Thank you for voting 😊

He stopped infront of the house and took a few seconds to notice her , the drunk her . She kept grazing her back on the seat behaving to have some sub consciousness still keeping her on .

S- annika

She gave no response and remained engaged in the process of struggle to keep her eyes open . Shivaay sighed and peeped close to clip out the seat belt , she made a sudden sneeze and opened her eyes big for he crushed his eyes feeling those wet droplets on his neck.

S- teek hai aao

He quietly ran around the car and opened the door to pull her out , she jolted off though .

A- shivaay what are we doing here !

Shivaay cringed in confusion .

S- matlab ?

A- it's Adi's wedding today , why are we here !!

She shouted insisting the point for shivaay instantly palmed her mouth to stop her from making any word with that creaky voice.

S- no annika not yet . Come with me .

He dragged her out from the car and grabbed her waist to support her walk inside but she kept protesting.

A- shivaay means it's our first anniversary bi , haina ?

S- snap out of it ani

A- how dare you forget our anniversary shivaay!

Poking her finger into his cheek she made a shout and he didn't wait before just carrying her in his arms to make a straight run to their room .

A- shivaay

S- shh annika , you'll wake everyone .

A- you're lying, just yesterday I danced at Charu's sangeet.

S- stop dreaming please .

A- you wanna act ignorant ok , but I do remember . Happy anniversary !!

Throwing her arms around his neck, she leaned close and started kissing all over his face . Shivaay had let down his guard big this time and annika was currently in the practise of tempting him hard .

He reached the room and placed her on the bed slowly while she still kept smooching on his jawline as if she was trying to suck out his skin .

A- hmm ! Chub raha hai , shave kyun nahi karthe tum ?

She complained after releasing him , while he chuckled and made her lay down slowly .

S- kal kartha hoon , tum so ja ab hmm ?

A- happy anniversary.

He settled the pillows for her, she kept mumbling this and soon dozed off still with that strict frown paving a narrow way on her forehead. Shivaay moved the duvet over her and bent close leaving a small peck on her hair before he could find place for himslef beside the crab like her , who had already spread her arms and legs taking atmost of the cot for herself.

P- shivaay can't you stay at one place ? I can't run behind you, wait .

S- mom , I can't find the Swiss steel agreement papers. Check if you can see a blue file in here .

Pinky let a huge sigh as she kept dancing around him with the plate while shivaay moved from here to there and kept turning on all sides , just not towards her though . At one point she just grabbed his collar from behind and made him turn to push the food inside his mouth , he frowned .

S- mom !

P- chup ! Second shelf beneath annika's clothes .

She instructed pointing the shelf and he was soon surprised to find the file exactly there. This is one special talent they posses . Finding things which would remain out of the planet until they come into play .

P - shivaay I've got work , come here . Finish this first .

He didn't pay attention and started going through the file seriously .

S- mom have you packed my clothes ?

P - shivaay god has given me only two arms , insaan hoon mein bi.

She glared hard while stuffing the next morsel between his lips and shivaay behaved annoyed.

S- mom , it's already late !

His loud whines and pinky's complaints made her squirm on the bed sometime before sitting up . She kept crushing her eyes for the bright beam of sunlight made them ache . Head ache killed her even more , she kept shaking her head .

P - tum hi deko na annika , isn't he being too much this day?

She slowly moved her eyes towards him after hearing this for he was already engaged in a call . Not a time to take sides as she herself was in no clue of what was happening within her . The drowsy lids remained so heavy making it really difficult to keep them awide.

P- vaise when did you return last night? I don't remember seeing you during dinner.

She asked casually while folding some of his clothes and stuffing them inside a bag, annika noticed that keenly and remained confused.

A- uhh I got late aunty. Shivaay picked me up last night.

P- ohh ok . Shi shivaay I can't find your blue shorts,is it still left at the terrace, that can't be though. Maybe it fell somewhere , shivaay go and check behind the fence.

He immediately swiped the Mobile's screen and showed his embarrassed face to her.

S- mom please! I was in a call.

P- shivaay I want to break your bluetooth , how many times to tell you to use your mobile haan ?

Shivaay shook his head and marched towards the swimming pool while annika giggled scooting near pinky .

A- I already did that once aunty , even I hate it .

P- you did well .

S- mom !

P - haa haan , done packing.

She immediately hurried stuffing his clothes inside a bag after when shivaay alarmed from the other side. Annika looked confused .

A- aunty , packing?

P- nahi pata tumhe ? He's got some important meeting it seems , goa jaa raha hai vo .

A- really ?

P- really matlab? Shivaay , idhar aana finish the food first .

On getting no response , pinky took the plate and walked towards him not before showing her defeated reaction to annika .
She on the other side , behaved clueless. What's with his sudden travel plans with the wedding functions lined up right through the week. Annika shook her head to overcome that dizziness in there and rushed to the restroom to refresh first .

A- it's Adi's sangeet in two days shivaay .

S- I already spoke to charu , I'll be back that night .

A- shivaay par

She stopped right there on watching him move without listening to her .

A- shivaay can you just stop it now !

S- what ?

He answered carelessly while picking his stuffs from the table .

A - kyun ignore kar rahe ho muje, subah se.

S- annika I got no time for your imaginations, bye .

He dragged the bag along and walked out only to hide his mischievous smile off from her . Shivaay wanted to tease his ever so cool wife for once . He enacted on point that she was already frustrated with his behaviour since morning.

A- zaroor kal kuch kiya hoga meine...he hello Adi kal kya huwa?

Ad - wrong number

A- monkey I'll kill you

Ad - ooo annika tum ? Sorry yaar, I just got up from bed .

He stretched the words and yawned making her groan in anger .

A- Adi narrate everything which happened yesterday, I remember only some portions of it .

Ad - annika mein koi replay button hoon ? Kya subah subah punishment de rahi ho .

A- Adi !

He cringed hearing that creaky whine of hers.

Ad- you were drunk and

A- yeah I get it , I got drunk by mistake and as far as I remember I think I was talking to the police ...but

Ad- let me speak, will you ?

A- bol

Ad- vaise , aren't you sober yet ?still can't differentiate a cop and a watchman ?

She bit her tongue on realizing the madness in her acts last night .

A- watchman ?bas bas , aage

Ad - aage kya you were complaining about your missing prince who appeared there soon . Then you took him to the parking area and

A- hmm bolna , kuch galat tho nahi kiya na ? Like did I trouble him , make him angry?

Ad - no way , your deed would have just taken him to heaven . Why would he be angry for that ?

Annika was confused on sensing his giggles .

A- monkey complete it .

Ad- you kissed him !

There was a complete silence for sometime .

A- then

Ad - annika I'm a very decent man you know ?

A- it's urgent yaar, I don't remember please help me .

Ad - arey I'm telling you the truth , I don't know anything further after that.

A- monkey ,put down the phone you idiot .

She hung up at once holding restlessness in her face, Adi on the other side looked at the ceiling and smiled faintly as if he was connecting to God directly .

A perfect start for the day !

A- where's your brother ?

R - he left .

A- what ...! But he said the car hadn't returned from service yet and it would take some time .

R - yes bhabi , but papa had some work near the airport so baiya tagged along with him in his car .

Nothing else went into her ears after that , she barely made it back to her room . She picked oreo in hands and started complaining .

A- monster prince, I hate him oreo .

S- ouch !

She was soon startled on hearing his voice from the other side . Annika climbed over the small wall to reach by the pool area , but stood bewildered on finding it empty .

A sudden effort of pull made her float above the ground , a pair of familiar arms had her arrested from behind to twirl her in air . She grinned and giggled as he didn't choose to stop .

S- monster haan ? Aur kya bola, hate me !

A- shivaay , bas na

S- love me bolo phir

Annika just couldn't control when he started tickling her and she wriggled out to get off his hands but he ofcourse behaved tight .

A- no

S- then no no

A- shivaay

S- annika

A- teek hai , deal deal. Chod dho phir bolungi

S- pakka?

A- pakka

He then slowly released her from his grip for she started taking quick breaths.

S- I'm waiting dear

Annika narrowed her eyes at him .

A- I...hateyou

He frowned at her hard after concentrating on her words so keenly .

S- ok bye

He put up a straight face and turned to leave but she hugged him from behind immediately.

A- acha teek haina Mr.Prince . Stop your drama now .

S- drama ? Madam ,I'm leaving for real .

A- prank 2.O?

S - shall I show my flight ticket ? Two days yaar...miss karunga na tuje , I craved for a desperate you . That's why I acted like that ,par tum tho straightly hate you kar diya muje.

A- you and your cravings, I thought I really made some blast last night and that's why you

S- you did but not me ,you blast broke a poor security's head last night.

A- enough, don't embarrass me now.

S - embarrass tho tumne kiya muje kal.

A- uh...sorry , I shouldn't have drunk . I didn't know actually mein paani

S- hey hey ani wait

He caught hold of her hands when she started apologizing seriously out of a sudden.

A- nahi , drinking is bad , it's dangerous. I should've been careful.

Annika behaved entirely stiff and serious this time , showing how much she resents even the thought of being drunk .

S - it's ok , come here .

She entered into his embrace when he demanded for a hug , and shivaay ran his palms on her back smoothly to comfort her .

A- mat jao na

He smiled on hearing the ring of a kid in her tone .

S - I'll come back as soon as I finish my job I promise.

There was still no response from her . He thought for a few seconds and whispered something.

S- atleast ab tho bolo, love me now ?

Pressing her head to his chest she shook it right and then . Shivaay slowly released his grip and before she could even sense that he started tickling her again .

A- sh....shivaay please...!

S- you know the word .

A- ahh...! Shivaay , ek ...shi

S- are you sure khanna ?

Kh- yes sir , his family had settled in US long ago. He returned to India just a few days back .

Shivaay kept thinking for a while . After seeing annika's picture in his wallet, he couldn't sit tight. He asked Adi to send the batch photos from their school diary and checked annika's class in particular. His intuition came out for real , Arjun was annika's classmate for three years . He was very much irked with all these details and had asked khanna to do a background check on him . And now with this kind of information , he felt kind of restless . What could his motive be ...?

Kh- sir ?

S- hmm ...yeah .

Only then he realized they had already reached the airport , by the time he got down the car khanna collected the luggage and stood ahead of him .

S- do not leave her alone , make sure she travels with you , no cab no bus .

Kh - sure , is there is any problem sir?

He remained quiet for sometime and then replied .

S- no nothing.

The following day turned out as a hectic one for both . He was all caught up with consecutive client meetings , and she had to work extra hours to cover for another person . They didn't find time to even make a call , morning when she was in rounds she had called him but there was no response. After three hours he had sent a message, a monosyllabic one - busy . After that she had her own chores to take care for the day went to dusk before they knew.

G- aunty it's ok , you don't have to come .

Jh- I can't leave you alone .

G- I won't even stay long

Jh- exactly, we don't have to , we'll turn up, show our faces and come back . The place is afar so, let me come .

Annika saw them both discussing seriously as she walked inside the hall .

A- leaving somewhere ?

G- thank God bhabi aap aagagyi, I was just going to call you . Help chahiye aapki.

A- hmm?

Jh - you know gauri's bua right , her distant cousin had passed away this afternoon .

A- oh god , how ?

G - cardiac arrest . I could just send Om but he seems busy at the press meet . Uncle attended all the functions during my wedding so I should go .

A- don't worry I'll take care of Aaru.

G- thank you so much bhabi.

Jh- and annika , pinky is here too . She's got a bad head ache , so she is sleeping now . Rudra will be back soon .

A- ok aunty.

A- oreo stop barking now , can't you see he's asleep ?

She warned him to stop making noise and oreo just obeyed. Annika sat next to the boy and made slow touches on his soft skin . Those fluffy cheeks and smooth palms, she loved doing that especially when he's asleep . Though she does whatsoever , there won't be any movement from the little guy . She smiled pressing her index finger on his big cheek slightly, bubble boy he is .

Soon there was a power cut in the house and weirdly it wasn't revived yet .She called the gaurd and asked him to check the inverter.

The air got warm , Aaryan seemed sweating alot . He was in the verge of crying , by the time she had already gathered something to fan upon him and put him back to sleep.

A- tum bi ? Even I wake up the next second if the fan goes off .

Juggling him in his arms she added her comments .

Within the next few seconds , she heard some noise from the back side and went by there to check after leaving the boy on the bed . Even pinky seemed fast asleep when she checked before reaching the corner .

Annika felt kind of strange on finding a rope hung down the corridor and ran back to her room to check on Aaru .

A huge sigh escaped her lips after seeing him all fine and good . She removed his clothes on noticing his sweat , and continued fanning again . The guard didn't attend the call when she tried, things were getting creepy but she alarmed her mind to keep calm and calm .

Oreo's sudden noise made her shiver that instant , she clearly felt someone's presence there by the other side . Annika kept calling Rudra but the line was engaged . She then immediately hid the boy beneath the cot and walked towards the pool with a big stick in her hand . Oreo kept on barking to increase her heart rate till sky . At one point she just decided to call the police, maybe it was nothing but she didn't want to take risk with aryan in the house . Flash from the emergency light case started to blink , she hit the top of it continuously while the line remained blank for a long time .

She almost fainted on noticing the shadow of someone , and unfortunately the light went off that very second.

A- ahh !!!

Annika screamed when someone snatched the mobile from her and thrashed it against the wall . She started beating the air with the stick she had. Though it wasn't very clear she could actually see big figures standing right ahead of her .

' stop !'

She gulped down and loosened her grip on the stick after feeling something sharp held against her front neck . She started breathing fast. Oreo was still barking , he even tried to bite the person's leg but the man kicked him off immediately.

A- please , please don't hurt him. Ask me , what do you want?

' cash obviously, where is it ?'

She turned her head towards the direction of that noise to see another man standing near the pool .

' where !'

The knife felt pretty close this time when the man behind her insisted. She felt a skip of beat for real and went all wet with sweat .

A- ok ok fine I'll show you .

She started moving slowly and stepped forward.

' don't you dare try to play dirty games with us '

A- I won't.

After taking a few steps she stopped there abruptly .

' what? Move '

A- it's here .

All the three masked men were equally clueless when she pointed the pool .

' we aren't fools , show us or I'll slit your throat '

A- I can't speak already please take it away , the money , jewels everything is here . Haven't you watched any movies ? Big shots have their own way of hiding the kazaana to escape IT rides . Oberois are no exception too .

There was complete silence for the next few seconds , they somewhere started to approve , she felt that .

The man behind her asked the other two to get in and they did .

' where in here ?'

A- I'm not sure , sixteenth tile from left 13th one from right ,ask them to check the meeting point .

The two inside were really pissed off by the information ,they started counting.

' we can't dig with water , where's the motor?'

A- suction won't work without power .

' damn !'

She moved back when he pressed the sharp end to her skin .

A- please , think logically .

' Boss , hard to count without lights '

She chuckled on hearing them complain.

'Shut up !'

He then sighed in defeat and rang for someone . Within soon the lights came back .

' now '

He rushed her from behind towards the motor fixed around the corner of that place .

' do it '

A- ok .

' Boss tiles different shape mei hai , it's difficult to count them '

' confusing hai '

They whined once again for the other one gritted his teeth in rage .

' you , suck the water fast'

He gave the order and went to pick the tools from the bag they had brought .

It wasn't much but she did get a very few seconds in between, she made use of it before he returned back soon .

' I still see water inside '

A- it's a big pool, wait .

' ahh ! '

' my eyes !!'

' jal raha hai !'

Soon the two inside the pool started screaming . The man remained confused while annika bit her lips and smiled , he noticed it clearly.

'What did you do !'

He shouted bringing the knife near her for she immediately tried to snatch it from him . The other men climbed up to reach out and fell back on the floor crying.

' I can't open my eyes , ahh!'

A- you moron.

She kicked his stomach and dropped the knife as soon as she had it . Her bleeding palm didn't allow her to handle it anymore .
Annika winced shaking her hand in air, by then he got up and slapped her hard , she fell on the floor .

Aryan started crying out of a sudden, annika was thrilled . She saw the man smirking and immediately got up to rush towards the room but he was fast enough to fight for she ended up right into the pool when he forced her away .

' don't let her out '

A- hey no not the child !!

She screamed and climbed up but the other two managed to keep her down in there .

At the same Rudra entered the room with no idea of anything going on .

R- sorry bhabi I was talking to

He stopped on finding the room empty.

R- bhabi ...?

A- Rudy? Oh thank god !, get Aryan . Beneath the bed !!!

Rudra peeped to see where the voice came from and was super shocked on finding a masked man jumping in from the other side.

R- oh whoa whoa easy !

A- rudy , the baby !

Rudra now kind of got it, he kept his sight fixed at the man who acted very cautious . Both were involved in the moment , and when he jumped close to the bed Rudra punched him on the face and carried Aryan immediately.

R- it's ok ok now, kuch nahi just some clowns ok baby . I'm here with you .

He kept juggling the child and turned just to face something worse . The man pressed a wet cloth on his nose for Rudra soon felt his vision blacking out . He hardly pushed him away when the man tried to reach aryan and soon he himself lost balance . He fell back on the bed with the baby .

Here annika struggled inside the water when the other two made it very hard for her .

A- Rudy !!

' no more games mommy , take me to the money or I'll...you know what I'll do '

Annika joined the crying club along with Aryan . She pinched and bit their arms but it didn't help , at one point her eyes started burning like hell .

He smirked seeing the helpless her , and marched near the bed . He was just an inch away from aryan when ,

' hands up '

The ground beneath him broke open to swallow him up as he found a cop pointing the pistol at him . He immediately reverted back and raised his arms ,claiming no harm to the child. Adi who stood with them , came running inside to pick the baby and looked around in search for annika .

Ad- annika ...

Annika couldn't just comprehend what she felt right then .

A- Adi yahaan!

The policemen caught the other two when they tried to escape while Adi helped her out .

She squeezed her eyes and kept them crushed close .

A- is he is he okay?

Ad- yes .

A- thank monkey !

She jumped to hug him and he stepped right in front to help her as she didn't open her eyes to exactly see him yet .

Ad - robbers surrounded the house and tum swimming kar rahe ho ?

A- your chappal, shut up Adi please let me catch my breath.

Holding onto him , she kept exhaling through her mouth .

P- how is that I didn't hear anything ?

A- the tablet you took maybe , must be some elephant drug sss Adi jal raha hai yaar!

Annika giggled for a second and whined immediately. She crushed her eyes and squeezed his arm which remained in her hold. Adi felt his flesh in pulp already.

P- driver please make it fast .

Pinky comforted aryan on her lap and kept patting him till he fell asleep.

'Yes mam'

A- Adi!!!

Ad - annika show some mercy , ek bar deko tumhari devar kya kar raha hai .

Annika attempted to slowly open an eye , she saw Rudra completely out and lying mostly on Adi with his face buried in his crook.

Ad- deka? And uper se you are so interested in making a squash out of my left arm here . Show some pity annika.

She cracked up after imagining the reaction on his face as he whined complaining.

A- please monkey don't make me laugh , I'm not in the mood . Ahh !!

Ad - hmm kar na aahh aah ! Who told you to use the chemical haan? Smartly stupid .

A- tho how can I handle three big body builders all at once ? I wanted to buy time and slow sss them down until someone shows up isliye I made them get into the water and poured all cleaning liquid into the relay .

She once again crushed his arm for he didn't react much this time as all he could feel there was just numbness .

Ad- struggle then .

P- thank god you came at the right time , vaise how did you know?

A- I pinged him while calling Rudy, it was just a random try but I didn't think you'd really come .Glad you still remember our code word monkey.

Keeping her eyes shut, she praised him .

P- code word ?

Ad - red rocket is for calling police aunty , we had invented that for our childhood hijacking games .

Pinky showed a strange smile when Adi narrated the backstory . And soon her mobile started ringing.

P- it's shivaay .

A- aunty don't tell him anything.

P- but why ?

A- I guess he would have called me , please aunty don't tell him . He's got more work there , let him complete it first . I'm sure he would rush back here if we tell him everything.

P- ok ...hello shivaay

S- hi mom , sorry did I wake you up ?

P- nahi nahi

S- mom annika kahin aaspaas hai ? I couldn't reach her mobile .

P- haan , she's here one second.

Annika collected the phone from her and took a deep breath before pressing it against her ear .

A- shivaay

S- what happened to your phone?

A- battery must be down , I'll check.

S- I've been trying for your since an hour , finally ! When did you come back ? You didn't agree for extra shift right?

A- no I didn't, new patients ko deka aaj aur general sessions di . But tomorrow I got some work at the court .

S- hmm , I just came back . Some are still unconvinced with the chosen properties , I don't know what to do . Got to wrap up everything here ASAP and be there for the function tomorrow orelse charu would kill me .

A- shivaay ek aur baath, I left my blue T shirt back there last time. Don't forget to bring it .

S- hmm , what's this noise annika ?

A- nothing it's just the TV , tum, dinner kaya tumne?

S- not yet ...

And so went on their sweet little talks , pinky who sat in front chuckled on noticing all the weird reactions Adi made .

A- haan ok I'll tell her , bye !

She bit her lips and cried at once she had hung up .

A- Adi kuch kar na ...jal raha hai yaar !

His eyes popped out on noticing the variation in her voice . Not a second ago the tone remained as sweet as candy and now she sounded like some old granny who has slipped from the peak of a huge mountain , counting the last seconds of her life . Rudra on the other side moved a bit and almost hugged him to get a nice position to lie on .

Adi sniffed and started wiping his invisible tears .

World changes when eyes meet💘

Precap

Annika hesitates to attend the function.

Adi is angry .

Shivaay returns .

How was it ?

Honest reviews please .

Plss vote and comment if you like my story 😊