” Gauri? Soul sister?” Questioned Shivaay. ” Mmm..yes . Even though we don’t have blood relation, she is my chotu sis” replied Anika cheerfully. Shivaay looked admirely at Anika , he understood how much gauri influenced anika’s happiness. ” Anika ? I’m sorry, I’m not trying to pry , but can you tell me more about you and gauri?” Asked Shivaay. He wanted to gather every single information regarding his Anika. ” You’re not prying , I’ll tell you anything you want to know ” she said giving an ear to ear smile. Both of them was aware of what a personal conversation this was . They had only met for few weeks , but it didn’t feel strange somehow . A special bond developed between them . Without even their knowledge they where slowly falling for each other.
Anika rested her back against the wall , cleared her throat in a filmy andaaz which made shivaay shake his head in disbelief and then she rolled her eyes , gave out a sigh , placed her hand over her hips and she was about to do one more thing while shivaay interrupted ” Anika… You are just showing me your past memories, and look at you ?.. you are behaving as if like you’ve got a speech to tell in a competition. Behave normally and speak out ” said shivaay annoyingly. ” Bhaagad billaa” murmured anika under her breath.
Shivaay looked up.. ” did you say something?”. ” Did you hear anything?” Backfired Anika. ” Will you start today .. ?” Questioned Shivaay. She nodded her head , blew away the strand of hair fallen over her face and started . ” Gauri’s maa and my maa were childhood friends. So, eventually me and gauri shared a sisterly bond right from our childhood.after the demise of my entire family and gauri’s father , her maa became my guardian. Later on, I was taken into custody by sahil’s parents. After their death, sundari bua stepped in to make my life a hell. But now everything Is sorted , bua left us and legally me and Sahil is now under the guardianship of gauri’s maa.” After Anika finished , she noticed shivaay. His expression was gravely serious. Seeing that anika chuckled ” billuji… Your expression is just like Mughal e azaam’s Akbar. What’s wrong ” asked anika as she threw a pillow at him. ” Nothing” he said . Anika hestitated , wondering weather to push it ” No, there is. I mean , if you don’t want to share it’s all right, but I can feel something wrong ” said anika as she shrugged her shoulders. There was a long pause . Finally shivaay gave a soft laugh ” are you psychic Anika ?.. how can you feel when something is wrong ” he said. Anika giggled and what Shivaay wanted to do was pull her into his embrace. But he controlled. ” How can you be so strong Anika ?.. you lost your family, suffered soo much , still.. you find happiness in chotu chotu things . I can’t imagine a moment without my family and brothers ” he let out a breath, Anika could see the conflict in his blue grey eyes. She stood up , ” shivaay.. that was my past , I have to move on. Let me tell you something and keep that in your heart always .. past is a waste paper , present is the newspaper and future is a question paper and don’t let the past make your future a tissue paper.” Said anika. Shivaay stood up and took anika’s hand, squeezing it . Finally, he let out a long breath . ” Yes, you’re right ” he said softly. Without another word, Shivaay’s arms were around anika , they hugged tightly for a minute. They pulled apart and shivaay placed his warm hands over her cheeks , cupping her face in the process. Neither of them spoke . Anika stared at shivaay. His eyes were very steady on anika’s. But… Both of them started to smell something burning. ” Is something burning” asked a confused anika . ” Who cares ” said shivaay who didn’t want their moment to get ruined. ” Shivaay !! Iam serious ” said anika faking anger. Shivaay shook his head and wondered in his mind ” why ?? Why always with me? “. Anika started searching around to find the souce of burning smell. Both of them went downstairs and they noticed that the TV socket wire got burned and the spark has ignited the surrounding curtains.
Realisation stuck over shivaay , raita toh uski wajah se pheilla. It was him who poured the coke over the hot TV socket plug causing the entire disaster. If he wasn’t soo jealous of virat kohli , it wouldn’t have happened. While they were busy upstairs in there own world , the ignition spark was doing it’s work downstairs. ” Anika !” Shivaay’s voice almost harsh as he gripped anika’s shoulder ” I’m sorry, but we have to get the hell out of here “. They rushed outside. Shivaay immediately dialed the fire brigade. *. ” It will take almost two weeks to get everything renovated.” Said shivaay as he passed on a bottle of water to Anika . ” Wait a minute.. how did my house catch fire ?” She looked up wiping away the sweat . Shivaay was in a dilemma, he couldn’t say the truth , because if he did, then anika will end up knowing how he became a jalkukkad. Shivaay shrugged ” how do I know ?” He lied swiftly. ” The point is.. where will you stay for the upcoming two weeks .?” Asked Shivaay to divert her attention. ” I don’t know. Thank God Sahil is in boarding school.” Said anika as she wondered what to do next. A chilling thought came in Shivaay’s mind ” why don’t you stay with me?.. I mean .. with me and my family., At oberoi mansion?” Asked Shivaay with great expectation. Anika bit her lip , thinking something seriously. Shivaay was eager to hear a yes from her mouth . ” Billuji… That’s a good idea. But I’ve got a better idea. I’ll stay with gauri !. That version is better ” said anika as she jolted up and dialed down gauri’s number to say about her coming over to stay at her house. Shivaay stood there motionless cursing his bad luck. *************.
” Who is Gauri, om?” Asked jhanvi . ” Oh my mata … A girls comings to stay here omkara ?” Asked a bewildered pinky. ” Mom.. Choti maa ! Don’t make fuss !. She works for me . Soo i want her over here for art gallery works, it’s just a matter of two weeks” said omkara, trying the best to convince the elders, specially his Choti maa. ” Okay, we don’t have a problem om. Even I would like to see you with a girl ” said jhanvi. ” Mom… It’s not like that . We are just friends ” said om, shaking his head with great disbelief. ” Friendship is always the starting Om ” joked Rudra . ” Will you shut up ?”. Said om. Just then shivaay entered with great disappointment over his face. ” What’s the whole noise about ?” Enquired shivaay. Rudra came jumping towards Shivaay and announced the news ” OM’s girlfriend is going to stay with us for two weeks “. ” Girlfriend?” Echoed the voices behind. ” Rudra meant she is a girl and a friend of mine ” corrected omkara. Jhanvi’s face fell, she expected more. Shivaay felt happy for OM’s luck and felt miserable for his badluck. Shivaay didn’t know about this friend of om, not even her name , but he always heard omkara saying about a innocent girl in his art gallery. Just then , OM’s phone ringed up, as expected it was from gauri . Om rushed towards a corner and started his conversation which didn’t last for more than 5 minutes. He came back to the hall , ” guys, her sister is also coming since some renovations is going on in her house ” said Omkara . ” It’s okay putter, everyone is welcome over here ” assured dadi. ” Okay , everything is sorted out then. They will reach here by 9 in the morning tomorrow” disclosed omkara.