I know you have all been waiting 😒 sorry for the delay! One reason being I did not quite like what I wrote, another that I was busy as always 😒

Anyway, without wasting time, happy reading 🙂

Dedicated to riyaaaravi mansal__ ishqbaaziiii  ishqbaazionpeak for the right guesses!

Others guessed the "same" movie, like really guys?? 😂 Even after knowing your writer??

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"Shivaay..." she called him hopefully.

"Mmm mmm.." he replied, his view still outside, as he continued to drive.

"Huh. How about we go to the beach? It's been quite sometime right?" she tried diverting him from the talk about the 'favorite movie'. She had least expected him to come up with such a punishment.

"Annika. Not today huh? I am tired after all that shopping you made me do!" he retorted. "By the way, that entire road would be blocked too! Remember, some carnival is going to be held there" he added.

"Why the hell did they choose that place for carnival?! Annika, like always, your mouth is your biggest enemy. Now, you are done with!!" she sadly thought to herself.

"Madam?? We have reached!" he announced for the third time in a row when she finally reacted.

"Huh?! Sss.. sorry Shivaay. Did not notice!" she said rubbing the back of her neck.

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"Accha chalo. Go change and come. Let's watch the movie" he exclaimed as soon as they entered home.

"Huh?! Okay" she gulped hard and proceeded towards the stairs when she heard him call her.

"Mmm.. Annika"

"Waah.. he must have changed his mind now, seeing my restlessness. He is so sweet" she thought while turning towards him.

"Woh actually.. mmm.. how did you find out? About yesterday?" he whispered the last part.

She simply smiled and began opening her handbag while he stood there wondering what she was upto.

"With this" she replied extending a paper towards him and he gaped. It was the same food bill that had been torn into a million pieces by him, the previous night. She had stuck them together with whatever remaining bits of paper she had found.

"Huh yeh actually.." he stuttered.

"I had gone to the terrace also in the morning, Shivaay" she added looking into his eyes. "I am sorry again" she said softly and he could sense the guilt in her tone itself.

"Oh come on! Let's end this sorry session with the punishment now. Go and change" he quickly came up with an excuse to deviate her.

"Huh??! Okay" she pouted sadly walking towards her room while he grinned at her reaction.

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"This Billuji na... he is too much! I thought.. I thought I could escape from his punishment. But then!!!" she paused when an idea struck her mind.

"Waah Annika! What an idea! Let me aaram se take bath and go. And by the time he changes and comes, I will sleep off. I mean, act like sleeping. And then, he wouldn't be able to do anything. Yayy. Wow. You are uber cool Annika" she patted herself proudly.

After a good twenty minutes, she walked out of the washroom where a big shock was awaiting her.

Shivaay had already changed into his nightwear and had set the room with dim light along with a popcorn packet for them.

"Shivaay.. you already chh.. changed?" she stammered.

"Haa..." he replied casually.

"Huh?! But how come?" she questioned him sharply.

"I changed in the next room, Annika. I was very excited about the movie, you see" he winked.

"What the hell? Who asked him to go to the next room? As though the shower in this room isn't working! Silly fellow" she smirked. "Annika, tum bhi na.. You should have turned off the tap's valve when you had been to the terrace this morning. Now see, how smartly he changed and came here already. He is so determined to punish me today" she kept thinking when Shivaay called her again.

"Come on.. sit down" he said pointing to the place next to him.

"Huh?! Haa.. coming" she replied slowly, went and got seated herself next to him on the bed.

"What movie, Shivaay?" she asked him softly.

"I told you already. Your favourite genre!" he answered bluntly and she simply glared. "I mean, 'our' favourite genre. It is going to be fun, Annika" he grinned switching on the TV.

As much as she was annoyed with his activities, his teasing did bring a smile and that usual blush on her face.

"He is so cute!" she thought when he snapped his fingers in front of her.

"Oye.. movie will start now" he said pointing towards the screen and she gulped. She came out of her fantasy world to enter into another genre that she regretted informing him about.

"Wh..what movie? N..Name?" she asked in a panicky mode.

"Grudge" he whispered.

"Of course.. I knew that" she sniffed dramatically.

"Hein?"

"Nahi. Kuch nahi. Movie name I meant.. Let's watch" her voice almost quivered.

"I knew it! I knew it was going to be a horror movie. Yeh Shivaay bhi na. Only relief is that... Atleast, he is there with me. But look at the co-incidence, grudge, oh yeah" she thought to herself sadly. But, to feel safer, she scooted closer to him without his knowledge.

As they began watching the movie, Annika kept involuntarily holding his hand tightly or pressing her eyes and face against his shoulders. The popcorn even spilled over the duvet once and he glared at her, though she was already completely scared and too much into the movie. When he tried to clear the mess, he could not, as she held on to his hand very firmly. He simply smiled and moved closer to her, while she held on to him even more tightly.

"Annika. That is not the ghost!" he said suddenly, trying to tease her. She turned towards him in an altogether panicky mode.

"Really? But then.." she stammered.

"That one is the ghost. See now" he said casually tilting her head towards the screen and she almost jumped and clinged to him, only after letting out a scream.

"Shivaay. enough! Switch it off please" she said with her eyes still shut and hugging him tightly, that even he could hardly breathe.

"It is afterall a movie" he tried convincing her, although he was loving that proximity. He was not sure if she felt the same way, but all he wanted was to live in the moment!

"Noooo.. Shivaay, I will never ever forget any promises and dinners hereafter. Pleassseee.. switch it off, pleaseee" she kept pleading continuously, after which he finally turned off the TV.

"The movie is almost over! And it is just a movie, Annika:)" he repeated smiling.

"It is ok. I.. I don't want to watch it" she pouted. "Let's sleep! Remember, you were tired" she reminded him with a sharp glare.

"But it is.."

"You have already watched it, right? That's it then. And, I don't want to watch it! Neither am I curious to know how it would end" she replied sharply. "Good Night" she added and lied down covering the duvet over herself, without waiting for another answer from him.

He simply smiled at her antics and switched off the TV and lights, before drifting to sleep. It was definitely an eventful day for him, as well as her.

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Sometime later, she woke up from her sleep only to notice that she was almost over Shivaay. Her breath hitched for a moment at their closeness. She had drifted closer to him in her sleep and he had been holding on to her protectively.

She noticed that he was in deep slumber when she looked at his sleeping form. She suddenly felt the urge to caress his beard.

"Annika. Cut your thought" her mind warned her.

"But why do I feel like I really want to, just once" she felt and without giving it a second thought, she gently caressed his cheek with one hand.

"What are you doing to me these days, Shivaay?" she whispered looking at his sleeping form intently. "And, too much, huh! How did you even think of such a punishment?" she wondered glaring at him.

Nevertherless, she admired how innocent he looked in his sleep. She got reminded of how he kept telling her that he disliked shopping so much before they had entered inside the mall, yet never complained even once after that until they came back home. She bent closer to him and placed a chaste kiss on his other cheek.

It took a few more moments for her to compose herself, although she wanted the moment to freeze. As she freed herself slightly from his hold after a few seconds, still completely blushing and turned to lie down properly on her side, her eyes accidentally fell on the TV screen and she gasped.

"Oh No! Why did I look there?!" she shut her eyes immediately. "Www..water! I need water" she gulped, but was shocked to find the jug coincidentally empty.

"Shivaay.. get up" she shook him, but he hardly responded.

"Shivaay.. uthiye na.. pleasseee" she shook him harder this time and he opened his eyes half way with great difficulty.

"Annika.. what is it?" he questioned her sharply.

"I want water" she pouted. "The jug is empty" she added pointing it towards him, before he could reply.

"Accha.. then go and take it na, Annika. I am so sleepy" he yawned.

"Shivaay... please. I am scared. Come with me!" she whined. "Please......"

This battle went on for another few minutes until Shivaay completely lost his sleep due to her constant pestering.

"Come" he replied half-heartedly. "This is too much, Annika" he complained as he marched down with her, while she simply smiled walking along with him, holding his arm.

"Don't be mad at me. Anyone gets afraid after watching a scary horror movie, alright?!" she pouted and he chuckled.

"I told you already. It is just a movie" he said and she glared at him for repeating the same thing and irking her. "Okay okay. Relax madam. Accha, now what would you do if the ghost came here suddenly?" he asked and her eyes widened in shock. But, quickly composing herself, she gave a broad smile which left him surprised.

"It won't come when you are there with me" she said huskily leaving him baffled.

"Shall we go back to sleep?" she snapped her fingers in front of him this time.

"You spoiled my sleep, so I am planning to give you another punishment" he replied quickly leaving her horrified.

"Shhhiv.. Shivaay. I want to confess something" she hesitantly brought herself to say it and he looked on. "My favourite genre is not horror, Shivaay"

"I know that" he grinned. "It is Romantic Comedy" he added and she was taken aback.

"You knew it already? And.. and you made me watch that purposely?" she scowled and he laughed.

"You are such a Billu ji" she smacked him. "But wait.. you said horror is your favourite genre too?" she questioned him back.

"Did I say like that? Think well" he smirked walking ahead of her, leaving her surprised. It took a moment for her to realize what he really meant. Blushing hard, she followed him behind. Besides, she was amazed at how well he knew everything about her!

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It was almost nine when Shivaay woke up the next morning. Luckily, it was the weekend. As he shifted slightly, Annika snuggled closer to him. They had begun watching TV quite late, since they had lost their sleep and ended up sleeping on the couch itself. She was lying close to him with her arms fully around him. He tucked her hair at the back of her ear when she slowly began opening her eyes.

"Good Morning!" he whispered into her ears.

"Good Morning!" she replied in the same fervour and continued looking at him.

She looked extremely beautiful to him, in spite of those drowsy eyes and dishevelled hair.

"Control Shivaay, control" he thought to himself. His sudden change in expressions left Annika puzzled, when his phone buzzed distracting both of them.

"Huh. My phone!" he said, pointing to the side table beside her.

"Take it yourself, Shivaay! I am sleepy" she replied lazily, rubbing her eyes.

He outstretched his hand to fetch his phone and when he pulled it back, it accidentally brushed on her arm, getting his senses out of control yet again.

"Ss..sorry.. it was by mistake" he apologised quickly and left the place even before she could respond.

"Huh??! What's wrong with him?" she blinked at his sudden weird behaviour. However, brushing off her thoughts for the moment, she went to freshen up.

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"What? Today? Today is Saturday, right?" Shivaay screamed, into his phone. "But.. okay fine. Okay" he replied curtly and disconnected the call angrily.

"What happened, Shivaay?" she asked softly as she walked out of their room.

"There is a meeting. Those Japanese guys never get tired of meetings. It's weekend and they spoiled.." he paused. He so wanted to say that they had spoilt their weekend plans.

Annika was surprised at Shivaay's reaction. He was the one who was so fond of organizing meetings and calls and now he himself was despising a weekend meeting.

"Shivaay. it's just a meeting, right! Go and come back. I will wait for you." She said enthusiastically.

"But..." he pouted and she raised her brows.

"Alright.. I will back in exactly three hours, okay?!" he said sadly.

"Go now Shivaay! Get ready. I will prepare breakfast and keep!" she had to almost push him and he mentally smiled at her typical wife behavior.

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It was almost close to four hours. Annika was busy preparing lunch for the two of them.

She was completely lost in the previous day's events. Right from the time she had entered into Shivaay's cabin to how he fed her lunch to their shopping saga till the movie night, things kept playing again and again in her mind, sending chills down her spine.

Shivaay returned as promised in a very happy mood and began looking for her. When he finally spotted her in the kitchen, he quickly advanced towards the place and hugged her from behind.

"Annika. You know we have done it! We have done it!" he almost jumped and she squealed.

"Shivaay?" she asked when he quickly withdrew himself. For a moment, she even thought she was imagining his presence until he abruptly moved away from her.

"Huh, ss... sorry! I.. I will change and come" he smiled sheepishly and left again hurriedly.

"What's wrong with him now?" she wondered again.

That was when she got reminded of the similar event from the morning.

"Is he feeling awkward or something?! Why did I not think of that?" she smiled facepalming. "Or, does he probably feel that I would feel uncomfortable?" she chuckled.

"Come on, Annika! Of course, you are quite comfortable around him these days. But, how would he know it?! You should atleast signal him. But, how could I? And, wait? Is that the real reason?! Let me find that out first!" she decided."Also, looks like he wanted to share some good news with me! Let me find out what that is, as well!" she thought walking upstairs towards their room.

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"You haven't changed yet?" she asked when he was busy with one of his files.

"Huh, got reminded of something. Was checking!" he replied, his eyes still fixed on the file.

"Oh.. waise, you were happy for something?" she asked curiously.

"Haa. You know what! The first phase of our project will be successfully completed this week." He replied enthusiastically.

"Wow Shivaay. Congratulations!" she stated cheerfully. "So, I am super smart. I was already prepared." She winked and he was perplexed. "I made your favourite Kheer" she smiled extending her arm from behind herself.

"Huh?!" he was bewildered and before he could react, she fed him a spoon of Kheer.

"Thank you" he replied, and his eyes turned into a deep bluish green shade.

"You wanted to say this only, downstairs?" she asked him softly.

"Mmmm.." he replied. She recollected the moment and got reminded of the similar moment in her hometown, when he had come in an all excited mood and hugged her from behind after getting this project, assuming that she was Priyanka.

"Oye.. why are you laughing?" he asked her.

"Kuch nahi. It's nice to see you all excited" she smiled biting her lips and left him surprised. "This is how you always express your excitement?" she teased him, looking intently into his eyes. For a moment, he got a wide range of wild thoughts.

Before he could think any further, her phone beeped this time disturbing their trance.

After reading the text, her eyes widened in shock.

As he walked closer to her, the name 'Pratik' flashed on her mobile screen.

"This fellow is definitely a villain" Shivaay mumbled seeing his name.

"Kyaa hua Annika?" he asked as he shook her.

"That wedding I told you. They have all arrived. They are planning to have one of the pre-wedding ceremonies on Tuesday , seems more like a family function. Not a part of our event. Yet, they want us to join them" she expressed sadly.

"Accha. Good na, Annika.. You can plan better, if you visit the place. That's the wedding venue too, right?" he questioned.

"Haa..But, it's too far off Shivaay. I don't want to go" she whined.

"Far off? But, you would anyhow have to go there right?" he asked her again.

"But then, I will have to come back all the way. It would take lot of time, Shivaay" she made puppy eyes.

"I will come and pick you up" he volunteered and she was bewildered.

"But.."

"That is ok, right?" he asked doubtfully.

"Absolutely.. If you are alright with it" she whispered as that was exactly what she wanted too and he smiled in assurance.

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It had been two days and Annika had been noticing how Shivaay was getting all the more awkward even during their unanticipated awkward moments. Although she smiled thinking of his weird behaviour, she also wanted to convey to him that she felt quite comfortable around him these days, but was not sure of how to express it.

"Obviously I can't say it directly. Should I give him some signal? Eww. Wouldn't that be even more strange?:)" she smiled when she noticed something.

She had come for the pre-wedding ceremony and had been taking notes of the kind of floral arrangements to be done on the stage. It was supposedly a proper arranged marriage. The bride and groom were seated on the other side of the hall, where the bride seemed to be very nervous and the groom was trying to pacify her.

"I am tensed, Raj" the bride told him.

"I am here with you. Just relax" he convinced the bride, Nia.

She got reminded of how Shivaay also had always been very supportive just like the groom, Raj. She recollected how her own wedding with Shivaay had taken place in a hurry and she slightly regretted the fact that she had missed such moments with him before.

"This Billuji is on my mind all the time these days:)" she thought smiling when someone called her.

"Hey Annika. You haven't changed yet? Go, change and come." Her friend Smriti suggested.

"What's the need to.."

"Annika. You have asked this like a million times today and I have replied to it atleast half the number of times" she glared. "The room is on the first floor, right side" she instructed her. Sighing, Annika left to change.

It was a simple ritual which seemed more like a Tilak ceremony to her, which was why she was not too very keen on changing. Moreover, they hardly had any work in the function and had been getting treated more like guests, which was the very reason using which Smriti had convinced her to change into nice clothes.

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"See, how pretty you look now" Smriti was awed looking at Annika who descended down the stairs.

"Beta.. From the time you came, you guys have been continuously working, even though we asked you not to. You also come, apply some Mehndi" the groom's mom who came there, suggested.

"No no aunty. It is fine" Annika respectfully denied.

"Arre. Come.. I will ask them to apply a simple design" she forcefully dragged both of them towards a group of people.

Although the Mehndi ceremony was planned a couple of days later, some of the relatives who had arrived were already applying Mehndi. Afterall, it was a destination wedding for them and the relatives also hardly had any work to do. The woman made them sit there and left to attend to her other relatives.

"It's been a long time, Annika. Wow, I love this" Smriti was overjoyed taking the place next to Annika.

"You want me to write some name on your hand?" one of the girls applying the Mehndi asked her a while later and Annika's eyes twinkled at that.

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Annika walked upstairs towards the same room where she had left her belongings. Shivaay would be there anytime and she had been eagerly waiting for him for the last few minutes. Just when she did not know how to kill the time anymore and that, Smriti had also gone to attend a phone call, she decided to set her things till he arrived.

It was sometime later that Shivaay reached and began looking for her, when Pratik rightly noticed him.

"Hey Shivaay. another coincidence" he smiled shaking hands with him.

"Hi Pratik" he replied, wondering in his mind as to how he always had to encounter Pratik, whenever he came to meet Annika.

"We keep bumping into each other very often these days" Pratik smiled, thinking Shivaay might have been invited as part of business friends circle of the family, owing to the fact that he was a leading businessman.

Luckily or unluckily, before Pratik could speak any further, someone called him.

"Beta. Come, let me introduce you to Mr. Mukherjee" a man in his early fifties requested and Pratik set to leave, suggesting to Shivaay that they would meet again soon, like always.

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Shivaay then began looking for Annika but in vain. He was clueless about any of the people around and was not sure that they would even know if he enquired about her using her name and continued searching for her all by himself.

"Sir.. are you looking for someone?" a girl who observed his activities, asked him.

"Huh.. the event planners who came. Any idea where they would be?" he asked hesitantly.

"Not sure where they are, Sir. But, there is a room allocated for them on top. You can try to wait for them there" she suggested indicating him the direction for the same. Thanking her and mentally praying that Annika should be present there, Shivaay began advancing upstairs.

Annika was done packing her things. Luckily for her, the Mehndi on her palms had also dried up. Just when she picked her bag and was about to step out, her eyes casually fell on the mirror.

"Oh no! Arggh.. How would I go now? Whom do I call?" she panicked looking at the reflection of her back. "I.. I shouldn't have worn this dress" she cursed herself.

Slowly, she walked towards the door and looked on either side to see if Smriti was around by chance, if not had to call her.

"I.. I should have worn.. worn a different dress" she facepalmed, when fortunately Shivaay walked towards that direction, looking for her. Her face immediately brightened, but for a moment, a slight uneasiness also set in.

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Wish you all a very very Happy Women's day 🎈❤️ Keep inspiring people around you 🙂

I am personally not quite satisfied with this chapter! But, did not find enough time to edit further and did not want to unnecessarily delay the update too 😒

Bear with me this time for this filler, we will be back on track in next chapter 😎

Now, come on guess why Annika is feeling uneasy 🤔

Hit vote if you liked the chapter and comment your guesses! I am excited to read your guesses 😉

Happy week"end" ❣️