Hey, people. This is a sequel for "Astronomy" 'Cause I just felt like it.
-
The first face Ishan saw after coming out of his room in the morning were Shubman's. He still doesn't know what to feel about meeting him after years. He did felt the tinge of relief and happiness when he saw him but with it came the intense sorrow he thought he had moved on from or maybe he was just trying to gaslight himself into believing that all these years. Maybe he was still stuck in that perfect night of 2018 and never had come out of that beautiful delusion, neither had he tried to do so, ever.
"Good morning, bhai." Riya beamed, coming out of the guest room provided to her and her fiance.
After having their engagement in India, they decided to get married in London. Ishan offered them to come live with him like a month before so they could see the venues and decide things. Karan, Riya and Shubman were the one to plan everything so they came to London two days ago. Ishan wanted himself to regret giving the offer but he couldn't. No matter how much he tried to convince himself that he doesn't care about Shubman being here and he is not happy by that, somewhere deep inside he knows how much he was craving the man's presence.
"Good morning." He replied. He could feel Shubman's gaze on himself and his traitorous heart again started beating as fast as it used to do In the past, for anything and everything related to this particular human.
"Come on, everyone. Breakfast's ready." Ishan's mother shouted from the kitchen and as all of them, except Ishan, left the living room, he let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. God, he's so screwed.
As Ishan's mother was setting up the breakfast, the doorbell rang. Noticing that everyone was occupied, Shubman offered to take the door.
He opened the door to see a beautiful woman, who he assumed to be English. She initially looked a little confused to see a unfamiliar face but nonetheless smiled at him warmly as she asked, "Hii, there, I'm here to meet Ishan. He's home, right?"
Shubman slowly nodded as he let her in. She shot him a smile as she came inside, making her way towards the kitchen as if she already knew everyone would be there. Shubman closed the door, following after her.
"Mama," She smiled widely, hugging Ishan's mother who chuckled, softly patting her hair, "I missed you, how are you?" She asked pulling back with a smile.
"Missed her? Seriously, Charlotte? I'm sure you literally came here every two days even when I was not here." Ishan quipped, entering the dining area as he was still in the living room attending some call.
Charlotte rolled her eyes playfully, "You're right. By the way, What's up, boss? Did you miss me on your trip?" She asked, grinning.
"No, actually these past few days I felt at so much peace 'Cause I didn't have to deal with your constant nagging there." Ishan replied sarcastically. He didn't lie though, he actually did felt at peace but because of a certain someone's presence.
"Mama, I still don't understand how can such a sweet woman like you have such a bitchass son like him." She commented, looking at Ishan's mother.
Ishan chuckled, "That is the same exact thought I have everytime I look at Lily."
Charlotte gritted her teeth, "You-"
"Bas karo tum dono, subah subah shuru ho jaate ho." Ishan's mother interrupted, glaring at both of them.
Charlotte huffed, "Mama, par shuru to isne kiya tha." She said sulkily.
"Wait, you know hindi?" Karan asked, confused 'cause she spoke so perfectly. As the woman turned her gaze to him, he added, "I'm not trying to be rude, just curious."
"Don't worry, I get asked that alot," She smiled before introducing herself properly, "Hii, everyone, I'm Charlotte, Ishan's secretary and I'm actually half-Indian."
Just secretary, she seems so close to him. Shubman thought, observing the scene. No, no, why do you care? You shouldn't care. He shook his head to get rid of the thoughts but somewhere, they still lingered, making him feel oddly uneasy.
"Hey, you didn't tell me your name?" Charlotte asked as she turned to him with a smile.
Shubman smiled politely, extending his hand for a handshake, "Hello, I'm Shubman gill."
"Shubman," She mumbled, her smile fading a little as she glanced at Ishan who immediately looked away, avoiding her eyes. Oh, so this is him. She thought as she smiled again, shaking Shubman's hand, "Nice to meet you, Shubman."
"Beta, come have breakfast with us." Ishan's mother insisted.
"Nahi, mama, phir kabhi. I just need Ishan's sign on some files." She said, approaching Ishan and handing him the files she was carrying in her bag. She soon left after that.
-
"This place is so cozy." Riya said, looking around the cute cafe.
"I know. It's my go-to place for a date." Charlotte replied.
All of them found themselves at a cafe nearby to have breakfast and discuss about the wedding venues. Charlotte offered to help 'cause according to her Ishan has a horrible taste so he wouldn't be of much help.
"Can you go take our orders while I show them some venues?" Charlotte asked Ishan as this was a counter-service cafe. At Ishan's nod, she added, "Shubman, can you please go help him as well?"
Ishan glanced at her surprised while she just smiled at him. They quietly walked to the counter and placed the order.
"And a piece of chocolate cake as well." Shubman finished, politely smiling at the barista.
"Please, make sure there's no nuts in it." Ishan added and the barista walked away to prepare their order. At Shubman's questioning gaze, he explained, "The ones here usually contain nuts and you're allergic so," He said, not meeting the man's eyes.
"You remember?" Shubman asked, his voice so soft that Ishan felt his heart fluttering in his chest.
"How could I ever forget?" The words slipped out of Ishan's lips even before he could think about it.
They stood in silence for a while as they waited for their order before Shubman asked, "Do you come here often? You seem to know alot about this place."
"Yeah, this is close to our office so we do visit this place quite often." Ishan replied.
"We? With Charlotte?" Shubman asked.
Ishan looked at him, a little confused to find his face void of any emotions, "Yeah, sometimes." He said.
"Oh," Shubman mumbled, as he took one of the food trays the barista had just arrived with and left towards their table. Ishan stared at his retreating figure, he felt something strange with the man's tone but just shrugged it off, not wanting to overthink anymore. He took the other tray and went towards the table as well.
"So, what did you guys decide?" Ishan asked, taking a sip from his coffee.
"We kinda liked five to four venues and now, we would like to go see them once and then decide." Karan replied and Ishan hummed.
"So, I'll go with Riya and Karan and you can go with Shubman, I already messaged you the locations." Charlotte told Ishan.
Ishan glanced at Shubman, a little surprised who also had the same expression on his face.
As Ishan narrowed his eyes at Charlotte suspiciously, she explained, "See, sweetie, they don't really know the routes and places around as much and if we'll go in groups, it'll take less time."
Ishan nodded slowly but he still didn't believe her. She's definitely up to something. He thought but didn't say anything.
They finished their breakfast and went towards their destination. Ishan quietly walked to his car with Shubman following after him.
Shubman spoke after they had been driving for a while, "Ishan, can I ask you something?"
"Yeah, what is it?"
Ishan glanced at him after a moment when he didn't say anything. As Shubman fleeted his eyes around nervously, Ishan realised he was extremely hesitant about something.
"Shubi, kya hua?" Ishan asked, softly.
Shubman's breath hitched as he heard the nickname from Ishan's mouth, in the softest voice possible. He thought he'd never hear this again. He gulped the lump forming in his throat, not wanting to break down infront of Ishan.
Ishan seemed to realise as he panicked, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to call you that. It just slipped out of my mouth-"
"No, please call me that." Shubman spoke so quietly that Ishan could've almost missed that, however he didn't 'cause his focus on Shubman's words, his every movement, to anything related him is literally unwavering in every situation even if he doesn't want that.
"Okay, tell me what's wrong?" Ishan asked, smiling softly.
Shubman felt his nerves relaxing by the soft voice and the beautiful smile on Ishan's face. He sighed, "Who's she?"
"Huh? Who's who?"
"Charlotte. Who's she to you?" Shubman don't know why he's asking this, he doesn't know what he expects to hear from Ishan, he also doesn't know what he wants to hear. He just knows that he doesn't like the feeling of discomfort gawning at his heart since he saw them together yesterday.
Ishan couldn't help teasing him at that, "Why? Are you jealous or something?" He asked, chuckling.
Shubman looked at him, blankly, "Terese kabhi seedhe muh baat nahi ho sakti na?" He deadpanned.
Ishan chuckled, shaking his head in no. As Shubman huffed looking away from him, Ishan got the flashback of the times when he would keep pestering Shubman about things and the guy would pout while looking away from him. He couldn't help the lone tear that escaped his eye at the thought.
He smiled, immediately wiping the tear away as he answered, "She's my secretary and also a friend."
As Shubman looked at him, he added with a playful roll of his eyes, "No, not a friend, more like an older sister, she also stole my maa from me. Now she's more of her child than me and bhaiya."
Shubman hummed with a soft smile, looking out of the window.
-
They checked the venues they were supposed to, talked to the managers of the places and noted all the important things down. By the time they were done, it was way past 2.
"You might be hungry, right? Let's go have lunch first." Ishan suggested as they were walking back to the car.
Ishan had just started the car when his phone rang. The caller id read Charlotte. He picked up the phone and put it on speaker as he focused on the road ahead.
"I'm sorry to disturb you, Ishan but can you please pick up Lily from her school? We're still not done here." She requested.
"Of course, I can. Don't worry."
"Okay, thank you." She said, hanging up the call.
"Who's Lily?" Shubman asked.
"Oh, Charlotte's daughter." Ishan replied, taking the route to the girl's school.
"Charlotte's married?" Shubman asked.
"Yeah, I think it's her seventh year with her wife. Still going strong."
"Wife?"
"Yeah, they played a very big role in clearing my family's homophobic mindset." Ishan said, glancing at Shubman, "Such a shame, I couldn't do it." He added, bitterly.
Shubman felt a pang in his chest as he looked away from Ishan.
Ishan stopped the car as they reached the school soon enough. They went inside the gate and almost immediately a young girl came running to them and jumped onto Ishan.
"Ish mamu," She gushed, hugging Ishan tight.
Ishan chuckled, ruffling the girl's hair.
"Who's this, mamu?" Lily asked, looking at Shubman.
"Is he your boyfriend? He's cute." She said even before Ishan could reply.
Ishan widened his eyes, "No, bacche. He's not my boyfriend. He's my, umm friend, yeah friend."
"Ahh, that's a bummer," She sighed before turning to Shubman with a smile, "Hey cutie, I'm Lily."
Shubman chuckled, "Hi, Lily, I'm Shubman."
"Agar tum dono ka ho gya ho to chale?"
As they went towards the car, Lily sat in the backseat, taking Shubman with herself as well. After settling in the driver's seat, Ishan looked at both of them with disbelief.
"Main kya tumhara driver hu?" He asked.
Lily giggled, "Yes, Ish mamu. You are."
Ishan shook his head with a smile, "Aaj kal ke bacche."
"Hey, what should I call you?" She asked Shubman.
"You can call me Shubi." Shubman smiled, his dimples full on display.
"Aww, your dimples are so cute, Shubi." She gushed as she poked his dimples.
I know right. Ishan thought as he looked at them through the mirror fondly.
"Where are we going, mamu?" She asked Ishan.
"For lunch."
After reaching the restaurant, they settled themselves on a table, waiting for the waiter to come take their order. As the waiter came and they ordered their food, Ishan added before he walked away, "Please make sure there's not any type of nuts in his food."
After that he turned to Shubman with a glare, "Why don't you mention about your allergies, Shubi? You know they're deadly, right?"
As Ishan sat there lecturing him about his carelessness, Shubman just looked at him fondly.
"Samjha tu?" Ishan asked with a blank face.
"Yes, sir." Shubman said, saluting him with a smile causing Ishan to roll his eyes playfully.
"Shubi?" Lily whispered, tugging at his sleeve.
As he bent down a little, she quietly whispered in his ear, "Do you like him?"
"Huh? What?" Shubman said, shocked.
"I'm not stupid, you know. I can see. You literally look at him like my mumma and maa look at each other and I noticed him staring at you as well. Don't worry, you can tell me."
Shubman chuckled softly, shaking his head at the kid, "Aaj kal ke bacche."
"Kya khusur-phusur ho rahi hai tum dono ki?" Ishan asked with a raised eyebrow.
Lily smiled at him innocently, shaking her head, "Nothing, mamu."
-
So, this is it for today. Happy Navratri to you all. Have a good day.