I had to scrap out a few parts because this is again, 2300 words. Thank you to whoever read this❤️

●PART 2●

Shivaay looked again at his watch. It was time and there was no sign of her. He knew calling her was a bad idea. They were the hosts and he really needed her to be there on time. But he wondered why after all the time, he had hoped she would show some sign of punctuality. He was about to call Gauri up when he heard a familiar voice call him.

"Where the hell were you?" He asked crossly and paused. He looked at her for a moment. She was in a red satin gown that was in the same shade as his tie. She looked gorgeous. But then, she was late.

"I came here half hour ago." She pressed her lips together. She should have never agreed to help him.

"What? I didn't see you."

"That's because she was with me." Rudra came behind her and gave her smile. Shivaay looked visibly confused but no one was ready to explain how and where those two had bonded.

"Annika?" Jhanvi called out. The adoration for the girl was clearly written on her face. "I have a necklace that would look really good with your dress. Come with me." She dragged her away and Shivaay was starting to lose his cool. His whole family was going a little overboard with the girl who was only supposed to be there for that evening. He was already treated like a paraiya.

She descended down the stairs with some difficulty because she wasn't used to wearing such high heels. She knew she might lose her balance any time soon. She looked up when she saw a hand stretched out her. She saw him looking at the other side and not her; she had to roll her eyes. He wouldn't do anything nice by being nice. It was almost like he had problem with being nice with her. She took his hand and they came down slowly. Annika was a little taken aback with the camera flashes. She tried not to look baffled. She knew the Oberois were big shots; it wasn't like she lived under the rocks. But she hadn't expected media at an intimate business dinner. Shivaay pulled up a chair for her.

"Decided to be chivalrous again?" She asked with a smirk. He glared at her and went to take up the microphone and get the party started.

She had to accept he was very impressive. But no, she didn't like him.

"Having a good time?" Gauri asked as she came toward her with a long haired guy, whom she presumed to be Omkara.

"I guess. But I don't know a lot of people here." She shrugged awkwardly.

"Rudra said he will keep you company." Omkara scrunched his eyebrows and looked around. He spotted Rudra by the bar talking to who appeared to be the IPS officer Bhavya. He shook his head, Rudra was hopeless.

"Aren't they cute together?" Annika smiled as she said while looking at the duo. Omkara nodded and Gauri tugged him when 'Endless love by Lionel Ritchie' started playing.

"This is our song. We should dance O." She smiled at Annika and dragged him to the dance floor.

"Are you here alone?"

Annika turned to see a really handsome guy ask her. He had no blue eyes, but he was handsome. Blue eyes? She was sure not thinking of anyone when she thought that.

"Actually I'm here with Shivaay. But..." She saw him in a distance talking to a few people. "... he is a little busy."

"I bet he wouldn't mind if I borrowed you for one dance?" He looked at her hopefully. She was really bored and maybe one dance wouldn't hurt.

Shivaay leaned on the wall and watched Annika as she seemed to have a great time with some other guy who wasn't her date. He saw Gauri near the bar and stomped to her.

"Do you see what I'm saying? She has no manners." He barked at Gauri and stormed off. Omkara and Gauri were taken aback.

"Is Shivaay... jealous?" Omkara asked, slightly amused.

*

"Bade Bhaiya, are you feeling well?" Gauri asked as her eyes figuratively popped out of their sockets.

"Look..." He opened the message from his client Mr. Malhotra and showed it to Gauri and Mallika. "They want me to bring her as my date."

"Why would she come with you again Shivaay? We are reconsidering sending you both together. The guy she met in your party happened to be our client to. We were thinking of sending her with Sushant and you with Tanya." Mallika shrugged.

"WHAT?" He yelled. Looking at their expressions, he composed himself. "I'll be good with her this time. Let her and I start over. But I really need her to come with me because this is an important deal." He made a pleading eye that made everyone around him melt, and Mallika was no exception.

"Okay. I'll talk to her."

.

.

.

"You are very beautiful my dear." Mrs. Malhotra caressed Annika's cheek. The Malhotras were an old couple whose children and grandchildren were settled abroad. They always liked the company of whom they called 'happy people' to fight their loneliness away and Annika happened to be one of them. "I've always wanted a daughter like you."

Shivaay noticed how the statement made Annika tear up a little. She took breath and gave the old woman a smile, "I've always wanted a mother like you too..."

There was a little silence between the four of them before Mr. Malhotra spoke up, "Your parents...?"

"...are dead. I have no one except my work and my cat."

She gave a sad but strong smile as she said that and Shivaay knew that he was a complete ass because he had low-key insulted her on their first 'first' date. He somehow wanted to comfort her, but he didn't know how.

"Never say you have no one. You are our daughter Annika." Mrs. Malhotra scolded her. "Plus, you have our gentleman here for you." She smiled at Shivaay while Annika rolled her eyes. The couple went ahead to greet other guests.

"Did you roll your eyes on me? I expected you to be nice on our sixteenth date!"

"I've tolerated you for 15 whole times? Wow, I need an award!"

Shivaay pouted and Annika tried not to think it was adorable.

"I am supposed to be awarded, not you. I actually considered being nice to you. My fault, really." He said making Annika chuckle.

*

Annika got out of her car and walked toward the café. She knew it would be Shivaay waiting for her because there was no way Gauri or Mallika were sending those two to someone else. When she entered in, she was a little surprised to not find the otherwise punctual Shivaay. Instead there was another guy with a blue T and jean. He was fine, but he wasn't...

"Hi, I'm Arjun. You must be Annika. I must say, you look amazing in person. I liked you the moment I saw your profile." He pulled out a chair for her and she gave him an awkward smile. She just ordered some sparkling water because she somehow didn't want to order sugary milkshakes when she wasn't going to receive a cringe. She found it odd that he ordered a latte and not an espresso. Why? Oh nothing really.

Her date went well but she didn't leave. Her face immediately lit up. He went to the barista and ordered something, which we all know, was an espresso. He turned and his eyes met Annika's. He rolled his eyes and turned back to say something. He came towards her table and sat down.

"Why do I run into you on a nice normal day?" He scoffed.

"Well, your day shouldn't ever be nice. That's why." She smirked. He scorned at her but there was small smile on his lips. She saw the barista bring an extreme sprinkle cookie milkshake and a cup of espresso. She immediately took her drink and sipped into it and slightly moaned at the taste while Shivaay looked at her in disgust.

"Too much sugar, really. Do you workout enough?"

She glared at him, "Are you calling me fat?" He just shrugged and her tiny nose flared. "How dare you call me a cow?"

"When did I? Were you always such drama queen?" He rolled his eyes. And she rolled hers too.

.

.

.

He went towards his car. He hated her so much, he thought with a huge smile on his face.

*

"Wow, you are early? The sun must have risen in the west today!" Shivaay took his seat. He had a lunch date but he knew if he was going out with Annika, she would be late and the food would take time. So he cleared out his schedule for the evening. He sometimes didn't know why he went. But something kept him going back to her.

"I didn't expect you!" She scrunched her eyebrows.

"Do they send us to someone else at all? Sometimes I wonder if you are the only female client they have."

"That's not true..." She started speaking when a guy stopped at their table.

"Annika?" He looked confused. "Weren't we supposed to meet?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. There was a confusion I guess." She got up from the table while Shivaay made no efforts not to look baffled. They left and a girl sat with him.

"Hi Shivaay! I'm Tanya." She blushed a little and Shivaay wished he had eaten the lunch at his office's cafeteria instead.

*

It had been a couple of days since the 'mix-up' and he couldn't stop thinking about it. He was about to ask Gauri why they had changed his date and realized it was only because he had been cribbing about it. So, while taking his evening jog, he was thinking of ways to hint Gauri about the same. He heard a few sniffs from the park bench and he immediately recognized who that was. When he went and sat next to her, Annika gave him one glance and crashed into his chest. She started sobbing a little more while he rubbed her back and ran his hand through her tresses, mumbling reassuring words. "Annika, what happened?" He asked softly.

"They fired me!" She hiccupped. She looked up at him and said, "It was the manager's fault. But he put the blame on me and got me fired." She dissolved into tears again. He held her a little tighter, hoping to give her some strength.

"How long have you been sitting here?"

"From I guess 11 am."

"Gosh Annika, you haven't eaten? Let's get you some food." He took her hand and led her out of the park.

*

Shivaay was at the Cupid's bow, tapping his foot continuously as he waited for Mallika and Gauri to come out of their meeting. He saw the door open and Annika along with the two stepped out. He immediately rushed to them.

"Look, I cannot go on dates with Tanya or anyone else." He looked at Annika for a moment. He took a step forward and took her hands. "One date with Tanya made me realize that you are the only person I would want to go out with. And yesterday? I realized how much I needed to be there for you and it gave me the same rush that all my business deals give me." He saw Annika scrunch her nose, "Okay, bad analogy. But the deals are very important for me. I want to officially ask you this time. I want it to be proper because none of the previous ones were."

"Bade Bhaiya!" Gauri protested.

"I meant to say they were very casual Gauri, not up to Shivaay Singh Oberoi's calibre." He chuckled and Annika rolled her eyes. This man was very cocky.

"And I want to roll my eyes at you and see you do the same at me. So, Annika Trivedi, would you like to date me?"

She rolled her eyes but smiled, "Obviously. I was going to come to your office to ask the same. But desperate someone seemed to work faster." She smirked and Shivaay scowled.

"I missed my chance seeing you beg for me!" He faked an annoyed expression and broke out to a grin.

"Rudra is right, these two ARE weird." Gauri said as she looked back and forth at them.

"Normal people meet on the first date and go on a second if they liked the person. And these took what, fifteen?" Mallika was interrupted by Shivaay.

"Nineteen actually." He grinned at her.

"How do you remember the number?" Annika asked to which he replied, "Because I don't have a granny's memory like you." He flicked her nose and she rolled her eyes.

"Okay, 19 dates to even like each other. But we can't call them dates either..." Mallika paused thoughtfully.

"Yes, because this one he is taking me is our first date. Right Shivaay?" Annika looked at him and he nodded.

"But those were more first dates, right? Maybe we are the couple who went on 20 first dates!"

*
The End.
*

I know the ending is shitty but I didn't want to drag it.

And yes, thank you to whoever checked this book up!