Bade Sapne

♤ Ghar ♤

Shubman's POV

The bus journey back to the hotel was rather uneventful, and the awkwardness had crept to a whole new level. Vira took the furthest seat from me, and poor Ishan was stuck in between us.

He turned to me, and a silent understanding passed through us- he could try to comfort her, and I wouldn't mind if he didn't talk to me. Hum toh har din baat karte rehe te hai. Shayad ye humse phir kabhi nahi milegi.

Plus, I was here as Ishan's wingman. If I didn't even let him talk to his girl, what kind of friend would I be? I turned away, playing over the night in my head.

I remembered the little fight we'd had, realising how stupid it had been. Honestly, I'd forgotten what we had even been fighting about.

"Aap toh sune keliye tayaar hi nahi ho..."

Shit, why had I said that? Why do I fuck up so badly all the time? I didn't even need to say that. I should've just stopped there. I went too far with that one.

I turned towards Ishan and Vira, silently listening in to their conversation. Ishan and I both had our disguises on. Vira's smile had once again returned to her face, and just like I had in the match, I felt drawn to her happiness.

The two of them were having an in-depth discussion on the best Bollywood movies, with Ishan promoting the newer movies, and Vira expressing her love for the older classics. I can't lie, I have to agree with Vira, Shah Rukh Khan's old movies were the true definition of romance.

An unrealistic, only found on-screen romance. Something which only the luckiest people ever experienced. Luck had supported me in my cricketing journey, but with love? I think even luck had realised I was hopeless with women.

So I guess my one and only love was cricket. And my family, of course. A smile crept onto my face as I remembered the moments I had shared with my father when I was still in the selection process. He'd always been by my side, dropping everything for me.

Sachin sir, Virat bhai, they're my cricketing inspirations. But my father? He's my life inspiration. I aspire to be like him, positive-minded, believing in me more than I believed in myself. Supportive to the extent that he would move city completely, for my career.

And now, I believed that I needed to give back for everything he had done for me. I wanted to accredit my success to the one person who'd brought about. Although, yes, my talent had got me this far, if I hadn't had the support he had given me, I wouldn't be here today.

I was sharply drawn out of my thoughts by Ishan, who tapped my shoulder to tell me that we'd arrived. The bus stop was right in front of the hotel, so it was a relatively short walk for us. As I stepped out, I noticed Vira gripping the cup of syrup.

It was untouched, and the level of syrup hadn't changed at all. The gola was dripping, but it was ice, so that was expected. I mentally cursed myself. I'd bought her the ice gola and then taken a bite of it myself. What did I expect? We're not best friends to be sharing food! Of course, she didn't eat it. And she had seemed so excited about it as well. And I ruined it.

I vowed that if the two of us ever became friends, the first thing I would do was buy her another one. Discreetly, she chucked the cup of syrup and the stick into a bin near the bus stop. The bus rumbled away, and I shoved my hands into my jeans pockets, observing Vira and Ishan in their animated conversation.

The security guards stepped towards us, as we made our way to the hotel, motioning for me and Ishan to lower the snood so they could see our faces. Once they were sure that we were allowed in, one of them gestured towards the door, suggesting that we could enter. I gave him a nod of appreciation.

"Sorry, ek minute. Aapke saath ye ladki kaun hai?" The guard asked me.

"Kaun, mein?" Vira questioned.

"Haan ji."

"Mera naam Vira hai. Mein Ishan ji ki dost hoon."

Ishan ji ki dost. Sirf Ishan ki dost.

"Aapko ID dikhaana padega."

"ID kis baat keliye?"

"Security."

Reluctantly, she got out her ID, and showed it to him. He nodded, letting her in. As we entered the hotel lobby, a wave of warm air enveloped us, a great relief from the bitter cold outside. Something to distract me from the bittersweet day I'd had today. I'd won the match, but I'd lost my chance at a friendship with Vira. And now I simply didn't know what to do. My mother had always told me, if you do good things, good things will come to you. Let's hope she was right.

The three of us took the stairs to Ishan's hotel suite, which was up about 4 floors. When we reached it, Ishan took out his keycard, and held the door open for Vira to enter. She switched on the light, and the suite lit up.

Ishan took Vira on a quick tour of our hotel suite, while I took off my disguise, before taking a quick trip to the kitchen. I grabbed a glass and poured myself a glass of orange juice. Suddenly, I was overcome with a feeling of hunger.

I shouted down the corridor to Ishan.

"Ishan, aap dono ko kuch khane keliye chahiye?"

A couple seconds later, he shouted back.

"Haan, thode nachos rakho."

"Thik hai."

I got to work, placing the nachos in a glass container, and then smothering salsa over it. Then, opening the fridge, I took out the cheese and began to grate it over the salsa topping. Once I was done, I swiftly placed it in the oven, waiting for the cheese to melt.

Usually, I was on a strict, protein-rich, nutritional, healthy diet. But, like everyone, I had cheat days too, and this was one of them. I quietly hummed a tune I'd recently become addicted to, while placing the cheese grater in the sink.

I put away the stuff I had used, and set an alarm on my phone, for about 20 minutes from now, to check on the nachos, before leaving the kitchen to take a seat on the sofa.

I unlocked my phone, checking for any new messages on WhatsApp. That's when I was reminded of the events that had occurred earlier on in the evening. I opened Ishan's message, which enclosed a photo of Vira, looking beautiful as ever.

I took a moment to appreciate her contagious smile, and before I realised it, a smile was growing on my face as well. My mind flashed back to the moments when we'd spoken civilly with each other. That moment where I'd pinned her to the wall. It had felt like mere seconds to me, but in reality, it'd been a couple of minutes.

Her gentle breaths against my hand, the stubborn look in her eyes, the way she was the perfect height for me to lean over her. But it wasn't perfect. She wasn't mine, and never would be.

I spent the next few minutes scrolling through YouTube, watching shorts of my antics on the field come up repeatedly. I was pleased with my performance. I think I'd done relatively well. And we'd won, as well. Against MI, one of the strongest teams in the league.

I put my phone down, closing my eyes to envision the match again. And, like that, I slowly gave in to sleep, as the sofa cushioned me, and I nodded off, with no worries in my mind, the nachos completely forgotten.

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A/N

Hi you ;) 

How's everything? Awkwardness is filling the void between our two favourites, Vira and Shubman :((

But, don't worry, coz Vira will soon get the love she deserves- maybe not from Shubman, but.... 🤭

Boy, do I have a lot planned for you guys.... stay tuned, the story is going to take a huge turn, soon. 

Also, for any updates about the story, check my profile, and click on conversations, as I'll be posting any updates on the story there.

But, for now, love you all see you next timeee :))))

<333