An Aesthetic Love: A Collection Of Shivika Short Stories

39| the question of love.

Annika sat down on the couch in Shivaay's room, and closed her eyes. This room wasn't the best place to think about it, but she just trusted her instincts to come here. 

Last night had been so special. She had thought that she wouldn't remember anything due to the influence of alcohol but she was so wrong. She remembered every single thing, every single word. And she knew nothing could go wrong, until this morning happened and she was hit by the truth. 

If the conversation that she just had with Shivaay about not letting anyone know that they remembered everything and deleting any trace of the video was an indication, she knew that he remembered everything, too. And that wasn't a good thing, to be honest. 

Opening her eyes, she looked at nothing in particular. They weren't going to talk about it again, ever, but it was always going to be a part of their memory, and if they actually didn't talk about it, it was going to be a problem. 

*Flashback begins*

"Shivaay," she said his name straight up for the first time, surprising herself at how beautiful it sounded. Almost like her mouth was only made for saying his name. 

"So cute," he reacted, making her smile. Shivaay surely felt his heart flutter after listening to her. His name...it had never sounded so beautiful and precious to him until he heard it from her tongue. He smiled at her. 

"waise toh tum kaafi irritating, annoying, ajeeb lagti ho, par...cute bhi ho," he said, making her smile. They knew they were intoxicated, but it felt so good to just talk like normal human beings instead of fighting. 

*Flashback ends*

She heaved a sigh, though with a smile. She felt the weird sensation again, like she had been feeling since she emerged from behind the moon with Shivaay. 

This feeling was so alien to her. She had never felt this way for someone ever before, and she did not know what to call it. Yet the question was, why was she feeling this way for Shivaay out of all people? She would rather eat zeher with gajar ka halwa than feel something for that man, yet here she was. It was beyond her own understanding, really. 

She knew it would take her time to process her thoughts, and she couldn't wait to make sense of them. To understand, what was it in Shivaay Singh Oberoi that was making her question herself. 

The next day

Shivaay was absolutely restless. He had no idea why, but the fact that Annika had left didn't sit right with him. He never wanted her to go. He knew that she had to leave, afterall she had a home and a little brother to take care of, but despite everything he couldn't seem to bring himself to agree to her leaving.

That little moment that he had with her today, when she showed him the bangles that Mallika had left for her, along with the letter was still playing in his mind. 

That letter. A smile appeared on his face at the thought of it. Reading every word of it had done something to him, and he felt the sudden urge to like, be that person for Annika. The person who will help her find what she wanted, love.

It was funny, honestly. He didn't believe in the concept of love and yet, he wanted to do something like this.

Sometime later

Annika was setting up the bed for her and Sahil to sleep, with a very evident smile on her face that obviously didn't go unnoticed by her little brother. And being the very cheeky kid that he is, he knew that a certain kanji aankhon wala baagad billa was behind this smile of his sister. He did not know, though, what had ensued between them that she was thinking of him with a smile, and not a frown on her face. He didn't want his mind to think of anything too far-fetched, but his heart so desperately wanted his imagination to turn into reality.