Shivaay Singh Oberoi's arrival had bee nothing short of the entry of a hero in the kind of movies Annika loved to watch. The accelerated heartbeat, palms sweating and mouth suddenly dry, accompanied by the buzzing of everyone around her due to the arrival of the 'star of the evening'. She had never seen her mother so nervous, fidgeting with one end of her saree while wondering how to react, and Annika would have laughed had she not been hyperventilating herself. His arrival was quite a daze to her, probably because of how she couldn't bring herself to look up and see him properly. The one glimpse she had had when he had just entered had assured her, however, that Shivaay Singh Oberoi was much more handsome than he looked in his pictures. This wasn't good for Annika's poor heart.

"Should I set out the dinner now?" Annika's mother asked a little after Shivaay's arrival. Annika had been a silent observer ever since he had entered and had been trying to listen in to his conversation with her father. They had mainly been talking about business, but she knew that her father would be judging Shivaay very carefully to see if he was the right man for her. Annika secretly hoped that her father approved of him.

"I think Shivaay and Annika should have dinner somewhere else," Jhanvi Oberoi, Shivaay's badi ma, voiced out. "They'll get to talk and know each other, that way. After all, we've met to consider the rest of their future."

Annika's cheeks heated up at that, her heart beating faster than before. The thought of finally talking to him, that too all alone, made her feel a knot in her stomach. From beside her, Annika heard Rudra murmur something along the lines of how he hoped Shivaay would behave himself, but she didn't pay much heed to it given the state of her mind.

"Of course, that will be great," Annika's bua-dadi replied. She was around Shivaay's dadi's age, and had been living with Annika's family ever since her husband had passed away two decades ago. She was extremely fond of Annika and Annika had never felt the lack of her own grandmother, thanks to her. When Annika met her eyes, bua-dadi gave her a wink. Annika mentally rolled her eyes at her fellow hopeless romantic.

Around 10 minutes later, Shivaay and Annika were seated in the terrace of the Ahuja mansion, on the comfortable wooden chairs covered with cushions. In front of them, a table had been set up with plates and other utensils, while a trolley was kept beside them, laden with all the delicacies Annika's mother and choti ma had spent the afternoon preparing. It had been raining earlier and the petrichor still lingered in the air, while a cool breeze blew by and gave the atmosphere a more romantic feeling. This couldn't get more perfect for Annika, even compared to all she could have dreamt of.

They sat there in silence for a couple of minutes, both not knowing what to say. Annika had been fiddling with her fingers while staring at them, and when the silence was becoming too awkward for the chatter-box that she was, she decided to finally look up. When she did, she was surprised to find that he was busy typing away on his phone, a concentrated look on his face. She frowned at that, and before she could stop herself, she blurted out-

"Texting your girlfriend?"

Uh-oh, Annika bit her tongue as he looked up sharply, that is definitely NOT the first thing you say to the person who can be your potential husband. Stupid Annika!

"Excuse me?" Shivaay asked, looking offended.

"I'm sorry, I was joking," She laughed, trying to wave it off. It didn't work, because he kept looking at her like she was some kind of an idiot. Shivaay kept his phone away and cleared his throat.

"So," He started, looking uncomfortable, "You just finished your MBA, I heard?"

"Yes," Annika replied. "I just came back from London today."

Shivaay nodded, and again, there was silence. Annika figured it was her chance to speak right now but couldn't think of anything. She racked her brain to think of something, anything, from her endless conversations with her friends on how her first meet with her husband would be, and even tried to recall all that was written in her big fat notebook, but her mind really wasn't working right, right now. Or working, period.

"So, what are your hobbies?" Annika asked. She thought it was a lame question, but anything seemed better that just staring around uncomfortably.

"Um," Shivaay said, taking the time to think of an answer, or so Annika thought. Apparently, he couldn't come up with anything.

"I mean, I used to play sports back in college, but business has kept me busy ever since," He shrugged, without any remorse. Annika was confused. How could one possibly not have a hobby? Regardless, she wasn't going to judge him based on that.

Annika waited for Shivaay to ask her what her hobbies were; she had quite a long list, consisting of dancing, watching Netflix, reading romantic novels with happy endings, amongst many others. The question never came. Instead, his phone rang, and he excused himself to go stand near the railing of the balcony.

"What?!" The sudden roar of voice made Annika jump in her seat, and Shivaay seemed to realize that because he turned away and lowered his voice. He was still quite audible, though.

"What do you mean they want to cancel the deal, Mishra?" He seethed into the phone, and Annika listened on with curiosity. "Is it because of the presentation that stupid intern messed up? Listen, I don't care what it was, but I want that deal, do you get it? And if they still refuse, get me every single detail about their company. I'll buy their shares and then ruin them." Without waiting for a reply from the other side, Shivaay hung up and came back to his seat again.

Annika tried not to let her discomfort show. The way he had just been talking on the phone...well, let's just say it was far from the 'Prince Charming' image she had conjured up for him.

"So, where were we?" He asked casually, as if they were businessmen discussing some issue rather than a man and woman met to decide whether or not they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. Annika took a moment to just look into his eyes instead of replying. She was hoping to see some sort of...shyness, there. Maybe a bit of admiration (she had made quite some effort in getting ready, after all). But she could only see confidence and...indifference. That made Annika's heart break a little. She knew she was probably being hasty in her judgement and maybe even overreacting, but for someone who had dreamt her whole life of this very meeting, this meant a lot.

"We were discussing your hobbies," Annika replied with a small smile. He nodded. His palms rested on the hand rest of his chair and he looked calm and composed. The exact opposite of what Annika was feeling. Wasn't he supposed to be fumbling, awestruck by her at first sight?

After a few moments of silence, Annika suggested they start with dinner. The tinkling of spoons against plates brought a sort of comfort by filling in the silence. They ate mostly wordlessly, except commenting on how they liked the food. Shivaay praised her mother and Choti ma's cooking which filled Annika with delight. She asked him if he was fond of eating and he replied saying he was fond of cooking. He didn't elaborate.

While they were eating, Annika took some time to check him out at leisure. He was impeccably handsome, no doubt, with that perfect beard and sharp jawline and fine-boned face structure. It was his eyes, though, that held her attention the most. She was almost tempted to ask him what exactly the color of his gorgeous orbs was but decided against it. When they were done eating, Shivaay suggested they go back downstairs.

"Already?" Annika asked, then bit her tongue. "I mean, I'm not sure the others are done eating yet."

Since this meeting had not turned out to be anything like what Annika wanted, she was hoping to buy some more alone time with him so that maybe something would happen that would at least make up for everything.

"Actually, I have a meeting to get to in an hour, so I have to leave," Shivaay said, making Annika almost frown at him. "It's really urgent."

Shrugging her shoulders, Annika started making her way down the stairs, him following behind. The families had just finished their dinners and were settling back in in the living room, and as the duo entered, everyone looked at them expectantly.

"I have a meeting in an hour," Shivaay announced. Annika could see most of his family members roll their eyes and even look slightly embarrassed, while her own family looked uncomfortable.

"But Billu," His dadi started, making Annika almost giggle at the nickname. Billu- how cute! "Didn't you have a meeting just before coming? This is so not done!"

"I know, dadi, and I'm sorry. But this is an important deal I'm working on right now, and I really need to be there."

"Well," Dadi shrugged, "You should apologize to Annika, not me."

Both Annika and Shivaay turned red at that, while the family members snickered at their situation. Turning to her, Shivaay awkwardly started-

"I, uh.."

"It's okay," Annika smiled, when it really was not. "I don't mind."

Nodding and almost giving her his first smile of the evening, Shivaay apologized to her family, took their blessings, and left.

As Annika sat down beside Rudra to chat with him, her eyes met Gauri's who was on the couch diagonal to her. As Gauri gave her a questioning look, Annika tugged out her bottom lip slightly. They had a lot to talk about.