Shopping for her bridal dress was more difficult than Annika had thought it would be. She, Pinky, and Jhanvi had been at it for almost a week now, but they were nowhere near selecting one. Annika knew she was being a little too selective: there were lehengas that both her mothers-in-law had approved of, but Annika had had to reject. At this point, she didn't care if she was coming off as being defiant or even rude. The bridal lehenga was of extreme importance to her and it had to be absolutely perfect. Annika had a very rough idea in her mind of what it had to be like, but couldn't exactly pin it down. After days of going to all the high-class designers in Mumbai, Pinky and Jhanvi decided they were done with this. They would hand this task over to Shivaay. Annika, of course, didn't think Shivaay would actually agree to it, but he was at her house one Saturday morning, smiling and looking handsome as always. Annika was not looking forward to this. She had gotten annoyed with herself in the past few days for not being able to select a goddamn lehenga. God only knew how Shivaay would react. Regardless, they were off to a fashion house that was owned by a friend of Shivaay's. Annika did not think anything would come out of it because she knew this company rarely worked on ethnic clothes, but agreed to give it shot when Shivaay suggested they go check it out. In the car, Annika brought up a conversation she had been hesitant to start.

"Um, dad went through the contract thingy," She started, not looking at him. "He says it looks fine."

"Oh, great," Shivaay replied. "Did you sign it?" Annika nodded and took the paper out of her tote bag. She kept it inside the glove compartment for Shivaay to take later. She didn't want to talk about it anymore. Even though her dad had assured her that it wasn't a big deal and that it was just something a lot of hotshot families did these days, Annika wasn't entirely okay with it. The only reason she had signed it was because it did have logic behind it and she didn't want to make a mountain out of a molehill.

"Are we up for next Saturday, by the way?" Annika asked. She was pretty excited about her birthday. Damn, she was very excited. She had told all her friends that she would be celebrating with her fiancé and wouldn't be able to meet them. In fact, Annika already had a few things in mind that she and Shivaay could do on that day. That is, if Shivaay didn't have anything in mind already. That was an exciting prospect.

"Yes, of course," Shivaay smiled. He didn't say anything else, which made Annika wonder if he did indeed have something planned for them. She glowed inside.

Soon, they reached the boutique owned by Shivaay's friend, Karan. Karan himself was out of the city but his staff was overly attentive. They showed the couple around, giving countless unnecessary details on how this saree was embroidered or that lehenga was made. Shivaay seemed impressed, but Annika found their collection quite distasteful. She didn't voice it out, of course.

"How about this one?" Shivaay pointed towards a mannequin. It was wearing a peach pink lehenga with small glittering stone all over. Annika scrunched her nose.

"It's nice but...not shaadi material."

Shivaay only raised his eyebrows in question.

"I mean," Annika shrugged, "I'd just really like for my wedding gown to be red in color."

"But ma'am," One of the staff members interjected, "Red is kind of out of fashion these days. Brides are beginning to explore different colors for their bridal dress, and this particular shade of pink is very in." She said almost sardonically, like she was explaining fashion to Annika. Annika internally groaned. She was tired of explaining to people that she didn't care about some stupid trend. She needed her dress to be red and that was the end of the discussion.

"I get what you're saying," Annika said with her best sickly-sweet smile, "But I just really want mine to be red." From the corner of her eyes, she saw Shivaay covering his mouth with his fingers to hide a smile. Annika rolled her eyes.

An hour later, they left the boutique, as close to buying a bridal dress as they had been before entering the store. Annika had brought that pink lehenga though, but only because she didn't want to leave the place empty-handed. She would just give it to one of her cousins to wear at the wedding.

"Where to next?" Shivaay asked as they got into the car. Annika sighed.

"Shivaay, you really don't have to do this," She told him. "I already feel bad that I dragged Pinky aunty and Jhanvi aunty through all this. They were adamant that someone from your side should be involved in this whole process of buying my lehenga, and I really appreciate the fact that you agreed. But trust me, you really don't have to do this. It's going to take me a lot of time to decide on the perfect one because I will be very choosy about it"

Once Annika was done rambling, she turned to Shivaay and saw smiling widely. It was refreshing to see but Annika looked at him questioningly.

"Sorry, it's just," he explained, "you look cute when you're rambling."

Annika blushed a deep red. She yet had to learn how to take compliments from Shivaay.

"And Annika," he continued, "I'm actually kind of glad that you're being choosy about the dress? You know, it reassures me that my bride is truly interested in getting married to me."

Annika scoffed. "As if you didn't know that already."

Shivaay laughed. "Well, I just want you to know that I am equally interested as well, alright? So I don't mind shopping with you."

Annika grinned. He was equally interested, huh? Annika wasn't going to believe that, but she let it go. Being as interested as her would be a difficult feat for anyone to achieve. She had dreamed about getting married since forever.

"But tell me," Shivaay continued, "do you have a specific kind of dress in mind? Because it seems like you do."

Annika sighed and told him her sad story. She had so many specific details in mind on what shade of red she wanted, what kind of neckline for the blouse, etc, but it just wasn't coming together as a whole. Shivaay seemed to find it amusing and again mentioned that he found it cute to see her be so fussy about the dress. Annika huffed.

"I remember someone telling me I wasn't cute when he came to my house," She remarked, crossing her arms.

"I think you remember it incorrectly, actually," Shivaay said in a serious tone. "The someone mentioned that you weren't just cute, but more than cute." He explained his statement with an elaborate hand gesture.

"Well," Annika tried to hide her grin, "he didn't specify what exactly I was, so that isn't really a compliment."

Shivaay didn't make an attempt to hide his chuckle. "Maybe he will, one day." Annika could only wonder when that day would come.

While waiting at a traffic signal, a young girl approached their car to sell red roses. She was on Shivaay's side, but he had his sunglasses on and didn't even glance at her. Annika's heart started beating faster. If only Shivaay would look to his right and buy her a goddamn rose. He had gotten her flowers before, but an impromptu rose like this had a different romantic charm to it.

When it didn't seem like Shivaay was going to make a move, Annika cleared her throat.

"Pretty roses."

"Huh?" He looked at her. Annika pointed towards the window. The girl was still standing there expectantly. Young couples were after all the best prospective buyers. Shivaay briefly looked her way before turning to stare ahead.

"Yeah, but they must be so unhygienic," He shrugged.

"Really?" Annika snorted. "That's a concern?"

"Well, yes," Shivaay replied in an obvious tone. "I try not to buy anything from the streets. You don't know where they've been." Annika rolled her eyes at the man's obsession with cleanliness. If there ever was a virus outbreak, he wouldn't have to worry. Taking matters into her own hands, Annika gestured the girl with the flowers to come to her side. She opened her window and paid for all the roses. However, she took only one. The girl thanked her with the brightest smile and hurried off as the cars started moving. Caressing the delicate petals, Annika placed the rose on the dashboard.

"This is for you," Annika said, "but you don't have to touch it or anything. I'll just leave it here."

Shivaay stared at the rose for a while, before glancing at Annika briefly. Turning his eyes to the front, he removed one hand from the steering wheel and casually picked up the rose. And just as casually, he placed it inside the front pocket of his white shirt, a small smile playing on his lips as he drove on.

–––––

Annika was honestly done with her best friend. Gauri was crushing hard on Om but so far, she hadn't made any progress with him. He was busy with some upcoming art exhibition, and Gauri hadn't been able to muster up the courage and ask him out lest he gave the excuse of 'being busy'. Hence, Annika was her only hope.

"Please arrange for a way I can meet him, Anni," Gauri whined. "Let's go to Oberoi mansion and you can tell Shivaay that you wanted to surprise him!"

"I met him only yesterday, idiot," Annika pointed out. "Surprising him like this will look too desperate."

"But I am desperate!" Gauri cried. "I just wanna see that jatadhari's stupid face and kiss his stupid mouth and touch his stupidly soft hair!"

Annika sighed. Whenever Gauri crushed on someone, it was pretty intense, but with Om she had reached another level entirely.

"Okay fine, I'll do something," Annika relented. "Ooh, how about we all go for a movie?" Annika suggested. "I can ask Shivaay and tell him to bring Om and Rudy as well."

"That sounds perfect!" Gauri squealed. "You're the best Anni," She threw herself over Annika to give her a hug, but Annika dodged it in time. Gauri's hugs could get a little overbearing at times.

Dialing Shivaay's number, Annika waited for him to pick up. He was quick.

"Hello?"

"Hi," Annika smiled a little shyly, making Gauri giggle. "I was wondering, do you want to go for a movie tonight?"

"Oh, I'd love to," Shivaay said a little too quickly. "What time should I pick you up?"

"Mm, 7?" Annika suggested.

"Perfect, I'll be there."

"Oh, and Shivaay? Could you ask Om and Rudra as well? It's been long since I've met them. And Gauri is joining us so we could all hang out."

"Oh." Shivaay paused. Annika wondered if he sounded a little...disappointed? "I'll ask them. I'm sure they'll be excited to meet you."

"Perfect, see you then!"

Hanging up, Annika grinned at Gauri.

"Ready to meet your jatadhari?"

This time, Annika wasn't quick enough to avoid her hug.