(Ishan's dialogues will be in italics.
Shubman's dialogues will be in bold.)
Ishan's pov
(Grindr)
Eiffel <for you>
Hiiii
Hello :)
Why don't you have
any pictures on your
profile?
I could ask you the
same question.
Well because I don't
want people to only
like me for my looks.
Oh wow, you think
you're that good looking?
Well I am ;)
Also people here only
search for good looking
guys to get f*cked.
I didn't know that.
I just joined grindr.
Well beware-
the guys here are
really cheap.
Doesn't that include
you too?
Ofcourse not 'Sunshine'.
Then why are you still
here if you know the
guys here aren't nice?
Because I was
trying my luck, I guess.
I couldn't get a guy,
in real life.
So I thought, why not
try here?
What about you?
Similar reason.
But not the same.
Come on. Spill.
I was trying to move
on and this seemed
like a good distraction.
Ohh from who?
Just a guy.
Okayy well you still
haven't told me why
you don't have any
pictures?
Just because.
Um okay wow
that's pretty
vague.
So why is your
name Eiffel?
Well because it's a
good pick up line
and I'm tall. ;)
That's cheesy.
Well I happen to
like me some
cheese.
So what's your name?
You gotta tell me
your's first.
Um I can't.
Ok then, why did
you keep your profile
name 'Sunshine'?
Someone calls me
by this name and
I couldn't think of
anything else.
Well the only thing
I'll tell you about my
name is that it starts with 'S'.
Oh God.
What?
What's wrong?
Nothing just I guess
the 'S's really can't
leave me alone.
Haha I guess
you're like a magnet
for the 'S's.
What about you?
What about me?
Don't I get a hint?
Nope.
Well then atleast tell
me why you swiped
right for me?
Honestly your
dog was cute but
I was about to swipe
left for you, but then
I read the description
and it had a F.R.I.E.N.D.S
reference sooooo....
So...
I'm assuming you like
F.R.I.E.N.D.S too?
Yep, what about you?
Why did you swipe right?
I just thought it
was rare that someone
else had no pictures in
their Grindr profile
like me.
And just like that, I formed a good bond with the him, it had been a couple days since we had started chatting and just like how I had intended it was providing me a distraction from my thoughts about a certain someone, who I shared a room with. I couldn't say I had moved on but I mean...
"Ish, you've had your head in your phone since the past few days. You don't even give me any attention."
He said pouting like a kid, bringing me out of my thoughts.
"Well you're on your phone too."
"That's cause you don't give me attention."
I didn't have a reply for that so I just made the bed and laid in it before muttering,
"I'm tired, goodnight Shub."
I could feel him getting in bed besides me, before spooning me from behind.
"Don't ignore me please."
He said in a soft desperate plea. His voice broke a little and my heart broke along with it. I turned around in his embrace, before hugging him and pulled his head against my chest, comfortingly. No matter how much I tried to move on, I couldn't ever avoid him. I needed to make sure to not hurt him, just because of my own feelings. He was my bestfriend after all.
A few days passed as Shub and I practiced hard in Mumbai with the T20 World Cup arriving soon. I had stopped trying to avoid Shub and had let us be fairly normal again but I did maintain some physical distance, just for the sake of my poor heart. I had also texted Mr 'S' aka Eiffel on Grindr regularly. We just chatted about random things and he was a pretty fun guy, I concluded.
(Grindr)
Eiffel <for you>
Where do you live?
If you don't mind
telling me that.
I'm from Bihar,
but I currently live
in Mumbai.
Oh I live in
Mumbai too.
Can we meet?
Uhhh-
It's fine if you
don't want to.
I just wanted
to meet you.
You seemed like a
really nice person.
I don't want to make you
uncomfortable though.
It's not that I'm
uncomfortable it's
just that....
I don't know.
Do you watch cricket?
Nah, I'm more
into football.
The only player I
know is Virat Kohli.
But then again I guess
everyone knows him.
So my cricket knowledge
is basically next to zero.
Why? Do you like it?
Yeah, I guess you
could say I like it.
Cool.
Why did you ask though?
No reason,
all Indians are usually
cricket fans so...
Ohh the prejudice.
Well I always preferred
football.
Ok fine, we can meet.
But I have a condition.
And what's that?
I'll decide the time
and place.
Ok done.
How will I recognize
you though?
I'll wear a blue shirt.
And? That's so
common.
There won't be many
people around and plus
even if there's a couple
guys with a blue shirt
you can always just go upto
them and ask if they're
'Sunshine'.
Plus it'd be funny if people
look at you weirdly for
asking them such a question.
Hihiii
You just want to see
me embarrassing
myself. But fine.
I can do that much
for you.
And just like that here I was standing in front of the restaurant contemplating on whether I actually wanted to do this or not. I was very tempted to run away, but I couldn't do that to Eiffel. He had been such a gentleman, I couldn't stand him up like that. So I took a deep breath and pinched myself making my way inside the VIP section of the posh restaurant before I could overthink anymore.
I was about to make my way to the table I had booked but spotted Shub instead as I stopped dead in my tracks. He had made himself comfortable on a table which was near mine and when he spotted me, he waved me over. I hesistantly made my way over to him.
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm here for a date. What about you?"
He was here on a date. I wanted so badly for this to not affect me, but it did. My heart could never not be affected by this.
________________________________________
I have my first exam today.
Oh God what am I doing 😭