Calm, shy, timid but hardworking housewife Anika was leading the perfect life till he enters. His entry paved a new journey for her- a road of excitement which she had left long ago. Little did she know of the mess, she is stepping into.
The next day as usual as soon as Pinki left, Anika went to Shivaay's house.
"Continue the movie?" he asked.
"Actually I finished it last night only" Anika confessed, guilty.
"Completed?" asked a stunned Shivaay.
"Yes", she said proudly.
"Wow" was the only word he could say.
"Did you buy the things I asked you for?" she asked.
"Yes, here they are", Shivaay said, bringing out the things she had asked for.
"You go and practice. I will make pizza" she said, busy unpacking the things.
"If you want to work on your own, why did you come here?" he enquired, annoyed.
"I never get a chance at home" Anika complained.
"Ok fine. Do as you want Master Chef."
Anika started making pizza and Shivaay went to play his instruments. Once a while, either of them would be taking a peek to look at the other. After Anika was done with her pizzas, she served them and went to the drawing room, only to find Shivaay missing.
She kept the pizza platter on the counter and went to look for him in the other rooms. The gaming room where they had seen the movie was empty. She got inside the other room and saw an almost shirtless Shivaay, who was taking off his t-shirt. She coughed to announce her presence.
"You? You are done making pizzas?" he asked.
"Yes" she said, trying to keep a straight face.
"Won't you close your eyes and look aside like those drama queens on tv?", Shivaay asked laughing.
"Who? Me? I am married for 5 years. I had male friends since childhood. Its no big deal. I have seen more things", Anika said, trying to prove her superiority.
"Really?" he asked.
"Do you doubt?" she snapped, trying to look confident.
Getting no reply from him, she went and sat on the bed, facing him while he took off his t-shirt and put in the washing machine and then started searching for another t-shirt. And the entire time, which seemed longer than an hour to her, Anika's eyes were fixed on his body. She tried to distract herself but failed. His body looked exactly like the one she had fantasized about when she was younger. His figure was interrupting her peace of mind and she was struggling to sit still, showing no change in emotion. As soon as he dressed himself, she dragged him to the kitchen to test the pizzas.
While eating the pizzas, he said to her, "My birthday is day after tomorrow."
An excited Anika asked, "So how are you celebrating? Party with band members, huh?"
"No. I have no one to celebrate with", he said, trying to hide his sadness. It was true that he had no other true friend than her. His band members were selfish, he was yet to befriend anyone in the mall. His mother died months back and his father was dead long ago. He had no family. Anika was well-known to all these and tried to cheer him up, "I shall celebrate with you. Prinyanka can also join. I will call Gauri and Omkara too."
"Can you do me a favour?" he asked with hopeful eyes.
"You want a birthday gift?" she asked.
"Can you spend my birthday with me? I shall go on a road trip to my hometown and cut the cake where I had cut the cake last time with mom and dad" he told in a single breath.
Anika was confused. His eyes showed the same loneliness she felt once upon a time, now she has a whole family to love her but he is all alone. Her heart ached for him and she could not deny his request despite knowing it was unreasonable.
"I will" she finally agreed after fighting her inner turmoil.
Nikhil had returned and Anika had given him tea while he was checking a patient's report.
"Nikhil I have a request", she said like a pampered child, "I want to go to Gauri's house."
"When?" he asked, "I shall drop you."
"I am not a kid, we have planned to revisit our old places day after tomorrow. So I want to go on my own, like a smart ass" she requested with a baby face.
He looked at her and she started making cute expressions to melt his heart.
"Ok fine", he said at last.
"Can I be late?" she asked.
"You know I have no problems with that. In fact I want you to roam around with your friends. See you are always alone here, doing all the works", he shared.
"You tell mom then", she said, giving a peck on his cheek and escaped to the kitchen before he could deny.
----------------------------------
Inside her heart, she felt guilty. She never told them about her friendship with Shivaay because she wanted to maintain her image of being perfect. The society thinks that a woman and a man can never be friends. But since childhood, she made friends irrespective of gender. But this time, it was different. She was going to go on a road trip with her neighbour alone, that too by lieing. It was not that she did not want to go but she did not want to lie. However lieing was mandatory in her case. It was her guilty pleasure and she had already chosen not to deny it.
---------------------------------
The next morning, Pinki told her to pack the necessities with her and gave her some safety precautions. Nikhil gave her some money too. She had realised that Nikhil had managed to convince his mother last night. However their acts of kindness was hurting her more this time.
As soon as she met Shivaay, she informed him that she would be accompanying her.
The instant bright smile on his face made her feel all those lies and guilt were worth it.
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