Against the odds

The stone in the road

As promised Sara had come to meet Shubman at his place a day before her flight. Though she couldn't stay long enough, they spent a really good time. They both knew that with Sara going to London and Shubman going for a series, they'll both be busy. Hence why they decided to make the most of it.

Sara boarded her flight and texted Shubman after a while. She didn't get a reply until 3 hours later. He had wished her a safe journey and sent a rather cute gif. She smiled, closed her eyes and slept for a while. Her sleep was broken by her phone ringing. It was Krisha

On call
"Hi Ish" Sara greeted, still sleepy
"When is your flight arriving at the airport? I'll come pick you up" Krisha said, ignoring the greeting part.
"I'll send you the details Ish"
"Ok send them. I'll be there. Now go sleep. Bye" Sara mumbled a low bye in response to this and slept after sending the details

The flight landed and Sara headed out after collecting her luggage
Sara was picked up by Krisha as expected. She reached their room and plopped on the bed, tired and jetlagged. Krisha had to practically drag her to the bathroom so that she could freshen up. Sara freshened up and looked relatively better. Just when she was ranting about her jetlag to Krisha, her phone rang.

"Is it Mr lover boy?" Krisha teased
"Shut up" Sara shouted, blushing and went to the balcony to talk.

"You reached cookie?" Shubman asked, almost panting
"Yes, but why are you panting? Are you training?" Sara asked
"Yes I am but I thought you would've reached so I called" Sara called feel Shubman smile through the screen and she smiled wider at that.

"So does Mr boyfriend miss me already?" Sara asked teasingly
"As if Miss girlfriend doesn't huhh" Shubman huffed. "You are rude too"
"Acha baba sorry,"
"Forgiveness granted" Shubman said chuckling.
"Acha by the way, I have my exams coming soon. So I might be a bit busy because of that"
"Ha ha I know. I won't disturb you Doc. I have a series too anyway"
They both wished each other luck, talked for a while and hung up.

A few days have passed

Both Sara and Shubman were really busy in their respective work. They barely got any time to talk to each other but still messaged each other from time to time. Sara was in the middle of scrolling the news, taking a break from studies. It was then when a news caught her eye. Not a news, more like a rumour but Sara didn't pay attention to that. It was a photo of Shubman and Sara, not her a different Sara. The actress Sara Ali Khan in a restaurant. The headline stated, "the new cricket-bolly couple in town?"
Sara saw the picture again and it really was Shubman.

She trusted him but failed to understand why he hadn't told her that he was friends with Sara Ali Khan. She decided to not overthink and just call Shubman. She called him but he didn't pick up. She called him again and again but to no response. At last she left a message to Shubman asking him to call her back. When Shubman hadn't called back an hour later she grew restless and started pacing the length of her room. Her roommate and bestfriend Krisha noticed this and rolled her eyes.

"Why are you taking a walk in the room? There's a pretty garden outside" she commented sarcastically
"Shubman isn't picking up my calls Ish" Sara said still pacing
"How much time has it been?"
"We last talked two days ago!! And I called him an hour ago too. He isn't picking up" her voice sounded stressed
"Tell me aru what's the matter?" Krisha asked very well knowing it was something else bothering her.

Sara told her everything, about the news and Krisha facepalmed.
"They could be friends Aru"
"I know but he never told me"
"Maybe they aren't that close? Just casual friends and that's why he didn't think it was important to tell you?"
"Maybe " Sara said calming down a bit, but still uncertain
"You're overthinking aru, don't worry"

Sara nodded her head, stopped walking and sat on her bed. Krisha told her she's going to the library and went away leaving Sara in her thoughts alone. She couldn't help but feel that maybe they had grown distant. She barely talked to Shubman the past few days and when they did, it was small talks and stuff. She understood that they were both busy but she missed talking to him. She missed ranting to him. Her thoughts were cut off by her phone ringing, Shubman's call. She grabbed the phone and picked it up at once.

"What happened? Is everything alright cookie?" That was Shubman's first question. He was worried as to why she called that many times
"Yeah, it's just we didn't talk since the past two days and umm it's been a while since we talked properly" Sara said in a low voice
"Oh god Sara! I thought something bad had happened. You scared me. But judging by your voice it seems to me you are lying. Tell me, what's actually wrong?" Shubman asked and Sara gulped in nervousness. What if he gets angry if she tells him the exact reason? But she has to ask him anyway. She gathered some courage and told him the exact reason.

"Oh that? Actually we're brand ambassadors for the same brand so we met to talk about that. What did you think?" His voice sounded hurt, as if he was been accused
"I didn't think anything. It's just you never told me you were friends with her and this fake rumour made me freak out " Sara explained
"You think I'll do something like that? We're not friends, we met for work purposes that's all. You have to trust me you know?"
"I trust you! It's just we haven't talked properly since the past few days and then this news really messed with my head. But even then I never thought you'd do anything bad. I swear to god " Sara was on the verge of tears.
"Let's talk later. Bye" Shubman hung up
"No wait shub-"

Sara sighed Shakily realising it's of no use. She never doubted him. Not once. It was that lack of communication that made her insecure. She buried her head in her hands. She had to make this right. She couldn't, and she won't lose him. She wiped her face and went back to studying.

Shubman on the other hand was cursing himself for being stupid and a jerk on top of that. He couldn't understand why he would talk like that with her. She just asked a question. It didn't seem she was accusing me then why?
"I'm such an idiot" Shubman mumbled before he was called by his teammates for lunch.

That's it for the chapter guys. I guess it was a bit long but anyway.
I was actually writing this chapter yesterday night but I slept while writing. I could barely keep my eyes open. Anyway hope you like this chapter. I'm sorry if it's not upto the par because I don't even know what I wrote.
Anyways see you in the next chapter
Bleed blue 💙
TOODLES 💙✨