||Shubman||

"I really can't wait for Sunday to come" Abhay said excitedly.

"Control yaar" I laughed.

We were in the gym near the stadium. We come here everyday for at least two hours since it's really important for us players to stay fit. We usually don't come together but Abhay needed my help for some arrangements in his engagement function, so he picked me up today.

"Tune shopping karli?" Abhay asked me.

"Haan, kal hi gaye the" I replied.

We did our cardio and and were ready to leave when the gym manager stopped us.

"Sir please don't use the main gate" he said.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Actually sir a large number of media people are standing outside" he answered.

"Why are they here?" Abhay asked him.

"I don't know sir" he replied shrugging. "I think they're here to see you" he said looking at me after few seconds.

"These people are so annoying" Abhay frowned.

"What do we do now?" I asked Abhay.

"You can use the back gate to get to the parking lot. There aren't any people there" the manager suggested.

"Can you lead us there?" Abhay asked and he nodded.

We followed him till the back gate and we successfully reached our car without getting caught by media. Abhay swiftly drove us out of the parking area and now we're on the main road.

One thing that caught my eye was the number of media people standing outside the gym. Everyone knows I come to this gym daily, what's so special today that they came to capture me?

"Shit" Abhay muttered.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Riya ke 10 missed calls hai. I'm screwed" Abhay said in fear.

"Shit. She's called me 15 times" I said checking my phone.

"Call kar use" Abhay said and I nodded.

I started dialling Riya and she picked up in the first ring itself.

"SHUBMAN! Where the hell were you?" she shouted.

"In the gym. I left my phone in the car" I answered. "What's wrong Riya?" I asked her.

"Check the news on Google. Right now!" she ordered.

I hung up the call and opened the news headlines on google when a headline caught my eyes.

"Indian cricket team captain Shubman Gill spotted with mystery girl. Is she his new lady love?"

Just below the headline there was a blur picture. I zoomed it and realised it was a picture from yesterday. I was inside the shop talking to Deepak and Anya was beside me, her back facing the camera.

What the-? Who clicked this?

No one would recognise Anya but it was easy to recognise me.

"What happened Shub?" Abhay asked when he saw a worried expression on the face.

"The media caught us" I replied, my eyes still fixed on the phone.

"Caught who?" he asked in confusion.

"Me and Anya" I replied.

"What?!" Abhay said in shock. "How?" he asked.

"I don't know Abhay" I replied running my fingers through my hairs.

"Does Anya know?" he asked.

"I don't know. Riya didn't tell me that" I replied.

"Then call Anya right now" Abhay ordered and I did so.

Anya wasn't picking up. After many rings when it was about to die down, she picked up.

"Hey Shub" she said picking up. She seems absolutely fine.

"Where are you Anya?" I asked her.

"Home. What happened?" she asked when she realised the anxiousness in my voice.

"I'm coming to your place right now. I'll tell you then" I told her.

"Fine" she replied and I hung up after this.

"She doesn't know anything yet" I said turning to Abhay.

"This will affect her real bad" Abhay said in concern.

"Why?" I asked.

"She isn't any celebrity Shub! She's a normal girl living a mediocre life. She will get hurt when she'll read shit about her in media. I remember how they used to follow Riya everywhere after they saw us in a restaurant. They wrote all sorts of lies about her. Do you have any idea how mean things people are gonna comment about her? Just because she's getting married to a famous cricketer" Abhay explained.

He is actually right. I've seen Riya getting depressed because of all the non sensical rumours and taunts she received. I've seen her crying all day because of the mean comments the other girls passed just because she's dating their crush. Anya is no different, she's just like Riya and I know she would have never expected this to happen with her.

"What do we do now?" I asked Abhay.

"For now let's just stay with her. She needs us" Abhay said calmly.

"Alright" I replied.

After ten minutes we reached her house and rang the bell.

||Anya||

Someone rang the doorbell. Must be Shubman. He told me that he's coming to meet me.

I went to open the door and as expected. It was him, along with Abhay.

"Hey Anya" Abhay passed me a sweet smile.

"Hi Abhay" I said and led them inside. I took them directly to my room because Shubman said he wants to talk something important.

"What is it Shub?" I asked closing the door of my room.

"Did you read the news headlines today?" he asked.

"No, but what happened? You guys look tensed" I said seeing their worried expressions.

They didn't say anything but just exchanged looks. I was about to ask again when someone knocked the door. I opened it to find Riya.

"Hey Riya" I said letting her in.

"Are you okay?" she asked me in concern.

"She doesn't know anything yet" Abhay replied behind me.

"What is it guys? Will someone tell me?" I asked little fraustrated.

"Actually Anya.. " Shubman paused. "The media saw us together" he finished after few seconds.

Okay what?

"What do you mean?" I asked him.

"Someone clicked you guys in the shop you went yesterday" Riya explained.

"And the picture went viral" Abhay added.

"People know me?" I asked with wide eyes.

"Not yet. Your back is facing the camera but Shubman is clearly visible" Riya said.

I instantly grabbed my phone to check the news. I opened google and my bad, the news is breaking the internet.

"Shubman Gill finds new lady love"

"Mystery girl with skipper Shubman Gill. Has he moved on?"

"Is wedding on the cards for the Indian team captain Gill?"

I opened one of the headlines and stared reading it.

After India team all-rounder Abhishek Sharma announced his engagement with his long time girlfriend, looks like another player is on the same track.
It's non other than the former's best friend and also the Indian cricket team's captain, Shubman Gill.

Gill was spotted with a mystery girl yesterday in the afternoon at a shop in Delhi. Gill disguised himself in black, trying his best to hide his identity. A local of that area spotted the cricketer with, as per reports, his girlfriend. The shop as explained by the local is for buying wedding essentials for couples and is very popular among the celebrities.

Gill broke up with famous Indian model Siya Sehgal few months back. Looks like the cricketer has moved on and is ready for a wedlock with this new girl. We can expect an announcement from the Gill family soon.

What is actually heck! Why do they need to interfere so much into people's life?

"Are you seriously reading those stupid articles?" Shubman asked sneaking in my phone. I just nodded.

"Don't read these articles. They'll get worse with time" Abhay said.

"I know" I replied in a low voice.

I opened Instagram and my explore section was full of Shubman's picture with me. I opened few and checked the comments.

"Bitch"
"She's definitely marrying him for money"
"I think Gill is just using her to get over his ex"
"Why is Gill hiding her? Is she so ugly?"

... that's it! I can't read anymore. Are these people heartless? Don't they understand that their words are actually hurting someone?

I was crying by now. I've never received so much hate in my life. I can't even imagine what'll actually happen when they'll get to know my identity.

"Sshh.. don't cry" Riya said hugging me.

"I can't take this Riya" I cried even more.

"I've been through this. I know how it feels" Riya said.

"Don't think about this" Abhay said.

"How can I not?" I said.

"Anya" Shubman said sitting me on my bed. "It's going to be fine. They'll forget after few days" he explained.

"What if they find out who I am?" I asked. I don't want anyone to know about us before marriage.

"They won't. No one will know about you" he said hugging me.

"Here take this" Abhay said handing me a glass of water. I took it drank half of it.

"Stop crying, it doesn't suit you" Shubman said cupping my cheeks.

"Okay" I sniffed.

"Lie down and sleep. And try not thinking about all this. Okay?" Shubman said kissing my forehead.

"Okay" I replied with a low smile.

"Riya will stay with you here. I've some work" he said and took Abhay along with him.

"I'm here" Riya smiled at me.

I went to sleep for sometime. My head was aching since I was crying so much so it's​ good to take a short nap.