Annika shuffles through her files, irritated at the fact that she could not get hold of a particular file which had information she needed at the moment. Throwing her hands up in frustration, she let her forehead touch the table with a bang. She was beyond screwed, the meeting was in some minutes and she couldn't remember where the hell she had kept her file. Annika tried hard to think and to remember where she would have kept it but no luck, her mind was just blank.

She groaned out, getting up from her seat, she went through her cupboard to find it. Annika cursed herself under her breath, if only she had taken her mother's advice and ate almonds, she would have remembered it by now. When she heard the door to her office room open, she almost shrieked, thinking it was Mrs Rai who was here but no, it was Alisha standing with a look of amusement on her face as she took notice of the mess her co-worker had made.

"Trouble in paradise?" Alisha asked, leaning against the door with her arms crossed, Annika continued to throw files after files from the cupboard much to Alisha's horror. She had never seen Annika being so messy and frustrated, this was the first. She wondered what else was going to be first if Annika continued to throw things. "Hey, what are you looking for?" Alisha piped, her voice loud but seeing no acknowledgement from her, she sighed out.

Annika sat down with a sigh, looking up at Alisha who was still standing there with a worried expression. "A file. An important one, had information about the last year's interview of Mr. Sullivan, it's needed by Mrs Rai. I'm screwed" Alisha raises her eyebrows, nodding her head after seconds. She sits down on the chair in front of her.

"What's the colour of the file? And by any chance did you take it home? Try hard to remember" Alisha suggests but all Annika does is panic, her mind is completely blank and she has no idea where to focus her mind on so as to figure out when she last saw the file.

But then, it suddenly clicks in her mind. And when she remembers where possibly she could have left the file, Annika mutters curses under her breath which does not go unnoticed by Alisha. "Guessing by the way you are cursing yourself, you probably remember where the file is, now go, get it before you're extremely late for the meeting" Nodding, Annika watches as Alisha gets up from the chair.

She draws a deep breath and gets her phone off the table. Typing down a message to her boyfriend who was now probably sleeping peacefully. She left guilty for troubling him on his off day. It was not everyday when Shivaay got a day off. She needed the file urgently so she decided to call him instead.

The phone rang for some seconds before Shivaay picked it up. "Hey" His voice sounded sleepy but still she felt herself drowning in his intoxicating voice. She shakes her head, not wanting to get distracted at the worst time. "Hey, I need your help, I'm so sorry for disturbing you but this is urgent"

"What happened, tell me, if you need anything, I'll be there in minutes"

"When yesterday you picked me up and if you remember, I had a black file with me and I think I kept it in the backseat and totally forgot to take it back with me. The file is really important and I need it at this moment. So please if you can, bring it to me" Annika requests, her guilt doesn't subside when she does so, sighing, she hears the shuffling from the other end.

"Give me some minutes babe, I'll be there. Don't worry" Shivaay says and Annika sighs out in relief. She bites her bottom lip as she imagines him putting on a shirt over his naked chest. This is not the correct time for that. She says in her head.

"Thank you so much Shivaay. I'm sorry once again for disturbing —"

"Shut up, if you apologise one more time, I'll kiss you till you drop" Shivaay exclaims and Annika bites her lip harder, if it were up to her, she would love to see it happening but damn, her mind wasn't in her control right now and she hated the pervert side of her at this moment.

"Maybe you can do that later" From the other side, Shivaay chuckles and Annika joins him as well. When Shivaay hangs up after saying that he will be there at earliest, Annika sighs in relief once again. She still has some minutes left for the meeting and if Shivaay made it in time, she wouldn't be late to the meeting.

After picking up everything from the floor and neatly keeping the files and other things that had been lying on the floor into the cupboard, she clears her table. Soon, her phone pings with a message and it is none other than Shivaay.

But that doesn't catch her attention but there is Mrs Rai's message too, saying — 'Today's meeting is cancelled and is rescheduled to the day after tomorrow, the head editor couldn't come because of some unavoidable circumstances. You're free to leave for the day. Have a nice day'

Annika read through the message again and she pressed her lips together, forming into a thin line, the hell did she panic for? But still, at least she got to find where the file was. Annika grabs her phone and handbag off the table, fixing her hair one time before exiting her office room.

She had half of her day in hand and she wouldn't mind sharing it with Shivaay if he didn't mind today. Afterall it was his day off. When she walked out of the office, she found Shivaay in his usual spot. It became like a thing between the two, Shivaay could often come and pick her up in the evening, dressed up like a stalker but she liked it anyway.

"Here is your file" Annika watched as he forwarded the file towards her and she took it, shuffling it into her handbag this time. Shivaay frowned when she didn't move an inch away from him, didn't she have an important meeting to attend?

"Aren't you running late for your meeting?"

"It got cancelled" Annika spoke, catching his greenish blue eyes looking up at her through the cap he wore at the top of his head. Her fingers itched to take it off him and run her fingers around his silky smooth hair. He was the epitome of gorgeousness, and she didn't seem to admit it a million times.

"So I gotta have you for the rest of the day?" Annika didn't miss the tone of excitement in his voice. It was adorable to find him getting excited to hear that she had her day off too. Annika pinched his cheek, earning a death glare from Shivaay but she didn't bother to move her hand away. "Do that one more time, I dare you" Annika stared at him with puppy eyes, hoping that he would melt but he was as stubborn as she was.

"What if I do? What are you gonna do about it?"

"You wouldn't want to know now, do you?" Shivaay's voice was deep and his mind twirling in dark thoughts but he pushed them at the back of his head, not wanting for heat to travel south and show his obvious need for her. "Don't test me, now get in"

"And who do you think you are for commanding me?" Annika rolled her eyes, standing with her arms crossed over her chest, not bulging to move an inch. Shivaay raised his eyebrows in amusement, taking his sunglasses off to the tip of his nose, he stared at her. "I'm your boyfriend, want me to announce it to the world?" He teased, earning a glare from Annika.

"Be glad you have one, I don't think anyone would have been able to handle you"

"True. I agree. I don't want anyone but you" Annika bit her bottom lip, how did he manage to do it, make her blush so hard every time with his words. She watched as a smirk grew on his face, rolling her eyes, she opened the car door, sitting in her seat down grumpily.

"Alright babe, where do you wanna go?" Shivaay asked, turning on the engine, and putting on his sunglasses back. Hearing no response from Annika, he stole a glance at her to find her sulking, he blinked his eyes. Alright Shivaay, time to persuade your girl. He thought, slowly, moving his hand towards her thigh.

When his hand came in contact with the jeans she wore, Annika swore under her breath that he was doing it purposely, to make her speak to him but she was adamant this time. "Where do you wanna go? I was thinking, let's go to my farmhouse, it isn't far away from here and there we will be alone"

"Just admit it that you wanna kill me. I knew it, I knew from the very start that you were going to kill me"

"What is wrong with you. I bet if you were an actress, you would have been the best in the industry" Annika rolled her eyes, continuing to gaze outside the window but as much as she tried to ignore the touch of his on her thigh, she clenched her legs together. Keep it together. She chanted in her head.

But when he started drawing circles over her thighs, she let out a shaky breath. "That's cheating, you can't do this to me and expect me to be angry with you" Shivaay chuckled, keeping a stern hold on the steering wheel and not moving his hand away, he was enjoying it, teasing her was delightful.

"Watch it Oberoi, I'm no less, if I start to do what you are doing, it's game over" She threatened, and her mind flooded with ideas of teasing him, they were dark and she was unsure if she could do any of it. Shivaay stole a glance at her to find Annika looking back at him already.

"Stop staring, it's creepy"

"Says the one who does it as well" Shivaay pouted, it was true, he couldn't keep his eyes off her and he did know for a fact that she didn't mind if he kept staring at her so did he, it didn't matter to him. Rather he enjoyed it, he liked her attention to him, only him.

"Continuing staring and I wouldn't hesitate to throw you at the backseat and devour you"

━━━━━━━━

I'm so sorry for disappearing but my tight schedule wasn't allowing me to write. I have online classes from morning to night, and it's hard to take out time to write.

It's the 30th chapter, I can't believe it, feels surreal. Thankyou for the support and love. And yes, happy diwali in advance, I hope you'll have a prosperous Diwali.