Stay With Me

2

Four years ago; 2019, March

They were in Dubai for preseason practice, but it was cancelled for today due to some issues with the field, so all of the players were more or less captured in their hotel rooms and for some reasons Babar decided that it would be a good idea to make a sort of team bonding activity of that.

Shadab had played every single game known to mankind on the PlayStation together with Shaheen, watched every single drama his cousin wanted him too - well just the first episode but his cousin didn't need to know that. And even listened for 20 minutes as Shaheen ranted about how much he despised Shubman.

Shadab swore this man has an unhealthy obsession with Shubman, and he made a mental note to himself to pay more attention to that. But for today, he had done more than enough team bonding, and now he merely wanted to read his book in peace. Nothing more, but he wasn't even granted five minutes of that before someone interrupted him.

He was at a very exciting place in the book when Shaheen tapped him on the shoulder and told him to follow him.

Shadab could have pulled his hair out of frustration but reluctantly followed Shaheen.

They took the dark, modern stairwell down to the lobby.

"I swear if it's not important, I'll n-" Shadab's words got stuck in his throat as they rounded the corner and he saw the Indian man standing there.

His Indian man.

"I guess he's important," Shaheen said with a shit eating grin on his face and then walked away, but not before winking at him once.

Shadab would pay him a visit later, but for now, he still couldn't believe that it was Virat standing here.

Virat's face beamed up at Shadab when he reaches him, pulling him into a hug.

Shadab held his breath, having Virat that clise to him was overwhelming. The smell of Virat's hairspray filled the air. It was sharp and tangy, with a piny hint of the morning coffee Virat usually had. It was comforting and heady at the same time.

As they pulled away from each other, Shadab asked the question, burning at the tip of his tongue. "What are you doing here?"

"I still have one week before I've got to go back with the team, so me and Anushka decided to make full use of it," Virat replied. "Then, today morning, I heard from reliable sources that you were here and how could I be in the same city as my Shady without meeting him once."

Shadab's mood dimmed a bit after finding out that Virat was with Anushka.

'She's his wife. Obviously, she's with him.' This annoying voice in his head said, and he had never hated the voice more. Like he ever needed a reminder. The ring on Virat's finger was more than enough for that.

"So what do we want to do?" Virat demanded, making him look up.

"We?" Shadab asked, genuinely confused.

"Yeah, I was free, and Shaheen told me that you don't have any practice today. So maybe we could go out."

He nodded at that without hesitating. That would have scared him a year ago, but not anymore. Shadab had learned pretty earlier that when Virat asked for something, he was ready to do it. And one day, this would be his downfall.

__

They ended up going to a famous restaurant, with a view of the whole city. It was Shadab's first time in Dubai, but Virat had already been here a few times and knew about all the good places. He even promised Shadab to show him all of them someday, but Shadab doubted this would ever happen. However, he kept his doubts to himself.

They talked for what felt like hours. About his parent's, their teams, and Aarav - Virat's nephew. Although Shadab had two siblings, a load of cousins and a whole cricket team, he could talk to, they weren't Virat. Talking to Virat made him feel at peace.

Wasn't it hilarious? A Pakistani player who found 'peace' when he was out of all persons with an Indian man. Books could be written about that.

Suddenly, Virat started to curse.

"Everthing ok?" Shadab asked out loud, trying not to sound too worried.

"It's already 9. How could it get so late. Shit, I've got to go now. But we will meet tomorrow." The other said frantically and started to stand up.

"We're flying to Abu Dhabi for a sponsoring event." Shadab added in a quiet voice, his voice nearly wavering at the end.

"Oh,"Virat stopped in his tracks for a second to look at him with an unreadable expression before shaking his head.

Shadab decided to be the mature one for once."We will see each other soon, hopefully. But, I think you should go now or otherwise Anushka might get worried. I'll take an Uber."

"No, you aren't doing such a thing." Virat said in an authoritative voice and then added softly. "You don't know how unsafe such big cities at night are."

Shadab laughed at that. "V, don't be worried. I'm not a small child. I'll get safely to the hotel."

"Nope, I'll go with you. Besides, it's not that far away from the hotel, me and Anushka are in." Virat added with such a finality that Shadab couldn't argue with that and ended up saying,"OK."

__

Fifteen minutes later, they were standing in front of the hotel, which the Pakistani team had booked for the week.

"It was nice to see you." Shadab said, barely above a whisper.

Virat smiled at that and hugged the Pakistani player tightly, promising to meet him soon before walking back towards the taxi.

If he had turned around, he would have seen a tear rolling down Shadab's cheek. And if Shadab had looked closer, he could have seen Virat steps faltering, as if he wasn't ready to leave yet.

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♡ Hayat