23. Office Surprise
"Satyammmm bhaiyaaaaaaa!" Shivika shouted at the top of her lungs.
She had been calling him for the last five minutes, but he was lost in deep thoughts. Her loud voice finally broke his trance, making him jump in shock.
"Yes, Shivika! What happened?" he asked immediately, rushing towards her. She was standing near the door with her hands on her hips.
"Bhaiya, I am calling you from last five minutes but you didn't even react," Shivika complained.
"I'm sorry… I was just thinking about something," Satyam said gently, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.
"Something… or someone?" Shivika asked, crossing her arms over her chest and raising her eyebrows like she was interrogating a criminal.
"Huh?" Satyam blinked, confused.
"Whom were you thinking about, bhaiya?" she grinned teasingly, stepping closer to him.
"No--I wasn't… thinking about her," Satyam said immediately, shaking his head.
Shivika gasped dramatically.
"But I didn't say her!"
She looked as excited as if she had solved a mystery. Satyam closed his eyes in defeat, clearly caught. He opened one eye slightly, then closed it again when he saw her grinning from ear to ear.
Finally, he opened both eyes fully. She was still grinning.
He laughed awkwardly.
"Bhaiya, tell me naa… who is she?" she asked, practically bouncing with excitement.
"You don't know?" Satyam said, raising his eyebrows now.
"How will I know?" Shivika asked, genuinely confused.
"I gave my wedding card to Rakshit Sir, so I thought you might have known by now," Satyam replied casually.
"What?!" Shivika shouted, her mouth wide open in shock.
Her Aksh didn't tell her anything.
Why didn't he tell her?
"You are getting married? Really?" Shivika asked, still stunned.
He nodded and her shock turned into happiness. She gave him a side hug.
"Congratulations, Bhaiya!"
"Thank you, Shivika," Satyam smiled, tapping her head affectionately.
"What is her name?" Shivika asked eagerly, but before he could answer she quickly added, "Wait! Come inside. We will talk while sitting. I am getting tired standing."
Without giving him a chance to decline, she turned and walked inside.
Satyam sighed softly but followed her. He removed his shoes outside before entering the house.
"Bhaiya, there was no need to remove your shoes," Shivika said, handing him a glass of water. She took one for herself and sat comfortably on the sofa.
"There was," Satyam replied seriously.
"Sir made the house clean every day so there wouldn't be any germs or bacteria and you can be safe. How could I make the floor dirty with my shoes?"
He placed the empty glass back on the table and sat on the sofa opposite her.
"I don't even want to argue right now," Shivika muttered, shaking her head slightly. She knew how Rakshit was becoming more protective with each passing day.
Satyam gave her a small knowing smile.
"Now tell me, Bhaiya," she leaned forward eagerly.
"Who is she? Where did you meet her? Is it love marriage or arranged marriage? And when is the marriage? And how does she look? And--"
"Shivika… stop, stop!" Satyam laughed, raising his hand to pause her.
She laughed too.
"Her name is Jhanvi," he began, his voice softening.
"We were childhood friends living in the same orphanage. And when we moved away from each other because of our careers… we realized we love each other. So here we are now, marrying. And my first card I gave to Rakshit Sir because he is like the godfather for me. So yes… I am marrying next week."
He finished with a peaceful smile.
Shivika's eyes softened. She could see pure happiness on his face.
"I am so happy for you, Bhaiya. I want to meet Bhabhi too! I will come to your wedding with Rakshit, okay?" she said excitedly.
Satyam chuckled.
"I will be pleased. But for your kind information, he never attended any wedding parties or anything particular. So I will be very grateful to you if you get him there."
"Don't worry, Bhaiya," Shivika said confidently with a chuckle.
"He will come. And how can he say no to his Ika, right?"
"Right," Satyam smiled. "Now you rest and let me do my duty."
He had barely taken two steps when--
"Bhaiyaaaa!" she shouted again.
"Shivika, I am here only. Why are you shouting?" Satyam said, turning around.
"In all this, I forgot why I was calling you," Shivika said, hitting her forehead lightly before slowly getting up.
"What happened?" Satyam asked worriedly, immediately alert.
"I have decided to surprise Aksh at his office, but I don't know the address or anything. So can you take me there?" she asked hopefully.
Satyam frowned slightly.
"Of course I can… but you shouldn't go. You will get tired. And Sir will come soon, so why go there?"
"No, Bhaiya," Shivika shook her head stubbornly.
"I forced him in the morning to go to office. He wasn't in the mood and it was important. But still, that man of mine was unaffected and said, 'It's fine, nothing will happen. Just there will be loss of 3–4 crore.' "
She imitated Rakshit's calm tone dramatically.
Satyam sighed internally.
She doesn't even know how many crores he has tossed aside after she came in his life… and the main point is he never cared that time and he doesn't want to now.
"Is this a way to behave, Bhaiya? You tell me," Shivika continued.
"If I hadn't answered his phone today, I wouldn't even know about it. By God's grace I got to know from Rahul, so I ordered him to go. But he wasn't happy. And now when I think about it--I am not happy. So I will surprise him, and he will be happy."
She clapped her hands excitedly like a little child planning something mischievous.
Satyam looked at her carefully. She wasn't thinking about her comfort. She was only thinking about her husband's happiness.
He wanted to refuse. He really did. But he couldn't make her upset.
"Okay," he finally said softly. "Let's go."
Her face lit up instantly.
"Yes! Let's gooooo!" Shivika said excitedly, almost dragging him towards the door.
Satyam shook his head with a helpless smile.
"One minute… we can't go," Shivika suddenly said just when they were about to step out.
Satyam stopped mid-step. "Why?"
"What if someone sees me and informs the media? Or what if someone from the media itself sees me? We can't go," Shivika said upsetly, already taking steps back inside.
Before she could retreat fully, Satyam gently held her wrist, just enough to stop her.
"Shivika," he said calmly, "I will take you from a private way directly to his cabin. Not a single person would be able to see you."
She looked at him doubtfully.
"Are you sure, Bhaiya? I don't want to create any problem for Aksh."
Her voice softened at the last sentence.
No matter how excited she was about surprising him, his reputation and peace mattered more.
"Yes, Shivika," Satyam replied firmly.
"Trust me. If it could cause even a slight problem to Sir or you, I wouldn't even agree. And don't worry, nothing will happen. Come."
He pressed the elevator button while she quickly locked the door.
"Bhaiya, one second. Still, for security, I will get the mask," Shivika said and hurried inside again.
Satyam shook his head with a faint smile.
Rakshit Sir has made her careful too.
She came back within a minute, holding a mask in her hand, and locked the door properly this time. They stepped inside the elevator together.
The doors closed with a soft sound.
After a few seconds of silence, Satyam spoke, "As much as I know, once you went with him to the mall… was he wearing a mask that day?"
Shivika frowned, trying to remember.
"No… he wasn't. And even I wasn't. Why didn't I think about it before?" she said, genuinely confused. "And you know, no one knew us there. How? There wasn't even so much crowd. Only some people were there in the whole mall."
She looked at Satyam in shock.
"But how can it be possible?"
Satyam just shrugged lightly, hiding the small smile that almost appeared on his lips.
How could he tell her that the entire floor of that mall was cleared before they even entered? That the so-called 'few people' were security in plain clothes? That cameras were temporarily controlled?
Rakshit doesn't take risks.
Specially not when it's about her safety.
The elevator reached the basement. They walked towards the car.
Satyam opened the car gate for her.
She slowly sat inside, adjusting her dress carefully, still thinking about the mall incident. Once she was settled, he closed the door lightly and took his seat in the driver's side.
As he started the engine, Shivika spoke again.
"Bhaiya… does he always do this? Like… arrange things without telling me?"
Satyam glanced at her.
"Sir doesn't like unnecessary attention around him," he replied carefully. "He prefers silence over publicity."
Shivika looked outside the window, her fingers playing with the edge of her dupatta.
"He doesn't even tell me these things," she murmured.
"Because if you know," Satyam said softly, "you will feel guilty. And Sir never wants you to feel that."
She turned to look at him.
He paused for a second before adding gently, "For Sir… you come first."
Shivika didn't say anything after that.
Her heart felt heavy and warm at the same time.
The car moved smoothly through a less crowded route. Instead of the main entrance of Rakshit's company, Satyam turned towards a separate lane.
"This is the private entry," he explained. "Only Sir, Rahul and me knew. Now you too."
Security guards immediately recognized the car and opened the gate without questions.
Shivika adjusted her mask properly.
He smiled.
The car parked in the underground private parking. From there, a restricted elevator would take them directly to Rakshit's private floor, away from employees, away from cameras, away from media.
As they stepped out, Shivika's heart started beating faster.
She wasn't scared of the media anymore.
She was just excited.
Excited to see the expression on her Aksh's face when she suddenly walks into his cabin.