In the morning, sunlight directly fell on Annika's face through the sheer curtain and she scrunched her eyes and snuggled more into Shivaay. Being a light sleeper, Shivaay woke up, feeling her moving. He saw her sleeping cuddling to him like a baby and smiled.

He caressed her face and whispered to wake her up,

S: Annika.

Annika gave no response and kept on sleeping. Sighing, he tried again in a slightly louder voice.

S: Annika!

Annika frowned and squeezed her eyes, waking up. Slowly opening her eyes, she saw Shivaay in front of her and woke up swiftly, shouting,

A: What are you doing here?

Shivaay was shocked and confused hearing her.

S: Huh?

A: Kya huh? What are you doing in my room?

S: The last time I checked, you were my wife. I guess I was wrong. I'll go find my wife.

That's when Annika woke up completely and realised that she's married now. So, obviously he'd be here. She looked at him with puppy eyes and said,

A: Sorry. Main bhool gayi thi I'm married now. Also, I was half asleep. And it was your fault. Who asked you to wake me up? That too this early? Bagadbilla.

S: Bagadbilla? Kitne naam dogi tum mujhe?

A: Toh ap kaam karte kyun hai aise?

S: You know what, mujhe tumse baat hi nahi karni. It's impossible to expect a decent and argument-less conversation with you.

Saying this he got up and left to freshen up while Annika was still sitting there thinking.

A: What did I do? Khamakha bharak gayi unpar. What is happening to me even?

Sighing, she left for the closet to take her clothes out when Shivaay came out of the washroom in just a towel. Seeing her Shivaay got shocked and tried to go inside again when his towel fell down. All this while Annika was gawking at him checking him out completely. The moment his towel fell down she became more red and turned away before she spoke,

A: I didn't see anything. Promise. I turned.

Shivaay swiftly wrapped the towel back and spoke,

S: What are you even doing here?

Annika frowned and turned. She forced a smile at him and spoke,

A: This is my house. My bedroom. My closet and my bathroom too. So obviously, I'll be here, no?

She did the logic sign like Rudra while Shivaay muttered,

S: Isse baat karna hi bekaar hai.

Saying this he moved towards the cupboard to take his clothes out. But Annika had already heard him. She went to him and turned him by his shoulders and spoke raising her eyebrows,

A: Kya kaha? Mujhse baat karna bekar hai?

She then forced a smile at him and spoke,

A: Jaisi bhi hoon na, ab zindagi bhar sambhalna padega. Samjhe, Mr. Oberoi?

S: Kyun? Why should I handle you? Who am I?

Annika frowned.

A: Kya matlab?

S: Matlab, I think someone forgot she was my wife a while ago, no? And also, argued with me for baseless reasons.

A: I don't argue for baseless reasons, okay? You broke my sleep.

S. Doctor ho na? How'll you work if you sleep till this late.

A: Exactly. There's still a few days to my work. I'm enjoying my vacation and sleeping, which you plan to ruin.

S: Galti ho gayi meri maa, never doing it again. You just need reasons to argue with me.

Annika smirked and wrapped her hand around his neck while Shivaay held her by the waist.

A: Toh apne pati ke saath hi jhagadti hoon na? Kisi stranger ke saath thodi?

Saying this she kissed his cheeks while he smiled.

S: This is cheating, okay? You can't always pacify me by this.

A: Really? Tell me a better way.

Shivaay pulled her closer by the waist while she gasped.

S: Bata du?

Annika blushed heavily.

A: Shivaay.

Shivaay smirked and pulled her further close,

S: Kya?

Saying this he started rubbing his beard on her neck while she started giggling. Hearing her, he laughed too. Her laugh warmed his heart. He was staring at her which she noticed.

Shivaay slowly brought one of his hands up and caressed her cheeks while she blushed. He kissed one of her cheeks followed by the other, then her forehead and the tip of her nose. Annika held onto his shoulders tightly while blushing.

Their faces were barely a few inches apart. They could feel each other's breath on their lips. Shivaay moved his face forward slowly while Annika parted her lips. They were about to kiss when a knock on the bedroom's door caught their attention and they sprang apart.

Annika became all red out of shyness while Shivaay looked down blushing as well. Annika stammered and spoke,

A: I..'ll go open the door. Wear your clothes.

S: Yeah. I'll.

A: Jaiye.

S: Going.

Annika glared him and spoke,

A: Sabko dikhana hai aapki body kaisi hai?

S: I don't mind. I don't have a bad body anyway.

He spoke turning to the mirror looking at himself. He saw Annika glaring him through the mirror and asked,

S: What?

A: Shivaay Singh Oberoi. Get dressed. NOW.

Shivaay got scared seeing her tone and ran to the washroom after taking his clothes. Annika smirked at her effect on him and ran to open the door which sounded like it would soon break due to the heavy knocks.

Annika opened the door to find Rudra and Bhavya.

B: Good morning Di.

R: Good morning Bhabhi. Kaisi thi raat?

Rudra teased her. Annika blushed remembering Shivaay saying that Rudra must have kept those condoms under his pillow and replied,

A: Chup kar, Rudy. Kya kaam hai? Darwaza tod kyun rahe the?

B: Oh Di. Dadi gave you this saree to wear at Maya Di's reception today. Came to give you this. Also, everyone's waiting for you guys at the breakfast table.

A: Thik hai. Give us 15 minutes. We'll be there.

While Annika and Bhavya were talking, Rudra was keenly noticing Annika. He spoke in a confused tone,

R: Bhabhi? What happened to your neck?

A: Haan? Where? It's fine.

B: Oh yes. Why does it look so red?

Annika was confused and then realised what they're talking about.

A (in mind): I have to make excuse again because of that Bagadbilla Oberoi.

A: It's nothing. I got some sort of allergy from the flowers. So, rashes.

Rudra and Bhavya bought that and left after asking her to come downstairs fast.

Annika sighed and closed the door. She went to the closet to get her dress out when Shivaay walked out the washroom all dressed.

S: Who was at the door?

A: Rudy and Bhavya.

S: Oh. Kyun aaye the?

A: Saree dene. Jo Didu ke reception mein pehen na hai.

S: Oh. Are you done packing? We have to leave tomorrow morning.

Annika became upset realising that she'll be leaving her home. She replied in a low voice,

A: I'll. At night. Are you done?

S: I'll do it when you do.

A: I'll go take shower. Go downstairs. Everyone's waiting.

S: Tum aa jao. Saath mein chalte hai. Till then I have a small conference call to attend.

Annika muttered to herself,

A: Workaholic. Shaadi ke pehle din hi kaam.

S: Kya kaha?

A: Nothing.

Annika gave him a sharp look and left to shower while Shivaay wondered to himself,

S: Hua kya hai isse aaj? Itne mood swings.

He sighed and left to attend his meeting.

***

A while later, they came downstairs for breakfast. Everyone was waiting for them.

D: Come beta. We were all waiting for you guys.

Annika smiled and sat while Shivaay sat beside her. He started serving her seeing which everyone smiled. They might have had an arranged marriage but everyone knew they were made for each other.

In the evening, Shivaay and Annika were getting ready for Maya's reception in Annika's room. Shivaay was wearing black tuxedo with white shirt while Annika was wearing a black saree.

Shivaay was barking orders at his PA, Mishra, on the phone while struggling at fixing his cufflinks when Annika came to his help. She, adorned in the black netted saree with sleeveless blouse came near him and sighed seeing him shouting on the phone. She shook her head and forwarded her hand to fix his cufflinks. That's when Shivaay saw her properly. He was gawking at her while Mishra kept blabbering on the phone. Annika could hear faint noises of Mishra's voice coming from his phone and looked up to see him staring at her.

A: Shivaay.

He didn't budge due to which Annika spoke a bit louder,

A: SSO.

He came out of his reverie hearing her.

S: Kya hua?

A: You're on call.

S: Ha..an Mishra. I'll talk to you later about this. I have to leave now.

After he hung up, Annika looked at him and spoke,

A: How much do you shout? He must've been terrified.

S: He should be. If only that makes him more efficient.

A: Still. Be considerate. Don't be this shrewd.

S: When was I shrewd to you?

A: I'm not talking about me. Generally.

Annika raised her hands to fix his bowtie while he frowned,

S: What are you doing?

She raised her eyebrows and spoke,

A: Fixing your bowtie. Any problem?

All of a sudden her saree fell down and she gasped loudly while Shivaay was equally shocked.

A: Phail gaya raita. Ab phir se pehen na padega.

S: How did you even wear it? How did it fall this easily? What if this happened at the party? Pagal ho?

He spoke all at once seeing which Annika shouted.

A: Bas. You talk like a train. And I didn't know this will happen. I wore it properly watching from YouTube.

S: You..YouTube? You don't know how to wear a saree?

Annika pouted and answered,

A: No. Never needed it till now.

S: You're crazy, woman. Why didn't you say this earlier?

She was fiddling with the saree when he came forward and took it from her hand.

S: Turn.

Annika was looking at him with open mouth.

A: What are you doing now?

S: Making my wife wear a saree. Any problem?

He imitated her while she frowned.

A: How do you know this?

Annika looked at him with eyebrows raised. Shivaay gulped before answering,

S: Woh, helped a friend once. Yeah. That's it.

He continued making her wear the saree while saying this. She doubted his answer.

A: Really? Friend ya girlfriend?

Shivaay stammered and answered,

S: Girl..friend.

Annika smirked at him while teasing him,

A: Saree pehnaya ya utaara?

Hearing her, his eyes shot up in shock while Annika controlled her laugh seeing his reaction.

S: You're doubting me? I promise, I just helped her wear it. She did most by herself.

Hearing him Annika burst out laughing.

A: Aww. Scared Singh Oberoi.

She pulled his cheeks while he frowned.

A: Just imagine, the front page of tomorrow's newspaper stating, the Great Shivaay Singh Oberoi is scared of his wife. Kitna bada news hoga? Bohot tadkedar.

S: Stop laughing.

He feigned an annoyed look and concentrated on her saree while she controlled her chuckles. He noticed this.

S: If you don't stop, I'll leave the saree right now.

Hearing his threat, she became silent while he smirked. After some time, Shivaay sighed and told her,

S: Done with the plaits. Now tuck it in. Where did you keep the safety pins?

A: On the dressing table.

S: I'll get it.

He came and fixed her saree properly. Then he moved to the dressing table to fix his hair.

A: Shivaay. You get ready. I'll come after seeing if everyone's ready.

S: Okay.

After around 30 mins she came back to see him still in front of the mirror.

A: You're still fixing your hair. God.

S: Hey. Don't come between my hair and I.

Annika rolled her eyes and turned him by the shoulder. She tried to fix his hair with her hands but he stopped her,

S: Annika. You can't touch my hair, okay?

A: Haw. So mean. I was just helping.

S: Still. Stay away.

He spoke sternly making her angry.

A: You know what? Marry your hair and fuck it. I don't care.

She was about to leave when he pulled her in a back hug. Annika struggled to escape his hold which made him tighten it more.

A: Leave me, Shivaay.

Shivaay snuggled into her neck and spoke,

S: Never.

Annika was blushing red but tried not to show it.

A: You cannot pacify me doing this.

S: Doing what?

He spoke still nuzzling his face into her neck.

A: Kissing me.

Shivaay smirked and replied,

S: What should I do then to pacify you? Something more? Like throw you on the be...

He couldn't continue because she turned and put her palm on his face being all red.

A: Shut up, Cheapde. Kuchh bhi bolte rehte hai.

Shivaay laughed hearing her.

S: Chale ab, Mrs? We're getting late.

A: All because of you and your hair.

S: Ugh fine. Chalo ab.

They wrapped their arms with each other and left for downstairs where everyone was waiting for them, before leaving for Maya's reception.

________________________________
Target: 60 votes, 10 follows.