Hi guys! I’m sorry for the delay as I had been travelling, but now I’m back. Let’s begin with the episode, and I have a kind of feeling that you may find this one boring. The only example I can give to justify this is “the calm before the tempest”! I have mentioned the point of views in caps as I had received a suggestion, and I have also included a precap since I found it necessary for this episode. Also, there’s a small note for the readers at the end. I hope you don’t dislike this episode! 😉
Episode 5: Precious
ANIKA’S POINT OF VIEW
‘I was gonna have a problem-free day today!’ I said to myself with confidence. Puffing up my lungs with air and full of positive thoughts I entered the Oberoi Mansion. I got the home kind of feeling here, as if it was my family here. Just then I saw Billuji and I forgot all that I had been thinking.
“Good Morning, Billuji”, I said, still full of my recent positivity! “Good Morning”, he almost sang. I avoided asking him anything, believing that he’ll avoid it like last night. I went straight away to Dadi, where I also found OmRu talking to her. It seemed as if they were waiting for me. I was greeted with three shining smiling faces which immediately put me on an alert. “Just tell me. I want to know everything”, I told OmRu. “Anika, sit down. How are you now?” Om asked.
I plopped down on the floor right across them, near Dadi and almost whined, “Om, I haven’t been able to sleep all night. All kinds of weird thoughts and bad dreams were chasing me like ghosts! I can’t take more of this suspense.” “Shivaay didn’t tell you?” they seemed surprised. I noticed Om’s eyes move and looked towards the door instinctively. Billuji was leaning against the door casually with a weird expression on his face. “What?” I asked self-consciously. “I’ll tell you all that happened. The only condition is you won’t ask anything until I finish. If you do, the deal’s off. No one will tell you anything. Agreed?” “Done”, I said confidently. I never knew that it was an infinitely difficult thing to do!
SHIVAAY’S POINT OF VIEW
Ha! I can’t believe it! Although I was gonna edit the story and just tell her the jist of all that happened, she had made it much easier for me. And honestly, it was such fun. To put it simply, remembering all that had happened was not easy for me. But this would be interesting. I settled myself with Dadi on my right, OmRu on my left and Anika right in front of me. “Shall I begin?” I asked and she opened her mouth to say something but caught herself just in time. She nodded at me with narrowed eyes and I went into flashback.
SHIVAAY’S FLASHBACK
That morning I had woken up to the vibration of my mobile. The sky was painted in various hues of the dawn and the clock said something around half past five. A private number flashed on the screen and I picked it up after a few rings. “What made you deliberate for so long, Shivaay Singh Oberoi?” The shrill voice was toned down to a coo. “Who are you?” I asked the obvious question. “What makes you think that I’ll answer any of your questions?” she retorted with defiance. Before I could say anything else, she said something that scared me for a second. “You love your family, don’t you? And if my sources are to be believed, there’s this girl whom you consider family as well. What’s her name? Ah, yes! Anika. She seems to be your family’s personal bodyguard now, doesn’t she? Saving all of you every time I tried killing you people.” The venom in her voice was palpable. The hatred in her words coupled with that weird tone worried me. I had to work to keep my breathing normal and my anger under control. “Let’s see, how much of a family she is to you. I must say, I’m very eager to meet her myself. But it wouldn’t be nice to disturb her sleep, would it? I’d rather steal her from you, and see you helpless. All the best, SSO!” I was shocked into numbness. No, this couldn’t be happening. Not her! But the call couldn’t be complete without the cliché evil laugh of the villain. And that did it. I jerked into action, thinking of all the possibilities in which she could be in any danger. I told Khanna about all that she had said and asked some guys to keep a watch on her all day long. I took all the necessary precautions to keep everyone safe, it could be a trap as well. I got my room debugged and then told Om about it too. I was worried sick until she came, and when she did, I felt so relaxed. Her confidence diffused into the air like perfume, but she kept on looking around. “Who are you searching for?” I asked out of sheer curiosity. “You”, came the reply.
*FLASHBACK ENDS*
ANIKA’S POINT OF VIEW
“Some mystery woman called me and threatened me directly that she’ll kidnap you, just to trouble me. And she did. And I saved you.” Billuji’s voiced played over in my mind like an audio cassette on repeat. The only difference was that there were lots of pauses in between during the live show. OmRu and Dadi were the perfect spectators to my ordeal, trying to control their laughter whenever it became too much for me to quietly bear the suspense. My complaint, “That’s so short!” was met with absolute ignorance. All through the day I kept thinking about the kidnapper woman and for some reason I was always reminded of the ghost dream that I had last night. I was so lost into the puzzle that I even forgot my usual uneasiness when I was preparing for Tia’s wedding dresses. As if coming out of my thoughts like a ghost from the ashes, the ACP came right in front of me. “I heard you were kidnapped, Miss Anika. I’m sorry to know that you didn’t find it necessary to report it to the police”, he said in his usual sarcastic manner.
“I thought I had asked you to stay away from her”, Billuji said, standing behind me. I was again reminded of the ghost dream as the air literally crackled with tension.
PRECAP: Anika looks at something with a shocked expression and says, “I have to let him know right away.”
That’s it for today guys. I’ll try to wrap up the mystery in two or three episodes and then maybe make Shivika realize their love too. But please remember I need your comments, encouragement and suggestions. I have tried my best to act on all your suggestions and improve my ff. So, I just want all of you to know that I have put in a lot of effort into writing this ff, as I’m writing it at 04:30 in the morning. (I know, it’s crazy!) And it’s good to know that the readers have found it necessary to put in a bit of effort to comment and let me know their views. Plus, all the credit to my writing goes to all my lovely readers as I never thought I would get so much love and support from all of you for my first attempt at writing something for such an amazing show with so many fans. I know it’s difficult to go with each and every writer’s story when it can’t even match with the actual show. And you guys take the chance to read it, without thinking whether or not you’ll like it, and appreciate it too. This is totally worth applauding. I don’t know whether I have any silent readers or not, but I want to thank all of you for at least reading it, even if you don’t like it. I definitely don’t mean to hurt my silent readers; it’s just a thank you for all of you in general.
As the comments are on a decline, I guess most of you found it boring. That’s why I decided to get over with the mystery and then gradually get to the romantic part. I had also planned on writing Om’s love story if I get a good response, but now I’m thinking that I should pack it up within 8-9 episodes. Please let me know your views through the comments guys because I don’t have any magical powers to read your mind over space and time! ;P As usual, I’m waiting! 🙂