"Surbhi, can you please pay attention?"

"No she can't; she's lost in the thoughts of her saiyanji."

"What? Who's her saiyanji?"

"Umm... no one. I was kidding."

While Mansi glared at Shrenu for almost revealing Surbhi's 'secret' to their director, the woman in question remained lost in her dreamland, a goofy grin on her face that had taken a permanent stance since the little 'incident', the previous morning. As her mind kept replaying how it felt to have Nakuul's lips against her own, everyone around her who didn't know why she had suddenly become so absent-minded stared at her in confusion.

"You know what, yeh aise nahi thik hogi. I have an idea."

Saying this, her on-screen lover- Barun- grabbed a glass of water kept beside them on the table, and spashed it on her face.

"Fhat the wuck!" Surbhi yelled, furiously rubbing away the water droplets, while Barun only smirked and Lalit Mohan muttered how they would have to have her make-up done again.

"Break for 10 minutes, everyone, before we discuss the script again," The tired director announced, before leaving his actors alone. The guys came and sat next to the girls on the couch, Surbhi glowering at Barun while wiping her face with a towel.

"So, what's up, Surbhi? You've been very...lost, lately. Especially since you came back from Hyderabad yesterday." This was Kunal, who was generally more considerate than the others. Surbhi saw Shrenu and Mansi raise their eyebrows at her, silently asking if she was ready to tell them. The boys had no idea, of course, but they were all really good friends and Surbhi didn't want to hide anything anymore, at least not from them. So, she nodded to her two girlfriends, who finally launched into what they had been dying to do since day one.

"Surbhi likes a guy-"

"She went on a date with him-"

"And they even kissed!"

Sighing, Surbhi rolled her eyes. Bad idea to let them reveal the truth, really. Lee, Kunal and Barun all looked really confused, and she didn't blame them. Stopping Shrenu and Mansi from continuing with their excited remarks, she delved into the story herself. By the end of it, the guys were stunned, to say the least.

"Woahh, the Nakuul Mehta!" Running a hand through his hair, Barun shook his head, somewhat in a daze. Being cricket fans, this was quite the news for the three of them that their co-star and best friend was dating-well, almost dating- India's favorite cricketer.

"You have to make us meet him," Leenesh pleaded. "ASAP!"

"Ha ha, milwa dungi!" Surbhi said, feeling quite proud that everyone wanted to meet her man. "Have patience."

Truth be told, she didn't have any patience, herself, and was practically dying to meet him. After their kiss yesterday, the thought of which still made her blush, Surbhi's feelings for Nakuul had deepened extremely. It had been a small kiss, just the touch of their lips for a few moments, but those had been moments of pure bliss. When they had pulled away, the khidkitod smile he had given her had melted her heart. Then, intertwining her hand in his, he had dropped her till the entrance of the airport terminal, before placing a kiss on her forehead and leaving. And although they hadn't talked about the kiss yet, it had changed things massively. For one, she now knew that he liked her, too.

Gosh, the mere thought sent her heart into a frenzy.

They had been talking normally since then, but something had obviously changed. For example, his flirting had turned a notch higher, and Surbhi wasn't hesitant in partaking in it, too. As much as she wanted for him to tell her about his feelings directly, she was quite enjoying this phase, as well. She desperately wanted to meet him  and maybe kiss him again, properly this time. Tough luck for her though, IPL finals was still more than a week away, and she also wanted KXIP to reach the finals rather than come back to Mumbai soon.

While her friends continued discussing her love life and how happy they were for her (and for themselves, too), her phone buzzed. Because of how hard the team was working to get through the semis, Nakuul didn't get quite as much time as before to chat with her- other than at night when they still talked till late hours- but he did hit her up whenever he could.

Babe?

Colour rushed up her cheeks when Surbhi read the message, and she hoped no one noticed her.

Yes?

Supposing that my team does make it to the finals,
do you think you could probably come watch? I mean, the match is
in Mumbai, and it is on a Sunday, so...

Surbhi smiled at that because she knew how eager he was to have her at the finals, since he really considered her his lucky charm. And frankly, she was eager to go, too. Nothing better than cheering on your man on the field, right?

I really want to be there, Nakuul. And
I'll try my best <3

I'm putting your name on the VIP guests list in case
you can make it, alright? 

That made her feel really special, for some reason, and she replied saying 'okayy'.

By the way, check Instagram ;)

Frowning, Surbhi obliged and opened up the app. There were too many notifications to scroll through, so she just went directly to his profile. There were no new posts, but a new story, and clicking on the circular space where his DP was, she opened his recent story, and came across a picture that made her mouth fall open. It was the snap he had taken of her the other night, while she was eating noodles, sauce spread over her mouth and chin. He had tagged her and written 'Adorable Miss Chandna :P'.

Muttering to herself how she wanted to kill the man, she called him up, and he picked up after the first ring.

"Nakuul!" She started without any greeting. "You weren't supposed to upload that!"

He laughed on the other end, making her even more infuriated.

"How could I not, Surbhi? You look so cute!"

Groaning, Surbhi told him that he was a Stupid, Idiotic, Kanjiaankhonwaala Baggad Billa, and hung up. Since the others were still chattering on amongst themselves, and she didn't feel like partaking in the conversation, she kept scrolling through Instagram. To her surprise and pleasure, she came across quite a few pictures of herself and Nakuul while stalking through the posts she had been tagged in. There was the picture they had posed for on the field, and people had already started reposting the story Nakuul had just shared, giving captions that showed how much they shipped 'Narbhi'. In fact, there were some new fanpages that had even kept their username as 'NarbhiShippers', and so on. Although Surbhi had never liked sharing too much about her personal life on social media before, she wasn't complaining, now. With Nakuul being the star he was, it was inevitable that any interest he showed in a girl would be made a big deal of, and Surbhi was glad that the girl was her. 

Grinning, Surbhi decided to add fuel to the fire. Going through her gallery, she came across the selfie she and Nakuul had clicked on their first date, and put it on her Insta story. Tagging him, she also wrote- 'Because unlike someone, I'm nice enough to post a good picture :))'.

There, Instagram, she thought. Burn.

**

Nakuul was busy staring at the story Surbhi had given, a wide smile on his face, when he was tapped on the shoulder. He turned to find his best friend cum current rival, Virat Kohli. Since they were playing each other in the semis, both were in the same city.

"Nice," Virat commented as he sat down, referring to the picture that was still open on Nakuul's phone. Although initally Nakuul had kept the name of his woman a secret, he had finally revealed it.

"How's it going with her?" Virat asked.

"Amazing," Nakuul replied dreamily, his mind drifting off to the kiss. He didn't know how exactly he had managed to gather up the courage to kiss her, but was glad he had. And the fact that she hadn't pushed him away and in fact smiled shyly afterwards? That had been everything.

"Impressive," Virat smirked. "I'm really happy for you, Naks. She must really be something to have won over your heart."

"She is," Nakuul replied, smiling shyly.

"Oh by the way, I forgot to tell you- Anushka and I are hosting our reception party the weekend after IPL final, and you're obviously coming."

Although they had gotten married a month back in Italy, the reception party had had to be delayed due to the starting of IPL. Nakuul nodded. He would, of course, attend his best friend's reception. This was only in Mumbai, whereas he had even flown to attent their private wedding in Italy.

"Bring Surbhi too," Virat grinned. Nakuul smiled, mumbling a "Hopefully I will".

They couldn't talk much after that since Virat had to leave for his own team's practise. Nakuul, taking a little break, replied to Surbhi's story.

We look fab ;)

Simpering, he waited for her reply, his mind drifting off to their first kiss once again, as it did all the time, these days. 

**

Surbhi was having dinner with her family, after an exhausting day at work. They were all chatting merrily, discussing how their day had gone, when Surbhi's phone started ringing. It was kept right beside her plate, and seeing the caller ID- that now read Nakuul with a heart emoji- she quickly cut it, her eyes widening. Her dad was seated right beside her and he raised his eyebrows.

"Who was it?" He asked. Although her father was super cool, she was yet to tell him about her 'relationship' with Nakuul Mehta. He would approve, she knew, if his constant appraisal about how he was a world-class cricketer was any indication, but she hadn't gotten around to broach the topic with him, yet. Moreover, she wanted to wait and see how things progressed with Nakuul, first. Her mom and sister knew, though, of course, and they both hid their smiles while taking bites of their food. Surbhi glared at them, before shoving some potatoes into her mouth. It was unusual for Nakuul to call before 11, and that too before texting if she was free. Frowning, she wondered what it was, and started eating faster in order to go to her room ASAP and call him. Her father noticed this and asked her to slow down, to which she smiled sheepishly. When she had finished and gulped down the glass of water hastily, she ran off to her room after grabbing her phone. Talk about acting childish.

"What's with her?" Her father turned to his wife and elder daughter when Surbhi was out of earshot, and they only shrugged their shoulders. He sighed, shaking his head. These women and their secrets.

When Surbhi had shut and locked the door of her room, she called Nakuul back.

"Hey, what's up? You called early today." She said, grabbing a pillow and keeping it on her lap after sitting down.

"Yeah, actually, I didn't see the time, in my excitement to call you."

Surbhi turned pink at that.

"And why so excited, mister?" She asked with a slightly flirty tone. He chuckled at that.

"I wanted to ask, are you free on the 3rd of next month?"

Surbhi thought for a bit. She didn't seem to have any plans at that time, and mumbled a "I think so".

"Great. The thing is, Virat and Anushka have their wedding reception then, and Virat wants me to bring you, too. So, will you come?"

Surbhi's heart beat increased. The Virushka's reception party? OF COURSE she would come!

"Yes, of course!" She exclaimed, before biting her tongue. "I mean, I guess I will..."

She heard him laugh on the other end, and mentally smacked herself.

"That's great, then. By the way, have you seen- Narbhi is quite popular on social media nowadays."

Surbhi giggled at that. Of course she knew that- she had spent a better part of her day stalking 'Narbhi', after all.

"Yess, I've seen. I have to say- Nakuul Mehta has really good taste."

She could practically feel him grin at that, and bit her lip.

"I agree. Nakuul Mehta also happens to be a very lucky man."

A laugh escaped her lips, even as she blushed. It was she who was lucky, surely.

"Well, I have to say- I'm really jealous of Surbhi Chandna." 

"You should be, because she happens to be the most gorgeous girl on earth."

And as they continued talking throughout the night, the hue on Surbhi's cheeks only kept getting redder.

**

I have so much fun writing this story and I have so many plans for it, too. And I also really hope that all of you like it because in that case, I'm going to make this book longer than I had initially planned to. ALSO, I'm quite excited about upcoming updates, so stay tuned! ❤