Annika had replayed the message sent by Shivaay multiple times in her head. The sun above her head wasn't helping her either when she was already sweating even though the cold breeze flew by. She thought it was probably the best time to tell him about the picture that had been taken. Annika was planning on telling him today or tomorrow in a person but now that he was already here, she was going to spit out everything.

As she walked towards the black Mercedes she had seen several times by now, she saw Shivaay sitting in the driver seat but his attention was elsewhere. On the person sitting next to him, a guy. But when Annika had reached closer to him, he had immediately acknowledged her presence by opening the car door before he said something to the person sitting next to him.

"Hey" Shivaay shut closed the car door behind him as he stood in front of her, leaning a bit on the car. A smile adored her face in seconds, yesterday's events running in the back of her head. "Hello to you to. What's brings you here? I am not complaining though" Annika looked at him from head to toe, his hair was already messed up and hid tie was loosened. The black suit he wore really made him look more attractive.

Suddenly Annika was aware of where they were standing, on the road, where every single person could make out that they knew each other. She took steps back, mouthing him 'Follow me'. A frown plastered on his face, he turned around to see Rudra standing there awkwardly. Gesturing his younger brother to follow him, Rudra nodded at his actions.

Annika walked towards the other side of the road, glancing back at Shivaay to make sure he was following her and when her eyes landed on the person who was behind Shivaay, she immediately knew it the person she had stumbled upon that day after her interview. Rudra Singh Oberoi. It made more sense to her now, know she knew why he was there in Shivaay's office that day.

It took her two minutes to reach her destination, a restaurant across the street which was empty as always. Annika had discovered the place when she was extremely hungry a year ago and it was early in the morning, the only place that was open was, this place. And she wondered how was this restaurant not famous yet, it had everything, from good furniture to good food.

Shivaay hadn't objected when he had followed her inside the empty restaurant. Rudra who was following Shivaay like a puppy was lost, wanted to seek answers to his questions from Shivaay. As Annika stopped in her tracks when she had reached to the table which was rather in a corner and away from the sight of people, she glanced back.

"Come on" Annika called out, sitting on the one of the chair my herself. Shivaay nodded, grabbing Rudra's arm and following Annika suit. "Why are we here?" Shivaay questioned, resting his hands on the table as he sat opposite to her. Rudra had taken a seat beside his brother, his eyes going to the woman and hus brother every now and then. "Bhaiya, I am really confused right now" Rudra frowned, he was really curious at this point.

Hearing a chuckle from Shivaay wasn't a everyday thing for Rudra, his eyes widened. His brother was expressing himself rather than keeping a straight face or glaring at someone. Was he really his older brother or a look like? "Meet Annika Mehra, the journalist" Rudra couldn't help but think about a familiar face that had met him some days ago.

"Annika, meet Rudra, my cousin brother" At that Annika smiled, knowing that she had already meet him and heard about him. If not, they had to start with the show called Keeping up with the Oberoi's because she knew there were many of them around. "Nice to meet you Annika didi" It felt appropriate to him to call her Didi, she was almost of the same age as his brother.

"It's nice to meet you to Rudra" With a smile Annika said, her eyes wandering to look at Shivaay who was grinning from ear to ear. "We met the day when I had came to Shivaay's office to take his interview, remember?" Hearing this, Shivaay looked at Annika first and then at Rudra who was frowning, as if he was trying hard to remember.

Then it clicked, he clearly remembered running into a girl which was none other the person sitting in front of him. "Wait, you, Bhaiya, you are telling me, you are with the person who came to take your interview?" Rudra exclaimed while a laugh escaped his mouth. Shivaay gave his younger brother a glare which made him close his mouth shut.

Annika who was trying to compose her laughter met his eyes who was looking back at her with the same glare. "What? It's funny" Annika said while breaking into a fit of laughter herself and Rudra joined her this time. "Why are you laughing? This is anything but funny" Shivaay eyed both of them but they did not seen to care a bit when they continued to laugh.

"Enough" He had increased his tone and so it worked, the both were dead silent by now. Shivaay sighed, his eyes meeting Annika's pouting face, urging him to drag her towards himself and kiss her lips. Rudra cleared his throat, grabbing their attention.

"I wanted to show you something"

"I need to tell you something"

Speaking in unison, they both chuckled. Annika opened her mouth to speak but Shivaay had already spoken by then. "You go first" He said making Annika think for a second before nodding her head at him. Rudra sat with his back leaning against the chair's back, looking curiously at the two if them. "So, today, my boss, she told me to write an article about something"

Annika fidgeted with her fingers, her eyes fixed on him, studying his expression closely. "She showed me a picture, a picture of us that was taken by someone from the company. She wants to write about your secret girlfriend" Shivaay coughed out loudly, his hands moving towards his chest to calm himself down.

"You what?" Shivaay said in between his coughs, unable to digest the fact that she was supposed to write about herself in the article. Rudra had his eyes widened upon hearing what Annika said, it was all too much for him to take at this moment. "Good lord. What will you do?" Shivaay asked, hoping she had some solution ready about this mess already. "I would just write about it, I won't dig much into it"

Even though it seemed like she was not happy doing something like this but it was also relief for her because she wasn't revealed to the real world now. No, she wasn't ashamed to be with him, she just wasn't ready to face the cameras and have herself followed by the paparazzi. "Hey, if you want, I can clear the stuff out by announcing you my-"

"No, it's quite already, nothing I can't manage" Annika said, interrupting him while her face adored with a small smile, sending Shivaay some assurance that she would alright. Rudra was looking between the two of them back and forth and he was in awe.

"So, as you know, someone took our photos together yesterday night. I was sent a photograph too, do you think it was the same person?"

"No, our company sends Trustable and loyal people to do job like this, I don't think it was the same person" At that Shivaay couldn't help but wonder how many people have actually spotted them together. Nodding his head at Annika, he took his phone out which had vibrated in his pants. A message from Khanna saying 'We got the address of the person who sent the photo today' Reading this Shivaay sighed, something was not making up here.

Annika saw the waitress arrive and it was none other than the old lady she had known since a year. Mrs Chadha, she ran this restaurant even though no one came here much except from Annika, she was a regular customer. "What can I get you guys?" She was in her late fifties and her polite voice made Annika smile. "We would love to have Dal Khichdi please, three plates" Annika said and Mrs Chadha nodded her head at her, with a smile on her face, she returned around.

"The Dal Khichdi here is finger licking" She exclaimed excitedly, grabbing the bottle of water off the table. Chugging down half the water in the bottle and she found Shivaay's eyes on her, staring at her intensely. "So, Rudra, what do you do?" Annika asked, keeping the bottle down. His state distracting her. 

"I go to college Didi" Rudra answered with a smile and Annika nodded her head. "So, any girlfriend?" Shivaay was startled to hear such a question from her, not that it was inappropriate but if she knew about the history of his girlfriends, she would be amazed. "No, not at this moment" Rudra said, playing with the watch in hands, looking lost which made Shivaay look at him with confusion.

"Does Bhaiya annoys you like he does to me?" Hearing him, Annika chuckled, her eyes going towards his face to see him look at Rudra with a frown. "I don't annoy anyone" Shivaay justified, beating the back of Rudra's head lightly. "See, he always beats me" Rudra pouted, his puppy eyes on display which made Shivaay pull his left ear.

"Ahh, Ahh. Sorry, sorry" Rudra winced in pain when Shivaay left his ear. "You are such a meanie" It was Annika who spoke, taking Shivaay by surprise, he rolled his eyes at her words. "Well, if he behaves this way, I have to bring him back on the track" Shivaay shrugged his shoulders and saw Rudra rubbing his ear while his eyes narrowed at him. "You are right Annika Didi, he is a meanie"

Shivaay frowned, he could see the two of them teaming up against him. "Nice, now it feels like I am the villain here" Annika chuckled lowly, seeing him annoyed was a good sight, he looked hot nothing less. "Bhaiya, I am sorry" Rudra threw his arms around his waist, giving him a side hug tightly making Shivaay even more annoyed.

Annika looked at the two of them with admiration, even though the two of them were polar opposite, the brotherly love between them was very evident. Shivaay's eyes softened when he saw Annika looking down at them with a smile.

"Hey, don't be jealous. I would do more than just hugging you"

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