Precious (Shivaay and Anika) Episode 19

Hello people! How are you guys doing? I’m sorry for being unable to comment on all the ffs that I read, and sorry and thanks to all my readers too, if there’s something that you don’t like much. The episode has both Shivaay and Anika’s point of views, and it’s longer too. The link to last episode is given below.

Episode 18
Episode 19: Precious

ANIKA’S POINT OF VIEW

“Yes. Beautiful”, he breathed. I felt like I was drowning.
What’s with him? Why is he looking at me with those wide molten blue eyes? I tried averting my eyes, but in vain. I shouldn’t have waited for him after all. He just wouldn’t tell me what he meant back then. “How do you feel about me, Anika?” he had asked. And I was just as shocked and clueless then as I am now. Somehow, I was so glad that he had shared with me such a beautiful and personal location. The moon was exceptionally bright today, making him look more unreal. Now I realized the definition of magical perfection. This was it. He seemed to have some kind of magnetic pull on me, due to which I couldn’t go away from him even if I wanted to.

The light breeze tousled his hair, and I was envious of it. The breeze had done something I couldn’t. A few strands of my own hair played in the wind, but I was afraid that if I move my hands, I might wake up from this perfect dream. He did it for me though, and his warm touch on my forehead surprised me. “It’s real!” I exclaimed. He was visibly amused. “Of course it’s real! Why wouldn’t it be?” I grinned at him and he caught his breath. I raised a questioning eyebrow and he shook his head in return.
After some time, he asked me again, “So, did you think? How do you feel about me?”
I took my time thinking about it.

His growing impatience bothered me more. So I decided to ask him a question in return. “Why are you asking this all of a sudden?”
“Just… I was curious.” What an answer! I could fry him alive for those short weird answers! And the more irritating part was when he waited for my answer with wide blue eyes and pursed lips. My answer was only partially true. “Well, there are times when I want to kill you, and there are times when I want to see you smile. I guess that’s what friends feel for each other, right?” I was playing safe but my half-truth sounded like a lie to my own ears. “Don’t you ever say the truth?” he asked with narrowed eyes.
I was taken aback by his reply.

My eyes grew wide with disbelief. He cocked his head to a side, smirking a little. “Let’s try honesty today. Okay?” Heat radiated from my face, which amused him more! He started walking again, and I matched pace with him. His left profile betrayed none of his emotions, but it did cause me to trip over my own feet. Luckily, he caught me before I could fall. I held the lapel of his coat for support. The proximity brought back the fluttery feeling deep in my stomach. I could hear my heart thundering and I wondered if he could hear it too.

“Be careful, will you? Disaster magnet!” He said the last part softly, obviously not intended for me to hear. He made me stand up straight, but left his hands on my shoulders. The slightly tousled black hair, the worried hypnotizing blue eyes, the parted light pink lips, those high cheekbones, the beard covering the arrogant chin, the straight nose, and the sharp arch of his eyebrows, everything about him was just perfect. He was too perfect right now. I averted my eyes, trying to look anywhere but at him. “You are the magnet”, I blurted out, without even realizing it.
His grip on me tightened for a second before he let go. “And you’re the disaster?” he teased. I could see the effort he put in to keep everything light. ‘Don’t go there Anika! Nothing good can come out of this. It’s just attraction. You’ll get over it.’ I tried making myself understand by chanting it over in my head. He bowled me over again as he said, “It’s just attraction.” I turned my startled eyes to him asking him in a rush, “Can you read my mind?” He was confused but then realization dawned on him, as blood rose to my cheeks. Again!

“You’re attracted to me too!” he exclaimed as if it was such impossibility! “Ummm… No…” my pride didn’t allow me to admit it. “I said let’s try honesty, didn’t I?” he was back to teasing again. This was the most infuriating part! I felt at such a loss, while he was so sure of himself! He became serious again, and stepped closer to me. I couldn’t move a muscle in my body and although we were too close to each other, I wasn’t uncomfortable at all. There wasn’t any hesitation in his eyes as he said, “Marry me, Anika.”

SHIVAAY’S POINT OF VIEW

There. I had said it now. I tried to understand what she was thinking, but it wasn’t an easy task. Her eyes grew wide, then narrowed, then fluttery. Her cheeks changed colours too. Under the moonlight, she turned lavender first. Then the colour drained out and I was worried that she might get sick. But she got back to normal soon enough. I started getting impatient, but when she opened her mouth to say something I stopped her. “You can take your time”, I said half-heartedly. I really wasn’t looking forward to spending a sleepless night if she said ‘no’.
“I’m sorry but I’ll have to say no”, she said softly. Without thinking twice I asked, “Why?”

“Who would say ‘yes’ to such an unromantic proposal? Plus, you don’t even love me! Why would you ask me to marry you? And if I do accept it, I know you will keep firing away at me for everything that goes wrong, without trusting me! Then, I won’t be able to take it.” Her rattle sent a chill down my spine. She didn’t even know how she had changed me! She went on for a little while more, while I thought of ways to make her understand that she was living in ancient history! She finally fell silent, and there was nothing but the sound of water from the lake and the gentle wind. I balled up my hands in my pocket and looked around trying to find the right words.

“You can still take some time. Think about it; discuss it with Sahil, if you want to. Ask me anything you’re not sure about. But I’ll ask you just once again, when I think you might say ‘yes’. I’ll wait till then. But Anika, I want you to know that I trust you. And I’m sorry for hurting you, but I need you by my side. All my life. And that’s the truth.” I gave her my most sincere look and turned to leave.
“Shivaay,” she said delicately. The name rolled off from her mouth like a ball of cotton candy, but hit me with the force of a hailstorm. I turned back to her, and the look she had on her face knocked out the air from my lungs. It must have been my imagination, but it looked like she was convinced with my speech. The pure, innocent, tender affection dripping from her features staggered me. “Are you mad at me?” she asked in a sad tone. I wanted to comfort her, and tell her that it was okay. Why did she feel sad after rejecting my proposal? Maybe she wanted to change her mind right away.

I squashed that hope before it started budding. Her reasons were just enough. So I settled for trying to bring back the million dollars smile. “Well, I just got rejected in less than one minute. What do you expect my mood to be?” I joked with a smile tugging at my lips. She laughed soundlessly and I was more than glad to see that. I smiled widely now and throwing a hand over her shoulder, I asked, “Allowed?” She looked up at me and shrugged.
We went back to our car like that and all through the ride we were joking and laughing about it. The silly girl kept asking me questions like since when I started liking her and why did I ask her now. I tried dodging all of them as if they were punches rather than questions. In all honesty, even though she had rejected me, I had never felt better. It felt as if a huge load had been taken off my back. I guess I was crazy after all, but now I knew how it felt to listen to my heart.

To be continued…