Beintehaan (Completed)

39. Breath. Anika

“GODDAMNIT!” Anika yelled, she raked her fingers through her hair frustratingly.

Why was this so hard? Why was it so freaking hard to tie a BLOODY sari!!!!!!

She let out a huff and stared grudgingly at the folds of saree, crowding hopelessly at her feet.

Somewhere her phone barred and Anika threw it a murderous look. Snatching it, she pressed it tightly to her ear.

“ One hour.” A voice clipped at her, “ you have me waiting down here for one hour and there is still no sign of you” a moment of pause passed and “ is this some kind of joke for you?”

Anika sighed, the weight of her failed trails crumpling onto her shoulders “ I don’t know what to do!!!” she wailed, slumping onto the floor amidst the mess.

The line went dead, and Anika rubbed her forehead. God how she regretted not learning how to tie a sari when all her girl friends were going gaga -about the latest saree trends back in college.

God! No. Not her though. She had despised them all and told them they were better things to do in life.

Well, Karma was being a bitch. She groaned, throwing herself backwards onto the bed staring miserably at the ceiling. Shivaay was going to kill her, yep…this was definitely her last day on Earth.

She was still sprawled, when her hotel room banged open. Anika shrieked, leaping out of bed and clutching what she could get hold off, to her chest.

Her eyes bulged upon seeing Shivaay stalk angrily into the suite.

“what are you doing!!!!!??” she shrieked, trying to cover herself “ get out! Am changing!!!”

“ for an hour?” he dead panned.

“ ohmygod” she cried, letting go of everything and covering her face. “ you are invading my privacy”

“ You are invading your own privacy” he told her, his voice sounding dangerously close.

She peeked through the gaps of her fingers covering her face. Shivaay stared solemnly at her.

“ are you going to stand like this forever?”

“ yes! If you don’t get the hell out of my room”

“ first of all, this is our room and second of all you only have your blouse on”

Anika gasped throwing her hands from her face onto her chest. She looked at him, flustered and he stared back at her calmly as if it was something he had seen on a daily basis.

“ I…..I can’t tie a saree” she whispered, looking down shamefully, admitng her incapablity.

She heard him inhale and looked up. He pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath “ what am I going to do with you?” He sighed.

Anika sniffled “ I have no clue”

Two beats passed and Shivaay's phone buzzed in his pocket. He turned away pressing it to his ear “ get the car ready, we will be down in two minutes” he ordered.

“ but…t how? Am not ready Shivaay” Anika stuttered when he turned to her.

“ don’t you have anything else to wear? Which brainless dweeb gets something on a trip they don’t know how to wear!?”

“Shut up!” she retorted “ I thought I could pull it off with a YouTube tutorial”

“ Yeah?” he raised a brow “ how did that work out for you?”

Anika sighed her shoulders slumping again “ just go on Shivaay, I am only going to make it worse. You just have to go on without me”

He didn’t say anything and Anika sighed shuffling towards the bed, her saree trailing behind her. What a pretty saree it was.

A combination of melon pink smudged with reddish orange at the pallu. The cloth was soft and plain, made of georgette with a fancy silver lace at its sides. The blouse in contrast was royal blue, beautifully sequined with small pearls and white beads all over.

“ zip your mouth, pick up your saree and get over here” Shivaay’s voice sliced.

Anika's eyebrows shot up “ what ar-“

“ Zip it” he snapped “ and get over here” he motioned to the space in front of him.

She frowned, she didn’t like him ordering her around like this, but something told her she should listen to him.

Obliging, she picked up her bits of sari and carried it to him, she dumped them in front of and stood there, her hands still covering her chest.

Shivaay’s jaw clenched and his blue orbs clouded. As if he were holding himself back.

“ we have only two minutes, so just stay still” he murmured.

“ Wait you will tie my sari?” Anika gawked, her heart flipping into a summersault.

“ how do you kn-?”

He shot her a dead look, silencing her.

He moved closer, his eyes trained on her, Anika’s stomach clenched “ just…..stay still” he breathed.

She gave him a small nod. He reached out gently tugging her arms, covering her chest. Anika tightened her hold unconsciously, he looked at her, his eyes swirling with something, in the dim hotel light “ trust me” he said, his voice barely a whisper.

She swallowed and her arms fell away, leaving her in just her blouse. The second her arms  fell away, Shivaay flipped her pallu across her chest.

His fingers skimmed her collar bones, leaving a trail of fire.

She stood still, as he worked on her. He handled the gigantic cloth with ease, tucking, folding and swirling it around her.

Time to time his fingers would slip against her skin. Sometimes the slope of her neck. The lower arch of her spine, the bony edge of her hip bone. His fingers were rough, their contrast to her soft skin, had her heart pounding.

Her head reeled and she shut her eyes, not wanting to interrupt him in his work. With her eyes closed she was hyper aware of his every movement.

It worried her so much. The effect he seemed to have on her. Everything about him sent her in a frenzy of feelings. One second he would drive her insane, making her want to wring his neck and the next second he would do something or say something that sets a flight a flock of birds in the pit of her stomach. Not even god damn butterflies!

This feeling with him, that she couldn’t describe, bothered her so much. It was scary, and exhilarating all.the.same.time.

“ Done” his voice pierced through her, and her eyes snapped open. He was staring at her, his eyes clouded with an emotion she couldn’t decipher.

Her cheeks flamed and her chest tightened. She watched his forehead crinkle and he reached up, grasping her shoulders “ breath Anika” and she let out a shuddery exhale. How long had she been holding it?

She forced her mouth into a grim smile “ well……how do I look?”
He didn’t say anything, instead he reached up behind her and pulled her hair free from messy bun it was in.
Her hair whispered down her back, framing her face. She watched his adam’s apple bobbed roughly.

She swallowed, “ I should…look at myself…” she mumbled.  A way to get away from him. To put some space between them cause Lord knew what would happen if they stayed another second the way they were.

He caught her, his grip tight on her wrist. His eyes darkened, reminding her of a rainstorm.

“ you don’t have to look in the mirror….trust me ..you look….” He trailed.

Her heart thundered against her ribcage, so hard, she was afraid it might break free anytime.

He opened his mouth as if to say something- when a soft knock sounded. They snapped out of the trance. Something constricted around her heart as she watched him take several steps back.

“ come in” he gruffed, his hard demnor slamming down.

A huge turbaned head peeked “ sahib we are ready for you”.

Anika straightened and before Shivaay could say anything “ we are ready” she said and walked out, without him.
***

The car rolled to a stop in front of Oberio's mansion. Arjun let out a low whistle “ wow you guys are loaded” he said, eyeing the building.

Priyanka rolled her eyes “ no we are not” she said.

“ I have proofs” he smirked, jerking a thumb towards their mansion.

Prinku grinned “ everything is not what it seems Arjun”

“ really?” he stretched in his seat, folding his hands across his chest “ enlighten me please”

“ Starting off, we are poverty at spending time together, everyone has everything to do expect spending time as a family. We do that only when there is a press conference or a necessary celebration, or mostly when my Dadi slips into drama mode, we don’t eat together…like at all. Everyone just comes at their own time, eat what they want and run, and really no one has time for anyone anymore” she paused to take a breath “ so where are rich exactly?”

Arjun's eyebrows shot up, almost disappearing into his hair “ you guys are complicated!”

Priyanka burst out laughing at his expression “ that is a given”

They fell quiet and Arjun sighed “ welllll…” he dragged.

“ yeah” she said, it was time for her to go. The same uneasy feeling settled into her chest, making it hard for her to breath.

“ You look fine, actually” he noted, his eyes running across her features. She gave him a tight smile.

Arjun’s jaw clenched then “ don’t worry babe, am gonna find out who those guys were and why they did what they did to us” he promised.

She shook her head “ it’s cause of Rithika…someone doesn’t want us to dig deep into this”

He fell quiet, giving him a nod she reached out to open the door “ Prinku wait” he said.

“ Yeah?” she turned to him.

“ I……” he looked down at his hands in his laps, “ I never apologized…to you”

She frowned “ for what?”

He peeked at her through his lashes, his mouth pulled into a sad line, Prinku's heart pace quickened.

“ It was my job to…keep you safe…and I nearly got you killed” he looked down again, almost as if he was hiding his face.

“ Arjun” her throat closed. “ look at me” she said softly.

He did, his lips pulled into a sad pucker “ you are the reason why am still alive and in one piece. Don’t ever say that”

“ it was really brave of you…what you did” he nodded at her confused look “ on that accident day…why didn’t you run, when I asked you to?”

Priyanka smiled “ we never leave a man behind. That’s the rule.” She bunched up her eyebrows , trying to give him a serious looks.

A slow smile crawled across his face. This smile was different than the ones he wore everyday. This smile started slow and spread so far that his eyes crinkled, flashing a small dimple at the corner of his lips.

It felt so real that Prinku  found her lips mimicking him, she suddenly decided that this was her favorite face of his.

“ you’re really are something, Priyanka Oberio” he murmured
She ducked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, trying to hide the furious flush on her cheeks.

A second passed and he sighed again. “well….” He started.

She gave him a nod and opened the door quickly, not wanting to face him with a good bye. She heard his door open, and she quickened her pace.

“ woah” his hand laced around her wrist “wait…what’s the hurry. Don’t I even get a goodbye?”

She breathed in, her resistance finally breaking up on his contact. She turned around, and threw her arms around his neck. The force was so sudden that he staggered back, catching both of them with one hand pressed onto the car.

Her face pressed into his chest. And the uneasy feeling that had been cramped in her ever since she left his home seemed to evaporate. His familiar scent, washed over her.

She breathed in deeply, trying to memorize his smell. “ babe” he murmured, his voice hesitant.

She didn’t know why but his nick name for her started doing funny things to her insides. She loosened her grip, her body tensing. She moved, her face hot with flush. Her arms were still around him and she leaned afar.

He frowned, his eyes searching her's for something. Priyanka swallowed, her throat suddenly parched. He reached up, brushing away streaks of her hair matted to her face.

“ am going to miss you Arjun” she crocked, tears thick in her voice.

His jaw clenched, but his eyes softened, and before she knew it, she was pressed into his chest again, his arms banded around her waist, his face tucked into the crook of her neck.

Priyanka melted against him, she knew she had just a few more seconds before it was all gone… so she did the only thing she could. She held on, hoping to trap this moment forever.
**********************************

A/N: Hola guys,
         We are back. Isn't it surprising? Coz we were very late last time and to compensate it, we are here again. ;)

As everyone are requesting, they want to see more than one couple in a chapter, we tried giving you the treat with ArYa and Shivika today. But this may not be possible always. So, please bear with us. If time permits, we will surely continue this pattern.

So, how's the chapter guys?

Share your views with us, which part you like the most. Don't forget to press the star beneath.

Love you all.

Yours
Trushnamallipudi ❤