Happy, happy birthday to the super talented, long term absentee from Wattpad arshi-suchi ❤️

Stay blessed, happy and the same cheerful girl now and always!
Here is a small dedication to you on this special day of yours!

Not giving prompts for this!

****************************************

"Annika" Shivaay barged into the room to find a dressed up Annika.

"Kyaa hua Shivaay" she asked, simultaneously applying her gloss.

"Hmm actually…" he stretched.

"You got an urgent meeting. So, I should go by myself. Am I right or am I right?" She asked casually. He smiled at how well she understood him!

"Sorry Jaan. I should have double checked already" he made puppy eyes and she simply chuckled.

"It is okay Billuji" she said snaking her arms around his neck. That was when an idea suddenly struck her mind.

"Billuji.. huh then may I…" she inched closer to him and began playing with his shirt buttons.

"The buttons are going to come off now" he teased, but it was only later that her words actually started sinking in his mind.

"No no no..not at all" he screamed, understanding what she was hinting at. She was taken aback for a moment and then looking at his expressions, her face immediately fell.

"Shivaay. Please Shivaay..pleaseeeeee" she literally begged him.

"No Annika. No means no. You have just started learning to drive..you are NOT taking the car" he said firmly.

"You have been saying the same thing for three months now. Not fair!" she pouted.

"I will keep saying that till I am personally confident. Upar se.. definitely not after whatever happened yesterday" he emphasized.

"Shivaay. This is too much! Why do you even relate irrelevant things like this?" She faked an anger.

"They are related. Look at your eye bags. You did not sleep properly last night, which means you will not be able to concentrate on driving" he reasoned, as though connecting the dots.

"There are so many other nights as well when I don't sleep properly because of you" she muttered under her breath.

"What? What did you just say?" He stared at her.

"Gosh.. you are unbelievable" she scoffed.

The argument however went on for another ten minutes, the only difference being it was at a higher decibel currently.
.
.
.
.

"Oh my maata. What is this? So much noise" Pinky was petrified.

"Choti maa. Looks like they both are fighting" Om who passed by, commented.

"If they don't fight only, we should be surprised" Pinky remarked and Om chuckled at that.

"Chalo. Let us go and check. Or else they will go on with this for the whole day" she sighed and walked towards the corridor near their room.

"Oh my maata. Don't understand when you fight and when you reconcile. But, it happens in loops everyday. Today, what is the matter?" She asked with her arms folded across her chest.

"Pinky Ma. He is not letting me take the car. Phir se, same reason" she whined.

"Keep quiet." He stared at her. "Mom, until I am really confident, I am not letting her take it. It is final" he said sternly.

"How long are you going to say this, Shivaay? Only if you allow her, she would learn. Shaktiji was better" Pinky took her daughter-in-law's side and Annika gave a winning smirk, but Shivaay did not budge.

"Annika. Chodo na. I will talk to him and convince him later. Now, isn't it getting late for you?" Pinky tried to divert the topic.

"No talking to me, mom. First, talk to her. She had those nightmares again yesterday. Did you try to convince her about whatever I told you?" He scowled and his mom gave an understanding look towards Annika.

"Omkara. You were going out, right? Drop Annika too. Or else, this is going to be a never ending show" Pinky sighed, trying to put a temporary full stop to the discussion.

"Good way to divert topics and run away" Shivaay murmured, stepping back into his room. He was anyway not going to stop asking about it until Annika agreed for the sessions with the doctor.

"You leave. He would be okay by the time you are back" Pinky adviced softly and convinced the slightly upset Annika, while she nodded in agreement.
.
.
.
.

"Om, is Gauri okay now?" Annika enquired as soon as they got seated inside the car. He handed over a cover to her, asking her to hold it.

"When I came to your room this morning, she was sleeping. Did not want to disturb her" she added.

"She is perfectly fine, Bhabhi. No fever or cough now. She was even going to enthusiastically cook today. I only gave her medicines and made her sleep" he explained and Annika giggled.

"But, honestly I do miss the chirpy Gauri. Don't know what happened after the function that day. She has been too aloof and gloomy" she expressed sadly and Om simply hummed. Going by his expression, Annika understood that there was something he was reluctant in sharing and let it go at the moment.

"Waise. What is this cover?" She questioned, as though changing the topic.

"Hmm. That is a photograph, Bhabhi. Thought of presenting a blown up image to her, on her birthday" he said hesitantly and she was amazed.

"Wow Om. Nice idea. We have a week. Let us plan something cool. But then, this cover seems slightly heavy. Lot of photographs, is it?" She questioned.

"No no. There are two more covers inside, Bhabhi. One with her documents. Today is the last date to submit them at the college. Since she is not feeling well, I decided to do it myself. The other cover has her older prescriptions. The blood report is ready too. Just that we need to get the medicines reviewed and collect the report from the hospital" He briefed.

"Acchaa..I will accompany you to the doctor. I just hope everything is okay" she sounded worried.

"Everything is okay, Bhabhi. They already informed me over phone." He assured her.

"Good then.. By the way, wow Om. She would soon finish her course. I am so, so happy for her." Annika exclaimed. "I like her determination whatsoever" she added.

"Hmm.. If you ask me, she is too adamant, Bhabhi. I am not very particular about it, waise bhi" he frowned.

"Come on, Om. She is like a sweet little sister to me. Don't say like that, alright" Annika remarked.

"Haha. I wouldn't deny. She has a lot of your traits. Specially, the ajeeb dictionary one" he chuckled and she glared at him, when her phone rightly buzzed.

"Haa Bhaiyaa. Oh, is it? Accha, no.problem. I will come there later. It is okay, Bhaiyaa" she smiled disconnecting the phone.

"That Nathu Bhaiyaa from Nilofer bakery. Looks like they went home for lunch and some relatives have come over. He would reopen the shop a little later only. Let us do one thing. Let us finish this college work first, Om" she suggested.

"Pakka?" He double confirmed.

"Of course. We have loads of time now" she smiled reassuringly.

As they made their way into the college campus, Annika was proud that Gauri had decided to complete her degree in distant mode and the entire family was supporting her, just like they had supported Annika herself, a few months ago.
.
.
.
.

After they submitted the necessary documents and sat back inside the car, Annika inadvertently placed the same cover Om had given her back on her lap, upside down, thereby causing the photo to almost drop down. Fortunately, she caught it on time, but the papers that all of a sudden fell out of nowhere caught her attention.

"Om, there are some papers inside. You have any idea what they are?" She asked skeptically.

"Papers? Inside the photo frame?" He blinked and she nodded, being slightly unsure. Anyhow, they decided to check what they were and Om thereby parked the vehicle at a corner.

"This place.. the name of this place sounds very familiar to me" Annika muttered looking at the name that was printed on the papers. She ran her fingers over her temple, not able to recollect it. Om looked at her quizzically. Few minutes later, her eyes widened in shock. She was not sure if she was connecting the right dots, but a strong instinct kept pushing her to do it.

"Oh my god, Om.. can you take me here, to this pl.. place?" She asked him hesitantly, pointing to the address mentioned on the papers.

"Bhabhi, but…" Although intrigued, he was still clueless on why Annika wanted to visit the place. But, even before he could complete, she cut him off.

"Please Om. Can you please take me here?" She pleaded, yet Om still appeared to be a little reluctant.

"Om, you don't want me to go for that therapy, do you??" She asked all of a sudden and he now had no option but to comply to her demand. He was not sure if the place and her sessions were linked by any chance, but he knew how painful and depressing the therapy was, for he had been a victim himself at some point of time. Taking some chances would not hurt, he decided!
.
.
.
.

Om stopped the vehicle in front of an old building, the same address which was mentioned on those papers. Both Annika and Om quickly marched inside and seeked a special permission to meet the trustee.

"Mam, Sir.. he will be back in ten minutes after prayer. Please wait here" A young girl suggested and just as promised, exactly ten minutes down, a man in his mid-fifties, entered the room.

"We need some urgent details, Sir. This is very important. Could you please help us with this?" Annika almost panicked.

"But, there was another person who was also going to enquire about the same thing." He said thoughtfully.

"Another person?" Om and Annika both blinked looking at each other.

"Yes, the person was supposed to meet me in sometime today. Will be here anytime I guess" he informed.

"Since this is a very confidential information, we are not really okay with letting it out. Only because you are the Oberois and you have a major role in making this place what it is today, I was okay to meet you" he reiterated.

"Ek minute. You mean to say the other person who was supposed to meet you is also an Oberoi?" Om tried to cross-check.

"Ji haa. That is why I was wondering why you guys did not come together" he was puzzled.

Om and Annika were baffled, nevertheless decided to wait and confirm who else was coming to the same place today. Afterall, it was their sudden plan to visit the place, but who could this other Oberoi possibly be. They began pondering on various possibilities when they heard a very familiar voice at the door.

"May I come in, Sir?!"

As Annika and Om turned towards the direction, the arriver as well as Om and Annika were completely astounded.

***************************************

This was supposed to be an OS only. But, I purposely stopped it here.

A little suspense is needed. Don't you think so?!

So, where do you think Om and Annika have gone now?

What do you think was there on those papers?!

And, who do you think that arriver is?!