it's been quite long but I'm back for this one. please do comment so I know whether y'all are still interested or not.

--

buck up, girl

Annika had one of those small, electronic fountain-statues on the end-table near her bed since she was 14—a birthday present from her father. It was beautifully crafted, made from pure granite, the figurine of a young woman standing tall and pouring out water from her hands. Sometimes, Annika liked to leave the switch on throughout the night and have water flow down onto the slab before making its way up again. It helped her relax, and she could pretend like the soothing noise it produced was actually from the downpour of rain outside.

This evening, she needed the noise of flowing water in the background. Promising to Om and Rudra that she would somehow turn their brother into the Prince Charming she wanted had been the easier part of the job, but it wasn't something she had signed up for when all those years back, she had decided that she would go for an arranged marriage. She didn't know how to make a man fall in love with her. She didn't know if it was even possible to make someone feel things they refused to feel, and the mere thought that she would have to work hard to achieve the one thing that should come without a cost in a marriage—love from one's husband—made her feel anxious to the point where she thought she would throw up.

Thankfully, her disheartening thoughts were interrupted by the entrance of her best friend. Gauri's smile was enough for Annika's mood to instantly light up.

"What's up? You don't look too well."

"Well, I don't feel too well," Annika shrugged, making space on the bed for Gauri to sit. It had been two days since she had gone to Oberoi Mansion and had that conversation with her future devars, and since then that's all she had been thinking about. "I spoke with Mallika today."

"Mallika who?" Gauri asked, a confused expression on her face. Annika rolled her eyes.

"Shivaay's ex-girlfriend? I told you I got her number from Rudra, remember?"

"Ah, I see. Is she some ugly bimbo who was rude as hell and told you that Shivaay was crazy to have dumped her?" Gauri asked with a giggle, amused by herself.

"On the contrary, I stalked her on Instagram and she is stunning, not to mention was super sweet when I called her. My only question is, if Shivaay didn't fall in love with her, how will he ever fall in love with me?"

"Oh please, girl," Gauri scoffed, "You are gorgeous inside-out. But tell me, what did this Mallika person say?"

"Well," Annika crossed her legs beneath her and got into the story, "Firstly she congratulated me on the finalizing of the marriage. Then, because she thought I was calling to make sure Shivaay wasn't some abusive, misogynistic man, she started praising him and assured me that he was a great person."

"What?" Gauri laughed.

"Yeah," Annika giggled back. "I had to say her name thrice to stop her rambling. But then I asked her the real reason why I had called. Which was to ask if Shivaay really was 'incapable of falling in love'."

"And what did she say?"

"She said she wasn't really the right person to ask, because even though they had dated for a few months, they'd always been more like friends and their relationship really hadn't had anything romantic. But, from a friend's perspective, she said that Shivaay has a golden heart and just needed the right person to fall in love with. And, she also said that after talking to me, it seemed to her that the person was gonna be me!" Annika said gleefully, clapping her hands. Gauri rolled her eyes.

"So basically you're saying that Mallika was a dead-end?"

"Yep," Annika replied, leaning back against her pillows. "I don't know what to do, Gauri. Should I google 'How to make a man fall in love with you'?"

"As if you haven't done that already," Gauri said with a sickly-sweet smile.

"Fine, you know me too well," Annika grumbled. "All Google had to offer was how I should always dress nice, smell good, and make eye contact with the man. In that case, he'd probably go around falling in love with half the women he meets on a regular basis."

"Okay, listen to me," Gauri said, her voice turning serious as she turned to face Annika, making her sit up with a tug on her hands. "The first step is obviously getting to know each other. If he doesn't know who you are, how is he supposed to like you? You've only met twice, and even then, you guys barely spoke. So Anni, meet him and let him know the kind of person you are. The real you. No pretenses."

"But how do I do that?" Annika asked, tugging out her bottom lip. "He barely has time off from office work."

"Well, you have to be assertive, Anni! Take help from his brothers, his family, whoever. Just make sure you go on dates with him. And 'dates' in plural, okay?"

Gaining a little of the confidence her best friend was exhibiting, Annika took a deep breath and smiled.

"I'll do it."

"That's like my girl! And maybe in the process, you can plan for a double date with me and Omkara too..."

"Ew, Gauri, stop crushing on my devar!"

--

The deal with the top-most manufacturing company in Germany was taking up a lot of time of Shivaay's life. They were strictly punctual and liked to hold meetings at their convenience, meaning Shivaay was sometimes in his office till late night, on video-call with them. However, he really wasn't complaining. This was business and he loved every minute of it. Currently, he was busy going over the details of the project, reading each and every word carefully to find if any flaw existed in the contract, when his brothers walked in. His family members were the only ones who could enter his office without permission—even his closest friends weren't allowed that liberty.

"Hey, what's up?" Shivaay asked without looking up. He had a concentrated look in his eyes as he fiddled with the pencil in his eyes. In the crisp, white shirt with a black suit and the look of sheer determination on his face, he was the quintessential rich tycoon from the covers of business magazines. Just today, Forbes had published a piece on him as one of the most note-worthy businessmen of India.

"What's up with you, bhaiya?" Rudra asked as he settled down on one of the couches in the office. "You have such a beautiful fiancé now, but you're still busy with office work?"

"Well, technically she's not my fiancé yet," Shivaay replied calmly, not paying heed to Rudra's insulting tone. "But your point being?"

"His point is that you should spend time with Annika bhabhi, Shivaay," Om replied. "I mean, you two are going to get married. Maybe get to know each other a bit, before, you know. You're tied to each other for your whole life."

"I have too much work now, Om," Shivaay sighed. "I really don't have time to 'get to know' Annika at the moment. Besides, we're getting married anyway, aren't we? As you said, we're tied to each other for our whole lives. Plenty of time to get to know each other then."

While Rudra cried about how his eldest brother was so unromantic, Om tried reasoning.

"Shivaay, that's just very inconsiderate of you. Think about Annika bhabhi too, no? She's going to get married to a man she had no knowledge of. At least take her out to a coffee date or something?"

Shivaay put his file down with a deep sigh, before leaning back on his chair. His head was throbbing slightly, and he pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. He really needed a cup of espresso right now.

"Shivaay, listen to me," Om started, his voice softer now. "You've been overworking yourself on this deal for weeks now. It's really time for you to take a break. Nothing much, just ask Annika out for dinner tonight. We'll give you her number."

"Om, I really can't-"

"It's dadi's order."