Broken Hearts and Strange Girls || Shivika AU FF

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"Annika—" 

Finally. She eagerly looked up from her laptop. "Did the mailman come?" Shivaay asked in all seriousness. Annika gave him a blank stare, before shaking her head and continuing to type on her laptop. With a slight nod of acknoledgement, Shivaay moved to his room. And here I thought he was going to start a conversation, Annika frowned. 

For the past two days, since Shivaay and Annika had returned from that beach trip, Shivaay had seemed much lighter and happier. But Shivaay had yet to talk to Annika like a normal human being. Okay, not just a normal human being, Annika decided. But at least not like I'm his house's Kanta Bai. Like, what the hell? Why am I supposed to pay attention to when the mailman comes? 

Annika was lost in thoughts when a booming voice rang throughout the hall. "Oberois, Oberois, Oberois!" Kushal Thakur bellowed from the door. 

"Kush?" Annika said with a smile, placing her laptop to the side and moving to the entrance to greet him. "Hey, Annika," Kushal smiled, hugging his friend.

"What are you doing here? And where's Meera?"

There was a smile on his face again as he moved past the entrance. "We came to see Bhabhi! Where is she?" 

"Kushal?" Aishwarya asked, wiping her hands on her apron. "Bhabhi!" Kushal smiled, moving to hug her. Leaving her friend in Aishwarya's care, Annika grabbed her laptop and left. 

The Thakurs and Oberois were all seated around the dining table. Meera had arrived shortly after her brother, and greeted everyone with a bright smile before sitting down and eating her dinner silently. 

Aishwarya, who always seemed to expect guests, had prepared a feast. Samosas, palak paneer, paratha, butter chicken, chane, and dal-chaval. Adi even had his delicious, super-all-time-favoritest dish as dessert, and that was rabri. 

Now, Aishwarya was a talented cook, the Midas of kitchen recipes. Everything she touched turned to gold. But Annika's favorite food was Aishwarya Oberoi's specialty: aloo puri. She saw the golden potatoes sitting in an ornate glass serving bowl with flowers curling up around the sides. Annika was salivating. The potatoes were tempting her, calling out to her. "Eat us, Annika! Eat us!" they cheered deliciously. 

There was only one problem. As Annika's hands reached the bowl, another pair reached them simultaneously. Annika looked up to see Shivaay. "Let me eat it first, then you," Annika compromised. Shivaay shook his head with a frown, not letting go. "That's not fair. Why you?" 

"My sister made it, Shivaay! I deserve to taste first!" Annika complained, refusing to let go of the bowl of aloo puri. Shivaay was only more adamant. "Annika, Aishwarya loves me more! I should eat first!" he exclaimed, pulling the bowl towards himself. 

 "Aloo puri is my favorite!" Annika said, drawing it closer to herself. 

"It's mine, too!" Towards Shivaay. 

"I haven't had it in four years!" Towards Annika.  

"You were the one who decided to live in Italy!" Shivaay.

"Yeah, because I needed a life outside of India! I didn't have a family business that could just be handed to me! I had to make my own career!" Annika. 

"Let me eat!" Shivaay said.

"Wait, Shivaay!" Annika said. 

Clatter. In their tug of war, Aishwarya's golden potatoes were lying on the floor, bedding to the pieces of Jhanvi's favorite serving bowl. "Shivaay, Annika!" Tej shouted. Shivaay and Annika looked down at the remnants of their fight, then exchanged a gulp with one another, before finally mustering the courage to look the intimidating Oberoi in the eye. 

Kushal and Meera had frozen in place, watching the tennis match unfold when the bowl broke. Aishwarya was just gauging Tej's reaction. Jhanvi was mourning the loss of her serving bowl. Omkara was in shock at how the evening had turned out. 

Maybe it was the way that Shivaay and Annika's fearful eyes were looking up at Tej, reminding him of simpler times; or maybe it was Aishwarya's gaze of anticipation, as though she was expecting him to burst like a volcano. Maybe it was Omkara's jaw, which had fallen past the table and to the floor; or maybe how Kushal was slowly chewing his food. Maybe it was Jhanvi's pout, maybe Meera's widened eyes. Something about the situation made Tej Singh Oberoi want to laugh. 

And so he did.