The words he spoke startled her, she had pinched herself to snap out of her dream but was it? Annika could still see Shivaay sitting in front of her with his blue eyes filled with confusion. It certainly wasn't a mere dream. Her mouth opening several times to speak but no words leaving her tongue. Shutting her eyes close, Annika took in a long breathe, a necessary breathe.

Shivaay had been holding himself back from asking Annika what was wrong and why wasn't she giving him a answer, his anxiety grew each second. He got up from his seat, with slow steps, Shivaay bent down a bit to face her. "I am not forcing you to say yes but I except you to at least give me an answer" Annika watched his serene blue eyes, they always tend to make her nervous yet brought a sense of calmness to her.

"Why do you think I won't say yes" At that, Shivaay straighten himself, his eyes fixed on her while a smile forming on his face. Was it possible that he wanted to scream loudly right now? A rush of emotions was all he felt, happiness reflecting in his eyes. Annika bit her lip nervously, seeing his mood change, she knew he would do anything at this moment. "I will be your girlfriend, yes"

As soon Annika said it, she was swiped off her feet and into his arms the next moment. Shivaay's two strong had been holding her by the waist, twirling around while a series of squeaks released her mouth. Shivaay laughed whilst but after five rounds, he dropped her down before they both start to dizzy. Annika clutched his wrist, he gave her a look of confusion. Placing her both hands on his shoulders, she stood an inch away from him.

Shivaay blushed, his cheeks heating, it wasn't normal for him to feel this way. She tend to bring a unknown side out of him which was thrilling for Shivaay to know that it existed. "Do you really want this? Me being your girlfriend?"

"More than anything I ever wanted"

Shivaay did not bait his eyes once before saying, his assuring words sinking deep into her mind. It really felt like a dream to her, a surreal dream which was coming true. Shivaay was her princess charming, even though she wasn't a princess but he made her feel like one, always.

Annika stood up on her toes, leaning closer to her, making sure that no one had their eyes on them, she gently pressed her lips to her. The only thing she ever wanted to do right now. Shivaay's lips mumbled on her lower lip, gently taking savouring the taste of her. It felt like he was on cloud nine, Annika had took hold of his hair, tugging them gently. Shivaay rested his hands on her waist, cupping her face after some seconds. Annika ran out of breathe as she parted away from him while he sheepishly looked at her.

Shivaay softly chuckled, taking her lips one more time but releasing them immediately after some seconds. Blushing, Annika stared at her feet, feeling overwhelmed, the effect he had on her. "Stop blushing so hard" Shivaay whispered slowly, his hot breathe lingering on her skin, it made her want to grab hold of his hair one more time.

When Shivaay placed his both have on her waist, he couldn't help but notice how perfect she was, in one way or the other. Her beautiful smile was capable of making any guy drool over him, she was epitome of cuteness. Annika's stomach grumbled, chucking, both of them broke apart from each other and sat down on their respective chairs.

Before she could speak something, the waiter arrived with food trays in both of his hands, placing the food in front of the two if them. The waiter served them the food, once done, he left the two alone. "So tell me girlfriend, how far are you liking this date?" Shivaay asked as he took the fork and placed it in his plate to grab hold of the pasta.

"I am loving the date so far boyfriend" With a giggle, she uttered. It made his heart flutter, all he ever wanted to do was make her happy, never wanting her to shed a tear because of him. Shivaay moved the way she always seemed to smile at her, it was a genuine and a beautiful smile which always made his day.

If only she had met him before, he would have made a move at the first sight. It was rare for him to find anyone so intriguing that it made him want to know the person. But she was not a mystery, she was just a girl with normal life and sober dreams.

"Trust me, there are more such dates like this to come"

━━━━━━

Yawning with a wide mouth, Annika rubbed her eyes, she could not believe the interview with Sammer Khuraana was yet again postponed, it made her annoyed. She wanted to get over with his interview now. The blank page in front of her reminded her that she had not yet typed a single word, needing a cup of coffee to ease her thoughts.

Last time felt like a dream and hoe many times she had tried to tell herself it wasn't, she had pinched herself to check. Turning around in her chair, she looked outside, the cold breeze had now been entering her room, making her shiver. The view outside was still beautiful to her. When she heard someone clearing their throat, Annika instanly got up, fearing it was the big boss.

But she found it was none other than Alisha, blinking her eyes several times to confirm that she wasn't hallucinating. Alisha raised her eyebrows when she saw Annika looking weirdly at her. "Seems like you have seen my ghost or something" Annika shook her head, sitting down in relief. Slowly, Alisha peeped into her computer and to her surprise, she found not a word written.

Alisha knew for a fact Annika was a hard working and  always to work girl but right now it did not seem to Alisha that she was the same girl, maybe she had a tiring weekend. Annika got up, standing protectively in front of her computer making Alisha chuckle. "Seen it already girl. I don't have much time to waste here, Mrs Rai wanted to talk to you about the next article"

"Right then, let's get going" Annika grabbed her wrist, leading her out of her office and she did the same. Annika gave her a quick smile before turning around, closing the door to her office and taking off from there, leaving a frowned Alisha behind.

With mixed thoughts, she walked straight ahead towards Mrs Rai's office room, her mind wandering off to the blank page in the computer. Taking a deep breathe in, Annika stood in front of the room, straightening her posture, she knocked at the door. The response was quick and next second Annika was standing in the room, the cold air from the air conditioner hitting her face.

Mrs Rai gave Annika a quick smile before taking her reading glasses off. She gestured Annika to sit down and so she did in seconds. "So, how you have been?" Mrs Rai leaned in, her elbows resting on the table and her hands interwined with each other. "I an good" Mrs Rai wasn't someone to be afraid of but Annika unlikely felt it was necessary to fear her boss.

Annika saw Mrs Rai nodding and grabbing her glasses one more time, passing on the glass of water to her. But Annika refused to take a sip, scared she would mishandle the glass and drop it. "Let me show you something interesting" Mrs Rai rummaged through some of her files, two pictures were now in between her fingers. Annika tilted her head to get a better view but she was startled when her boss shot the pictures towards her.

"Do you recognize the person in this picture?" Mrs Rai asked and then her eyes grew wide, the same black suit, a bit messy hair and those intimidating blue eyes captures her mind, her breathe hitching in her throat. How could she not recognize the person in the picture, after all, she had his face printed in her brain permanently from some weeks. Grabbing hold of the glass of water, she gulped down it down in a go despite the fact she was being seen weirdly by Mrs Rai.

Giving a small smile to her bois, Annika got herself ready to listen to her. She was staring at the picture in front of her, it was definitely taken when yesterday when they were leaving from the restaurant, have in hand with smile on their faces. "Right, where was I? Annika, I am giving you a task here to complete and trust me, Mumbai Today will be selling so much after this. I want you to write about this picture here. Shivaay Singh Oberoi fir the very first time was spotted with a female which looks like is more than just a friend"

Annika slightly coughed, biting down at her lip, she examined the photograph, luckily only Shivaay's face was visible while her's was a bit hidden by his large body. Annika looked down at her fingers, what would she do now? She certainly didn't wanted to lose her job by refusing but then how was she supposed to write it down? Annika knew the decision had to be made soon.

So she simply nodded, not thinking about any consequences right now, her job was precious to her. Mrs Rai smiked widely, her mind at ease by seeing her agreeing to write it down, indeed it was going to spread fire around with the issuing of this particular snippet. "I will come back tomorrow with the completed work" Annika grabbed the pictures off the table, she knew they were exclusive. Turning around, she took a long breathe in and left Mrs Rai's office.

As she walked past Alisha's working place, she heard the phone pinging in her pocket, with a tired look, she expected it to be someone else rather than seeing a message from Shivaay Singh Oberoi.

'I am waiting for you, come outside your office'

━━━━━━