The next morning found Shivaay whistling in the kitchen while making breakfast, and his brothers grinned seeing his state as they walked in. One look and they could tell that his date last night had gone amazing.

"Good morning," Rudra greeted him chirpily, and he looked up with a bright smile.

"Morning, guys. Lovely day, isn't it?" He asked, while flipping an omelette, and his brothers raised their eyebrows in surprise, seeing the sudden change in him.

"It is, but I'm sure it was an even lovelier night," Rudra teased, and sent a wink towards Om, who hid his smile with a fist. The entire exchange, however, went unnoticed by Shivaay, who seemed to have gotten a dazed look in his eyes at the question.

"Oh, it was perfect," he said dreamily, ignoring his brothers and abandoning the wooden ladle, lost in memories of last night, and staring into the far distance as if in a trance. Om and Rudra stared at him with their mouths hanging open, wondering just what had happened to make him so happy. Rudra had to click his fingers in front of Shivaay's face to bring him back from dreamland. Shivaay realized he had gotten carried away, and cleared his throat, resuming cooking.

"Perfect, huh?" Om said, raising an immaculate eyebrow. "Please elaborate."

Shivaay rolled his eyes at that, but couldn't keep the blush or grin from his face.

"Shut up, you guys," he muttered. "Anyway," he continued, trying to divert the topic from himself, lest they have fun at his expense again, "what are your plans for today?"

"Nothing much," Rudra said with a shrug of his shoulders, "Go to college, go to gym, go to bed. The usual. But, hey," his eyes suddenly lightened up at an idea, "I have an idea- why don't we all go watch a movie tonight?" He said excitedly.

Om considered this for a moment. He would be done with work at his art gallery by evening, so a movie plan after that sounded fun and relaxing.

"Sure, I don't have a problem." He said, making Rudra hug him tight. Shivaay, however, blatantly refused.

"Nope, not happening. I have a lot of work, and don't have time to watch movies. You guys go without me. In fact, why don't you use our home theater?" He said while serving breakfast on their plates. The Oberoi Mansion of course housed a large theater, but it was only used by Rudra, Prinku, and more recently, Saumya. Rudra rolled his eyes at that and said they should go out to the actual cinema sometimes, like normal people, earning a smack from Shivaay.

"Come on, bhaiya," Rudra whined. "You always have work! Can't you agree for this one thing for your brother?" he said making a puppy-dog face that melted hearts.

"He's right, Shivaay," Om agreed. "It'll be fun watching a movie together. We haven't done this in quite long." Shivaay, however, was unrelenting, making Rudra huff in annoyance.

"Fine," Rudra said with a dramatic sigh, "Guess it'll just be me, O, Prinku, Somu, and Annika didi," he paused here to gauge Shivaay's reaction, who stilled hearing her name. "Maybe we can take Sahil along too..."

"Did you say Annika?" Shivaay asked, suddenly interested in the whole idea. Maybe a movie night would actually be fun, and he could indeed complete his work later...

"Yeah, I'm sure Annika didi would love to go, too. She knows how to have fun on top of work, unlike someone," he emphasized on the last word, but the jab was ignored by Shivaay who was too wrapped up in other thoughts to notice.

"Did you ask her yet?" He asked eagerly, pressing for more information. Plans of not being made fun of failed as his brothers tried hard to hide their grins at his sudden appeal.

"Oh, good thing you reminded me," Rudra said, taking out his phone. "I'll ask her right now."

"No!" Shivaay exclaimed suddenly, making his brother look up in surprise. He wanted to ask Annika himself, as it would give him an excuse to talk to her.

"I mean," he recovered, "She's probably at work now, so best not disturb her. I can ask her later, you go to college." Shivaay said, trying to act casual, but he wasn't fooling his brothers. They tried hard to control their laughter, and finished their breakfast with innocent faces before leaving for their respective destinations.

"By the way, Rudra," Shivaay said, striving to appear nonchalant, "Book an extra ticket for me. I'll try to come by if I can finish work."

Rudra snickered, and went off with a "Whatever you say, bhaiya".

As soon as they were out of earshot, Shivaay took out his phone and dialled Annika's number. Her picture- one which Rudra had taken and put up on Shivaay's caller ID, much to his pleasure- lit up on the screen, and Shivaay's face automatically broke into a smile. He caressed her radiantly smiling face on the screen, and mumbled a "what are you doing to me, Annika" to himself.

She picked up after a few rings, and said "Hello" in a groggy, sleepy voice. Shivaay understood that she had probably just woken up, and looked adorable. However, he soon realized she should have gone to work by now; it was almost 10 am already.

"Did you just wake up? Why aren't you at work yet?" he asked her without any preamble.

"Good morning to you too, Billuji," Annika replied sarcastically. "Work is at 12." Shivaay heard the shuffling of sheets as she got up from bed.

"How unprofessional of the Malhotras' to call their employees at work at 12," he said with a frown.

"I'll have you know," Annika started, annoyed that he was reprimanding her so early in the morning, "that I'm not a normal employee of theirs, but an event planner who is planning only one of their events. So the rules don't apply to me. Moreover, Rohit," Shivaay clenched his fist at the name, "was nice enough to let me choose my own timing for work, so naturally I chose 12. Now, if you would excuse me, I have to get to work."

Before Shivaay could get another word in, she had hung up. Shivaay stared at his phone with a scowl. So she was hanging up on him because of that stupid Rohit now, huh? He thought with a frustrated growl. This woman could really drive him up the wall with her antics, acting like they hadn't just had a perfect night last night. Running a hand through his hair, he realized he hadn't even gotten around to asking her for the movie, which was what he had initially called her for. She had pissed him off, and calling again now would just result in an argument. So grabbing his jacket, Shivaay left for office, deciding to deal with this hurricane of a woman later.

**

Annika was getting ready in leisure, mentally thanking the Malhotras' for being such lovely people and giving her the freedom to work according to her own timing. She was excited to meet Mrs. Malhotra again, who had managed to inspire Annika in just one meeting. She reminded Annika of Jhanvi Aunty a lot, with her grace and sophistication, and Annika made a note to talk Jhanvi Aunty into taking up work again. She was lost in these thoughts when her phone buzzed, and a message arrived. It was from Rudra, and his very thought had Annika smiling. She loved the bundle of joy that he was.

Rudra- Good morning, Sunshine! Coming for the movie?

Annika smiled at his nickname for her, and frowned the very next second. Movie?

Annika- Good morning, handsome! And movie? What are you talking about?

A couple of minutes passed before a reply came, and Annika put on some eye liner meanwhile.

Rudra- Oh, I thought Shivaay bhaiya would have told you by now. We're all going for a movie tonight, and you and Sahil are coming with us. No excuses!

Oh, so that's what Shivaay had called for in the morning, before she had so rudely hung up. Annika mentally smacked herself. She wasn't really a morning person, hence the behaviour. Biting her lip, Annika wondered if Shivaay had felt bad. Leave it up to her to act this way after he had made their date night so beautiful. She smiled remembering the night, and blushed remembering the kiss, before pouting at how she had hung up on him in the morning. She sent a quick message to Rudra, saying she would definitely try, before calling Shivaay. It went unanswered. She tried a couple of times, but to no avail. Annika thought he was probably in a meeting, but a part of her worried that he might be angry at her. Deciding to try again later, she left for work.

Lesson learnt today- never write drafts on Wattpad because they may get erased in a second. I had the entire chapter written, and was about to update, before I somehow managed to lose everything. Wrote this whole thing twice, so do vote and comment if you like it!

Also, sorry for being late, but winter vacations are over, so updates will be slow from now on.