The Making of a Fairytale

11| of all things clichéd

After her sudden but ardent realization of love, Annika was adamant about giving up this whole strategizing thing that they had been doing. Gauri wasn't particularly happy with this decision.

"But Anni, Jiju is not gonna fall in love with you just because you love him now!"

"I don't care," Annika was decisive. "I've decided that if he has to fall in love with me, he'll fall in love with the real me. No more of these stupid jealousy plans or whatever."

Gauri had then thrown a pillow at Annika's face and stormed out. Annika had only smiled. She did that a lot nowadays, smile. It had been a week since that whole club incident, and the night would just not leave Annika's mind. How Shivaay had beaten up that creep, how angry he had been, how concerned he was for her...

Annika sighed. She and Shivaay had texted a couple of times after that, but she was yet to meet him. Now that she was head over heels, the thought of meeting him made her nervous. But then again, she wanted to spend as much time with him as possible, so she was quite in a dilemma.

Maybe I should call him, Annika thought. It was Saturday and he would be free, so maybe they could go on a date.

Before she could overthink this and chicken out, Annika called him. He picked up after a few rings.

"Annika," He said, his voice sending a shiver down Annika's spine. "How are you?"

"Good," Annika said, clutching her pillow tight like a love-struck puppy. "And you?"

"I'm good too," He replied. There was a moment of awkward silence.

"Shivaay," Annika started, clearing her thought and garnering some confidence. "I was wondering, are you free today?"

"I am," He replied, quite hastily, Annika thought. "Why?"

"Do you want to go out?" She asked, heart beating faster in anticipation. "For dinner, maybe..."

"Actually," He started, and Annika's heart sunk. He was going to say no. "I was thinking, instead of going out, why don't you come to Oberoi Mansion?"

"Oberoi Mansion?"

"Yeah. I could, um, cook for you. If you want, that is. But we could go out if that's what you want..."

Annika's face broke into a wide smile. She remembered how Shivaay had once offered to cook for her, when they had gone to Ayaan's place, and he had perhaps been slightly jealous.

"Done," Annika replied. "What time should I be there?"

"8 PM?"

--

Annika reached Oberoi Mansion at 8.02 sharp. She walked in to find Shivaay sitting in the living room, scrolling through his phone.

"Hey," He smiled and came forward to greet her.

"Hi," Annika breathed out. It was so good to see him again. He looked so good and she loved him so much. Her heart felt like it would burst.

"Where's everyone else?" She asked, looking around.

"Oh, they've all gone out," Shivaay said nonchalantly, making Annika's heart leap in joy. "The elders have gone to some wedding. Rudra and Prinku are out with friends and Om has gone for an art exhibition."

Annika nodded. She tried to appear cool and calm and not let him see that she was actually, absolutely, ecstatic.

"So, what are we having for dinner?" Annika asked as she put down her bag.