• Eternal Night •

9

Annika glanced at the time. She still had a few minutes. She could talk with Shivaay before he slept off at 9. She usually wouldn't have bothered, but right now, she felt like her chest was going to burst open if she didn't say anything.

Carefully, she started, "Mallika is fun."

"Huh?" Shivaay looked at her and took a moment to register her words. "Oh yeah. Yeah." 

Tracing the cover of the book he was reading, she said, "She got Om and Rudra to apologise to you just like that."

Shivaay hummed in response and his eyelids fluttered close. He wanted to chat with Annika but the outing had left him so tired.   

"Shivaay..." Annika called out to him.

He opened his eyes. "Yeah?"

With a heavy and pounding heart, Annika found herself asking, "Didn't you ever fall for Mallika?"

All of Shivaay's sleep flew from his eyes. He got up and stared at Annika.

"I mean, think about it..." mused Annika. "If it would have worked out, it would have been amazing. The family loves Mallika to bits, so much so that she calls Dadu by his name. You were glowing when you were with her. It was meant to be Shivaay. Mein kahan se aa gayi tumhare beech?"

Shivaay's heart sank. He pushed the blanket aside and scooted closer to her. Cupping her face, he pleaded. "Don't do this...please."

Annika kept her hands on his as silent tears flew out of her eyes. Shivaay tried to clarify, "Mallika calls Dadu by his name for fun. Her grandfather used to call Dadu like that. She is just acting." 

Annika cried more. She didn't understand why. All this while, she thought that all the elders in the family loved her the most. Now suddenly, Mallika had walked in and somehow was on a first-name basis with Prithvi? How was that possible?

Neither had Annika missed how Mallika made Shivaay feel. Why could she never bring that kind of smile on Shivaay's face?

"The family knows Mallika longer than they know you..." Shivaay tried to reason. "They have seen her as a kid, teenager and now as an adult. They will have an equation with her. But that does not negate what they feel for you. You are special for all of us, Annika. More than anyone else. Trust me."

Straightening her hair, Shivaay added, "You can feel multiple things for multiple people. It's possible Annika. If they think Mallika is good, that does not give you a bad reputation. You still have your place. You still matter."

Feeling a little ashamed of her own thoughts, Annika sighed and kept her head on Shivaay's shoulder. He gave her a fleeting kiss on her head. "What if Mallika was a boy? Would you still be jealous of him?"

Annika's head snapped up. Her features turned angry. So did her voice. "Ek second. Jealous? Where did you get that idea from?"

Shivaay bit his tongue. He didn't want to anger her. shrugged innocently. "Okay, not jealous but maybe like upset?"

"No way!" Annika rolled her eyes. "I am just curious."

"Ah!" Shivaay nodded. "Okay. Curiosity it is then."

Annika looked down. "Yeah. I would have been curious about that man too. Because it is not about that person. It is about the bond that the person shares with all of you. It just made me feel a little weird. Mallika has such a good equation with all of you."  

Shivaay sighed. Looking into her eyes, he told her. "Because she earned that equation, Annika."

Annika let out a breath. Shivaay said, "If you never let me in your world, if you don't tell me anything, if you don't bare your heart, how can you share that kind of equation with me?"