"I really don't want to go back now!" Annika exclaimed as they drove back to Mumbai.

"We will come here soon sweetheart," Shivaay said. He did not understand what went wrong, because she was a little laid back now. He replayed everything that had happened the whole day, and pondered over the possibilities on why there was a sudden change in her behavior, but he couldn't put a finger on it. She kept throwing glances at him, after a point he had to ask,

"Spill it out Annika!" She looked at him hesitantly. "You can ask me anything. You know that right?" He reassured her and she slowly asked,

"Why is this special, Shivaay?" Shivaay frowned a little before answering,

"Why would it not be Annika? I mean, it's you after all. I mean, we are getting married and..." Shivaay stammered, not knowing how to tell her and what to tell her. He never really gave a thought to the 'why' aspect. He did what he felt was the right thing to do. "I don't know actually, but I do know this is special Annika!" He admitted. He looked at her, she seemed to be lost in thoughts again. He wondered what was going on in her mind.

She turned to him and smiled, "I understand," she said and looked away again. To change the air around them, Shivaay said,

"That was the best kiss I've ever had!" He tried sounding sexy, but that seemed miserably shy to his own ears, he regretted saying that immediately.

"Okay," Annika said with a mischievous smile and turned away. She tried really hard to suppress her laughter.

"That is all you have to say? Okay? Just that?" Shivaay asked furiously and Annika kept a perfect poker face and said,
"I've had better."

Shivaay muttered something incomprehensibly and stepped hard on the accelerator. Annika couldn't hold it in anymore."Aren't you the cutest Shivaay?" She said amidst laughing.

"I am not cute! I'm sexy" Shivaay said sounding like a 5 year old. That made Annika laugh more.

"You know what, you are cute! You are... Billu!" She gleamed making Shivaay scowl.

"Okay stop. Dadi calls me that, you..." Annika giggled this time and Shivaay gritted his teeth. Why did Dadi come up with an embarrassing name only for him?

"That is true, but you know what I'm gonna call you? Billu Ji! " Annika replied cheekily making Shivaay pull over. He turned to her and in a deadly voice said, "Don't."

Annika started laughing again. How did that not work out! Whenever he used that tone on anyone else, they would shiver in fear. And here was Annika, who was just laughing at him. He glared at her, surprisingly, that made her laugh even more. Nothing worked on this woman!

"Okay, I'll cut some slash. I won't call you Billu Ji in front of others! But that is all I can do," She said as she pitied seeing Shivaay frustrated. He shook his head, well if this is what he had to settle with. He started the car again and drove silently for a while, he heard Annika's snickers time to time, which he chose to ignore.

"So who were the other guys?" Shivaay asked, trying not to sound annoyed.

"There was a guy from high school, then Jake Michael in first year college, the French guy Archard Dubios and there was Daksh. Then came you..." Her voice trailed off.

"So the best kiss was that French guy?" Shivaay asked. Annika chuckled and shook her head. "So, the high school one? because that was your first kiss?" He asked and Annika muttered a 'no'. "Oh, Jake or Daksh?" He asked curiously, she again shook her head and winked at him. Shivaay was confused, who else could it be! The epiphany made him overjoyed that the man she meant was him. With a small blush on his face, he pressed the accelerator harder, this time because of the sensation that tied his stomach into knots.

Annika got down the car after they reached Advani Mahel. It was almost mid night, they had their dinner on their way. Shivaay cribbed so much on eating in a dabba, but gave in as he knew there was no way he would win an argument with Annika. She went ahead and stood before Shivaay. She still didn't know what the future held for the two of them, she still didn't know if Shivaay would ever look at her and their relationship more than just a 'responsibility'. But, she knew Shivaay would try, and so would she. Whatever pace they were going for seemed to be just about right. There was a kind of gleam in his eyes that sent shivers down her spine. He looked at her like she was the only person in this whole damn world, that did send her back to confusion. He pulled her close and gave a peck on her cheek when they heard someone clearing their throat. Both stepped back and turned to see Vijaynath who was standing there with the warmest smile. Annika shifted awkwardly because she did not expect her dad seeing someone kiss her. Even if she was 27, she felt like a little girl around him. She immediately went and stood next to her father, who looked at her with a teasing smile. Her dad was such a troll, she was sure she would have to hear about this for the next three days. She was surprised when her father stepped to Shivaay and gave him a hug. She was not sure what her dad told Shivaay, but he replied "Ji Papa". It felt nice to hear him call her father 'papa'. Shivaay bid them both a goodbye and got into his car. Before leaving, he looked at Annika's retreating figure and smiled to himself.

"Anni, did you have a good day?" Vijaynath asked his daughter, where she nodded in affirmative. She seemed to be in her world of thoughts, he knew by now that this was a little serious. Though Annika would never agree, she was more like Amala than Vijay, an over thinker. Annika was definitely one of those people who needed clarity before anything else, so she always analyzed everything to the T. Vijay never knew how to convince his little one that life didn't work that way, she needed to let things flow in its own pace sometimes. "I'll make you some herbal tea and let's talk for sometime okay?" Vijay said as Annika climbed up the stairs. She nodded and went to the balcony.

As they sipped their tea, Vijay spoke up. "Anni, you know back in our times, the arrangement of these type of marriages were very common. I know now you might feel that we are imposing this relationship on you (Annika shakes her head) I am your father Annika. I know you better. All your life, every decision you took, be it from the clothes you wore or you career, was solemnly your choice with your options. But you were always held back by us when it came to relationships. Even if you won't ever agree, that was the reason your so called 'love life' didn't have men last more than a month. When the Oberois came here with the rishta, I wanted to tell you that if you didn't want this marriage, you won't have to do this. But I changed my mind when I met Shivaay. Something about him made me step back and think. I'll be honest with you, I hated him until last week. I understood where he came from, but somewhere he did hurt my princess. Now, you both seem to fit!"

Annika moved her chair closer to him and hugged her father. "Papa, you know you are the best father in this world right?"

Vijay hugged her back and said, "I know you are good at balancing all the relationships in your life. But I did want to give you a talk. Annika, Shivaay is not a man of words. His actions speak volumes, but the man is always short in his words. I don't know him of course, but I see myself in him. When your Mumma and I got married, you know we did have lot of problems right? That was all because I didn't voice out anything to her; I just assumed she would know. You see, sometimes Shivaay's behavior might confuse you. But never ever jump into conclusions without giving him a chance. Also, sometimes you might feel he doesn't talk to you much. It does not mean that he isn't interested in you, he just needs a nudge to make him talk." Sensing the heaviness in the conversation, Vijay playfully added, "And next time, look around before you let him kiss you!" He chuckled making Annika blush partly because she was shy but mostly because she was embarrassed. She kissed her father a 'good night' and retired to bed. The whole day' occurrences kept playing in the back of her mind. She involuntarily touched her lips, though considering that Shivaay and Annika had known each other only for a short period of time, the kiss did not feel rushed at all. She took her phone out, without thinking twice she texted him.

Annika- Missing you already :(

(5 mins later)

Shivaay- I'm stuck here with Om and Ru. Save me from them honey!

Annika giggled to herself and called him. She heard him say, "Hello Mishra, yeah the video conference... I'll join immediately. Rudra, I have to go! Yes, tell me about the deal with the steel plant (pauses) okay then.

" Annika was laughing the whole time, she went quite when she heard the door shut with a thud.

"Thank you so much Annika! You are the best!" Shivaay exclaimed and sighed as he sat down. The way he said that made Annika's heart swell with pride.

"So?" Annika dragged the word and Shivaay said the same imitating the way she said it.

"Annika, can you send me a picture of your room?" Shivaay suddenly asked. "Now, where did that come from?" Annika asked suspiciously. After Shivaay pestered her by repeating 'just send', she sent him snaps of both her room and her study. "Okay thank you! Gotta go, bye." Shivaay immediately cut the call, making Annika frown. Talk about confusing behavior! She pulled her duvet and went to sleep.

"Didu wake up! Waaaakkkkeeee up!" Annika woke up and threw a pillow on Bhavya who was trying hard for the past 15 minutes to wake her sister up. Gauri smiled and brought in her sister's favorite 'Hibiscus tea' which's aroma made Annika immediately wake up. Gauri wondered how her sister drank all these weird type of teas, while she was the fan of 'adhrak wali chai'. When Annika came back in all freshened up, Gauri and Bhavya looked at her expectantly. She told them about everything and showed them all the pictures they took. Gauri sent the pictures to herself, while Annika had a plan to take the first step of 'Mission RiKara'

"Ri, will you send all the pictures to Om? The point is, Shivaay didn't want me to send Om the pictures because it seems they teased Shivaay a lot. Om doesn't lie, so if I send them, he would tell Shivaay the truth. Please send it from your phone? Okay? Thank you! I'll go bathe!" Annika ran off to the bathroom not giving Gauri a chance to reply. She did not know if her reason was feasible. She peeked out to see her sister hesitantly typing something one her phone.

Step 1, a check!

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