"I'm not refusing, I'm just curious. Why the plan to Lonavala all of a sudden?" Annika asked her group of crazy best friends. The Trivedi living room was as crowded as usual, with Mallika, Gauri, Bhavya, Rudra, and Omkara all arranged in the room arbitrarily. Rudra and Bhavya were sitting on the couch next to Mallika while Gauri and Omkara occupied the loveseat. Annika was placed at the center of the room, facing her friends in the middle of a very odd discussion.
About two hours ago, Annika's friends had barged into her house and asked her to pack her bags, for an impromptu getaway to Lonavala with some of their other friends.
The guest list that Annika was aware of consisted of Kabir Choudary, Mallika's cousin; Rupali Shekhawat, a fellow artist friend of Omkara's; Aryan and Aadhya Bakshi, Rudy's close friends; and Rithvik Malhotra and Shravya Jain, the college sweethearts from Annika and Mallika's batch.
Since the Agarwals, Choudarys, Sharmas, Rathores, and Trivedis mostly hung out exclusively, their friends were quite excited at the prospect of full group hangouts, where the Inseparables, too, would join.
"Kabir said it was like a campout," Mallika said happily.
"Wow, I love camping!" Bhavya exclaimed, and Rudy smiled at his girlfriend's excitement. "Anni Di, are you in?" Gauri asked. Annika shrugged. "Why not? And if y'all are going, what will I do home alone?"
"Atta girl!" Mallika swatted Annika's shoulder, receiving a venomous glare. "Alright, we leave tomorrow!" Omkara cheered. It was then that his phone rang, and he picked up seeing it was Rupali.
"Hey, Rupali!" he greeted. "Yeah, Annika confirmed it, she's coming. Oh, no! That's fine, we understand." Gauri signaled to put the phone on speaker.
Omkara obliged and Rupali's broken voice came over the phone. "It's just, my mom fell sick all of a sudden, and I've gotta take care of her, so I won't make it to the campout. Please forgive me, I was really so excited—"
"Oh, don't be, sweetie! We're totally fine with postponing the trip!" Mallika consoled.
"No, no! Please no, don't spoil your plans because of me! Please do go," Rupali said.
"Hey, Rupali?" Annika called, and Om handed his phone to her. "It's Annika, and I just wanted to say, we'll just double-check with the rest of them and maybe we can bump it down a few days so you can take care of your mom?" she said gently.
Rupali stopped sniffling. Well, kind of. "You would really do that for me?" she asked incredulously. The poor girl had never been exposed to such generosity and kindness, so no doubt, it was a little hard to believe.
"Of course, Rupa Di!" Rudra chimed in. "Trust me, I know how important mothers can be. You should spend time with your mom, take care of her," Annika said softly. She could relate to Rupali's state, since she'd been in the same situation a while ago.
It took a little more convincinng, but Rupali finally agreed to postpone the trip to a few days later. Adjustments were made to the itinerary and the plan was accommodated to Rupali's needs, which she was ever grateful for.
Author's Note: Of course, Annie is reaching Lonavala, too! She has to have a chance to meet her Shiv, lol
Remember, though, Shiv is only there for a day and Annika's plans seem to be pushing back. What do you think? Will she catch him, or will they slip past one another unnoticed??? Stay tuned, I guess...
Signing off,
Kismat
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Due to Be Married || Shivika AU SS
Short StoryShivaay and Annika are no longer the same couple "in love." They've been through obstacles Romeo and Juliet couldn't fathom, let alone emerge victorious from. The only problem that remains is that they were bound by a weak thread called courtesy, an...
