Kya Pyaar Karoge Mujhse....

Chapter 11- A 'Little' Shock

Chapter 11

The party had just started and was already in full swing. Annika had reached thirty minutes early to take a final look at the preparation with Eva. After a quick shopping trip to the nearby shopping mall, the six of them had quickly rushed back to the hotel where Annika was the quickest to get ready. While she had wanted to stop and get Shivi ready, Sonakshi had promised that she would do that for her, for she knew how cranky her friend would get if she reached late to the venue and if anything goes amiss because of that.

Her friends had not yet come so she was busy in looking over the party. After talking to the Manager for the sixth time in the last forty-five minutes, she was convinced that the man was a little paranoid. I mean, who gets so worried if one of the centrepieces is slightly not at the centre of the table?

She even met many of her friends and clients who were specially invited to the party as they were quite a name in the city. The main reason of her worry, the Oberois, too hadn't come yet so she was quite relaxed, for now.

The Oberoi men stood waiting in the hall outside their rooms for their ladies, the topic of their discussion was, obviously, their ex-member of the family. They all had their own versions of how and when Annika landed in London, where was Sahil and how she started working with Jashn.

Rudra was the first to look to his left to see his gorgeous wife just getting out of their room, all dressed in her stunning glory. The classy, middle-knee rosy-pink dress hugged her curves, accentuating her healthy pregnancy. An animal printed overcoat matched her heels and the little purse she held in her hand. The blush on her cheeks, as she saw her handsome hunk of a husband, dressed in a grey suit and a matching pink shirt, gawking at her, matched perfectly with her dress. But he was not the only man with his mouth slightly open. The second Oberoi brother too had his eyes wide open as he saw his new wife behind his sister-in-law. Dressed in his favourite colour, a forest green and black gown with her beautiful choodas clanking against each other, Gauri looked a perfect blend of modern and traditional. With minimal makeup, except her gorgeous, thickly kohl-lined eyes and hair up in a simple bun with ears adorning little black beads as earrings and her mangalsutra, she looked good enough to take back inside the room and lock it for the rest of the night! As Gauri stared at him with her own wide eyes, he knew he was not looking bad in his simple outfit of a red-navy blue lined shirt with a navy blue jacket.

The brothers were soon joined by their father who had both, his eyes and his mouth widened as he saw his wife accompany their daughters-in-law. She looked as classy as always in a full-sleeved white blouse and a checkered yellow-green cotton sari and as radiant as the first day when they had met years ago. Now as she walked towards him with their Gauri and Somya, he couldn't help but feel a little nostalgic to see his growing family. He was soon going to be a grandfather and with the years he had lost due to his stupidity and ego, now all he wanted was his family to be together and happy. And now that they had finally found Annika, he only wanted his eldest son to be happy again, albeit he knew it wasn't going to be easy at all.

Being a businessman had taught him many things, one of them being a good observer to perceive the person in front of him and to calculate how profitable the deal can be. He hadn't said anything but he had observed Annika quite intently as she had talked to the family members this morning. Her attire, her way of talking, her body language, everything was way different than before. Four years ago, she was a chirpy girl who had little control over her tongue but the Annika they met today was not a girl anymore, she was a woman who emitted authority and power. Her attire resembled a businesswoman's, the tailored suit made her look important, much like the ones he himself and Shivaay always wore. Her body language was controlled and sophisticated, even when she was gushing at Somya's pregnancy and laughing at Omkara and Gauri's story. She talked in a striking and refined way, her London accent peeping beautifully. He had shared his concerns with his brother and Shakti too had agreed with him, telling him his own thoughts on this new, improved Annika. He too had observed her and came to the conclusion that she looked quite good, happy and cheerful, unlike Shivaay. And Tej Singh Oberoi knew, winning back Annika was not going to be a cake-walk for his son because Annika had become the young version of his Jhanvi, and his Jhanvi was one tough and strong woman.