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Anika was twiddling the hem of her clothing, constantly tackling with her mind to come up with some less nonsense topic to start the conversation with Suhana.

Anika and Suhana had moved into Vikram's room and sat on the couch to have a good conversation.

"So Rohit told me about you...and everything about the marriage "Anika smiled nervously as Suhana nodded faintly.

"I am sorry that you had to go through all that" Anika placed her hand on Suhana's shoulder, genuinely.

Suhana remained still as memories of the past month came in gushing into her mind. A lot of things were changed. The man whom she hugged to save herself on Aisha's birthday is now her husband.

"Let bygones be bygones. If not, I would only be mourning for my condition and I don't want to do that "Suhana said with a lips pursed.

A faint smile crept in Anika's face as she continued, "So..Well, what do you think about Vikram?" as Suhana's eyebrows shot up.

"Vikram? What can I tell you about him? He is so sweet. As sweet as a bitter gourd and has worse mood swings than an average teenager" Suhana sighed confused, as he was unusually sweet to her the previous day.

Uncontrollable laughters made Anika throw her face up in the air.

"Yeah that is! But...apart from that, what do you think about Vikram.?" Anika asked with a mischievous smile on her face.

"Honestly, I...really don't know anything about him. He is rigid, tough and definitely not an easy going person. He just keeps staring straight up, trying to burn everything by narrowing his eyes. At times I even wonder if he has any other feelings apart from being angry or being silent" Suhana said casually, still bickering about everything in her head.

"Yeah...you really don't know anything yet!" Anika said as her face turned glum.

"Well let you something interesting" Anika said as Suhana straightened her back to listen to her keenly.

"Once, Vikram didn't talk to me for a whole week. He was so angry with me that he wouldn't even look into my eyes. It was a pretty intense"

"But what did you do?? Did you keep chattering for a day? Coz he hates when I keep talking, but I don't stop tho" Suhana sighed as Anika shook her head saying No, "Broke his phone?"

"He doesn't mind that tho"Suhana mumbled under her breath as she shook her head saying no again.

"Then why did you both fight?"

"Well, he broke my favourite pen the previous day..."

"Okay..." Suhana dragged her words waiting for her to continue.

"So the next day, when we were playing in the swimming pool , I peed in the water with him still inside the water " Anika finished her sentence as Suhana burst into laughter.

"You did what??? Gosh!! Please tell me you didn't do that" Suhana managed to complete the sentence as loud laughters were chasing her words.

"That incident took place almost 20 years back" Anika concluded, with still muffled laughters haunting the room, "I still remember that day, it was so difficult to persuade Vikram. After a week, he finally agreed to speak to me and be my friend unless I don't do that again. The fight which made us draw us apart was the same thing which brought us closer binding into a thick bond." Anika started laughing as she reminisced about the exact scene.

"20 years ago?? So you are like childhood best friends?" Suhana asked doubtfully.

She had thought that Anika was Vikram's schoolmate or college mate.

"Best friends? Haha,Pfft, our bond is something more than that!" She smiled proudly.

"More than that...as in? Close..friends?" Suhana asked as her eyebrows twitched.

"No, he is more like a younger brother to me." Anika smiled in, "Whenever I look at him, I just see him as an.....immature kid" Anika whispered the last two words as Suhana chuckled.

"There was this time when I was abandoned by my own parents..."

"What? Why?" Suhana asked, shocked.

"Well my husband....He wanted me to stay at home all day in one corner and look after him, his house and prepare him meals and....well, in short he treated me like shit.

So I left him one fine day and divorced him. But my parents...they didn't accept me and my decision.

They think that I have made a huge mistake and so...they wouldn't support me in this" A lone tear traced down Anika's left eye.

"I am so sorry" Suhana side-hugged her.

"And I was almost pushed to the streets, when Vikram found me and brought me here. Since then this has been my home" Anika smiled as tears poured down.

"I am so sorry, I didn't want to remind you all of this."

"Hey, no, I just wanted to let you know that...Vikram isn't the bad guy in your story. He will never be one. I just don't want you to think bad of him for all that you have gone through.

He has gone through hell all these years. He might act stupid, idiotic and at times like a fool,and he might never show off anything, but deep inside he cares.

He cares for everyone around him. It's just that he has a thick wall covering him, which refrains him from showing off his emotions. Just give him a chance, and help him overcome everything...." Anika's tears rolled down as a dumbstruck Suhana remained still, shocked.

She was unsure if Anika was shedding tears for her own life or she was definitely worried about Vikram.

Suhana leaned in and hugged her from sideways and nodded in faintly, as Anika's lips twitched upwards.

"And you know..I am glad that you took a brave decision to leave that stupid ex-husband of yours and started a great life now."

"You think?" Anika asked tearfully. "Think? I am damn sure..but it would have been more effective if you had slapped him before you had left him" Suhana shrugged.

"Well Vikram had taken care of it. He made sure that, that guy was hung upside down on the bridge for 3 days until he accepted his mistake. And the best thing, he also had it all covered. "

"I am glad he did that," Suhana chuckled, somewhere deep inside, proud.

"And..by the way, I didn't know that your parents had time travelled all the way from 1820" Suhana said sarcastically.

"Yeah that they are, believing all those stupid customs,but they can't take a step to understand their own daughter's point of view. Well even though I was off to my hometown for the past 3 months and boom, this guy had got married. I just...wish I was here" She smiled as suhana responded with a satisfied smile.

•••••

"Do you have any idea why your girlfriend broke up with you?" Anika raised her eyebrows at Rohit.

"Because I shouldn't have sided with mom's plan?" Rohit said, half confused.

"Nope, because you aren't helping with your brother's love idiot. Have you ever heard about Karma?

Karma is what you do, you get. When you don't do anything to help your brother fall in love, how will yours fall in place?" Anika slammed her head against the wall dramatically.

"Ahh, don't even think that I didn't try that. I did... A few weeks back, I had forced Vikram bro to find Suhana and somehow my plan worked and he stayed with Suhana in her house. But...he returned the next day and continued the next day as if nothing happened and I had to go to Suhana's house and had to beg her, to bring her back here."

"Well, no worries, Now that I am here, we will come up with new plans to get them together in such a way that the next time even if they go in separate ways, they will get drawn backing like magnets." Anika smirked as they both hi fi-ed.

"By the way where is Vikram? Don't tell me that he's still in that crappy meeting " Anika rolled her eyes.

"Well considering that I can see him walk on the corridor from his office room.." Rohit pointed towards the window and continued " I think he is coming to meet you now"

As both were eager to invite him with a friendly slap, their noses got cut, as they saw him enter his bedroom.

"Okay, someone is going to meet their wife before meeting their best friend. That's a good improvement I guess. What do you think Rohit?"

•••••

"Okay you couldn't wait for an hour? So you went and asked who? Rohit? You couldn't find someone else" Vikram rolled his eyes as jumped and sat on the couch.

"Mr.Vikram Malhotra, I just have one question for you. So answer that first

"And what is that my dearest Satan?"

"What crazy things has love made you do ever since you got married

Though Anika already knew the answer to the question, yet she wanted to hear his answer from his mouth.

"Love what? No, no no. You better remove all those thoughts you think about me and Suhana."

"Well I didn't mention Suhana's name at all. You mentioned her name when I just referred to 'Love'"

"Anika!!"

"Okay tell me this....Why did you turn the city's most highly fortified and expensive jewellery boutique into sand and dust?"

"I don't know what you're talking about" Vikram looked away.

"The boutique you went to get your engagement ring? Does it ring a bell?" Anika smirked.

"Well that was just a decision for my business " Vikram said vaguely.

"Yeah, I can see that" Anika mocked.

"What do you want to hear from me?" Vikram rolled his eyes, knowing what his childhood BFF was upto.

"Okay since you don't want to accept, let me tell you what your Detective best friend found out. You destroyed the boutique's multi storey building into dust because you and her were locked in there. But the best part doesn't end there, in that lift, your present wife almost slipped from the doors to heaven right in front of your eyes.

So you didn't want that boutique to be there any longer. Right? Don't try to disagree because I know you more than you do" Anika flipped her hair and sat beside him.

"Anika, stop analysing, I would have done the same if it had happened to you or rohit or mom and moreover that company deserved it." Vikram said in a low voice.

"She wasn't supposed to be there that day, I brought her into all the problems not knowing about Rohit and Megha and then...."

"Yeah i agree to all your lies, especially after seeing you admire her today like a love stuck idiot when I gushed into your room" Anika said sarcastically and continued, "Well now she is your wife, so you better make your stupid brain understand that first"

•••••