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The security said that he had gone out once and that time oreo might have gone somewhere as otherwise there was no way that anything could have went unnoticed by him when he was there inside .

Shivaay was already shouting at him in rage .

A - shivaay please , stop shouting at him now . He did do it deliberately , leave it shivaay.

Tugging onto his shirt piece near the wrist, she insisted hearing which shivaay looked at her in confusion.

S- annika , you even realize ? Oreo is missing !

Emphasizing the word , he spoke sparing a strong glare on the man to which annika immediately replied .

A- nothing will happen to him shivaay . He'll be here somewhere , he won't go anywhere without me .

Shivaay felt strange at her calm voice when she said spoke . Indeed he did witness the terrified face which she had a few minutes ago. And now , she was like normal . He's yet to know her well . Annika isn't the one who would jump up to react till extremes . She's a one tranquil person in any situation at the first place . Shivaay was clueless of this , and just nodded to her statement not wanting to deviate her confidence.

S- chalo phir ,

Both ran out and checked around the compound surrounding the building . They split up to check on all sides there , but Oreo was seen nowhere.

When annika was looking by the entrance side , she noticed something and stood staring it blankly . Shivaay who just came there after checking at the parking area , touched her shoulder from behind to gain her attention .

S- annika ?

Without responding , she ran to a roadside vendor there .

A- baiya , did they burst crackers here ?

She enquired pointing the mess of small papers which was scattered all over there on the road , while shivaay who followed her behind looked back on the road after hearing her question.

' ji , koi political crowd tha '

Annika gulped down deep before facing shivaay who was looking at her intently, for an explanation.

S - what happened annika ?

A- loud crackers scares Oreo very much . The security booth is near the entrance , he would have been there inside . But after hearing the loud noise he must have ran somewhere. Somewhere far... to get rid of the sound.

The word far came out like a mere whisper as she took some time to understand that Oreo actually wasn't here anywhere around and that she has no idea of where he could be now . She kept numb when he spoke sensing her worry .

S- come with me annika ,

Pulling her along , he walked till the car. He closed the door by her side when she settled inside and walked around to the driver seat .

Both kept their visions on either sides of the road while he drove. As time dragged , it was getting dark for them to even notice anything clearly.

At one point annika just hurriedly got down from the moving car and ran to find a random street dog roaming there on the footpath.

She stood there , glancing at the same spot without blinking when shivaay came there after leaving the car in corner.

Dragging her elbow from behind he pulled her against him so that she turns.

S- what the hell annika ? ! Do you know what you have done ?

He screamed to the top of his voice and she looked at him once before gazing at the dog again .

A- I thought...vo , but nahi .

She stammered pointing the creature and he understood what she meant . But still , how can she even slip down like that.

S- are you mad ? Kuch hojatha tho !!

A- where will he be ? Oreo ?

Shivaay's angered reaction began to sink in shock hearing her slow words . She didn't care to react for his rage rather she just had the same silently calm face still . He felt different . He neither knew what to tell her nor about where he could go in search of . But he can very well handle these suffer of confusions but not her dejected face. Exhaling huge , he brought down his rage and looked at her who was still roaming her eyes here and there but him. He pressed his hold on her elbow to seek her eyes .

S- anni , annika we will find Oreo I promise .

She watched his eyes silently for a few seconds before removing his hold by herself and straightway walked to sit inside the car leaving him alone there . He was getting more worried now . First , he himslef was very much concerned of Oreo whereabouts moreover annika's different attitude is making him perturbed .

As he walked upto the car , he noticed the fabric of her dress to be hanging down outside still . She was seated quietly , having no idea of this . He sighed .

Picking the cloth , he inched it inside . Annika who was totally outzoned from this scene reflexly held the door and shut it forcely to immediately hear his scream . Without noticing his other hand which rested by the edge , she just shut the door on his it.

S- ahhh!

Jolting off suddenly , she peeped through the window to find him leaning on the car , screaming in pain .

A- Oh my God shivaay !

She opened out the door and got down . Taking his hand which seemed so red now , she caressed his skin in hurry .

S- sss !

Crushing his eyes in pain , he started hissing aloud .

A- I'm sorry shivaay , I didn't. I ...sorry .

She kept muttering the word continuously and he , who was still cringing in pain didn't say anything.

It was only when he felt his knuckles getting wet with drops , he opened his eyes at her . She was in tears , continuous unstoppable tears . None could say that she was crying now, as she hardly made any noise but the pour kept flowing . He was already feeling a hell of pain and her tears were adding more to it now . He blinked hard and gulped before talking .

S- annika , stop crying now . It happens , you didn't see it . Chodo , I'm...I'm ok .

He insisted but there was no change in her reactions .

A- I can see that.

She traced her fingers slowly on the places where his skin has been slightly peeled off . Those red spots which transparented the dots of blood here there , made her eyes shrink to small, feeling his pain . She kept blowing on it when he uttered .

S- annika ,

A- listen to me shivaay , you go home . I ...I'll manage ,

S- what ?

He reacted immediately .

A - you should go home shivaay . Don't be with me , you aren't ok .

Tying a cloth around his palm , she voiced cupping his cheek within her palm while he stared at her , being baffled .

S- me ? Look at your face. You aren't ok !! .

He insisted stressing the word you .

A- shivaay , it's not the time to argue. Go home , I , I'll check

S- why do you even think I'm going to do that ? I'm leaving to the corporation office to get a squad and find Oreo tonight . If you want to see him , get in silently .If not, take an auto for yourself and go home. Bye !

Making his statement as an order , he pulled her hand off his face but jolted back and soon cringed in pain as he used the same wounded palm to draw her hand down . She gasped and neared to hold him but he silently moved back , and went around the car to the driver seat . He knew , if he allows her close she would never stop crying now . It's always better to pretend no pain than watching her swollen orbs .

Hearing the engine start , she sprinted and settled inside the car immediately.

A- atleast let me drive, you're hurt .

He noticed that she hasn't stopped crying yet . Sparing an angry stare at her , he added .

S- if you want to help me in any way , stop crying first . That'll do .

Immediately he felt her to have turned the other side facing the window . She's in tears still , he knew that.

A- yeah , he's a pug . I shall show you a pic , wait .

She fetched her mobile and scrolled the gallery to show an image of Oreo .

' ok , but the restaurant location which you have mentioned is near the highways right ?'

S- yeah .

' then I'm afraid we shan't find it alive still , I've seen many such incidents and moreover it's already dark and people drive so rashly that we '

A- please stop with that ! If you can't help , just deny but don't blabber nonsense.

Passing a daring galre , she interrupted to warn the man when shivaay held her hand and signalled her to not get tensed.

' I didn't mean to offend you , it's the truth . We are seeing nearly 3 to 5 dogs dead at the highways everyday '

A- shivaay ask him to stop ,

She turned facing shivaay and muttered these on not wanting to see the man's face even .

S- annika , I don't think you must be here . Wait in the car , I'll talk with him.

A- but shivaay this man

S- I'm telling you right ? Wait for me .

He blinked slowly insisting her to do it which she obeyed and left .

Shivaay came back after discussing with the person to only find a worn out annika . Standing by her window side , he just kept watching her who has now hiding her face onto the folded arms which rested on the dashboard .

Hearing the man's statement, shivaay was equally thrilled but there's no way he can express it out and push her to more worry .

Until annika in his life , Shivaay never had any special interest in pets but after her , after the small Oreo who would rush to wander around his legs when he reaches home , things changed . He felt so low on not being able to find Oreo yet , he feared but hid it up for her sake .

Feeling someone's presence by the side , she lifted her head and looked by him who was already gazing at her in concern . She's crying continuously and he has no idea of how to convince her .

A- what did he say ?

He heard her mere whisper and sighed making up a clear reaction.

S- they will send their men to check that area thoroughly . And we shall join them too, we'll find him .

Trying to seem atmost good and fine , he said this for which she just let a nod before clearing her throat.

A- paani kahan hai ?

S- hmm?

He tossed his brows on not getting her words which were hardly audible.

A- paani .

This time he caught her word correct and silently opened the door . She leaned back properly while he pulled the dashboard to fetch the bottle for her and inversely something else from inside ,fell on her lap when he did that . It was an half empty cookie pack which annika had fed Oreo when they were on the way to the restaurant this evening . Shivaay saw her looking at the packet in distraught .

Indeed , the words of that man were haunting her so much.

Without saying anything he gently took away the packet  from her lap and forwarded the bottle when she looked at him ,frowning little .

She sipped to drink some water as he handled the bottle . Suddenly she held the bottle and pulled it down making him question through eyes.

A- you were right shivaay . I shouldn't have brought him along , then he would have been at home . Safely . Pata nahi, where is he and kaise ...!

Her eyes seemed all red now as even those pupils were devoid of any strength after pouring continuously. Palming her forehead with two hands , she blamed herself when he shook and pulled her hands down to place them on her lap .

S- annika , I understand how must be feeling now but please , trust me . We will find him .

She watched his assuring eyes quietly and bit her lips to control her tears which she couldn't certainly. Making her hold the bottle , he shut the door and walked to his side.

It was already two hours since the crew and shivika searched around that area closely. As time grew , shivaay became scared . A fear concerning Oreo , a fear concerning his wife , Annika . He was already confused on noticing her to have engulfed silence all this time while he expected her to keep ranting of anything.
But no , she paced along with him quietly  ,using the flashlight to see anything in dark places.

He could actually feel her getting restless through each passing moment but she was so good in hiding it . Well , he didn't fail to notice those drops of tears which she kept wiping within every few seconds.

And suddenly both heard the whistle sound from the underground subway . At once they rushed downstairs to the bridged path .

' yahan aayiye , I think we have found him '

One from the team who stood there at the corner, stated ,while shivaay and annika already ran to that spot instantly.

As she was able to see nothing , she snatched shivaay's flashlight within a blink and focused on the place where the man pointed .

There lied the little creature , curled himself like a small pillow .

Only God knew what annika sensed to feel right then .

A grin fixed on her face when she scooped the dog in her arms and Oreo who just realized her touch woke up , barking as if he was certainly complaining of the crackers which haunted him till worst .

Shivaay let a tonned sigh of relief on getting to find him all safe at last . Nearing close , he just traced his palm all over Oreo's body .

A- I ain't going to take you anywhere after this I swear !

Cocooning him close to her chest , she affirmed for shivaay chuckled hearing the same . He was finally able to mend his worried organ named heart , to have been able to see her smiling again . Again , after the most tradgedic hours ever . While Oreo kept tossing his head to get close to him ,shivaay smiled happily before marching more near to annika ,giving Oreo the full space to leap up to him . A good pet Oreo is . Those creeky barks which he gave mentioned his fear still, for which annika kept muttering sweet nothings and kept caressing his skin soothingly. Much needed comfort for him now .

She looked up at shivaay and let a small inched smile which's meaning he knew very well .

It meant , thank you . He just blinked in reverse.

After thanking the men who came for help at this time , shivaay sat inside and started the engine .

A- you could have atleast ran inside to me if you were feared?! Why'd you ,

Before she could complete, he interrupted.

S- haven't stopped your interrogation session yet ? So you've proved , people or animals , annika is annika with anyone !

He contentedly smiled after receiving the glare which she passed , narrowing her eyes . This made him happy indeed , he felt perfectly fine because she here , was all fine and happy now .

A- what's there to fear with crackers? I'm going to start giving you practise from this Diwali, one day you'd become like those deadly dogs which the police department has . Those creatures run around and find bombs while you here are feared of mere crackers ...?!

She continued speaking with Oreo who just turned his innocent face towards shivaay .

Shivaay grinned at her back to form type attitude before stomping the accelerator.

As soon as he halted infront of OM , he felt a light weight landing on his shoulder in that sudden force . Crossed all the lullaby time , so here's the sleepy head . He gently made her lean on her seat before getting down .

Oreo who was lying on her lap , still awake , jumped down and ran into the house when shivaay opened the door. He sighed rubbing his palm over his neck before deciding.

' come on shivaay, she doesn't look a ton in weight . You can do this '

Encouraging himslef , he slipped his arm under to snake the bridge between her upperleg and the foreleg while the  other arm automatically surrounded to hold her back . He didn't want to disturb her sleep , after all, it's nearly midnight now .

' Ok , I'm a body builder! '

He smirked only to feel her forearm swinging all the way to hit his face by mistake as she was subconsciously trying to hold onto his neck .

S- ouch !!

That must be a reward , he thought and tossed her a bit in to get a comfortable hold while she slept as if she knew nothing. Only if she was awake , she would have already died in an heart attack.

'Me !!! in my Prince's arms ??? ! '

There were no viewers for his stunt at this time , he was thankful for that. He wouldn't want to see Rudra's teasing smile, when he certainly is carrying his wife to bed .

Placing her on the cot gently , he fetched both her hands which  she thew like flabby snakes above her head and kept them on her stomach.

He looked at her for a second before peeping close . Those wet tear marks still layered her face which he just slowly wiped off with the least touch of his thumb so as to not disturb her .

S- I just didn't like you today annika , didn't like the different annika today . The crying one .

Muttering these, he knelt down before her legs.

'shivaay it's ok ,mein karlungi . You don't have to '

'excuse me ? Stop imagining , Shivaay Singh Oberoi kissi ke samne nahi juktha.'

He remembered their exchange of words when she had come to his room for the first time back then .

Look at The Shivaay Singh Oberoi who is already on his knees for her now, with zero hesitation. He's actually sensing the changes , clearly .

S- what even are you doing to me annika ?

Strapping off her slippers , he mumbled a question.

As soon as he removed both her slippers she bent her leg and flipped over to the comfortable position while he being all tired just threw his coat in one corner and hit the bed soon .

After two three hours , when it was almost 2.30 AM annika squirmed a little and opened her eyes . She was about to shut it again to resume her sleep when the loosely tied cloth on his palm fell on her sight .

Crawling a little close to him , she pulled that hand which he had kept on his abdomen . The cloth gradually fell down when she did that , and revealed the pink patches there. Her eyes shrinked in sadness with even the thought of she herself being the reason behind his pain .

A- I'm sorry shivaay .

She whispered.

Taking his hand near her lips , she was just about to kiss the wounded spot on the knuckles but soon reverted back when he slightly moved in sleep that instant .

' I may not have the right to kiss you yet ,but for this , there's no one more eligible rather me myslef '

She chuckled at her thoughts and threw her legs on his .

Shivaay was getting ready for work ,when annika's mobile kept at the side table rang . He sprinted fast to pick it up as the girl was still immersed in her sleep land , she shan't be disturbed .But soon he realized , be it anything , she can still sleep .

S- hello charu .

C - shivaay ? Where's she ? My dear sister asked me to call when I reach back home last night and I've been trying since then but no answer . I tried calling you too , you guys even got something called ears or not . What's she doing ?

Shivaay tightened his lips to a line before replying.

S- woah charu wait ! She's your sister , guess what she must be doing now ?

C- ofcourse sleeping, why did I even ask?! But kal kya huwa? Check the number of missed calls in your mobile and her's .

Charu affirmed her sentence when shivaay immediately spoke .

S- ohh charu , don't even go there . Pata hai kya huwa !

C- kya ?

And then shivaay narrated everything to leave her in shock .

C- my god ! Oreo teek haina ab ?

S- haan , we found him at last, he's fine now . That was all ok charu, but what I couldn't  take still is annika's behaviour . Matlab , she seemed too calm yet so restless. She cried so much you know ? Annika aise ,

C- what did you think shivaay ? ki annika would only knows to talk and laugh always ? Even she has got a breaking point , she gets sensitive too . Especially, Oreo uski aadat hai , he's a part of her life . So relax it's normal and obvious for her to react like that . And one more thing , Annika never cries but if she is , then you must know that there's something really serious.

Hearing all this ,shivaay just stood and stared at the girl on bed who was tossing sides ,clutching the pillow close . He has got a long way ahead  to understand her properly, he thought.

Annika ran towards the bus terminal noticing the bus which just arrived  there and somehow managed to catch it in the last moment to receive a nice glare from the conductor who had blown the whistle by then. All thanks to shivaay who didn't even think of waking her up and on top of that he had informed everyone at house to not do that . Well , he had a good reason for his deed . He genuinely didn't want to disturb her as they were certainly very late last night . But she really felt a thunder shock on realizing that it was already 10.45 PM when she woke up . All done in hurry , and here she is , inside the bus finally . Thinking of appreciating him for his legendary deed , she dialled for him .

S- gentlemen ,so this is our next target. But if we analyse the numbers carefully , we

He stopped hearing his mobile ringing . Excusing himslef , he fixed the bluetooth and turned around facing the projector screen .

S- yes annika ?

A- why didn't you wake me up shivaay? See how late I am , all thanks to you ! I'm going to get a nice lecture from my cheif now . And you even asked everyone to not wake me , how can you ,

S- ok annika , don't start your Express now . In all this hurry for work , you still have time to call and scold me, haina ?!

He interrupted her trail of words and she sighed at his mocking tone.

A- come on ! as if I'm handling the wheels . Driver thodi na hoon mein ! I'm here , standing in the bus as a free passenger. So I've got ample time to do this . I wish you were an employee , a normal staff in a company . Then you'd realize about my problem , I've got a Dean and a cheif to handle now and you ? You're the boss ! So our wavelength won't match .

Wounding her elbow around the balance rod , she added while fetching some money for the ticket.

S- it sounds more like a curse . Thoda dyaan vahan bi dho annika , don't forget to get the ticket in urge of scolding me . What if the checker catches you ?

She was about to give the money to the conductor but pulled her hand back hearing this . Leaning onto her shoulder more to balance the mobile to her ear, she spoke .

A- hawww ! Now this definitely sounds like a curse .

And the conductor was just staring at her all this time expecting her to pass the money but no , she was busy on the call still . He reacted soon .

' madam , buy the ticket or get down ! Phone bandh kijiye aur paise dijiye . Many others are waiting for me . '

Annika frowned at him and gave  the money ,muttering the name of her stop.

While on the other side , shivaay who heard this started laughing already without realizing that he was actually standing in the middle of the conference room , among many men . Those men just passed looks at each other noticing their boss behaving different today .

Soon annika heard his loud laugh and squeezed her eyes .

A- you know what ? I just got another wish ,

S- what's it ?

Somehow controlling his laugh , he enquired .

A- for a bus ride with you !

His eyes popped out in horror and there was no place of that smile on his face which resided there before few seconds.   She smirked imagining his face .

S- now , you know what ? I'm hanging up!

Before she could even say anything , he pressed the red .

But soon , he smiled . Smiled to their crazy talks and turned only to find the whole crew of members staring at him as if he was an alien . Sighing with a reaction of embarrassment ,he put the projector on and continued.

A- kaat diya !

She kept the mobile in her purse and passed a scowled look at the conductor who currently rebuked at another passenger for not having the correct change .

I'd never lived before your love 💘

Precap

Shivika hug .

Chapter dedicated to PriyaModak  Annanyaabitha    DiwakarMisra  ❤

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Actually my equation with conductors are always bad. Once me and my friends blew our whistle and got a nice dose from the angry bird conductor .Our bus adventures during school days were 😂😂😅  I miss my friends so much !!! 😭

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