Broken Hearts and Strange Girls || Shivika AU FF

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It was at dinner that Shivaay came face to face with Annika once more. Shivaay had no interest in eating "as a family," but he showed up at the table every night for the sake of his nephew, knowing Adi would refuse to eat unless his Bade Papa was there to feed him. 

But tonight, the four-year-old was too consumed in his Annika's wild tales to even notice his beloved Bade Papa, sitting across from him. Shivaay was seated with a grumpy expression on his handsome face, feeling hungry. But not for food. For attention. 

"Den what happened, Annika?" Adi asked. It was interesting, how he spoke 'totla totla' for every other part of his sentence, but he made efforts to pronounce Annika's name properly. 

"Oh, you don't wanna know, baby," Annika said dramatically, pushing a little morsel into Adi's mouth, the child too invested in her story to pay heed to the rajma chaval he was subconsciously chewing. "My friends and I were so scared! And the tour guide was nowhere to be found!" she exclaimed, energetically recounting the time when she had gotten stuck on a trek with her friends. 

"Luckily, my friend Luna was able to find some spare rope in her backpack, and we got down safely. But if not, I reckon we'd be dinner for all the lakkadbaggas!" she shouted near the end, making Adi laugh. 

"What is a lak..lakad..luckbagga, Annika?" Jhanvi Singh Oberoi, Shivaay and Om's mother, asked, struggling to pronounce the foreign word. Oh great, Shivaay thought. Everyone in this family is listening to this Annika's tale. I doubt it's even true.

Chewing grumpily, he saw Annika smile. "A lakkadbagga, Aunty!" 

"Yes, that. What is it?" 

Annika fed Adi another bite before thinking for a considerable amount of time. "I suppose you call it a coyote in English," she concluded, nodding to herself before eating a morsel of food. 

"There are coyotes in Italy?" Shivaay asked skeptically, despite himself. Annika looked up at him with an amused expression. "No, I don't think so," Annika shrugged. 

"Then why are you lying to Adi?" Shivaay grumbled, gesturing to the boy, busy drawing his interpretation of a lakkadbagga. "I'm just trying to entertain the kid, sue me," Annika said, raising her hands up in surrender. "Well, I'd appreciate you not filling his head with mindless things, like Italian coyotes." 

"Lakkadbagga," he repeated, annoyed. "Well, stranger, Adi doesn't mind, neither do his parents. Right, Aishu, Om?" Annika asked. "Wait, were these labaggas big?" Om asked, leaning into the table. "And, Ann, you never told me that the tour guide was missing!" Aishwarya exclaimed. 

Annika looked at Shivaay with an "I-told-you-so" expression and sat back in her chair in satisfaction. Shivaay's bad mood just got worse. All earlier "trances" this woman put on him were now replaced with a very prominent dislike as he glared at her from across the table.