With everything he had, only one thing he wished for, her. Wanting her to be his and he himself wanted to be her's. He always thought that running away wasn't a solution regardless of situation. He did it when it was about taking risk about her. Shi...
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That night, Annika couldn't sleep, it felt so far away from her. She missed him, entirely. Be it his beard that would occasionally tease or be it his warm breath that would caress her skin. She missed lying down at his chest and hearing his steady heartbeat. Annika sighed, it was three in the morning when she had woken up after sleeping for an hour.
Grabbing her phone off the side table, she opened it to send him a hi, but then wouldn't he be sleeping? They had talked after he had dropped her off, saying that he would come to take me to the Oberoi Mansion at the earliest. Shivaay had also given her one last, long goodnight kiss, muttering how much he was in love with her.
Annika dropped her phone, deciding she should just let it be. Disturbing his sleep was not something she had wanted to do. She was missing Sahil, sending him away to the boarding school wasn't one of her wisest decisions. And her bua did not want to take him in with her.
She was startled to hear her phone ringing. The caller ID said Shivaay. A smile immediately adored her face. Wasting not a single second more, she picked up his call. "Annika?" He was first to ask and hearing him, brought a sense of relief to her.
"Hey" Annika answered back, lying down on the bed back.
"So you were awake" Hearing his chuckle, brought a smile on her face. She could imagine him, his small little smile with dimples.
"Yes, I couldn't sleep. What about you? Same problem?"
"Yes. I miss you" The tone in his voice changed and it did not go unnoticed by her. She could have known if he was sleepy but it felt like he wasn't sleepy at all. She could imagine him, his messy black hair and a white Kurta hugging his body, he would have been looking deliciously handsome.
The other side of her bed felt empty, his warmth was missing and each minute it was driving her crazy. Why was she craving him so much?
"You there, babe?" Shivaay asked from the other side.
"Yes. I was just thinking about you" That blunt answer took shivaay off guard, though he loved this side of her, carefree.
"So, I was thinking, I would pick you up at ten am tomorrow. Once you are done meeting with my family, will you go on a date with me?" Shivaay asked with his gentle voice.
"No. I would not" Annika answered, a smirk playing on her lips, she was sure that he was frowning till now.
"You don't wanna go on a date with me? That's fine" She did not miss the disappointment in his tone, he was really and utterly sad. Annika sat up, maybe playing games with him was not a wise idea after all.
"Hey, don't be sad. I will go on a date with. I was just kidding before"
"I knew that. And guess what? I won. Again" Annika rolled her eyes. This man and his stupid fast brain. How could a person be so clever? Annika decided not to even think about it.
"Fine Mr Oberoi. Bye" Annika kept the phone aside as she hung up his call. A smile adoring her face. Now she could easily fall asleep as she had heard his voice.
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Annika looked outside, the tall buildings passing by. Her head was a bit out of the window, enjoying the wind that kept hitting her on the face. The smell of the city, of petrol and dust was immensely hated by her and she was reminded of the clean roads of New York. Turning her head at him, she gave him a wide smile while gazing at her.
"You should focus on the road, you know" Annika suggested and Shivaay shrugged his shoulders.
"Why would I want to see the road when I have a gorgeous lady sitting beside me?"
"And get us both killed? No, Thankyou. Please drive with your eyes on the road" Shivaay chuckled. Watching her from the corner of his eyes, he found her staring down at her fingers with a blank expression, it worries him, to see her this way.
"Everything all right?" Shivaay asked. Last night, he wasn't able to get any sleep and the sole reason being the work. Loads of work. The papers had been stalked into three rows until now and he was only halfway done. Rolling back his shoulders, he heard no response from her.
"Is there something bothering you?" Shivaay yet again asked, her silence was killing him. He could have stopped the car and talked to her but seeing that they were in the middle of nowhere, he couldn't press the stop paddle.
Annika was solemnly nervous for the meet, she couldn't imagine what they would be thinking about her. Maybe they were angry with her for making Shivaay run away from his wedding. Annika certainly did not want them to have a bad impression about her, she was overthinking, clearly. The crease between her eyebrows was not easing at any second.
Shivaay's fingers found her hand which was resting on her lap. If this small assuring gesture would help her smile, he was ready to do it a lot many times but she was still very rigid. He sighed, they needed to talk and now he had stopped the car.
"Why did you stop the car?" Annika questioned, eyes fixed on the empty road ahead of her.
"Tell me, what is bothering you" Shivaay turned his head as well as the rest of the body towards her, giving her his full attention, his fingers still playing with her hand and she did not seem to be bothered by it.
"I don't think they will like me" Shivaay raised his eyebrows, they wouldn't like her? If only she knew, if she knew what was really the case and it was the complete opposite.
"Don't jump to conclusions so easily, babe" Shivaay suggested and Annika nodded, taking deep breaths in, she tried not to think about what was going to happen when she would meet Oberois. Shivaay gave her one quick forehead kiss before turning towards the road, switching the radio on to lighten the atmosphere. He started driving, he could vaguely hear Annika humming the song and this made Shivaay smile widely.
After some more minutes of driving, he stopped the car in front of Oberoi Mansion. Getting down and running towards her side to open the door for her. Annika gave him one small smile, he was such a gentleman. Shivaay entwined their fingers together as he led them towards the door. Shivaay acknowledged khanna by giving him one small nod while Annika passed a smile to him.
Annika's heart was beating faster, she was nervous yet she wanted to face them. When Shivaay knocked at the door, her grip on his hand tightened. "Don't you worry, everything will go good"
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I know this was a very short chapter, sorry :'( This book ends in three more chapters, what do you think, how are the Oberois going to react?
