a strong cup of tea and some late-night conversations

Although their son seemed impatient to leave, the other Oberois stayed well past dinner and only left when it was almost midnight and the senior men realized they had office tomorrow. All the family members had bonded quite well and seemed reluctant to stop gossiping over the endless chai and pakoda sessions but with the promise of meeting again soon, they eventually left for their house. Before departing, they gushed over how much they had all liked Annika and if all went well and the two children agreed, there would soon be a wedding in the families. As terribly as Annika's meeting with Shivaay had gone, she couldn't help but blush over that.

Albeit being exhausted after her long flight and then the visit of the Oberois, Annika helped her mom and choti ma clean everything up, along with Gauri who was staying over the night. They had a couple of servants, but Annika's mother usually liked doing things herself—a habit that had developed into Annika and her choti ma as well. After everything was done, Annika and Gauri made their way up to Annika's bedroom. Gauri was extremely impatient to know what her best friend had talked about with her prospective to-be fiancé and before Annika could even take her night-suit out of her newly arranged closet, Gauri had dragged her away and made her sit on the bed.

"Spill," She deadpanned. Annika knew this was coming and as the memory of their meeting at the balcony came back to her, she slumped down on the bed.

"It was terrible," She cried, face distorted with sadness. "Horrible. Absolutely NOTHING like I had imagined it to be."

This didn't come as a surprise to Gauri—she was her best friend for a reason and had already gauged Annika's expression after she and Shivaay had descended from the terrace. Overcome with sadness herself, Gauri made Annika sit up and wrapped her into a tight hug.

"It's okay Anni, shush. Relax."

Rubbing Annika's back to calm her down, Gauri let her sob lightly till she calmed down and unwrapped herself from the hug.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Gauri asked softly. Annika nodded, rubbing away a tear stain from her face that had appeared much to her chagrin. She felt stupid crying over something like this, but she also knew that in front of her best friend, she could express any sort of emotion over the most ridiculous of things.

"Do what," Gauri started, setting Annika's messed up hair, "Go freshen up and change into your night-suit. I'll go make some kadak adrak chai for us both and then we can talk. Okay?"

Grateful, Annika nodded, and they went off to do their respective tasks.

--

"....and then he said he had to leave. Just like that. No apology, nothing."

Holding the steaming cup of tea in her hands and taking small sips, Annika finished narrating the entire incident to Gauri, the two of them sitting on her bed with the comforter over their legs. Gauri listened silently, nodding here and shaking her head sadly there. She knew how contrasting this meeting was from what Annika had always envisioned and couldn't help but mutter curses under her breath for Mr. Oberoi now.

"Do you think he was just having a bad day?" Annika asked after a while. "And he's normally very sweet and gentlemanly?"

"Really, Anni?" Gauri rolled her eyes. "Don't defend him, girl. If a man doesn't find it necessary to at least pretend to be sweet when he's come to find a bride for himself, then there is something seriously wrong with him."

"Well, then there's only one explanation," Annika sighed sadly.

"Which is?" Gauri raised an eyebrow.

"He has a girlfriend," Annika shrugged. "He kept texting someone constantly and I told you, na- when I asked him if he had a girlfriend, he looked taken aback. Caught, in fact."

"Uh-uh," Gauri shook her head, "Not possible. I overheard Om and Rudra talking about how Mr. Oberoi had broken up with his last girlfriend because she was too clingy and annoying, and he hadn't dated since then."

"Well, what can it be, then?" Annika asked, almost on the verge of tears. "I'd like to think that I'm not so repulsive that just at first glance he decided he doesn't like me and hence acted the way he did. If he even found me remotely attractive, he would have complimented me, na? Or at least been a little nervous. But no! This man was a perfect robot sat there as if to discuss business with me!"

"Anni," Gauri laughed, "Calm down. And bitch please- it's not possible that any straight man will not find you attractive."

"Oh my God," Annika gasped, "He's gay!"

"Hello? He's had girlfriends, dumbass."

"Maybe he came to realize his sexual orientation just recently," Annika shrugged. "Whatever it is, I don't think we should bother. It's perfectly clear that he's gonna reject me so I'll just wait for the news when it comes and then accept the fact that my life is not going to go according to plan. Who knows, maybe the next guy mumma-papa select for me is gonna be Prince Charming?"

"Aw, my poor baby," Gauri took her best friend into another hug, and finishing their tea, the two girls chatted for a while more before falling into a deep sleep. It had been quite an eventful day, after all.

--

The next morning, Annika woke up at the ungodly hour of 9 in the morning. Gauri was still tucked into the other side of the bed, snoring softly. She was a heavier sleeper than Annika, which is why the hustle-bustle going outside the room hadn't woken her up. Annika, already fatigued with jet-lag and still disoriented with the time-difference, threw away the duvet with a cranky look on her face and went to open the door.

"Do you guys have to speak right in front of my room?" She asked, crossing her arms. Her mother and choti ma, and surprisingly even bua-dadi, weren't fazed by her rude tone. Instead, they giggled and came forward to hug her.

"Annika, beta, I'm so happy," Her mother gushed, her eyes slightly moist. So early in the morning, Annika was too unsettled to even try and figure out what was happening. Seeing her confused look, her bua-dadi spared the trouble.

"Shivaay liked you, Anni- he said yes for the marriage!"

Uh-oh, thought Annika, even as the women of her family hugged her frozen body, as she realized that Shivaay Singh Oberoi's distant attitude didn't have anything to do with her, but to the fact that this was the kind of person he was!

I know this is super short but this time it's not because of lack of time (although there is that) but because I wanted to end the chapter here. Hope you guys liked it :)