"Anika, His parents are divorced, should we ask him about that?" One of the members from the research asked her about it. Anika couldn't believe that she was ready to meet him in person after 7 long years, by saying yes to her chief, she made up this courage, to move on, she needs clarity in her life. It has been 7 years, he might also move on in his life, but what if he didn't? what if he stays at the same place where she left him? Leaving him was not a choice to her, it happened, in a spark, everything changed in her life. That thought choked her breath.

"No more uncomfortable question Here's the newly drafted question. Give it to the host." Anika replied and walked to the set and look upon the arrangements, according to the arrangements, the show will start in an exact 10 minutes.

"Everything good, Anika?" Her boss asked her with a smile, but she knew he's tensed to the hell.

"Relax, chief. Everything is done." Anika assured him.

"He may arrive any moment, you know after getting an award, our channel is the first channel he's going to give interview. Everything should be perfect, Anika." He told her in panic, even anika knew about it, but what made her think was why he chose this regional channel over the national channel to give an interview. Some part of her told he knew she works here and decided to confront her, but she eventually felt pity for herself to think the same.

"He's here!" there was a voice, Anika couldn't recognize who said that all she could feel was his presence hitting her from every direction. Her palms became too cold, and she couldn't be able to feel her feet.

Seven years!" She murmured to herself when she felt he was approaching her. She didn't have anything in her mind other than the excitement of seeing him in person. She didn't want herself in this situation. Even she said no when her boss chose her in the first place to produce this interview. But fate brought her again to this place.

"Anika" She heard her boss's voice in a cherished tone, the moment arrived, her life was ready to take a turn. But out of a sudden, her nervousness and hesitation left her like it never existed. She turned around to her boss, Shivaay was there next to him. She had no energy to read his face and his expression, she was blank.

****

Past

It has been 6 months; their board exams are approaching along with shivaay's under nineteen selections, along with that, their international sports meet. Everything can say with her face, Anika's confidence level was increasing, of course, but on the minus scale. Shivaay was training her for one month and now she gifted him with dozens of bruises all over the body. But he was smiling widely and helped her reach the badminton court. He was wearing a sleeveless t-shirt, the busies caused by her was visible, she gulped the lump in her throat.

"Ready, Champion?" Shivaay asked while giving her the bat while her eyes moved to her parents and Jhanvi who was sitting in the visitor benches, her mom was equally tensed, her dad was expressionless, and jhanvi waved at her with a smile and gestured her good luck. Her parents knew everything about her, and they are looking like exact replicas of her inner soul.

"I think it's your revenge plan to send me to a police station," Anika murmured to shivaay who helped her to wear the gloves.

"Police station?" He chuckled off.

"What if I hit her on her head and she died at the spot," Anika spoke out in anxiety. He chuckled hard looking at her.

"I know you will hit for telling this now, but you're looking very cute, Annie..." He spoke, out of a sudden, she felt relaxed with his comment and walked forward to hit him again but didn't hit him hard with the bat and she chuckled off.

"Nothing will happen, you're going to rock." He said, her heart skipped a beat with his word, and she read the moment when his eyes swept the hesitation in her face. She had no idea, she can't say exactly when but for the past few days, she has been feeling extremely hard to ignore him and ignore his words, expression, eye movement, and his smile when he was speaking with her.

Nodding to him, she walked towards the court and got ready to play, there was no hesitation, but full of confidence, she wondered how someone could have so impact on her, he turned the minus scale to a plus scale in a minute. She didn't have time to register the game in her mind but all she can say was she was playing flawlessly. That too, she could she confirmed it when she saw shivaay hooping sound from her background.

After an exact 30 minutes, the match was over, and Anika won the match...

__________

Anika moved to finals in badminton, she crossed two qualifies and one semifinal in 5 hours and reached finals with St- Theresa school. They took the interschool trophy for the past three consequence years, and here anika is going to decide the future of the cup, as the points between the two schools are equal till now. Anika could see the hope in her principal's face, but she was not ready for this pressure, she played just to prove everything that she was not a harsh player anymore, but now, everything is going too fast. Now the whole school depends on her game to hold the trophy and she has exactly 30 minutes for the game.

This time, Chanda accompanied her to wherever she went, she was blindly roaming around the corridor in the stress. Shivaay was busy with his team, so he wasn't available for her. But she knew he was thinking about her.

"What are you doing? The match is going to start in a few minutes." Chanda asked her confusingly when she walked back and forth inside the lavatory.

"I can't manage this, Chandu. It's too much, how could my whole school depend on me?" Anika asked her while walking confusingly.

"First, wash your face. It's nothing, Anu. At last, it's you who is playing the game. Don't think about anything, play your game." Chanda said. Anika washed her face and tried to take off all the hesitations. But nothing worked, then too, she was not ready to give up. She knew she's going to play but not with the stress of winning. She walked out of the lavatory.

"Anika..." Sheena called her out of a sudden. Anika was shocked since her parents arrived, Sheena must be wondering about her twin sister, and ever since shivaay started to train, Rhea was not talking properly to her also Anika stopped taking advantage, now she was constantly hiding from them.

"Where are you running from us?" Rhea asked her, crossing Sheena.

"Rhea, Sheena, where will I go? I am just going back to the stadium; my match is going to start. Let's go," Anika said even though Chanda who stood next to her stayed silent, Chanda sucks in telling lies but caught everyone's lies easily. And she will silent speaker whenever she's with Sheena, Rhea, and Anika together.

"I am not interested in your stupid game, where's your twin sister, Anisha?" Rhea's sound started to become grumpy.

"She didn't come to my match, I told you already, she was not interested in my life or any of my shortcomings," Anika said to her, she lied without any hesitation inside she was trembling's with her lie. Chanda held her palm tightly but didn't match her eyelids with her.

"You told me she's interested and constantly interfering in your life; I think you forgot what you said earlier," Rhea asked her, Anika was trapped, out of a sudden, her mind stopped spinning lies. They walked closer to her, Anika and Chanda started to walk backward.

"I wanted the answer, Anika. You can't stay silent, you even didn't invite to your house, don't you dare to spin any more lies, Anika." Sheena told. Anika felt like her mind stopped working, she was blank. She merely looked at Sheena and rhea constantly.

"Anu. What are you doing, say something?" Chanda next to her asked her to speak, but anika left with no idea with her.

"Well... what's happening?" Anika heard a voice, and her mind wasn't blocked anymore.

"Oh... Shivaay... Your savior?" Rhea asked her, this time, Anika witnessed an evil look in her eyes, she was scared, shivaay didn't have any idea about her twin-sister lies. Before it was just a lie, but now, she spun the story further and told them they started dating, and the respective person was right opposite to her.

"Well, Anika was telling the story behind losing your two teeth," Rhea spoke out. Anika's heart skipped a beat. She looked at Chanda, blankly. Chanda held her palm tightly and didn't turn her face to her.

"Anika...?" He called her, but anika didn't raise her face to her.

"She said that you're in a relationship with the person who broke your teeth, also she said she was nobody but her twin sister, Anisha." It was Sheena's voice. Anika lost her left-out shame, she felt like standing naked. Her eyes went blank. How can she say, she did it for pineapple pastries and mango juices?

"We are done!" She murmured to Chanda's ears when Chanda stood next to her in that condition. For a while, there was pin-drop silence. But the silence was breaking by shivaay, starting his conversation with a chuckle. Anika closed her eyes tightly.

"Yes, that's true. Now I think, and my girlfriend's twin sister has time for this conversation. Her match was about to start." Shivaay said, her eyes opened widely when shivaay referred to as his girlfriend's twin sister, but courage didn't gather up to look and confront him. Before she could process everything, her wrist was held by shivaay, and she was walking with him without her knowledge.

"Anu, don't leave me here, alone" Anika heard Chanda's voice. Shivaay again chuckled and they stopped walking waited till Chanda accompanied them. Anika already introduced her to shivaay, but Chanda never spoke to him in the fear of breaking Anika's lies. But now, they both walked blankly without knowing wherever they were going. But when anika was about to explode recalling his words repeatedly in her mind, she stopped walking.

"Stop! What did you say? Girlfriend? My girlfriend's twin sister," Anika asked him while raising her eyelids to him without any hesitations. But then too, her fists held tightly to each other.

"Do you think I have to explain everything right now?" He said with a mischievous smile, her mind couldn't read that expression.

"Yes, right now. I know I lied everything for pineapple pastries and mango juices, what did you lie for? to save me. please say everything before my mind explodes." She asked him without leaving any space between.

"I think you're exploding, right now?" Shivaay said.

"Shivaay... What's happening? Why you lied?" Anika asked him out of patience.

"I think I didn't lie anything." He spoke.

"What do you mean you didn't lie? You fell in love with the person who broke your teeth?" She asked fast.

"Patience, my girl's twin sister," Shivaay said.

"I mean my girlfriend's..." He corrected with a sheepish smile in his face.

"What the heck you're talking about?" Anika asked him out of patience.

"My lovely sister-in-law," Shivaay held her palm, Anika became stuck and continued looking at him. "Please tell your sister, that she was constantly running inside my mind ever since I saw her in the pink knee-length frock and don't know when it happened, I am in love with your person who broke my two teeth, all I can say was she took off my two teeth along with my heart." He said Anika was still shocked, even after he left leaving Chanda and Anika alone.

"You have a twin sister," Chanda asked in confusion as soon as he left.

"I am the person in a pink frock," Anika replied to her.

"It means he proposed you," Chanda asked her.

"Did he?" Anika asked her back. Confused.

****