The Dating Charade ✔️

Chapter-24

Annika was walking with Shivaay's crest in her hand, holding it like the prized possession that it was. To everyone she appeared extremely cute, with her boyfriend's crest in her hand, smiling by looking at it every now and then.

"You wanna go eat?" Shivaay asked from beside her as they stood in the garden. Dinner had started and people were starting to line up in front of the buffet. The air was filled with a delicious smell and Annika was delighted to find they were serving Indian too.

"In a while," She replied, smiling up at him. Shivaay thought something for a bit, before taking out his phone. 

"Just move here a bit," he said, leading Annika by the arm towards a large fountain. Annika frowned, not realizing what he wanted until he asked her to pose with the crest and got ready to click pictures on his iphone. She giggled but agreed nonetheless, flaunting both his prize and the dress in this mini photo-session. Practically every female in the party could see that Shivaay was a dream boyfriend, taking different angles and even going on his knees to get nice pictures of his gorgeous girlfriend. 

Once they were done, Shivaay started showing the pictures to Annika who swiped through them in excitement, before they were interrupted by some cameramen from the media.

"Uh, Mr.Oberoi?" One young man asked timidly, and Shivaay raised an eyebrow. "Can we take a few pictures of you and this lovely lady together, if you don't mind?"

Shivaay of course didn't mind, and in fact very enthusiastically took his position beside Annika. The media got quite a few lovely shots of the couple, since Shivaay was adamant on being touchy-feely with her. At one point, he even went behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, and Annika blushed hard due to the sensation his beard caused when he put his chin on the bare skin of her shoulders. Annika was no less though, and once she recovered, the media got the best capture of the evening where a certain Miss Annika was pecking the Best Businessman of the Year on his cheek. The cameramen were having quite some fun with these two who looked nothing less than models. Once they were done and the media left, Annika turned to Shivaay with a bright smile.

"That was quite nice!" She exclaimed. "I've never understood the media's obsession with taking photos of celebrities, though, Mr Star-Of-The-Evening!" She said cheekily. Shivaay chortled.

"Trust  me when I say this, Annika, but you're more of a celebrity than me tonight. Everyone just loves your gorgeous presence," He said with a wink. Annika flushed, and was just about to suggest going and getting dinner now, when a voice behind her startled her.

"Oh. My. God!" 

Annika turned around and was surprised, and extremely pleased, to find her old friend Mallika standing there with a shocked expression on her face. Annika beamed when she saw her, and went forward to engulf her in a hug. Before she could do so, however, Mallika crossed her arms and gave an angry expression. 

"Oh no no, miss," She said, gritting her teeth, "Don't think you can just act like we're friends all of a sudden! Friends are supposed to tell each other stuff, and here you are, dating someone I tried so hard to set you up with, and lah! I only manage to hear about it from OTHER people!"

Annika gulped. Uh,oh. She turned to look at Shivaay, who only shrugged. Annika didn't want to lie to Malllika, but knew that Shivaay absolutely wouldn't allow her to reveal this secret to her, especially not when her husband, and Shivaay's rival, was standing right there.

"Oh, that." Annika said, giving a tight fake smile. "Actually, everything happened so fast that I..."

"And you, Shivaay!" Mallika interrupted Annika by turning towards Shivaay, who only gave a sheepish look, "After all those things I said about you and Annika being compatible and what not, you didn't think it necessary to tell me?" She asked him crossly.