"Jiji, have you talked to Shivaay bhaiya yet?"
"Nope. Have you talked to Om?"
"No. He's busy in his studio."
The two ladies turned to the third one, who shook her head in negative.
Sighing, Annika Singh Oberoi slumped down on the couch in their lavish living room, while her devranis followed.
"Girls, we have to talk to them ASAP. The function is tomorrow. To-mo-rrow! If we don't convince them today, when will we practise? Nope, this needs to be done. Right now."
"Well, bade bhaiya is here," Bhavya informed her rambling bhabhi. "Go and talk to him!"
"Haa jiji, go!" Gauri encouraged chirpily. Annika, for her part, gulped.
"Um, I mean, what's the hurry?" She gave a fake laugh here. "Let him rest, he just came back from office..."
But the glares that her sister and devrani gave her made her stand up instantly, and muttering curses, she went to meet her hubby at the door. He was, as usual, typing away on his phone. When she neared him, he looked up, and checked her out with an admiring smile on his face. She looked resplendent in the peach-pink chiffon saree she was wearing, with a cream-colored sleeveless blouse. Putting away his phone in his pocket, he sighed and wondered how he had managed to get this gorgeous human as his wife.
"Someone looks beautiful," He mumbled to her while kissing her cheek. Even after 8 months of marriage with this ravenous husband of hers, the slightest form of PDA made her blush. She hooked her arm around his elbow, and started leading him upstairs to their bedroom. When she was in a saree, he couldn't be trusted to not touch her inappropriately- even in front of Gauri, Bhavya, AND Khannaji.
Entering their bedroom, Annika helped him open his suit jacket, and even got him a glass of water. He looked at her suspiciously at that- after a day of work, she was always too tired herself to even acknowledge his presence, much less give him so much attention.
"What's up?" He asked, as she snaked her arms around his neck. Annika shrugged.
"Nothing. How was work?" She asked, playing with his hair while he held her by her bare waist.
"Oh, it was good. We cracked this deal with an American company, and they've agreed to invest in-"
"Yeah, I don't care," Annika interrupted. Shivaay frowned at that, while she bit her tongue. Guess she couldn't sit through his boring business talk even when she wanted to cajole him into doing something. Pressing her lips, she inched closer to him, and kissed his jawline.
"Baby, I love you so much," She cooed, sounding pathetic even to herself. Shivaay rolled his eyes, and asked her to just get on with what she wanted to talk about. He knew all about these techniques she used to make him do what she wanted, very well.
"Okay so, it's nothing major, obviously," She chuckled, making him snort. "You know how I'm arranging the Malhotras' wedding, right? And tomorrow is the sangeet? Shivaay nodded, allowing her to continue. "Ha toh, Ananya- the bride- wanted me, Gauri and Bhavya to dance in the sangeet."
Shivaay looked at her, confused.
"So? You do dance in every sangeet, don't you, babe? And it's nice that Gauri and Bhavya are joining you this time."
Annika nodded, playing with his shirt buttons now. He looked exceptionally good in his royal blue suit-pant and white shirt, making it more difficult for Annika to make him drown in her, and not the other way around.
"Yeah well. So the thing is that...Ananya was wondering if, you know, our husbands could join in with us, too."
Shivaay considered that a moment, before shrugging his shoulders.
"Well, I for one don't have any important meeting tomorrow, so I guess I can come."
Annika mentally face palmed herself.
"Nahi, Shiv. She wants you guys to dance at the sangeet. With us!"
Shivaay stared at his wife looking up at him expectantly for a while, before bursting into laughter.
"Annika, how can you even entertain that idea?" He asked, still chuckling. "You know I wouldn't just dance at some random person's wedding!"
"Well, it's not random for me," Annika said, now crossing her arms across her chest and narrowing her eyes. "You know how much all my clients mean to me, right? And if the bride wants the Oberoi Brothers' to dance at her wedding, what's the big deal? And FYI, I already promised her that you guys are performing."
"Well, you can't just promise without asking me!" Shivaay cried, his voice now rising a little. It wasn't really his thing to go around dancing at the wedding of a person he didn't even know. He was Shivaay Singh Oberoi, for God's sake! He had a reputation to maintain- that of an intimidating, successful businessman. He could literally give his wife anything she wanted, but unfortunately for him, she demanded these stupid little things more than the materialistic ones.
"You don't need to yell," Annika said in a serious voice, her face deadpan. "I get the message. Stupid of me to ask anything from you, really."
Her lower lip was trembling by this point, and before Shivaay could even gather what was happening, she had fat drops of tears rolling down her cheeks. Horrified, he moved forward and cupped her face, his heart thudding in his chest. If there was one thing in the world Shivaay Singh Oberoi could absolutely not witness or tolerate, it was seeing his beautiful wife in tears.
"Shush, Annika, baby, don't cry!" Wiping away her tears, he gathered her in his arms and rubbed her back consolingly, while she continued sobbing quietly. Shivaay cursed himself over and over again for not just agreeing to dance at the damned sangeet when she asked.
"Hey, jaan, please, I'm sorry, okay? I'll dance tomorrow. Promise. We'll both do the best couple dance ever and you'll be able to keep your promise, alright?" Peppering kisses on her hair, Shivaay mumbled these words to her, his heart still clenched tightly- a very natural occurrence whenever he saw her upset, really.
Wiping her eyes and nose, Annika looked up from his chest, and Shivaay kissed her forehead.
"Pinky promise?" She asked in a small voice, bottom lip tugged out slightly. Shivaay gave her a small smile, and entwined their pinky fingers together, pecking her nose.
"Pinky Promise," He replied, and was rewarded with the radiant, khidkitod smile of his wife which made his heart beat recede to its normal pace. Sighing out of happiness, he wrapped his arms around her again and held her tight. Moron Singh Oberoi now knew better than to ever refuse his wife anything, no matter how ridiculous her wants were.
**
As soon as Annika entered the room, her sisters-in-law were upon her, bombarding her with questions.
"Jiji, did Shivaay bhaiya agree? Omkara ji toh refused instantly when I asked him on the phone." A pouting Gauri informed this to her sister, sadly.
"Same. Rudra didn't even let me finish speaking before replying with a nope' and leaving for gym."
As Annika listened to these two women talking glumly, her face involuntarily crept up in a smile. Gauri and Bhavya frowned as they saw her.
"Jiji, why are you smiling? Did Shivaay bhaiya...agree?"
Settling comfortably on the couch in Bhavya's room, Annika replied with a 'Yep', making them gasp. In an instant, they were beside her.
"But bhabhi...how? I mean, we thought Shivaay bhaiya would be the most difficult to convince, since he doesn't like partying much and all."
"Well, he was, initially," Annika said, still smiling, quite smugly, too. She was proud of herself, after all. "But then, ladies, I used the magic card."
"...and what is that?"
"Well, I shed a few tears. That's all!"
Gauri and Bhavya's jaws fell open, as they stared at their bhabhi/jiji incredulously.
"You cried because of this?" Bhavya asked, to which Annika laughed, quite loudly.
"Of course not," She scoffed. "I knew that Shivaay would agree in a second if I shed some tears, so I thought about that movie we watched yesterday- Raazi?- to make myself cry. And voila! Shivaay agreed."
Shaking their head at their bhabhi's antics, Gauri and Bhavya couldn't help but smile too. It was funny, and at the same time extremely adorable, how easily their rough and tough Shivaay bhaiya melted when it came to his wife. He was such a pushover, but only for her.
"Jiji," Gauri said, hugging Annika from the side, "You really have Shivaay Bhaiya wrapped around your finger, don't you?"
Even as Annika playfully slapped her sister on the cheek, she couldn't help but agree.
The End
Writer: Rainbowveins
