Neha and Aman had spent the day in Sara's apartment, getting her ready for the date.
She was excessively nervous and was worrying about every little thing.
But Aman turned up with some vada pavs that they ate after their school got over.
Back then too, Aman would buy it and then run to Sara and Neha because otherwise the paparazzis would make a big headline out of it.
"The God of Cricket, Sachin's Daughter is buying from a street vendor!"
The taste of those vada pavs were unmatched. No matter how many they ate from 5 star restaurants, those had their own magic.
That immediately soothed Sara down. The nervous blabberings soon turned into happy chatter while reminiscing their school days.
On the other hand, Shubman was rather casual about it.
One part of him wanted to stay back at the team hotel as Ishan would go back to Patna that evening.
If he went to the date, he could not drop Ishan in the airport.
Thus, his excitement about the date was kind of dimmed by this.
The date__________________________
Sara arrived at the restaurant in which they were supposed to meet by 4:30.
They were supposed to meet at 5. But Sara's nervousness forced her to arrive thirty minutes early.
Neha and Aman had settled in the next table.
Aman, who was a die-hard cricket fan, had expected himself to be excited to see Shubman Gill up close but he was rather annoyed that day.
He just wanted to go back to Sara's apartment and just talk to her about anything and everything.
He looked at the other side of the table.
Neha was excited about seeing her childhood friend with Shubman.
But she wasn't so absorbed in her excitement that she wouldn't notice Aman's gloominess.
"Aman, what's the matter now? If you like her, you have to tell her! Encouraging her about proposing her boyfriend won't help you get with her!"
"You don't get it, Neha. Plus, what chance do I even stand? He is the next big thing in Indian cricket, and what am I? Just a student."
"You're a student at the Oxford University, Aman! Don't make it seem easy. Maybe you can't be Shubman Gill, but I highly doubt if Shubman Gill can be a student at Oxford too."
"Tell this to Sara!" Aman laughed.
Shubman arrived almost fifteen minutes late.
Thankfully, Sara didn't notice it, as she was busy rehearsing her lines.
After the initial "hi!", " hello"-s, Sara started a conversation about Shubman's playing.
But Shubman seemed kind of absent-minded.
"Shubi, are you okay?" Sara asked.
"Yeah, Sara, I am totally fine. It's just that Ishan is on his flight now, and I hope he has a safe journey."
Sara sighed under her breathe.
"You should call him after he lands. I can assure he'll be safe."
"yeah, I couldn't drop him to the airport today. We couldn't do our usual goodbye-handshakes, so I'm kinda sad."
Sara tried to change the topic from Shubman and Ishan's camaraderie.
"So, Shubman, we have been ,well, good friends, for over a year now...so don't you think it's time to make this thing, uhm, official? I'm tired of all the hiding and speculations."
Shubman felt like the atmosphere got warmer suddenly. He knew this was coming. He himself was not a fan of the "situationship" thing. But something in his head was constantly stopping him from completely committing to Sara.
His thoughts started running fast.
Sara is such a nice girl. I know her since so many years and we have been really close in the past year. Then what is it that's stopping me? Sara doesn't deserve to be treated like this. She deserves better. But what can I do?
Shubman was sweating even in the air-conditioned restaurant.
"Shub, are you okay?"
"yeah, Sara, actually I don't think I'm ready for this. Don't take it any other way, but I am not ready to commit just yet. You are such a good friend though ,Sara!"
"But that's just it! I'm just a friend. Actually you know Shubman, I'm tired of this one-sided relationship or, should I say, 'situationship'?"
"Sara-"
"No, let me speak today. I think we would be better off as friends, Shubman. You never seemed commited to me anyways. So, now I'm freeing you from me. I wish you all the best, Shub. Best of luck."
"Sara, please don't hate me.I-" Shubman was on the verge of tears.
"I don't have any negative feelings for you, Shubman. But I'm tired of this one-sided relationship. You will always have me as a friend. You can always call me if you need. Goodnight, Shub!" Sara smiled faintly before rushing out of the restaurant, leaving Neha and Arman on the opposite table.
Shubman broke down in tears, all alone.
"Maybe we got lost in translation,
Maybe I asked for too much,
But maybe this thing was a masterpiece
Till you tore it all up.
Running scared, I was there
I remember it
ALL TOO WELL."
