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Shivaay closed the door for annika when she settled in the back seat with charu beside . Just when he was about to walk around to the other side , he saw her jumping down again quickly. He sighed keeping both his hands on either sides of his hip .

S- annika , kya kar

A- shivaay , I guess they've opened a new ice-cream parlour here !! Thank God , I had to cross the signal and walk past two streets to find a cone for me you know ? but ab ...! I'm going to have one now , if you want you can come with me . First day koi discount hoga , hey charu come .

She cut him off and exclaimed to recite everything while charu and shivaay rolled their eyes .

C- deko shivaay , she is the so called patient !

As she peeped out through the window, she muttered this eyeing annika .

A- charu I'm telling you if you start again ,then

S- ok annika , I want an i bar .

A- and a butterscotch cone for me !

He let sigh when she replied , he had succeeded in diverting her . Or else .. ?! These two girls just begin their cock fight anytime and everywhere.

S- aao na charu ?

He passed a nod saying this and charu agreed getting down.

A- hmm come behna ! Let me buy you some bitter flavour .

She wound her elbow into charu's arm and dragged her towards the shop while shivaay sprinted behind them to catch annika's pace .

C - Shivaay you remember ? Once we fought with the canteen staff in our college for providing only chocobar stick throughout the semester. Our management was such a scrooge then .... Tera kaisa hai ? , hmm ! It's a delight man !

She caught his hand which held the stick and relished a bite from his bar while he casually added speaking about their college adventures .

Annika who was savouring her cone happily slow downed and forgot to even lick the content when she noticed this .

This very casual gesture did something to her right at this moment because she , eventhough being his wife , still can't bring herself to show such kind of rights on him . His friend charu was a step ahead in his scale always , she could easily grasp it .

There's none she could blame , but still , it hurts to even think that annika does have a limit line with shivaay .

Lost in her own thoughts she had let all the cream melt and flow down her wrist while she just sat idle ,looking somewhere else.

Shivaay who noticed this , fetched a tissue from the holder . He then pulled her hand and started wiping the cream on her wrist and lower arm.

Charu mentally smiled witnessing this . Like ,he worked subconsciously without even realizing that he was certainly doing it , still being engrossed in a conversation with her. He didn't look at annika but kept cleaning her hand while talking with charu who was seated beside .

The scene seemed so convincing .

Shivaay really looked a different man when with annika . Charu didn't fail to notice the verge of fear in his eyes when he spoke to the doctor in the hospital . Her friend looks more like annika's husband now. This fact made her happy.

If only annika hadn't been immersed in her thoughts, she would have already looked at her Prince in surprise feeling his touch . But , this girl was so into pointing out to some deviating thoughts that she hardly even realized that he's holding her hand.

Indeed , girls can bring a sudden tornado to their minds with a mere single thought. A positive tornado has evolved in charu's mind while an opposite one in annika's .

C- spoke with her ?

M- no , shivaay said she's asleep. Baath mei call karthi hoon .

C- expected ! Such a sleepyhead she is .

Instantly she had to buy a smack on her head from her mother .

M- tho ? What do you do when you're sick ? You dance around ?

C- you should have seen her in the hospital. Sick and she ?

Meena just glared at her before sitting on the couch .

Charu watched her father who came there after refreshing He seemed lost in some thoughts .

C- papa , what's on mind ?

R- kuch nahi charu,

C- papa ! You know you can't lie to me .

She pulled the beanbag along and put it right in front of him and jumped to sit on it .

M- kya huwa ? Koi problem hai ?

He let a light sigh before preparing to reply .

R- you remember Mr. Patel ? Once we had even spoke of marrying annika to his son ,

Meena took some seconds to think and then nodded back .

M- haan , usko kya ?

R - I met him in my office today , just a coincidence . We just had some random conversations , but then , he asked me something and I didn't even answer him properly. That's what I've been thinking all the way .

Charu kept her hand on his lap when he completed.

C- what's it papa ?

R - marriage alliance .

There was a moment of complete silence when he said this. Charu looked shocked realizing what he meant while Meena remained curious .

M- phir aapne kya kaha ?

R- mein , I said it's my daughter who should make the decision. Haina charu?

Caressing her hair gently he stated this and charu looked everywhere but him .

M- I've seen that boy in one function , I don't remember when , acha ladka hai vo. You can think on it charu .

Charuka bit her lips and looked down before catching some courage to speak up soon .

C - it's your wish papa . You have all the rights to decide for me.

Saying this she left his hand which was withheld in her clutch and went to her room leaving the other two stare at her retreating figure blankly.

As she lied on the bed , her sight gradually fell on the big box kept on the top most shelf. Without waiting , she stood on the cot and toed up to pick the box.

Some gifts and envelopes is what which filled that box.

' Happy Birthday Love '

Was written on all the envelope sheets .

By now ,she could certainly feel her eyes layered with tears . She hates this , hates to fall weak again , after all these years .

Without her own knowledge she had already opened the cover and dragged the letter out . Her fingers rushed to fold out the parchment but soon she blinked hard and threw it into the box again .

Pushing the cardboard box below the bed , she sat down on the floor shrinking herself.

' I loved you '

' charu , mein ...'

' didn't you hear me ? I loved you , past tense it is.'

Her tears spilled out gradually when her ears rang those voices from her memories .

Pinky placed the coffee cup on the side table and looked at annika who was sleeping beneath the duvet .

Shivaay came out from the restroom and stepped to sit beside annika with his laptop.

P- how's she now ?

Giving the cup to him she enquired while he passed small span of look on annika before adjusting the pillow near her, just the way she likes . And soon she grabbed the pillow and clutched it close to her chest in sleep.

S- she's good . Nothing to worry now .

P- see to that she's a little conscious hereafter . What's this new practise of skipping food ? If she starves and falls ill , what will her parents think of us ? They've sent their daughter here because they trust us shivaay ! Ask her to be careful .

Shivaay nodded when pinky made these serious statements and they both failed to realize that annika was already awake by now . Thanks to pinky's loud speaker voice.

Thunderous noise , still sleeps . Pinky speaks , oh hell I'm awake !

S- pata hai mom . She's my responsibility , aap jintha mat kijiye . I'll take care .

It was just a normal conversation between the two but annika here who listened to everything was dragged to another tangent already .

The word responsibility hit her hard . All these days she did have a particular word to sit and feel for ' compromise '. And now here's another word to replace it .

Her genuine feelings for him has come to a stage where it's impossible for her to even think of backing out but at such point , it really felt terrible to know that he looks upon her, cares for her just because she's his responsibility.

It hurt her.

She just crushed her eyes and flipped to turn the other side without facing him , and kept thinking until sleep took her over again .

When she came out after bathing , she stood still , being confused on watching him in the room till now. He was filling Oreo's bowl with some food.

A- aren't you getting late for work ?

She wiped her wet hair with the towel roughly and questioned looking by his image on the mirror.

S- ofcourse I am , so just make it fast . I'm going to drop you today, infact everyday .

He answered rubbing oreo's head who was calmly savouring the content in the bowl.

A- but ,

S- please annika , no questions. We don't have time , make it fast and come soon . I know you'd take hours to get ready but not today . Just five minutes for you , I'll be waiting in the car.

A- hours ? Just go and wait , exactly at the fifth minute I'll be there beside you !

Putting up a smirked reaction , she announced and he shrugged before leaving the room .

' Idiot annika ! Why did you even blabber that? Arey paanch minute mei kaise ...I had to dry my hair , then detangle it , then I should comb my hair . I've to iron my clothes , then what about my breakfast ?...ohh!! Five minutes challenge haan ?! Ab deko , you're going to faint again . Ye Prince itni stone hearted kyun hai ? even if I say , shouldn't he deny ? I'm hungry! '

This was her mind voice when he started the engine after she got in . Poor she skipped her breakfast even today for that stupid five minutes challenge. And he hardly even bothered to ask if she ate or not .

' Rude Prince 'she twisted her mouth and turned her face but suddenly she felt some weight on her lap .

She bent down to get surprised soon .

It was a tiffen box .

With the same reaction , she moved her eyes towards him who was now concentrating on the road keenly .

S - finish it , I don't want you to slip on the moped floor again .

She smiled watching his light grin when he said that .

A - tumne kiya ?

S- hmm , it's high time we find a solution for this . Indeed ,the lazy you wouldn't agree to wake up early . Then you'll pull stunts ,skipping food and travelling in the most rushed bus . This procedure might help I suppose .

Admitting this ,he shrugged when she spoke immediately while still chewing the first morsel fastly . Hungry bird !

A- no shivaay, it's ok . I'm fine in bus . Vo kya haina ? Exercise tho mein nahi karthi hoon , it's only when I walk to the bus stand I convince myslef claiming to compensate it . If I adapt to travel in car everyday , I won't have this satisfaction and one main thing is , I'll become very lazy . Aur phir moti hojaungi mein .

Her pout made him chuckle aloud .

S - annika , is there any time when you had finished a conversation with just a few words ? Impossible task haina ! ?

Hearing this she just narrowed her eyes at continued eating when he picked a juice bottle from the back seat and passed it to her .

A- total preparation haan ! ?

Taking a sip from it , she asked raising her brows watching which he just let a smile.

S- then ? Kisi ek ko responsible hona padega na ?

Her reaction changed at once when she heard his reply .

A- nahi shivaay , you don't have to do this . I'll manage .

Looking straight on the road , she spoke out while he took a second to look upon her before facing the road again . She sounded to be serious suddenly. Weird !

S- it's ok annika , It's my

A- duty ! ? I ain't any child and you aren't my mother , so just stop acting like one .

Shivaay was first taken aback by her harsh voice. She never reacts to him like this but why suddenly?

He remained perplexed while she already started to regret her words .

Did she just act rude to him ? Oh ! she won't be able to forgive herself for this.

Moving her pupils to the corner, she tried to notice him . He kept quite and idle , just looking straight.

Her words must have definitely disturbed him , she cringed by even the thought of she herself being the reason for upsetting him.

If only her second thoughts hadn't caught her mind , she would have leapt to pull him in a tight hug and apologised by now .

This , this very thing is her problem . She can't just act transparently because she feared his reactions . Has she moved so free with him that he'll be okay if she tries to initiate a hug whenever she wants?

She hesitated.

This limit line is hurting again .

It's so not her character. She's one who does what she wants and speaks what she thinks but with shivaay , she's so into capturing his feelings first rather expressing her love because , emotions from one side alone is such a big pain.

Mind full of fear and heart full of love !

One side love becomes a big suffer at one point .

It remained a silent journey after that , and she just got down and walked when he stopped by the hospital.

He sat back and pressed his lips before leaving a smile watching her retreating figure .

' duty nahi , it's my wish annika. Mein tumahre liye karna chahtha tha , pata nahi kyun '

These words of thoughts ran on his mind as he watched her walking past the gate .

A- kya ? ! What did she say for that?

M- she said she's ok with whatever we decide .

A- and what's your decision ?

M- as I said , charu ke liye acha rishta hai ye .

A- so it's going to be a yes from our side ?

She asked being shocked on hearing her mother's statement.

M - annika , it's charu who's going to marry him so what she thinks is more important now. But she hardly shows interest to speak about it with us , so I want you to ask her if she's fine with this alliance or if not even , then it's ok. We won't force her . I know she'd be ready to share with you .

A- she ? She'll share her thoughts with me ? uss stupid ne tho uski poora flashback hi mujse chupaya , aur tum bolrahi ho

She muttered these below her voice when ,

M- what ? You said something ?

A- nothing maa , I'll speak with her.

M- teek hai , take care of yourself. It's already lunch time , go and have something first.

A- hmm ,bye maa !

M- bye .

Annika hung up and dropped the mobile on the table noisily.

' ab mein kya karoon? , this Adi Monkey will start filling buckets with his tears if hears this '

Ragini , a cousin of Gauri has come to OM to visit her . She was well known to the entire Oberoi family because her father is a part of the board member in the sales sector of the Oberoi group. They were more like family friends .

And her relationship with shivaay has a more to it as , before long , there was a talk to get her married to him . But the topic was dropped then because of some reasons . Still, Shivaay looks upto her as a good friend.

Ragini- I'm actually curious to meet your wife !

S- kyun ?

Ra- bas aisehi ,

She shrugged her shoulders and he continued typing the keys on the laptop .

S - vo sab teek hai, now come and explain the features. I'm halfway on the report but I can only complete if you give the specifications.

Ra- haan yes , actually dad gave me the files . Ek minute,

She got up and was about to walk past him when her toe finger suddenly banged on the leg of the cot . She slipped out and threw herself on the bed just to push ,land over him as he was seated on the bed by that side.

Just then annika opened the door and came inside.

She was shocked by the scene infront .

Shivaay immediately got up and made Ragini sit aside when he saw his wife standing by the door .

He was looking at her keenly while she didn't spare him a look and just kept glancing on Ragini who was wincing in pain .

Finding her there , Ragini reacted instantly.

Ra- ho kaun tum ? knock karna nahi aatha hai ?

Shivaay was about to stop her when ,

A- why should I even knock while entering my own room ?

She answered making her way in .

Ragini's eyes widened realizing that she's shivaay's wife and shivaay on the other side enjoyed watching annika's attitude.

Ra - sorry I didn't know , I thought you're

A- a maid ? I don't think any maid would roam around wearing umbrella top. They only find saree or salwar as a comfortable one.

She replied while getting on with her casual chores , like , she threw the shawl on the bed and removed her studs and watch to keep it on the dressing table. Shivaay who silently scanned this , smiled.

He liked the way how she behaved. She was like be it anyone , in my room , they're secondary .

Ra - no no , I didn't mean that .

Annika just blinked and shrugged .

S- uhh , annika , this is Ragini . Gauri's cousin . Our business

A- gauri's cousin ? Wow ! I didn't know you even existed . And I don't remember gauri telling me about you , even after her pregnant news you didn't come to visit when all her relatives had come two weeks back. I guess you were not in the city all these days . Within India or kahin abroad ?

When shivaay was about to clarify the details of his official relation with Ragini , she cut him in the middle and started her never ending express.

Ragini watched her from top to bottom as if she's wearing a suit of an astronaut .

Ra - by any chance are you a RJ or something ?

Shivaay grinned knowing why she had that doubt while annika reacted at once.

A- vaise , why did I never think of this job?! Achi idea hai!

S- thank god ! Orelse most of the people in the city would have got hearing problem by now.

A - kya ?

S- nothing ! Kuch nahi, Ragini , this is annika . My wife , she's a psychiatrist.

Ra - oh wow ! That's an interesting profession too .

A- interesting tho hai par... kabi dangerous bi hojatha hai. Like handling different kind of people is ....!

She trailed of thinking of today's first session with the patient Ishaan . How she had to convince that she isn't his girlfriend , but till the end he didn't get convinced. It's going to be a big task to bring him back , she sighed .

Ra - shivaay , I always knew that you have a different point of taste in everything . And you just proved me right once again . I was actually sad when you rejected me , but fine . Annika seems to be a nice girl !

When she finished her words, annika immediately looked at shivaay who was already gazing at her .

Just then Ragini's mobile rang .

Ra- excuse me , papa ka call hai .

She went outside.

A- your name should have been Romeo ya Majnu instead of shivaay .

He watched her narrowed eyes and frowned.

S- matlab ?

A- have you even got any Male friends or not ? Best friend charu , family friend Ragini ! Aur , ye ...Ragini , did she propose you for marriage too ?

S - yes .

A - I guess your proposal list is as long as ...that kya hai vo ...haan , hanuman's tail ! Are you such a big handsome hunk for girls to just fall for you as like that ?

She lazily blinked and looked away muttering these when he stared at her before moving a step forward to stand right infront with hardly any gap .

She gasped a little feeling this sudden act and tried stepping back but he immediately caught hold of her hand and twisted it behind her back to lock her in his hold. Annika gulped as her chin lifted up slightly whenever he stressed his clutch on her hand.

Her eyes didn't dare to meet his knowing the power of impact his intense stare has on her . She looked everywhere but him when suddenly her sight got latched on a sight .

His lips. His lips which screamed the smirk he had on his face.

Indeed , he started to enjoy seeing the effect he had on her.

Her other hand was already chill by now that she hand to trace it on her top to wipe the wetness. But when he suddenly tightened to twist her hand which remained in his hold more firmly behind her back, she jolted for a second to gradually throw her other hand on his shoulder and crush the fabric there .

Her hair locks tended to dance on his face and stick to his beard closely which he had to detangle within every few seconds. She closed her eyes whenever his fingers traced her cheek as he tucked her hair behind her ear .

S- am I not handsome annika ?

First , his hot breath fanned her face continuously, next this damn husky voice was driving her mad . How's she supposed to even react now ?!

She tried to pull back feeling her pounding chest to have been hitting against his all this time.

A- meine aise kab kaha ?

She uttered releasing his shirt from her fist .

S- just now .

A- I didn't say... rather I asked the same... question actually.

He started rolling the tongue on his inner cheeck to control his grin hearing her stammer like that. Certainly, he could feel the so nervous her . But what for ? His touch ? He smiled confusedly.

S- give the answer yourself then , am I not looking handsome .

A- go ask your Ra ....your friend Ragini that . I guess she had ...watched you from so clos.e a few minutes... back .

He frowned . Was she going to address Ragini with that pronoun first ? ' Your ?'

Well , this girl herself was unaware of what she even spoke a second before. His constant breath which touched her lips when she looked up was already sending chills down her spine and on top of that she has to maintain a nothing happened type of face .

Tough job.

That's the reason for her jumbled words and stammering sentences.

S- hey anni annika , I and Ragini ...we didn't ,I mean we were actually discussing about the product , par suddenly she slipped and...

A- why are you explaining me shivaay ?

She interrupted with this question while he looked at her in surprise .

S- I thought you might misun

There, she had already placed her palm on his mouth indicating him to stop right there . He forgot to even blink for a few seconds until she pulled back her hand.

The she slightly titled her head to look at the calendar kept on the table behind him and once again watched him.

A- it has been more than two months since we both got married. I might have been a fool at times , but I do know to judge a man through his eyes . In that case , I've spent so many nights with you in this room . It's always me who tortures by throwing leg on you par tum , you are so sweet . You can never behave inappropriately , not with me , not with anyone. I ain't saying this because you're my patidev husband rather because you're shivaay and I trust you shivaay . So don't even try to prove your side in such things .

As she completed , shivaay was already watching her endearingly. Between these words , she had even caressed his cheek once while mentioning the word sweet.

He really enamoured the way she opens up , it's not very often when she leads a conversation this way to express things deeply .

And finally when she ended with the word trust , he certainly felt happy . So happy . Earning someone's trust is never an easy task and especially when it's her , it did become more special for him .

Looking at her genuine smile , he passed an equal grin before hooking his finger to pull out those bunched streaks of hair which were slightly dancing on to enter between her lips when she exhaled through her mouth .

Falling so weak in this proximity , she tried pulling her hand from his hold slowly but his next act made her shrink with alien sensations .

He just stressed her twisted hand in his hold from behind that she straightway hit against his chest and hugged him in reflex .

Since her one hand was still captured by him , she hardly could do anything and just landed in his arms with her other hand crushing the fabric near his side hip.

A good tight hug , it seemed.

She gulped taking deep breaths when his other hand touched her bare back below her neck . Serves for the big window type backless top which had only a thin string of knot running across horizontally.

S- thank you for trusting me annika .

She heard him whisper near her ear as his head was fixed on her shoulder . She smiled pressing her lips on his shoulder.

A- even I want to say something to you ....sorry .

S- sorry kyun ?

The moment she completed , he questioned ,still remaining in the same position.

A- I was rude on you this morning , pata nahi

S- haan that ,you should be sorry ! Even I was confused, because you never act rude with me but

A- I'm sorry shivaay , I'm really.

S- hey annika ,it's ok it happens . I was just kidding . You don't have to be sorry .

He calmed her when she arose in full force to apologise . He just kept caressing her back softly.

At one point she tilted her head falling more weak in his touch , she almost hid her face in the crook of his neck and that's when he certainly realized how close were they .

He then bent down to notice his shirt getting crushed like anything within her fist . Moreover, her fast breath touching his neck was clearly felt by him . Indeed , all this proximity with her was bringing the same overpowering sensations in him too.

Slowly releasing her from his hold he stepped back while she took a few seconds to look up at him .

There was an awkward smile on both their faces .

Shivaay's feelings are budding to erupt and he's already aware of this change in him because there's no way he'd want to hug a woman and share these kind of moments . But if it's actually happening , then annika is special.

His heart alarmed.

You are THE ONLY exception 💘

Promo 2

S- you can't just judge me and my emotions like that annika. You might be the best psychiatrist but you just failed to know me , read my feelings and emotions. You hurt me badly annika , I ...I didn't know you'd do this . I , thought ,...

He punched the wall in full force for those red drops of blood to ooze out from his knuckles immediately.

A- shivaay !

S- just stay there .

He shouted while she looked at him in worry .

A- you always do this shivaay , when I come forward to express ...to tell what I think , you just throw words on me that I start feeling guilty .

S- you weren't expressing , you weren't telling . You were blaming me !

Chapter dedicated to PriyaModak Annanyaabitha nehaappaji123 DiwakarMisra SravaniLokanadham Shivikascnmsam ❤

Promo might not happen immediately rather within the upcoming few chapters.

Sorry I'm quite caught up with tests these days so I just typed this chapter whenever I got time . So I don't know whether the continuity in scenes are good or not .

Just be frank and give honest reviews please. If there is anything, I'll try to improve in further chapters.

Don't worry, I don't like keeping negative characters so Ragini is a good one here. Unbelievable? ;)

Annika is still confused , like, she hesitates to act freely fearing his reactions , is that normal ?

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