Broken Hearts and Strange Girls || Shivika AU FF

𝐈𝐕

"Aishu, I don't see you," Annika said over the phone. "Look harder, Ann. I'm right where you are." 

"Yeah, so are about 50 other people." She heard her step-sister sigh on the other end of the line. "Okay, I'm in a dark blue denim shirt, Adi is holding my hand in an orange tank top, and Om is in a light blue polo. Do you see us? Baby, wait," Aishwarya explained, stopping occasionally to handle her son. 

Annika looked around her at the massive crowd. Ugh, yahin jagah mili thi concert crowd banane ki? she thought at the people around her. 

Finally, after what proved to be a very stressful fifteen minutes, Annika's eyes landed on a fair woman with a phone on her shoulder and a tiny young boy tugging at her wrist. "Mumma!" Adi said the moment his light brown eyes grazed over the pretty young woman. Breaking loose from his mother's grip, the toddler scrambled straight for Annika. 

"Agh!" Annika squealed as Adi clung to her legs refusing to let go. "ADI!" Aishwarya screamed, pushing past people until she reached her son. Prying him apart from Annika's legs, she kneeled down and began scolding him. 

It was only when she looked up to apologize that she realized the woman her son had attached himself to was her lovely step-sister. 

"Ann!" Aishwarya smiled as she took Annika into a bone-crushing hug. "Calm, Aishu." 

"Aish, let her breathe," Om said. Aishwarya seemed to zone back in to reality and stepped back sheepishly. "Ha, I'm sorry. I just haven't seen you in 4 years, so I got a little excited," she said, and Annika smiled. "Aw, I missed you too, sis." 

"Hey Annika! I'm Om. Aishwarya's—" 

"Lovely patidev ji. I know. I was living in Italy, Jiju, not under a rock," she said with her hands on her hips, a pretty smirk playing on her lips. Om cringed. "Please don't call me Jiju. Makes me feel old. Waise, you and Aish are almost the same age, right?" 

"Yeah. Annika is two years younger than me," Aishwarya explained. "Can we talk about this at home?" Annika asked. "I'm very tired." 

During the car ride, Adi and Annika had grown inseparable. Adi kept holding onto her like a monkey as Annika told him (kid-friendly) tales from her life in Italy. He didn't understand everything, but it was certainly entertaining to watch Annika's facial expressions when she talked about how disgusting some of the foods were. Occasionally, he pitched in with tales about his Bade Papa. 

"He's really attached to you, Ann. I think this is the fastest he's ever acclimated to someone before," Aishwarya said as she looked at Adi snuggling into Annika's torso. "Yeah, did you see the way he dashed to you the second he saw you?" Om reminded. Annika smiled at the little guy. 

"I guess we just have a good connection. Right, Adi baby?" to which Adi nodded obediently. 

When they had reached, Annika was awestruck by the magnitude of her step-sister's sasuraal. As she entered, her eyes traveled around the spacious room. "Aishu, this house is ek level up. Ek kya, this house is teen chaar level up!" she exclaimed. Hearing Adi giggle, she turned to him with her eyebrows knit together, a cute smile on her face. 

"Oh, Adi baby is laughing at Annika?" she asked, to which the boy simply continued giggling. 

Aishwarya appeared beside her. "Ann, you're spoiling him. Just let him call you Maasi, what's the big deal?" 

Annika's mouth fell in an O as if she had just heard the most absurd thing ever. "Aishu, I'm too young and hot to be called Maasi! And I will always be my Adi's friend before his Mumma's step-sister. Right, baby?" Annika asked, rubbing her nose against Adi's. From her peripheral vision, she caught Aishwarya shaking her head. 

She was about to open her mouth to talk back to Aishu, when Adi twisted her face to the side, saying, "Look at! There's my Bale Papa!" 

Annika's gaze fell on a handsome young man with chromatic eyes. If they were blue or green, or gray, it was hard to tell. She caught a very tiny glimpse of him crushing his gorgeous eyes. She might have missed it if her undivided attention was not on the man. 

Sensing his discomfort, she simply smiled at the man and said, "Hi there! You must be Adi's infamous Bade Papa." 

With that, she saw his lips curl into a sweet smile. Moving her attention from the strange man, she turned back to Adi and Aishwarya, who had taken him into her arms. She was directed to her room, so she grabbed her suitcases and strode to the staircase. Noticing Adi was still watching, she pretended to heave and haul the suitcase up the steps with difficulty. 

Hearing the boy's melodious laugh, she turned back to be met with the sight of the same strange man, the smile not leaving his lips. Knowing the smile there was there due to her caused something strange to erupt in Annika's stomach. She smiled brightly at him before turning back and heading up to her room. The mystery man that lived in Oberoi Mansion was certainly intriguing.