Arranged to be mine ft. Shardul Thakur

𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚁𝚃𝚈-𝙾𝙽𝙴

Ishika was getting ready in her room, while Shruti and Ritika were waiting for her in living room.

"This girl can never be on time." Ritika yelled.

"Uhh, its because of me bhabhi. She was going to sleep on time, but I asked her to show me her childhood photos, and we ended up sleeping late." Shruti said with regret.

Ishika was combing her hair when she heard the sound of opening of door. She looked across to find Shardul there.
"Aap?" She asked with her mouth wide opened.

"Kyun nahi aa sakta?" He asked raising his eyebrow.

"Of course aa sakte hain, but aaj suddenly?"

"Thought of surprising you." He said with a smile.

"Great. You know Ritika is very angry outside." She said resuming to comb her hair. She was about to put them in a bun but looked at Shardul and left them open.

Shardul gave her a bright smile.
Responding to this with a smile too, Ishika was about to go out of the room, just when Shardul pulled her back.
"Arey kahan?" he asked wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Living room." She said in very obvious tone.
"Ritika is very angry."

"She knows that you are not coming." He said with a mischievous smile.

"Is it?" Ishika smirked.

Just then Shardul's eyes fell on a photo album lying on the nearby table.
"Hey what is that? May I see that?" He asked as excited as a little kid.

"Ofcourse you can." Ishika said.

(Agree or not, albums and slam books are the most wholesome things you have as a child.)

"Did you make this by yourself?" He said gently moving his fingers over the cover.
Ishika nodded with a smile.

He opened the album, and started browsing through pages with a wide smile, while Ishika just adored him.

"Awww look at you, you were so cute there." He said looking at one of her baby pictures.
"And this." He pointed to a picture of Ro and her where Ro is holding a bat and she was bowling to him.

"Oh god, this is embarrasing, because I was hit for a six on this." She said with a grimace.
"But when I look at him hitting those shots now, I feel proud."

They both giggled and smiled while Ishika shared some random memories from her childhood.

"And now you owe me this thing as well. I wanna see your baby pictures too." Ishika ordered childishly.

"For sure madam." Shardul said followed by a little sneeze.

"Bless you." Ishika said instantly.

"He already did." Shardul said looking straight into his eyes. "He blessed me with you." And Ishika couldn't look away for a minute.

"You should take care of yourself. What did you eat? Something cold?" Ishika was back to her Doctor avatar.

"Umm... Some ice cream with Shreyas last night." Shardul said with a sheepish smile.
Ishika gave him a 'Virat bhaiya ko bataungi' look, raising eyebrow and crossing arms.

Ritika knocked on the door.
"Its open." Ishika shouted from inside as Ritika came in.

"Sorry to disturb your moment, but the jeweller is waiting since half hour. Will be good agar dono aajao toh." Ritika said.

"Yeah okay." Ishika went outside.

"Messiah!" Shardul hailed Ritika in a low tone only audible to her.
She responded with a giggle.

"Arey Shreyas tum kab aaye?" Ishika asked in a surprised tone.
He along with Shruti was playing with Sammy.

"Main. Shardul ke sath." He replied.

"Ishika focus on jewellery. Its getting late." Ritika asked.

Ishika selected few pieces for herself and so did Ritika.

"Can't believe I did it before Rukhvat." Ishika said chuckling.

"Rukhvat?" Shruti looked at her with confused look.

Ishika was about to answer but then looked at Shreyas.
"Main bata du ya tum batana prefer karoge?" She said teasing him.

"Nahi aap bata dijiye." Shreyas said with an embarrased smile.

"Rukhvat is an elaborative display of bridal trousseau. This may sound a bit old fashioned aur hum bhi bohot saari cheezo ko isme support nahi karte. But since we are trying to keep our traditions intact, it will my bridal attire and jewellery that will be showed to the women of our families." Ishika explained.

"Mujhe iske symptoms sahi nahi lag rahe." Shardul whispered to Ishika.

"Mujhe bhi." Ishika replied with a whisper too.
"Why don't you ask him?"

"Do you think I haven't yet? Bata hi nahi raha."

"Even I tried. Maybe he himself is confused."

"Let him be clear. Khud bata dega."
They both nodded.

Later in evening, Shruti was sitting by the window.

Ishika came there and sat beside her.
"Kuch puchhu Shru? I hope you don't mind." She asked her.

"Haan di."

"Do you like someone?"

Shruti turned and looked at her and nodded in a no.
"You know, there is no point at the end of the day." She said with a frown.

"Nah, this is not what I expect from my strong Shruti. You know, I promised jis din aisa hoga, main stand lungi tumhare liye."

"I know." Shruti said with a smile, and leaned on to her shoulder.
"Vo log nahi maanenge."

"Main mana lungi." Ishika assured.

Meanwhile, Shreyas was at Shardul's place, in his room, scrolling through his phone, too busy to be aware of his surrounding.

Shardul cleared his throat to remind him of his presence.
"Where are you lost Shreyas?" He asked him gently, like a big brother.

"No where." Shreyas replied.

"Kuchh puchhu?" Shardul said.

~

Hola people!
Thanks for scrolling till here.
Do hit the upvote button, and drop your valuable comments.
All kind of criticism and suggestions are welcomed.

Your own
Cricketophile 🤍