7 days

DAY THREE

" First of all, I am sorry about being messy, I will make improvements.”
“Secondly I don't need to do anything behind your back, you knew that I smoked and I drank when you hooked up with me, then why are you saying these things now?’ Ishaan asked as he got up.

"It's annoying me now," Shubman said through his teeth.

Ishaan walked around the counter and turned Shubman to face him. A few strands of his hair messily fell over his face.

‘Baby, I can't make promises saying that I will quit all of these things, but I will try my best to reduce the amount that I do it in’ Ishaan said softly caressing Shubman's face.

Shubman's jaw clenched, as he felt the anger in him grow even more despite the promise Ishaan made. Ishaan stared at him hoping he would say something, but Shubman stood in front  of him eyes lowered to the ground. Ishaan felt an ache in his heart, even though he was standing close to Shubman, he could feel a distance forming between them. Shubman never looked up at Ishaan, and Ishaan couldn't fill the silence which was threatening to devour them.

Ishaans day was going in a blur. He didn't know what was happening around him. All he could think about was Shubman. They have fought before, he has seen Shubman's anger, but it was never like this. Before he left the house he tried to talk to him, only to be met with silence once again. Shubman never looked up at him, he backed away when Ishaan tried to kiss him. It was the first time he did that. Before, no matter what happens between them, Shubman never denies Ishaan from kissing him.

A sadness was spreading inside his heart. He sat in front of the brightly lit mirror as the make-up artists and hairdressers hovered around him. Ishaan took the phone and sent a text to Shubman.
‘Babe, are you coming to the show?’
He stared at the text for a while.
‘He must be busy’ he thought to himself.

Hours passed by and the show had started. Shubman never texted back to Ishaan. The sadness in Ishaan had changed its hues into anger.

POV: Shubman Gill.

Shubman came home earlier than usual. He still felt hollow from the anger he felt in the morning. He had fake smiled his way through practice, and lied about having a headache when his teammates asked him to come for a night out.

Just a few steps in, he was hit by the coldness in the house. Annoyed, he went and adjusted the thermostat. He made a mental note to call a technician to check it.

Taking off his jacket, he grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator and walked over to the sofa. He collapsed on the sofa and rested his legs on the coffee table. The October issue of GQ magazine was on it. Ishaan had graced the cover with another model; Shreyas Iyer. When it had come out, Shubman had childishly complained to Ishaan about how close he and Shreyas were. Ishaan spent the whole day trying to convince Shubman that Shreyas was just a good friend who has been with him since his struggle days.
A smile crossed shubman's lips as he thought of how, Ishaan had pinned him to the wall, pressed against him and told him

‘ Gill Sahab, get it in your head, you are the only person I love, Shreyas is  just a friend, nothing else!’

All Shubman could think about was how cute Ishaan looked even though he was fuming with rage.

Shubman kept the magazine and opened his phone and checked the messages. Maybe he was overreacting over the whole thing. He started to type a reply, but instead decided to talk to Ishaan face to face.

He opened Instagram and scrolled through his feed. Ishaan had uploaded a story. He clicked on it. It was a repost of the official photos that the designer had posted. He went to the designers page and scrolled a bit. Ishaan was in almost all of the posts about the show. Shubman felt sad that he had missed out on the show. He went back to the main feed,  mindlessly scrolled through the feed and stopped when he saw a picture of Ishaan and Shreyas. It must have been from the after party. He stared at Ishaan. Ishaan was wearing an all white outfit with gold accessories. His heart fluttered a little.
Shubman scrolled to the other photos. There was no one he could recognize, except in the last photo. It was Ishaan, he was holding a drink and a cigarette in his right hand, and had his left hand wrapped around a girl's waist.
Shubman sat up properly and looked at the girl's face. He had seen her somewhere, but he couldn't place it. Why was she with her arms wrapped around Ishaan's neck? Shubman felt annoyed, he knew that it was unreasonable to feel that way. But he did anyway. He let out a groan, carelessly threw the phone on the sofa and covered his face.