When life happens

The beach trip

As Neha, Tani and Siri sat down at the table (Sonali having stopped on the way to talk to Shubman), Virat asked severely, "Which one of you left the refrigerator door in my room open last night?"

Tani, Siri and Neha had all been present in his room till late at night watching a movie with him and Rohit, so Virat's question was quite justified.

"Siri," said Neha at once.

"Of course not, Neha was the last one to take out the chips, so..." began Siri.

"Not again," groaned Tani.

"You took out the pepsi after I took the chips!"

"We drank the pepsi first, didn't we, Tani?" asked Siri.

"But I took the chips out first, didn't I, Rohit bhaiya?"

"I don't know," said Rohit.

"It's ok, it's ok, calm down, both of you," tried Tani.

Neha and Siri ignored her completely.

"Virat bhaiya, did you have the chips or the pepsi first?" demanded Siri.

"He doesn't remember, that's why he asked!" said Neha disparagingly. "Use your brains a little bit, Siri!"

Tani looked in despair at the two voices on either sides of her ears, and Virat and Rohit suddenly started to laugh.

"They're exactly like us, aren't they, Ro?" asked Virat.

That made Neha and Siri stop and ask, "What?"

"You two seem just like me and Virat when you start fighting like this," said Rohit, grinning. "And Tani is like Jinks, hopelessly trying to be the peacemaker."

"Do you two fight like this a lot?" asked Tani, suprised.

"Yes," said Jaddu and Bhuvi together.

"Just like the fandom imagines them," muttered Tani, and Neha was the only one who heard her.

"I'm like you, right, Rohit bhaiya?" asked Neha hopefully.

"Definitely not," said Jaddu taking particular delight in breaking her hope. "Siri is lazy and stupid just like Ro," he added.

"Look at who's calling others stupid," said Rohit pointedly to Siri.

"Exactly," said Siri in disgust.

"You're like me, Neha," said Virat warmly. "And you can be proud of that."

Which made Neha's eyes light up and Hardik cough in a very exaggerated and loud manner indeed, which made Virat asked, "What's your problem?"

"Nothing... nothing," said Hardik hastily.

Shubman and Sonali came in then, and Shubman asked the girls, "Met my girlfriend already?"

"Yeah," said Neha snidely. "And we were listening to your story before Virat bhaiya called."

"Oh," said Shubman with a bright grin. "How far have you got? Did you tell them about the beach trip?" he asked Sonali, winking.

"No, I've got only as far as our first meeting," said Sonali.

"I'll tell them the rest," offered Shubman over courteously and he continued the story.

∆∆∆∆∆∆∆

Coming back from that party, Sonali found a friend request from Shubman Gill. Blue ticked.

Feeling her heart skip a beat, Sonali accepted it. Shubman's message came immediately, making her wonder if he had been waiting for it.

Shubman: Remember me?