When Annika Mehra is sent to take interview of the business tycoon Shivaay Singh Oberio, what she doesn't expects is that the CEO of the company to have a repulsive habit of drinking coffee, kaali coffee as she liked to call it. But what happens whe...
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The next morning, Annika was on autopilot mode, the night felt long, she couldn't go back to sleep after only being able to sleep for half an hour. And she ended up sitting up sipping coffee three in the morning, and she knew, within an hour, her dad would be getting the surgery. Radha had found Annika ready to leave the house as soon as she had come down the hall, assuming she wasn't able to sleep properly too.
Now they both sat outside the operation theatre, impatient as ever. Annika was sitting silently, playing with her fingers in nervousness. Radha did not try to make her talk, the silence was peaceful for now. Annika saw her mother from the corner of her eye, she was staring blankly at the floor, bags under her eyes.
How many nights have been sleepless for her? A wave of worry passed through her. How could she be so selfish that she hadn't bothered thinking about her mother's health. "Maa, since how many nights you haven't slept?" Annika asked, turning her head towards her. The question caught Radha off guard. How many nights? She couldn't remember.
"I don't know Annika, there are some nights when I couldn't sleep at all. But there are nights when I did get some sleep but since past few days, I don't think I have slept enough" She admitted honestly, but she regretted telling it as soon as the words were out, it would only make Annika more worried. "But I'm alright, there's nothing to be worried about" She tried to cover up.
"Maa, don't lie. I'm so sorry I wasn't here, I should have been here days ago, it's all my -"
"Annika, no. Don't blame yourself. His condition wasn't bad back then, it's only been three days, I didn't want you to get worried, I wanted to know the proper condition of Harish before I told you. And I did, as soon as I knew about it, I called you" A sigh left Annika's mouth. She rubbed her face with her hands, confused as ever. She felt drained and exhausted. Radha ran her hand over her head and rubbed her back, trying to calm her.
"Only a few more hours, he'll come back alright. I know" Once again, Radha assured her. She patted her shoulder, telling her to lie her head down on her shoulder and Annika did, her eyes closing as soon she felt heaviness in her head. "Maa, you need to sleep too" Annika mumbled, almost falling asleep.
"I will sleep Annika, I will once we all will get home" Annika hummed, not being able to stay awake any longer, she let herself fall asleep. Radha took a deep breath in, she looked at the time, one more hour to go.
━━━━━━━━
Annika was woken up by the noise in the corridor. Radha was still sitting as she was before, sensing movement, she looked down to see Annika was up and was now looking at the nurses who were walking by and making some noise by the strolly they were walking with. "Some more minutes and we'll know his condition" Annika heard her mother say and she nodded her head but felt soreness in her neck muscles.
She felt a bit of pain in her shoulder joints, she moved her hand towards her neck, massaging herself. "Do you need some ointment? Wait here, I'll get it for you" Radha was up before Annika could have stopped her. Too tired to go behind her, she let her go. Annika took out the phone from her pocket, she hasn't checked her phone since yesterday. She did inform Mrs Rai that she wouldn't be able to come to the office for a few days.
