Shivika SS: Agar Tum Saath Ho...(Completed)

Chapter 4

Annika:"Ignorance is a bliss Shivaay...you can at least live in a bubble and be happy thinking everything around you is perfect..."

Shivaay:"perfect..."

He scoffed...

Shivaay walked over to the window and turned to her...

Shivaay:"perfect..."

Anybody who heard him say it would have been insulted by the tone he used...but there was a tinge of pain in it...and Annika caught it...

Shivaay:"I'm surprised that you find this family perfect Annika...it is anything but perfect...maybe our scales don't match in this regard..."

Annika:"Shivaay...I..."

He turned to away from her...

Shivaay:"maybe it's because you have never seen what it was like in our childhood...Tej Singh Oberoi had a bloody mistress...that man was as you say a chantomai..."

Shivaay said laughing...but the pains was evident in his words...Annika walked over to him and hugged him from behind...

Shivaay:"had a gharwali and a baharwali...Svetlana had been with him as his "Personal" Assistant since forever..we didn't know what it was back then...but only thing we noticed was that whenever.she used to slither in with bade papa, badi ma would fight with him  and would drown herself in liquor...Om, Rudra and Prinku each carry the scars of that...they used to watch them fight and would cry..."

Shivaay:"And my parents...I don't know if my father even cared I existed...I never heard him say anything other than "Bhaisaab please..."trust me the first time I heard it...I cried in happiness knowing my father could speak after all..."

He was laughing at his own joke...while tears pricked Annika's eyes...

Shivaay:"and my mom...Pinky Singh Oberoi...I was her prized possession...her hera betta...her ticket to a coverted position in the house as the mother of the "Vaaris" of the Oberoi clan...she only cared about the marks I scored...about the prizes I won...about the deals I cracked...about the money I earned...it was always about money...power...money...power..."

He slammed his hands into the wall...the glass panes of the window shuddered...

Shivaay:"Honestly Oh My Mata- ed my life you know..."

Shivaay:"And the fights between Mom and badi mom...and those between papa and bade papa...we used to keep a score board as to who was leading..."

Shivaay:"we kids had a father who never looked under the bed to check if any monsters lurked under it...and a mother who  never kissed us before we went to sleep...they never asked us if we had our food...there were days when we went to sleep hungry...they never asked us if we were alright...if somebody was bullying us at school...?if we were happy...Nope...they...never...cared..."

Annika made him face her...she cupped his face...

Annika:"Shivaay..."

Shivaay smiled...

Shivaay:"I started cooking to make sure that my OmRu and Prinku had food...no matter what the drama at the house would be...we would go to the kitchen..our own private heaven...stand on a chair to reach the kitchen counter...because we were so small...and cook something...sing...dance...enjoy our time...we used set the fire alarm on every hour back then..."

Shivaay:"Rudi and Prinku were so young...I became their Daddyvaay and Om became Mommykara for the kids...they said bhaiyya before they said mom, dad...I became the great wall of Shivaay...for my brothers and prinku first and then to the whole family..."

Shivaay:"I worked hard and became a businessman because my Om, Rudi and Prinku could be whatever they want to be...so that they can be free to make choices...that nobody would force them to do something they don't want them to...and if they become Something it would have be because they want to...not because they are forced to..."

Shivaay:"only thing that is perfect in our life is our Dadi...Dadi guided us...our rocking Dadi...she kept us together...she said stories to us...tucked us in when we slept...sang to us...played with us...made us drink kada when we were sick..in fact...she became our life...the life of ShivOmRuPri..."

Shivaay saw Annika blinking away her tears...He hugged her tight and laughed at her for whimpering...

Shivaay:"I never expected a happily ever after for me Annika...I always knew I would be have a marriage of convenience...a business deal...love for me was so overrated...something that happened only in movies...but then you happened, my love...And my life transformed...you made me see things that I never saw before...you made me feel things that I never felt before...it was magical..."

Annika heard open mouthed as Shivaay poured out his heart...

Shivaay:"we both are scarred...and that changed our view points towards life...we are realistic...but then Destiny or something awesome brought us together...things changed...our outlook changed..."

Shivaay stopped and thought for a second and added...

Shivaay:"but I'm not sure if I can get romantic ever in rain without fearing either of us getting sick...and you can't get romantic in rain without thinking about the damage the rain will cause to our dresses..."

Annika punched him slightly laughing...

Annika:"hey watch it...I worry about us getting sick too...but honestly this 50,000 ki slippers, 3 lakh ke dress, and 1 lakh ke bag really gives me the willies..."

Shivaay laughed at the expression on his wife's face...He pulled her closer and whispered...

Shivaay:"And about us being perfect my dear wifey...we may not be perfect as individuals...but together we are perfect...The perfectly perfect Shivika..."

Annika:"Awww..."

Shivaay:"Meine bhari bharkam 100kg vale dialogue bola aur tum ne bola "aww..."...?"

Both of them laughed remembering that incident...

They stood in companionable silence watching the pool through the window. ...Something that happened rarely as far as Shivaay-Annika were concerned...They weren't the silence speaks kinda couple...they were more the kind of shaka laka boom boom couple...always talking, fighting, screaming, scratching, clawing, thod-phoding, pani pheking, kinda couple...They couldn't stay quiet even a second...

But similar to how Shivaay knew that along with actions Annika needed verbal assurance too...that.she needed to hear his love for her along with his actions...And more so, for her to trust him with her pains...he also knew she needed space...and that he can't force her to open up...he wanted her to make the final move...to reach out to him...

Shivaay felt Annika fidgeting by his side...this was her battle...to decide if she needs to tell him or not ...and sadly he couldn't help her with that...

After almost 10 minutes of internal conflict Annika took a deep breath...

Annika:"Shivaay..."

Shivaay didn't say a word..he just nodded to let her know that he was listening...

Annika:"I failed in my promise I gave to my parents to keep my sister safe...My Sister Chutki died because of my selfishness...And I couldn't do anything to save her..."

And she broke down in his arms...