Tu muskuraye har jagah

37

[Annika - A, Shivaay - S, Gauri - G]

S: Chanda!

Shivaay banged the door. Annika came out upon hearing his voice

A: Why are you banging the door?

S: Chanda asked me for my phone and locked us inside.

A: What nonsense!

Annika checked the door, it was locked. She looked for keys

A: She took my keys. What is wrong with her? I'll call her

S: I'm pretty sure she took your phone as well

S(in his mind): So this was your plan Chanda. Now Annika is stuck here with me. She'll have to talk to me.

A: That little minx took my phone and the spare keys that were in my bedside drawer.

The doorbell rang and a note slipped inside. Shivaay picked it up and handed it over to Annika since it was addressed to her. She read it out loud.

"I have your phones and I'll take messages if you get any calls. The door is locked and it will open tomorrow morning when Gauri comes for your therapy session. Sort out your issues. Don't be upset with me. I'm done playing referee between you both. You are mature adults, act like it. And Annika, if you think you can trump me by staying locked up inside your bedroom the whole time, then there will be consequences - Chanda"

A: The nerve! I'm going to kill her tomorrow. Rohit is young, he'll find love again. I'm going to burn her in hot oil and make fritters

S: Sheesh! Enough with the violence.

A: You be quiet. Tell me honestly, are you in on this? If I find out later that you lied then you'll also go in that oil

S: No, I swear. I did not know she was going to do this

Annika looked at him skeptically but something about his eyes convinced her

A: I believe you

Annika walked into the kitchen to fix some dinner for the two of them. Her left arm was still in a brace but the stubborn woman was not going to take help from Shivaay. She opened a cupboard and tried getting the container of flour. It was too heavy for her to get it out with just one hand. Slowly she raised her left arm upwards and held the container. As soon as she applied pressure to get a good grip, pain jolted through her left arm and she screamed.

Shivaay came running. Annika stood there nursing her shoulder

S: What happened? Does it hurt a lot? What am I saying, of course, it does? What were you doing?

She pointed toward the flour container

S: Are you stupid? You know you can't lift stuff yet. I'm here right? You should have asked me.

A: I don't need your help. I can take care of myself

S: Yeah, I can see that (sarcasm dripping in his tone).