• Eternal Night •

24

"Mallika," Shivaay spoke lazily. "Are you unemployed?"

Her eyes widened and she smacked his hand. "What the fuck?"

Shivaay chuckled. "No really. Are you? How else are you finding time to do all this? First, you came to Mumbai to see me. Now, you are here in Ohio too. What do you do for a living?"

She rolled her eyes. "Same as before. Don't act over smart, okay?"

Shivaay bit the inside of his cheek to stop his laughter but couldn't. It pissed Mallika further. She whined, "Haan, look at you; the poster child of ungratefulness. Matlab hadh hai. I do so much for you and this is what you ask me!"

"I am just wondering out loud!" he shrugged innocently and laughed. 

"Shut it!" she glared at him and then broke into a smile herself.

After a few moments, her expression turned wistful. She leaned on the headboard and sighed. "Damn yaar. Who thought that you would come to the States this way. If all had gone according to plan, we would have come here to study."

Shivaay also let out a sigh. He turned towards her and asked, "You know, I often wonder what would have happened if you never had fallen for Vishal. And then what would have happened if I had agreed to come with you to the States?"

Mallika smiled and swallowed. She looked out of the window and whispered, "Maybe we would have been happy."

Shivaay's eyes suddenly welled up. He blinked to keep the moisture at bay. "Yeah..."

She turned to look at him. "How did it feel to be happy? I seem to have forgotten it. I try...I try a lot but it never feels the same."

"Aren't you asking this to a wrong person?" Shivaay held her hand.

She let out a small chuckle. "Indeed."

Shivaay smiled. "But isn't it a beautiful thought. We would have been so happy together. We probably would have even started a family by now."

The thought of them being together and with a child made Mallika cry. She croaked, "Maine saare rishte uljha diye na?"

"No..." he shook his head. "Perhaps, this is for the better. Imagine, my heart giving up after we had a child or something. I don't know how would I have handled that. Right now, at least I am not worried about the love part of my life. Annika in all probability hates me and she is free now. And thank god we never made it."

Mallika pulled him in a hug. Shivaay let her cry. After she quietened, he wiped her cheek. "Even though sometimes I greedily wish that we had."

***************************

"Rudra!"

Annika called out and he turned back. He momentarily flashed a big smile before he remembered their reality. He slowly walked over and greeted her. "Hey."

She awkwardly took him a hug and asked, "How are you?"

"Good..." he trailed off. Looking around he questioned, "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Yeah," she said. "I was here for a meeting with a client."

"Ah!" Rudra nodded.

Then Annika pointed at his suit. "I am surprised to see you in a suit."

Ruda looked down and exhaled loudly. "Well. I finally listened to Shivaay Bhaiya and started to go to the office. In any case, I have no choice."

The mention of Shivaay made Annika flinch a little. She nodded.

"Bha..." Gauri appeared out of nowhere. She grimaced and stopped in her tracks. She cleared her throat and said, "Uhm...hi Annika. I guess, I cannot call you Bhabhi anymore."

Annika had nothing to say to do. She just squared her shoulders. She almost opened her mouth to ask about Shivaay but stopped.

Rudra deliberately put an arm around Gauri. "Gauri Bhabhi and I are also here for a meeting. I would be lost without her. She isn't always right but both us manage."

"Good to hear..." Annika managed to say. She tucked her hair behind her ear and said, "Okay guys. I gotta go. I will see you around."

She didn't wait for them to say anything. She turned around and started to watch.

"Annika!" Gauri shouted and jogged to the spot where Annika was standing.

She held Annika's hand and questioned, "You will not ask about Bhaiya?"

Breathing through her mouth, Annika turned to look at her. Rudra was standing behind Gauri and their faces looked hurt. It made her heart clench. What right did she have now? What was she supposed to say? Blinking rapidly to keep her eyes dry, she looked away.

"Why are you so indifferent to Shivaay Bhaiya? I thought you loved him!" Gauri complained. "Itna bhi kya hua? Aap kab itna naraz ho gayi unse? And what did he even do to you?"

Rudra kept his hand on Gauri's shoulders and pulled her back. "Chodo na Bhabhi, kyun time waste kar rahe ho? We have work to do."

"Ek min, Ru..." Gauri shook Annika again. "Even if you go to Bhaiya right now, he will forget everything. Stop hurting everyone. Please listen to your heart for once in your life."  

***************************

"So..."

"No!" Shivaay chastised Shakti. "Don't say it."

He laughed and pretended to zip his mouth. "Okay. I won't. But I am really sorry."

"Why is he apologizing for?" asked Tej.

With a sheepish expression, Shivaay filled Tej in. "Well, during the stress test, I was about to pass out. So then this genius man came up with this amazing idea. He said that Annika had called him."

"Yes!" Shakti shrugged. "And guess what? Despite the discomfort and pain, Shivaay powered through the test because he wanted to talk with her. But she hadn't called. So I am apologizing."

Tej's eyes remained on Shivaay. He thought about it for a while and went back to his work.

Prithvi kept his iPad aside and said, "Waise Shivaay, if you want then you can call her."

Tej and Shakti looked at him in surprise. So did Shivaay. It made Prithvi smile. He asked, "What? Why are you looking at me like that Shivaay?"

Shivaay couldn't say anything. Prithvi got up and poured a glass of water for himself. "It's okay to miss her, my child. No one has barred you from doing that. You still can be friends with her."

Knowing that it was a tough topic, Prithvi patted his head. "Call her."