Back In Time

~four~

He pulled at the hem of his shirt and dabbed at his forehead dripping with sweat as he sat on the ground, panting for breath.

"Not much of a football lover, are you?"

Vedant looked to his side with a little smile, "That obvious?"

Rishi nodded, passing a bottle of water. Vedant gulped down all the water in a matter of seconds. "What do I say man? I'm in bad shape." He explained, wiping at his lips with the back of his hand.

Rishi grinned in response. "What about the match this Saturday? Think you'll play?"

He scratched the back of his head awkwardly as he offered; "I won't be in town."

"Oh? Where to?"

Both got up from the ground, dusting off their shirts. "Time for the annual Bank Audit."

"I see."

They were there again; at the tea stall they always visited after playing football every Sunday.

"So...where are you going?" Rishi enquired after a moment of silence, as he raised two of his fingers at the owner asking for two cups of tea.

"I was going to tell you, you know....I'm uh...I'm going to Delhi."

Rishi paused, his brows raised with surprise. "Really?"

This was sarcasm, not an enquiry and Vedant found himself turn the colour of beet root, almost as if he had just started dating Meera or as if Rishi had just established the fact that he was with his sister.

He could only shrug in response.

Rishi chuckled, as he passed Vedant his cup of chai. "Just look at you man! All red faced and embarrassed."

He sighed; realizing it was Rishi messing with him yet again.

"How long do these Bank Audits usually last?"

"Well, it depends on the workload. Generally, a month at the least."

Rishi grinned in understanding, "Looks like your long distance relationship won't be long distance for a while now."

Vedant shrugged yet again, still quite awkward at the prospect of discussing Meera with her brother.

"To a new beginning for you two." Rishi smiled, raising his glass of tea.

"Um...cheers." Their glasses clinked dramatically.

Silence ensued next, as both men began getting lost in their own thoughts until Rishi offered,

"My family's more than excited about hitching Meera with Kanan. That's the latest discussion in the house. I thought you should know."

He didn't know what shocked him more; the fact that Meera had literally never mentioned anything about them to her family; or the fact that she never found it necessary to let him know her family was busy preparing for her wedding. The last time he checked, she wasn't interested in marrying anyone. Not him, not anyone else.

"Bro are you okay?"

"What? Yeah. Of course." He replied quickly, snapping out of his trail of thoughts. "I uh...I didn't know Kanan was interested in Meera like that."

I'm going to punch that guy's face!

"Well I don't think he is. But his family is way too interested. I know that he's not seeing anyone else and because no one knows Meera is....I highly doubt Kanan will say no when he is asked for his opinion. I mean...they both have grown up around each other and are pretty comfortable in each other's company already you know?"

No, he didn't know.

He didn't even want to know. The mere imagination of Meera with someone else made him want to vomit that instant.

"Hey look, I didn't tell you all this to disturb you or anything. And I know these are private things which are best when discussed by you and Meera amongst yourselves, but I thought you needed some third person outlook on this matter. My family can be pretty darn overbearing with Meera when it comes to a subject like marriage; you know; especially because she's always been a rebel."

Vedant nodded curtly, a thousand thoughts racing through his head all at once. "I know."

"So...you're going to be okay?"

"Of course man."

Yeah right! Who am I kidding?

And when does Meera plan on telling me about this anyway?