(Ishan's dialogues will be in italics.
Shubman's dialogues will be in bold.)
Ishan's pov
It had been about a couple months since we had last met in December and the distance was taking a toll on the both of us. I had been quite excited a couple days ago, because we would finally meet since the England test series had ended. Shub would be coming to Gujarat straight away to join his IPL team and since I was here aswell, practicing with Hardik bhai, we would finally meet and spend time together.
Everything had been tough these days, with my recent break from cricket and the constant trolling I had been receiving due to that and also due to spending time and practicing with Hardik bhai. Shub had been very understanding in the start even though he couldn't be present with me physically, I knew he was supporting me and rooting for me.
It definitely had tired me out physically and Shub and I had also stopped speaking as much, around February. I knew it was because he was also exhausted as well, especially with his recent form, he had been too hard on himself and he had been going through a tough time overall. We hadn't tried to force each other much and understood that we both needed some time to sort out our own problems. We knew we were rooting for each other silently.
Shub had recently performed well in the test series though hitting two centuries. He was doing a lot better mentally and he had also gotten close to other players. He was still getting trolled aswell, but all good players get trolled. People trolled Virat bhaiya as well despite his great performances throughout his career, they still criticized each and every little detail. It was never enough for the fans, so their words didn't really matter.
But the problem was that I was still struggling and not speaking to Shub much. He had been getting a little annoyed with that, since he wanted to speak to me, but I just couldn't find the energy in me. I knew I shouldn't have told him that I was tired of him, but I couldn't fix it anymore. The damage had been done. I would just have to talk to him when he would reach here.
I don't know when he was coming though, he hadn't exactly told me the details. I just knew he would come here right away after his test series since he wanted to see me. I wanted to ask him when he was arriving, but after what I had done, I didn't have the guts to. So I just decided to wait. He would be here in a couple days right? Since he was coming right away? Wrong.
I saw a few posts of him at the Dharamshala airport and then a few of him arriving at the Punjab Airport. He didn't come. He didn't come directly to Gujarat like he promised he would. He didn't call me either. I know it was kind of stupid for me to wait for his call after all that had happened, I was supposed to be the one calling him, but he could've atleast let me know that he wasn't coming.
I still waited for him though, maybe he would stay in Punjab for a day or two and then he would come. I knew it was just me deluding myself but I couldn't help but hope. All my hope was shattered when I had to leave for Mumbai to join the MI squad. I had prolonged it for as long as possible but Hardik bhai had had enough and was dragging me to Mumbai himself saying that he wouldn't let me sit here and waste time, when I should be practicing instead.
Hardik bhai was the captain now so I couldn't refuse. I couldn't have refused him anyways, since my answer wouldn't have mattered. He would've dragged me along with him nonetheless. I waited for the IPL impatiently. Thankfully, our first match was with GT, I could talk to him then. It was finally Thusrday and all of us left for Gujarat, for the upcoming match on Sunday.
We reached late at night on Thursday and thus couldn't meet the GT team as we were staying in different hotels. The next morning we all left early for practice. I looked around spotting a few of the GT coaches and staff but the whole team hadn't arrived yet. I went to change and then came out and started warming up when I saw the GT bus arriving. I tried not to look too eager to spot Shub and continued to warm up.
Shub walked in and started greeting the MI members, meeting Hardik bhai and Rohit bhai and a few others. I had expected his ignorance, I knew he wouldn't be fine after our last conversation a few days ago. What I hadn't expected though was him walking upto me and greeting me normally, like he always used to. Like he used to before we started dating. Like we were 'just friends'.
I knew I should've been happy with his fairly normal behavior, trying to joke around, but I couldn't be. We were not 'just friends'. Not anymore. And him treating me like a friend was more weird than him ignoring me. He should've been mad, he should've ignored me. But he didn't and throughout practice he joked around and I played along, not having the heart to break this little peace between us, even if it wasjust temporary. Plus I couldn't mess around with this topic, with the other players present here.
This would have to be done alone, in the privacy of our room. And so I asked Shub to spend the night with me at the MI hotel instead of going back with his team. I had feared he would disagree especially since, he now had the perfect excuse. I thought he would say, he was the captain, he couldn't leave his team. But he didn't say any of that, he instead just said okay and went back to practice.
I didn't want to over think all of this and just decided that it would be better if I instead focused on trying to find the perfect way to apologize instead of thinking about why he agreed without any protests or giving any excuses. When we reached our hotel room, I instantly started speaking to him.
"Shub I-"
"Not now Ish, I'm tired."
Ouch. I thought he was acting fairly normal but I guess not. He used the word tired in a taunting manner, sounding cold and detached.
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Okay I know this wasn't too good, but I just wanted to give a back story of what happened between them.