post script.

three

03
YOUR WHISPER REACHED ME

April

Mumbai,

Shubman, Sara, had all gone back. Currently, the team's coaches and mentors were talking about the match, talking strategies, details and giving different medals, as a token of encouragement.

The team bus took them back to their hotel, and as an hour or so had passed already. Yet a part of Abhishek was living in the moment sometime ago, when he'd heard Aastha's voice.

Her voice reminded him of the love he had in his life. Her beautiful voice. His favourite voice. He wanted to snatch the phone from Sara and talk to her, wanted to hear that she'd watched him— watched him score big, and he'd wanted to reply with an I did it for you.

His heart felt empty, hollow. Even cricket didn't feel the same. He was chasing a shadow which was slipping away from him in lightning speed. And Abhishek didn't know what to do bring his own self back. And how could he bring Aastha back when he wasn't his own self? A wistful sigh left his lips, tears blurring his vision.

A notification.

To rub salt on his wounds, it was a memory from exactly a year ago. It was a picture of Aastha and him, having ice cream at the Marine drive, late at night. She was laughing and Abhishek jogged his memory, trying to remember the exact moment, trying to remember what had made her so happy. Maybe he could crack the same joke again. He closed his eyes, phone slipping out of his hand and falling on his chest.

He wanted to cry, cry till he was tired, cry till the pain had left him with the tears. But, the tears stayed stuck in his eyes, one or two slipping away on random occasions. Three months, yet the pain remained. The memories of the night when everything came crashing down haunted him every second.

Congrats Abhay.

She'd said the exact words. He'd heard them. She was on call with Sara. She'd heard him say something. Her voice still rang in his ears. And his lips curved into the slightest smile. He knew he was going to replay her congratulations in his mind for many days ahead. She sounded unsure, sounded like she had been...crying.

One person. So much pain. So much love. His heart clenched at the thought, his eyelids feeling heavy as his mental and physical exhaustion caught up to him. He dozed off, dreaming of the simpler, sweeter times of his life. Dreaming about when he was hers. As he slipped into slumber, the words slipped out of his mouth easily:

"I miss you, Aastha,"

Somewhere close yet far to him, the woman he missed was lying uncomfortably on a bed, also whispered the same thing, shared the same sentiment.

"I miss you, Abhishek,"

_____

next day

A new day, yet nothing felt new for Abhishek Sharma. He got out of his room, dressed in comfortable clothing for the flight back to Hyderabad for the next match.

His apartment in Mumbai was all fixed, but it was worthless to go back to. Living with the team at the hotel was better, at least listening to Ishan and Nitish talk about absolutely stupid things at the breakfast table didn't make him want to leave the food halfway and leave for practice.