Love on the Pitch

Window Seat

29 April, 2021

"Window seat mai lunga!"  Ishan declared running into the bus, they were travelling from the hotel to the stadium as both of their teams had matches today.

"Nahi mai lunga!" Shubman exclaimed following behind him.

Their resonating laughs awaring everyone of their arrival.

Giggling, Ishan triumphantly grabbed the fourth last window seat, meanwhile, Shubman could only reach near the first seat, Hardik Bhai blocking his way.

"Hardik bhaiya, side ho please" Shubman annoyedly clicked his tongue, scurrying his way toward Ishan who was giving him a full teeth teasy smile, Shubman couldn't help but smile as well.

Before Shubman could take a seat beside him he was interrupted by Mayank Markande who swiftly slipped alongside his best friend with a thud, startling even Ishan, causing him to stare at Mayank dumbfounded.

Smile on Shubman's face was wiped off like anything, his delighted expression immediately getting replaced with the grumpy ones.

"Ishu, mai tere pass baithunga aaj", Mayank unhesitatingly announced as Ishan's lips finally formed a warm smile, "Han toh baith ja yaar aram se, aise darane ki kya zaroorat thi tujhe."

Mayank smiled widely pulling at Ishan's cheek, adoring him.

Shubman furrowed his brows even more at that, the audacity of Ishan to just allow him like that.

"Mai baithne wala tha udhar", he plainly spoke which made Ishan and Mayank look at him and before Ishan could utter a word, Mayank replied, "Dude bhot jagah hai, kahi bhi bethja."

Shubman - "Han toh bhai I could say the same, aap kahi aur baith jao, yeh meri jagah hai."

Mayank stared at Shubman like he was some kind of fool and that pissed Shubman even more but somehow he obscured it.

"Ab toh mai baith gaya, mai nahi hatt raha yhan se", Mayank casually denied, looking away from Shubman and shifting a little to make himself more comfortable.

"But mai yahan pehle baithne wala tha" Shubman countered, "Ishan, bta na" he motioned.

"Shubi, ab wo bethgya hai toh usey bethne de, tu kahi aur bethja" Ishan pacified.

Shubman just clenched his jaw for a moment and sighed not wanting to create a scene before going to sit on the seat behind Ishan.

"Gaane sunega?" Mayank asked offering Ishan one of his airpod.

"Han kyu nahi" Ishan took the airpod and plugged it in his ear.

Mayank - "Sweetie, kya sunna pasand karega tu?" (fondly)

Ishan - "Jo tu suna de" (innocently)

"Awww, acha" Mayank cooed pulling at Ishan's cheek and kissing it, not being able to resist.

Shubman gritted his teeths witnessing their conversation and looked outside the window, trying to pay them no heed but it was impossible with Mayank's endeavours, this guy just couldn't keep his hands away from Ishan. Sure he knows Ishan longer than Shubman does but that doesn't give him any upper-hand, his and Ishan's bond is much stronger, everything else must be damned.

"Chal tera favourite koi bhojpuri song hi lagadeta hun", Mayank said while skipping through his playlist.

"Teri list mein itne bhojpuri songs!", Ishan was stunned by looking at Mayank's playlist.

Mayank simply chuckled in response, "Kya karu, tune hi adat dalwadi hai."

Ishan too chuckled shaking his head and chortled even louder as the song launched into his ear, him and Mayank both sharing the laughter whereas Shubman's eyes would consecutively switch between them. He couldn't take it anymore and played the music on his phone as well, without any earphones which made Ishan and Mayank look back at him, Mayank's expression comparatively sour, he knew what Shubman was playing at.

"Shubi, Airpods lagale", Ishan sweetly suggested.

"Bhoolgya mai lana" Shubman plainly responded even though the Airpods were in his bag.

Mayank opened his mouth to say something but then kuldeep intervened.

"Sardh mat, le mere sath share karle" Kuldeep placed one of his airpods in Shubman's ear by himself, who had no choice but to politely accept, tapping the play button off on his phone and closing the screen.

"Rohit Bhai, kahi se jalne ki boo aarhi hai" Hardik commented in a hushed tone sitting on the second seat beside Rohit who's eyes were closed while he was resting his head back.

"Aa Rahi hai Harry mere bhai, mai toh bss iss jalti nagri mein kuch iss tarah betha hun jese devdas"

Hardik furrowing his brows stupefyingly gazed at Rohit,
"Ro Bhai, aap kuch zyada hi dramatic nahi hojaate ho."

Rohit sighed, "Love is meant to be dramatic Harry."

"Are par aap kese devdas hue, devdas toh Shubman hua na?", Hardik exasperated.

Rohit opened his eyes, hardly blinking twice to get rid of the sleepiness, "Han wo example thoda galat hogya. Ruk firse karta hun."

Rohit initiated again, "Harry mere bhai, mai toh bss iss jalti nagri mein kuch iss kadar betha hun jese devdas or paro ke beech, paro ki maa, na mai kuch kar sakta hun, na mai kuch keh sakta, majboor hun mai."

Hardik rolled his eyes, he could never get used to this, "Kya aap bhi Bhai or aap please mujhe yeh Harry Harry mat bulaya Karo, kutte jesa feel hota hai mujhe", he complained.

The sentence caught Rohit off-guard as he broke the character and laughed while patting Hardik's hairs.
"Mai tujhe pyar se Harry bulata hun yaar, aise mat bol."

Hardik just rolled his eyes again and peered back, smirking at crabby Shubman who didn't miss it and looked away from Hardik's gaze, getting teased by his seniors was the last thing he wanted right now. Hell, why did he even get on this bus? Why couldn't his impatient ass wait until his own team departured from the hotel? Because he wanted to be with Ishan? Who is now happily sharing the seat with Mayank?

"Aaj toh hum teri team k against khelne waale hain" Mayank said to Ishan, words not going unheard by Shubman.

"Han, full on khelna, kahi humare aage soft mat pardjaiyo", Ishan challengingly replied.

"Yea, let's see who wins and who loses. Agar hum jeete toh tu mere liye kya karega?", Mayank asked with mirth.

"Mai kyu karunga tere liye kuch?", Ishan questioned, confused, and Shubman wanted to bang his head against the very window he was sitting at.

"Aww Sweetie, dargaya?", Mayank cooed.

Ishan scoffed, "Dar or mai? Toh tu hi btade tujhe kya chahiye?"

Mayank smirked, "Tujhe mere saath date pr chalna padega", he giddily yet sternly demanded.

Ishan just laughed in return meanwhile Shubman's eyes widened at the boldness. How dare he! His focus wasn't on music at all, why the hell was he feeling so damn uneasy.

Mayank pouted, "Hass kya raha hai? Dekhna jabse humne internationally khelna shuru Kiya hai tabse hum saath mein time spend hi nahi kar paate."

Ishan thoughtfully sighed, "Hmm, chal theek hai. I owe you a date if you win this"

"Deal", Mayank beamed extending his hand as Ishan took it and gave it a firm shake before agreeing "Deal."

Shubman was fuming, he would have turned red in anger if his rage could be shown how they show it in the cartoons.

He could feel himself shaking from frustration as he clenched his fist tight while pretentiously gazing out of the window. 'Fuck it' he thought to himself while the bus kept moving toward their destination.

************************************

That's it for today guys, thank you so much for showing your support, please keep encouraging like this, leave your comments and votes. Love you all, biee.

And I know how the IPL works, please don't judge me, I guess I was just desperate to execute the scene in my mind, anything is possible in a fictional world and that's what I love about it.