Chapter 10 – What Hearts Hold

Anika was utterly surprised to find them all outside a beautiful mansion. She looked at the trio staring at it. Then she noted the eyes of the elder two getting moist as they looked at each other and the mansion.

“Mom, Dad,” he said quietly, his voice weighing down with emotions.

Anika gasped inaudibly as realisation dawned. This was their old home. He had told her about it. The Oberoi had faced a massive loss when their factory, which was one of the major pillars holding up the Oberoi enterprises, had been ruined by just a minor earthquake that had brought a rough storm. Insurance did not cover Act Of God, hence the Oberois suffered massively. There was a dispute still going on in the High Court between the Oberois and the insurance company. But justice wasn’t as easy as pizza delivery, sadly. The Oberois had no option left than to sell the mansion they had homed for years to keep up a decent middle-class life with whatever other domains their company had. This had happened when Shivaay was roughly a teenager.

As years passed, the Oberoi Company got going, but affording the mansion again was still hard. Now that its value was in crores.

“I told you, Mom, we’d be back home one day,” he said gently, holding his mother’s hand.

“We are home, Mom—Dad. We are ho-ome.” His voice grew vulnerable as his eyes turned moist.

Pinky broke into tears, hugging him. Anika had tears in her own eyes. Shakti just simply stood staring up at the majestic building his father had laid the foundation of. To see his son bring back the home filled his heart with pride and eyes with tears of happiness.

“But-Shiv-” Shakti began slowly, wondering how Shivaay had got the mansion. The mansion was one thing Shakti kept a close tab on—from who was willing to buy or what the present owner was up to with it. He had sent requests to the owner, showing his interest in negotiation. But the deal never happened. The quotation was too high.

“I told Viren uncle to not let you know. I wanted this to be a surprise,” he said, beaming with happiness. Pinky wiped her tears, patting his cheek and looking at Shakti. Shivaay extended his hand, indicating them to proceed. The huge doors were opened, and the two walked up the stairs, Pinky holding on to Shakti’s hand.

Shivaay turned to Anika.

She was staring at him, proud of him. Forgotten for a while remained whatever was between them. He walked up to her. She felt she’d break terribly on the inside. He was doing everything for the family, setting everything right. But there she was, upset about everything. Was she selfish?

“Welcome home, Anika!” he said, looking aside to blink away his tears. She smiled, genuinely. He was the best son ever.

The soft gaze they were sharing was broken by Shiya Malhotra’s shrill voice. Shiya was the interior designer for the mansion’s redo.

“Hello!” Shivaay greeted politely, giving her a quick handshake.

“Nice to meet you in person finally,” she remarked. The woman couldn’t deny that the man looked much more handsome than he did in the video conference.

Shivaay did not take more than a few seconds to find the woman checking him out. Clearing his throat, he put his arm around Anika’s waist. “Shiya, this is my lovely wife, Anika!”

“Oh—yes—Nice to meet you, Mrs. Oberoi,” Shiya extended her hand to the lucky woman.

“Anika, she is the interior designer. So if you don’t like anything about it, she is the one you need to grill,” he laughed.

Shiya laughed, very slightly offended.

“Nice to meet you,” Anika said, smiling, trying hard not to get affected by his firm hand on her waist.

“Shall we?” Shiya asked.

“Sure. We will be right there. You can proceed with your remaining work,” Shivaay nodded. Shiya knew there was no room for more company. She went inside.

Shivaay looked at Anika, a smirk playing on his face. “Shall we?”

Anika nodded. His hand had found a lovely place to be, and very clearly Shivaay had no intention of taking his hand off his wife. The proximity affected her, but she kept a poker face and tried to focus on what her eyes saw.

The mansion was beautiful, majestic, and had a sort of royal touch to it owing to the beautifully carved pillars. The high ceiling made her look around in awe. Soon he led her to the room where he knew his parents would be. They entered to find his parents discussing the changes. Shivaay had made it a point to get the rooms expanded in space. He had put across whatever he could remember his parents liked to the designer.

He smiled, looking at his excited mother. Anika had slipped away and was looking at something else. He frowned slightly and then put his attention back to the duo. He walked in as his mother kept going on and on about how much she loved the extended garden outside the room.

He walked over, looking at the details himself. His dad was expressing how surprised he was still that all this happened right under his nose and he had no clue. He laughed and looked aside. That’s when he caught his wife clicking pictures of the three of them. She loved capturing moments like this quickly and silently. Quite a candid photographer she was.

Their gazes locked when she realised he was looking at her. Fluttering on being caught, she quickly looked elsewhere. He walked up to her and intertwined his hand with hers. “Come!”

She followed him to the other side, passing Shiya who was checking the railings of the staircase.

“Anika, this used to be my room, and that one there Priyanka’s.” Priyanka was his adopted sister, happily married and settled in Singapore.

The room which belonged to him was almost empty. She wondered why. “I thought I will let you and Mom decide what you guys want to do with this room,” he explained, clearing her curiosity.

“Come!” he said, his eyes twinkling as he excitedly led her upstairs. Passing one room on the right, they finally reached another. Anika’s eyes shot wide open in awe. The room was huge with a huge bed, couch on the side, one large mahogany wood study table in the corner, and the TV cabinet against the wall. Then her eyes fell on the dressing table with decorative glass slabs holding a few bottles of perfume and others.

“This is our room!” he whispered, tilting his head to her side. She turned immediately, finding him so close. Smiling slightly, she moved in. “It’s beautiful,” she said candidly. She moved around, her fingers caressing the furniture as she went. She stepped outside of what she thought would be the balcony when she was surprised yet again.

A wide expanse of water surrounded by beautiful potted plants at the extremities and a tree at the left end. It was a beautiful poolside. Was she in some dream? This was way beyond what she could have ever imagined. Her awe was painted over her face; he responded with a rapturous smile.

“This—?” She was speechless.

“I always used to tell Mom that when I would grow up, I’d make this room mine. I did it!” he said with the excitement of a ten-year-old. “This used to be a guest room, and then the pool was exclusively for parties and stuff like that. I had them clubbed. So, milady, how do you like our new place?” he enquired with a charming grin.

She blinked, smiling. “It’s lovely,” she said quietly. The last thing she wanted to do was spoil his mood.

“That’s it?” he arched his eyebrow. “I thought you’d go all frenzy over it.”

She laughed lightly, walking back in. It was then that she noted the wallpaper behind the bed closely. She moved closer and slowly caressed it. “This—this—?” She turned slowly to him but was cut off by his answer.

“Yes. That’s ‘the best picture’ you clicked during our honeymoon,” he said, raising his fingers to quote “the best picture.” She had literally burned his ears by blowing her own trumpet after their trip. Honestly, he loved the click as much as she did.

“Oh-my!” she said, looking up at it. The majestic mountains covered in ice. Manali it was. The curve of her lips was inevitable as she remembered sweet memories—snow fights, trekking, eating Maggi, and the night where he literally forced her to have brandy for her own good, and the next morning where he animatedly narrated her drunk antics. She did not know how long she had stood facing the wall like that. She was brought back to the room from Manali when Pinky’s voice fell into her ears.

Her toes curled. What was happening to her? Why was she behaving oddly? Why did she still miss him when he was so close?