Jai
18 hours ago
It has been a week since I saw my baby, and I miss her more than ever.
I've planned something for her, and keeping this secret from Anika has been very difficult, trust me. She has a very good sense.
It was almost noon when I received a text from Anika. There was a picture under the text, which said, "Lunch Time!!" They are having a blast, I must say. I texted her back with, "Have fun - without me :("
I don't text or talk to anyone like that, minus my wife, of course. It might ruin the reputation I have in the outside world.
It's 5pm now, and I had to go meet my parents. I've been visiting them daily since the past week. I want to stay back, but the only thing that's keeping me away is my bed which has Anika's smell on it.
Aarav is taking on a few more responsibilities in the past few months, which is helping me with my busy schedule, and I'm thankful for him because I spend more time with Ani.
By the time I started back home, it was 10:30, which means it was 7:00pm in Switzerland. Anika hasn't texted me after that lunch picture. My messages were delivered, but I didn't get any reply.
I know it's a little territorial asking my wife to send me texts and pictures from time to time, but it's good as far as she's safe.
I was sitting on our bed. I tried calling her, but it was switched off. I tried calling Nisha and Diya, but it went straight to voicemail. It was almost 9:30pm for them. It was night, and my wife isn't picking up my calls.
I've given Anika a necklace, which has a tracker. Hey, it was solely for safety. I'd given it to her right before the trip. I opened my laptop and saw it showed me that Anika was in a bar - or nearby.
I called Aarav as fast as possible.
"Did Nisha tell you anything about their bar plan?" I asked urgently.
"What? Which bar?" he replied, sounding equally concerned.
"Nisha hasn't texted me in hours, and I'm going crazy!" he added, his voice tense.
"They're not picking up their phones." I spoke, my anxiety rising.
"I know, I've tried as well." Aarav groaned.
"What's the plan?" he looked at me, determination in his eyes.
"We're flying" I stated firmly.
"Done" he agreed without hesitation.
"Called the pilot. He'll be ready in an hour. Let's go!" My heart was racing. Anika wasn't picking up my calls. I had called the bar they went to, but they weren't answering. Aarav didn't know anything either.
I'm freaking out at this point. What do I do? What ifâNo, she's going to be safe. She has to.
It took us a few hours to reach Switzerland. The first thing I did when we landed was check Anika's location. As soon as I opened the app, it showed me that Anika was in her hotel.
I was relieved but at the same time, I wanted to see Anika and check if everything was safe or not.
It was around 3am, so I took an extra master card and quietly entered their suite, Aarav right behind me.
"They'll be okay" I assured him. Aarav was equally tense.
"Hmm" he shuddered.
As soon as we entered, there was complete darkness, but the place was clean except for a few clothes in the living room. There were three rooms, and I knew Anika's was the leftmost one, so I headed there quickly. I just hoped she was safe and sound.
I took slow steps into the room; it wasn't locked, so I had easy access.
My first glance was toward the bed, and there she was, my princess who I'm so mad at right now, sleeping safe and sound with no clue that she had just given me a heart attack.
I sat next to her, thinking about how stressed I was for the past few hours. It made me realize a lot of things, mainly that I couldn't live without this amazing woman by my side.
I went back to the other rooms to check on Nisha and Diya. Both of them were sleeping as well. Aarav was with Nisha, so I took a look at Diya and then headed back to Anika's room.
I laid next to her, bringing her closer, and she snuggled in. I missed this. I missed her.
In about two hours, I woke up and made a few calls. I had something planned already, but it had to happen earlier than usual.
It was 7am by the time the Mrs. woke up. She had been turning and twisting for the past few minutes, and she finally opened her eyes.
"Jai?!! What are you doing here?" she practically shouted.
I didn't respond. I was mad at her for being this unaware when she's in another city. Something could have happened to them.
"My head is hurting, oh my god," she sat next to me.
"I wonder why," I said sarcastically.
"I'm sorry."
"For what?" I was acting dumb, but I wanted to see where this would lead.
"For not informing you about where we're going," her voice was low. I knew she regretted not telling me.
"Hmm."
"I'm sorry, Jai, truly."
"It's not about being sorry, Anika. You haven't reached out in hours, and you weren't picking up any of my calls. I was so scared, what ifâ" she hugged me mid-sentence.
"I'm fine," she whispered.
"You are," I kissed her head.
"You took ten years out of my life, I swear."
"I'll have to compensate for that, won't I?" she smirked.
"How do you plan on doing that?" I replied back with a similar smirk.
"Oh, you know how." She pressed her lips to mine. The kiss was fierce, filled with all the longing and desperation of the past week. I responded instantly, my hands finding her waist, pulling her even closer. The kiss was desperate yet soft and showed that she'd missed me as much as I did.
"I missed you," she said, breaking the kiss.
"I missed you too."
"So, you're not mad at me anymore?" she made that face again.
"Oh, I am. Just not as much as before," I replied.
"You'll need more of this then?" she wiggled her eyebrows, and I burst out laughing. She was such a goof.
"Let's go wake the others up," I led her outside.
Aarav and Diya were sitting on the sofa, Nisha joined us soon after.
"So, what exactly happened? No text, no call, where are you guys' phones?" Aarav asked, a bit frustrated.
"We got robbed," Nisha said, her voice steady.
"What!" I exclaimed, my concern deepening.
"We were a little drunk and had just come out of the bar. We were walking, and a guy stole approached us. He pointed a knife and demanded our bags. We gave them to him, somehow made it back to the hotel, and then dozed off, I guess. I don't remember anything after coming back to our apartment" Diya explained.
I was shaken. An asshole had pointed a knife at my wife. He better stay alive until I kill him myself.
"I'll deal with this." I spoke with determination.
"Your mom wants to talk to you, Nisha. She said she called everyone but none of you answered her call, so she called my mom." I told Nisha.
"Oh. Did she mention something?" Nisha asked, looking worried.
"She mentioned an emergency. I hope everything is alright." I said.
"Aarav, can I use your phone?" Nisha asked him and dialed her mom.
She came back about five minutes after talking to her mom. From her face, something was wrong. It definitely wasn't good news.
"Is everything okay, Nishu?" Anika asked her gently.
"Surprise, I'm getting married." Her face was blank, and so was everybody else's.
"To?"
"I have no fucking idea," Nisha said, looking more lifeless than ever.
.........................................................................
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What about Aarav now? Will I reveal that in this book or 'Distant Hearts'? Let's see XD
Can anyone guess what the surprise Jai's planning for Anika is?
I hope you liked this chapter. If you did then do vote, comment and follow me!!
I post every Sunday, so wait for the next oneð