The Dating Charade ✔️

Chapter-10

Shivaay was once again standing on the doorstep of his girlfriend- uh, pretend girlfriend- continuously banging on the door for the past minute. He raised his hand to knock again, louder this time, when she opened the door.

"What is wrong with you?!" Annika shouted in his face as soon as she had opened. "Can't you be patient for once?"

"Patient?" Shivaay yelled outrageously, "I've been standing here for like, 5 whole minutes! You knew I'd be coming, yet you took so long to answer!"

Annika rolled her eyes, before moving back to let him enter.

"Firstly, it's barely even been a minute. Secondly, I have better things to do than wait for you to show up!" She added the last part loudly, making him flinch.

"Whatever, now come on, let's go." Shivaay replied, moving towards the door again, but Annika stopped him.

"What do you mean, 'let's go'? Can't you see I'm not ready yet?" She asked, gesturing towards the Superman Tee and pyjamas she was wearing. Shivaay wanted to tell her that she looked cute nonetheless, but decided against it. Annika moved to the room to change, while Shivaay waited for her in the hall. Meanwhile, there was a knock on the door. Seeing as Annika wasn't coming out anytime soon, Shivaay opened it himself. It was Sahil, who had just come back from school.

"Areh, Mr.SSO, aap yaha?" The little boy asked suspiciously while entering. Keeping his crutch on the table, he sat down on the sofa and looked at Shivaay expectantly.

"I'm here to pick up Annika; she, uh, has some work in Oberoi Mansion."

Sahil rolled his eyes, and Shivaay wondered if it was a common attribute between the siblings.

"I know exactly what 'work' she has there- my didi tells me everything," Sahil replied, proudly. Shivaay smiled at the little kid, and sat down beside him.

"And you don't have any problem with it?" He asked hopefully, referring to the drama. The 8-year-old had won his heart a long time back, and a part of him wished to win his heart too.

"Nope," He replied, "My didi is a khidkitod actress and she'll be able to do the drama really well."

"I'm sure," Shivaay replied.

"But Mr.SSO," Sahil continued, and Shivaay listened attentively, "make sure that you don't trouble my didi. Ek toh she's helping you so much, but still you keep fighting with her!"

"Hey," Shivaay started, defensively, "It's she who keeps on looking for excuses to fight with me! Even now, she was reprimanding me for knocking on the door!"

"Well, you must have done something wrong. Annika didi is very kind, but you seem to have the quality of making her frustrated, always."

Shivaay was about to defend himself again, when Annika emerged from her room, wearing a blue printed kurti and ankle-length jeans, looking beautiful as usual.

"What are you two talking about?" She asked entering the hall, while trying to tie her chaand bracelet around her wrist.

"Nothing, just some man talk," Shivaay replied, winking at Sahil, who giggled. Seeing her struggling with the bracelet, Shivaay got up to help her. Annika was startled at the gesture, but pleased nonetheless.

"Come on now, let's go. Everyone's waiting for you." He said, tugging at her hand. The simple touch made her blush, which didn't go unnoticed by Shivaay, or Sahil for that matter. Both of them grinned inwardly.

"Yeah, let's go. Sahil, go freshen up and do your homework. I've kept some sandwiches in the fridge, have them if you're hungry."

Sahil muttered something like 'I'd rather not have anything made by you' but it went unheard by Annika. Shivaay, however, snorted.