khan right ? I know him . Actually we come here regularly . If I can speak to him then ,

The man cut him of in middle .

'  I'm afraid you can't , our new manager is Mr. Lal and he's very strict '

With half heart, he did it . Gave oreo who seemed so unwilling to leave him  .

S- we shouldn't have brought him here .

He muttered looking at annika who was still staring by the way the man left.

A - I thought we shall manage somehow .

He watched her  worried face before speaking.

S- he'll be fine , don't worry .

She nodded involuntarily.

The scene ended after having some great food and clicking pictures like insane . What ? Charu was actually meeting her friends after like very long. Memories are mandatory. They even talked more as though it's their last day on earth . She couldn't be more happier on finding her school friends and college mates here all together . She really was so thankful to everyone for making her day .

Charu bid bye to shivika and thanked them once again for the mountain of shocks and surprises she got today .

Only when she came out of the building she remembered that her scooty actually had no fuel. What now ?

Ad - want a ride ?

She jolted a bit hearing his whisper from back .

C - kabi nahi ! I know you emptied the tank  , so give  it back .

He put up a defeated face before fetching the can from the cabinet of his  bike.

Ad - hmm.

He lent it to her which she immediately grabbed .  She can't help but turn the other side and smile after scanning his grumpy face . But he being the smart spy , noticed all this and jumped taking her in a sudden hug . She jolted a bit as thought a stream  of current passed inside her that moment . Before even she could resist and push him away , he himslef  pulled out ,not before whispering ' Happy birthday love '.

Her skin lit up with goosebumps hearing the word love ,but she suppressed everything and pretend angry.

C- tum ...!

Ad - bye charuka !

He sprinted happily towards his bike and left .  He was super happy today !

S- Adi's idea really worked . Charu seemed terrified today.

When both walked towards the security booth,  shivaay casually started the conversation .

A- hmm. You know I was actually scared that charu might get upset seeing Adi but I'm glad that nothing as such happened.

She sighed .

S - time can do wonders annika .

A- philosophy and all haan ?

She asked raising her eyebrows and he just shrugged opening the booth door .

A- baiya .

' ji mam , yahan '

He fetched the basket from the corner but instantly his face went shocked , when it felt weightless. He opened it with the same reaction .

Shivika were horrified.

S- where's oreo ?

Because of you , I will always have a friend 💘

Precap

Annika is inconsolable.

Annika in shivaay's arms .

Ok before you all imagine anything,  remember your writer is a pet lover so ...so?.I don't know why I said this 😄

I actually enjoyed typing this chapter  because with friends and siblings ,anything can happen 😂 . But I realized that I didn't show a much of shivika , and if it looked as a boring filler , sorry for that . Don't worry,  the upcoming chapters will have more of shivika.

So awaiting your honest reviews. Just be frank. 

Try my other books if possible.

Plss vote and comment if you like my story 😊