Broken Hearts and Strange Girls || Shivika AU FF

𝐗𝐗𝐗𝐕𝐈𝐈𝐈

Annika's final weeks in India drew to a close so quickly she could hardly believe it. How time had flown, and how strange it had been to live out of a suitcase in your own childhood home. Soon, Annika would be back to seeing Clem the evil boss and going to karaoke nights with her friends. 

Not for the first time since reconciling with her parents, Annika felt a tinge of sadness at leaving, and comforted herself with the hope to visit more frequently. 

'Twas the morning of her flight, and Annika found herself scrambling to get her things together in true Annika fashion. 

"Camera, laptop, charger," the young woman listed as she looked over her nearly finished suitcase. "Dang it, I forgot the memory card case!" 

As she reached to grab the blue case with her SD cards, Disha knocked. "Come in!" Annika managed to say, nose in her packing. 

"My, my, Anni. You've turned the whole room into such a mess!" her mother sighed. 

"Don't worry, I'll get it together once I'm done," Annika mumbled. 

At that, Disha smiled. "Deja vu, isn't it?" 

Annika looked up and rolled her eyes, a wide grin growing on her face. "Ma, this is, like, the eighth time you've said that since I've come home."

"Because it's true!" Disha exclaimed. "Seven years ago, you were in the same state. Packing for that school trip. I walked into your room and thought a whole hurricane had hit. I hope you're not like this in Italy, too."

"No! I assure you, Ma, I'm super organized." 

"Yes, we'll see over the video chat, na?" Disha joked. 

Both women smiled at the realization that they would now behave like a typical mother and daughter. "You're going to call me every day, aren't you?" Annika asked in a teasing manner. 

"I sure will! Waise, you don't live alone, do you?" 

Annika shrugged. "Well, technically, yes. But I'm never alone. I always have my friends over. My place is literally just our friend group's hub." 

This was true. Annika's home was never empty, and Annika was never really alone. Sometimes, Mari, Luna, and Rick would come over after work for drinks and snacks. Sometimes, Alex would tag along for sports nights, and he and Luna would bicker until the rest grew exhausted. Most nights, if her heart desired—which it often did—Luna would stay the night. With company over so often, Annika's lights never went out before midnight. For some, that may have been an overload of social life, but that was how Annika liked it. And Annika was glad to go back to it.

"Well, that's nice. Have you spoken to Aishu and the Oberois yet?" Disha asked. 

"I spoke to Aishu just this morning and she'll also come with Om and Adi to drop me off." 

"Is Shivaay coming, too?" Disha asked with a suggestive look that Annika, thankfully, did not see. 

"Probably not. He's been really busy with work as of late," Annika expressed. 

In all honesty, Annika was also trying to avoid Shivaay. After learning that Meera was insecure regarding Annika's relationship with Shivaay, she decided to step away from the two for some time. 

Annika understood why Meera was insecure. After waiting for so long to date the guy she liked, Meera was nervous about losing Shivaay again. Shivaay and Annika had grown too close, too quickly for Meera's comfort, and Annika validated her concerns. Although Annika wanted to make it clear to Shivaay's girlfriend that she had no malicious intent and wished nothing but the best for the couple, she also knew the best way to ease Meera's worries was just to back down. 

The last thing Annika wanted was to get in the way of something that was genuinely good for Shivaay. So, for the next few days, Annika had left a few calls unanswered, texting that she had been busy packing (which wasn't entirely untrue). 

Deep in her heart, though, Annika did fear that leaving India would put a strain on her friendship with Shivaay. She worried what she was doing was only accelerating the process. They had become fast friends, and had helped each other through a lot of emotional baggage. He was the only Oberoi who knew the truth about the Bhattacharya family feud, and he was also the one to resolve Annika's differences with her family. 

Annika had never become so close with someone in such a short amount of time, and a part of her was terrified of losing that. Distances do put strain on relationships, whether they be romantic or platonic. It starts off the same, with 'good mornings' and 'good nights', but slowly, life begins to get in the way. 

'How was your day' turns into 'how was your week' and the details start to grow vague. 

'I ate pasta with olives and cheese' turns into 'I ate dinner.'

'Today, Clem did this' turns into 'Work was fine. How about you?' 

Annika didn't want that. Annika hated that—the way distance tended to grow between hearts as time ticked on. 

So, once Disha left her room, Annika reached for her phone and typed a long message in her Notes app. She didn't send it, but she saved it to her cloud and cleaned up her room in preparations to leave for the airport. 

Shivaay was late. Traffic was horrible. Life was meaningless. Okay, that's a bit dramatic, but honestly, it was how Shivaay was feeling.

After a rather rough day at work, a very tired Shivaay opened his phone to 3 missed calls and four texts from Aishu.

Aishwarya: Hey, Shivaay. I just wanted to make sure you're going to be home soon. We're getting ready to leave for Bhattacharya Manor and then the airport.

Shivaay: The airport?

Aishwarya: Annika's flight is today, Shivaay. Remember?

Shivaay's eyes went wide as he glanced at the text, and then today's date, and then a wave of emotions fell over him. Annika was leaving today. 

Shivaay: I'll finish soon and be right there. 

But Shivaay's work held him back for another half an hour. At this point, Shivaay realized he would not be able to spend some more time with Annika at Bhattacharya Manor, and he would have to run directly to the airport for his farewells. So as soon as the last email had been sent and the last file had been filed, Shivaay grabbed his jacket, phone, keys, and the little blue box and practically darted to the garage. 

Mumbai's traffic had now stuck him between twenty cars on one road, just the day Shivaay was racing against time. Ever so convenient. As he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, his phone rang once more. He immediately picked up, thinking it was Aishwarya. 

"Hey, I'm stuck in traffic, I'm directly coming to the airport."

"The airport?" Meera's voice crackled over the speaker. 

"Oh, Meera!"

"Why are you going to the airport, Shivaay?" 

"To see off Annika."

"Oh...she's leaving now?" Meera asked. There was a tone tracing her words that Shivaay could not pick up. 

To Shivaay's luck, a few cars had already begun clearing up.

"Yeah. Her flight is for nine, it's already six-thirty, I'm really late and I'm stuck in traffic and I'll definitely call you later. Bye!" Shivaay said in one breath before hanging up and finally pulling forward.