Dearest Shivaay, || Shivika AU FF

𝔼𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 ℍ𝕖 𝔾𝕠𝕖𝕤

There were so many colors. The entire event was so bright and boisterous, and so befitting to Anika's happiness. Everyone from the mohalla was there, congratulating her. She couldn't keep the smile off her face as she heard them praise the grand opening. 

For such a short period of a time that seemed like it had droned on forever, Anika had lost all her hope in fulfilling her late mother's dream. If not for Gauri's encouraging words and Astika's full faith, Anika would have been sure to give up. As she looked around the outdoor deck, decorated with thousands of balloons and populated by those people that had known her mother better than her, the very thought of giving all of this up made her shake her head in shame. She blinked back a few tears as she read her mother's name on the logo. 

𝐀𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐤𝐚 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬. It made her want to coil into the arms of her mother—she would be beaming with pride at her oldest daughter. Anika was looking up, yet again, at the sign that hung above her own office when a voice propelled her out of her thoughts.

"Di! The Oberois are here!" Gauri said. Anika beamed at her little sister. "Dadi! Is Dadi with them?" 

Gauri nodded. "I saw her arguing with one of her sons. I think it was Tej Uncle," Gauri giggled. 

"Chal! Dadi ne tujhe bhi abhi tak nahi dekha," Anika said, grabbing her sister's hand and dragging her to the entrance, just as the Oberois strode in. "Dadi!" Anika squealed childishly, letting go of her sister's hand to go hug the older woman. "Niku, did we miss it?" Kalyani asked nervously. 

"Oh, no! We haven't even started yet. Don't worry, you didn't miss anything. Aap ke liye hi hum sab ruke the," Anika smiled. "Oh!" Anika exclaimed, pulling Gauri next to her. 

"Everyone, this is Gauri, my little sister!" she introduced. Gauri waved awkwardly, clutching the hem of her red dress with her free hand. "Ri, this is Tej Uncle and his wife, Jhanvi Aunty. This is Shakti Uncle and his wife, Pinky Aunty. This is Rudra, he is Tej Uncle's youngest son—" 

"Hi, Gauri Di! Is it okay if I call you that?" 

"Of course," Gauri smiled. "As you know, this is Priyanka," Anika smiled. "Hey, Gauri! Both of you look great!" Priyanka exclaimed, complimenting their color-coordinated red dresses.

"Thank you, you too!" 

"Gauri, this is Omkara, Tej Uncle's oldest son—"

"Hi," Om smiled and Gauri waved again, feeling completely embarrassed. Anika looked between the two with an eyebrow raised, but ignored it and continued. "This is Khannaji, he's the Head of Security at the mansion." 

"We've met before, too! Haven't we, Khanna Bhaiya?" Gauri asked the man with a big smile. Something about the man made everyone surrounding him instantly feel comfortable and warm. Khanna beamed at the recognition. "Yes, Gauri ma'am—"

"Bhaiya, please! Save that for my sister. I'm not a ma'am," Gauri laughed. "Niku, did you see the—" Astika began as she approached them. "Oh! Maaji," Astika greeted Kalyani upon seeing them.

"Hello, Astika beta. How are you?" Kalyani smiled. "Wonderful. Aaiye na, bahar kyu khade hai?  Niku, go help Chanda with the refreshments. Bichari bachi kitna akele sambhalegi." 

Anika nodded with a grin. "Show the Oberois their seats, and check on Sahil and the other kids, please." 

"Di, but—" 

"Arey, Chanda! Ruk, aayi!" Anika turned back to the Oberois with an apologetic smile. "I'll talk to all of you later, for sure!" 

Jhanvi smiled, caressing Anika's head. "Of course, sweetie." 

She didn't even look at him. Why didn't she look at him? And she didn't introduce him to Gauri, either. What was going on? Did getting engaged to that idiot really change that much between them? 

"Bhaiya, kya soch rahe hai aap?" Rudra's voice brought him out of his thoughts as he looked over at his younger brother. "No, nothing," Shivaay expertly covered. Rudra raised an eyebrow. "We've been calling you for the past thirty seconds." 

"Oh! What's up?" 

"We were complimenting the decorations. They look incredible." Om offered Shivaay some juice from the pitcher kept in front of them. "Of course they do! After all, my Anika Di chose the decorations for this entire event, didn't she?" Oh, why Anika, of all the topics these crazy people could talk about? Shivaay mentally groaned. 

"Rudy, leave that. Did you see Anika's face when we walked in?" Ishana said eagerly. "Uff! She looked so happy, how could I miss it?" Priyanka smiled widely, and Shivaay involuntarily smiled himself. She did look incredibly happy when they had first seen her. Just then, an image of Anika and that doofus at the park came back into view, and his smile dropped faster than you could blink, replaced by a heavy frown. "This must be such a big thing for her, since she's so excited about it!"

"She's probably also excited about planning her own wedding as the first event for this place," Shivaay muttered, annoyed. "What was that, Shivaay?" Jhanvi asked, catching his lips moving slightly. Cursing in his head, Shivaay faked a smile. 

"I said, she's probably excited for her first event." 

"Yes, as she should be! She's an incredibly hard worker, that's for sure." Tej praised. Shivaay looked over at his uncle keenly. After all, it wasn't every day that you got to hear Tej Singh Oberoi praising someone. "Just like Shivaay. Shakti, do you remember Shivaay's first business deal? He had started preparing for it three months ahead of time!" Tej laughed. Shivaay saw his father's confused expression from his peripheral vision. How did Tej remember something Shakti had forgotten? And that too, about him? 

"Oh, I remembers! My sons was so nervouses for it, but he mades the deal and broughts honor to us all!" Pinky complimented. "And I am sures that Anika will do the sames for her family," Pinky continued. While the elders continued their conversation about the statistics of Anika's new company, Shivaay tuned back into the youngsters' conversation, already annoyed at the constant mention of the one person he didn't want to hear anything about. 

"And hers and Gauri's dress?" 

"Oh, don't remind me! I don't deserve to breathe the same air as such perfection! Gauri is so pretty, yaar! Bilkul Anika ki carbon copy, lekin bolne ke maamle mein thodi introverted." 

Ah, still gushing about Anika. I see how it is, Ms. Trivedi. Your plan was to make my entire family fall for you so that I wouldn't be able to escape your thoughts for even a moment. Jahan bhi jaoun, sirf Anika, Anika. Koi bhi problem hui, toh solution kya hai? Anika. Shaadi ke arrangements dekhne hai? Anika sambhalegi! Gym set nahi ban raha? Anika se poonch lo, usse toh sab kuch aata hai! Sab latoo ho gaye hai tumpe, pata nahi kya jadoo chalaya tumne unpe. Shivaay paused, rethinking his words. Latoo? How did that slip out? 

Shivaay sighed, standing up. "I need some air." 

"Outdoor event hai, Bhaiya. Yahan toh air hi air hai!" 

"Shut up, Rudra," Shivaay and Om employed their patented dialogue as Rudra frowned. "Nobody loves me in this family," he muttered. Shivaay rolled his eyes and stepped away from his crazy people. No matter what anyone said, Shivaay loved each Oberoi more than his own  heart could bear. His Om, Rudra, and Dadi were the most important people in his life; without them, there was no Shivaay Singh Oberoi at all.

He had only made four steps forward when he turned his head over his shoulder to look over at his family before his eyes fell on his engagement ring. It was interesting that the three most important people in his life shared two ideas in common—the idea that Anika was perfect for him, and the second idea that this alliance with Tia was wrong.