"Annika bua, Gauri bua, Bhavya bua!" Little Sahil called up as he came up huffing and puffing. His Amala choti dadi could have called them before she had come down, but then, if she did so, Sahil would be jobless, right? There were many work didis in the house, but if they had sent them, Sahil would not have any work right! He never understood why his family was draconian to a six year old. At least his dad could have volunteered, but he sat with the elders to talk about, what was that, stoc...stuc... stick market! Even his friends had better things to talk about!

"What is it little boy?" asked the pehelwan bhaiya who scooped him in his arms. "Aww Bhabhi, he is so cute!" He gave a sloppy kiss on Sahil's cheek! Eeewww!

"People don't kiss grownups! And don't you have manners? you can't lift up a person without permission. And who is a little boy? I am six years old" Sahil said lifting his head up making the rest six laugh harder. Uff! Adults have a weird sense of humor!

"If you are done laughing, they called all of you downstairs. The Pundit Ji has come for kun... kudyi matching!"

His Gauri bua chuckled and came forward to pull his cheeks. Another thing he hated about all, especially aunties, who just pulled his cheeks mercilessly as though it belonged to them. Old words like 'hello how are you' were still okay to greet people, but they never seemed to get that! Oh no, methinks Annika bua is sick, look at her face, it's pink... wait even Shivaay fufa's face is too! Guess they are catching the deadly contagious common cold!

If only little Sahil had known, his pyaari bua and fufa were on the verge of catching amor, deadly nevertheless.

"The bride Annika Advani and the bridegroom Shivaay Singh Oberoi have a perfect match of kundalis. On the early morning of their wedding day, they have to perform a puja to the dusht grahas who are not for this alliance. However, none of it is likely to cause any major problem. But..."

"But what Pundit Ji?" Amala asked worriedly. They had matched both their kundalis without those twos' knowledge, and it was perfect! What was with the 'but'?

"The only good muhurat for them to get married is 27th of October or else they can only get married after two years!" The pundit exclaimed making Shivaay and Annika look at each other. One month was too soon!

(Me-Weren't you both talking about kids a while ago?)

Two years Shivaay? Annika asked in her mind looking at him, Shivaay shook his head and looked at Dadi who started telling the Pundit, "According to Billu's kundali, shouldn't he get married by 30 Pundit Ji? In two years, he will be 31. His next Guru path is coming only when he is 43, and that is too late!" Dadi exclaimed making Pundit recheck the kundali and he nodded in affirmative. He hadn't noticed while he was trying to match them, but our kidkithod Dadi seemed to have heard our wishes! God bless Dadi and of course Shivaay's kundali!

"So Billu and Annika will be getting married in one and a half months! And they will be engaged next week. Time to split up the duties as we will be busy for the next month!" Dadi declared. Annika and Shivaay looked at each other worriedly, however, their hearts reached a level of serenity as the two pairs of eyes reassured each other. One and a half months it is!

"Bhavya Puttar, you take care of Annika's attire, and Rudra you help Bhavya with Shivaay's as you understand his style better. Ranveer beta, care of the sangeet and mehendi functions' themes and all that. Prinku beta, you arrange the chorographer for sangeet. Gauri puttar, you take up the music and decorations, and Om you take care of catering..." While Dadi went on giving responsibilities, Om's heart sunk a little. Rudra didn't even like Bhavya and he had to work alongside her. While Om would be happier beyond words if he got to at least look at Gauri the whole day, he got catering of all the things! What did you think Om, fate was that nice to you? He thought with a sigh.

Priyanka peeked to the side of Ranveer only to see he was completely ignoring her lost in his phone. Probably texting Riya or Shruti...or whatever! Well, though they studied in the same University, he was Ranveer Advani while she was just Priyanka Singh Oberoi.

Shivaay poured in a glass of water and gave to her, she drank it profusely like her life depended on it. "How, just how will I talk to him without mentally ripping his head off from his body Jiju? Dadi HAD to choose him right?" Bhavya exclaimed, while just a few feet away from her,

"Bhabhi, I know she is your sister, and I really like you Bhabhi. But... I have problems in liking her, the point is, I hate her. She finds fault in every single thing! If she ever complains to you about me screaming at her or cursing her, I am sorry in advance," Rudra said, with dramatically joining his hands together in a namashkar. But what Annika and Shivaay failed to notice was why these two did not refuse the whole thing.

Vijaynath made an excuse to his wife that Annika had gone to change into something comfortable for dinner while she had gone to take up the video conference. His wife was always OTT and was extremely strict whenever it came to Annika's work. Sometimes, a mother due to all the love and care, failed to understand her children's need better than a father could. He knew Annika would excuse herself to Mr. Fischer and come back down, because his daughter did know what priorities were, but Amala wouldn't let her do that too. His Annika was a careful player, she made sure the world saw her how she wanted them to see, the real her was well hidden inside. His eyes were fixated on Shivaay who was constantly looking up the stairs, hoping Annika would come down. Vijaynath hoped that Shivaay would see Annika beyond her camouflage sooner...

As Apollo rode his chariot across the sky spreading the hues of red and orange across the horizon, chasing the darkness of the night's sky away, hiding the moon until the time was up, Shivaay slowly shifted in his sleep. There was a small smile on his lips as he mumbled something incomprehensible. After a few hours, he woke up as glaring light entered in through the window. He checked the time and it was almost eight! Shivaay was an early bird, he never overslept unless he was sick. But yes, he hadn't slept so peacefully in a long time. But he didn't know that just across his room, there was his brother who did not sleep a wink.

Yes, it was Omkara.

He just stood by the balcony thinking about a certain someone. At times he wondered which color suited her, and other times he thought about which was sweeter, her voice or honey? Did Goddess Parvati descend on the earth as Gauri, declaring the norms of a beautiful person? Or was Gauri the challenge to the Goddess herself! Did Koel ever get jealous of Gauri, because she snatched away its position from being the sweetest bird in the planet? He wondered. Her pale skin with a little freckle on either cheeks made her look very cute, or even the way Gauri would unconsciously touch her popping pimple or twirl her already curly hair! All he thought was about his chiraiya! She was his, his heart danced and said to him, when he saw a small "OM" tattoo on the side of her neck. It was because she believed that it was a sign of reassurance that her Shankar Ji would always be with her! True, he would, for, what was left for Shiv Ji without his Shakthi? What was left for Omkara without his Gauri!

Priyanka walked pass Ranveer who was sitting on his Harley, surrounded by four girls. She had to roll her eyes on that. But she wondered how Ranveer and Rudra were really similar! Both were the last boys in their families, hence they were spoilt brats. Both were well known players! Ranveer still came to the Uni to meet all the girls... Though she was younger than Rudy, she was concerned. She needed to talk to her mom regarding Rudy bhaiya.

Shivaay had to accept it was difficult for him to think straight, he ended up wondering through the meeting what Annika could possibly be doing? Was she thinking about him like he was thinking only about her? Did she even think about him? Was she nervous about next week like he was? He didn't know the answers, but he knew one thing, he wanted to talk to her! He was muddled between texting her and calling her -above all- he had butterflies in his stomach! Oh quit behaving like a teenager Shivaay! He manned up and decided to call her, on the second ring, Annika picked up,

"Hey Annii..." he was interrupted by a hurried Annika,

"Shivaay, kinda busy now, mind if I called you back?"

"Oh, it's okay!" He replied and heard the phone go off without even a bye. She must be really busy Shivaay... He brushed it off.

It had been 7 hours, 44 minutes to be precise, since he had called her. It was late in the evening and Shivaay was perturbed!

What happened to Annika?

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