13th may, 2024.

8:43 pm.

kasturie had just reached bengaluru for their next match against rcb. she practically ran towards her hotel room as soon as she got out of the team bus to watch gt vs kkr match. she swiped the key card of her room and came inside. without removing her shoes, she threw her bag on one side of the room and dove across the bed to get the remote of the tv. she turned on the tv anxiously.

mumbai was already out of the tournament and now, if gujrat doesn't win this match, they'll be out too. of course no one would want their best friends to lose. one's team was already out, she didn't want the other one to be out too. throughout the bus ride to the hotel, she was she was watching the match on her laptop. it was still raining. sighing, she sat on the bed. her leg was shaking rapidly due to anxiety.

she thought of calling mahi to her room but decided not to because of course he was tired due to all the travelling. instead, she called the only person who she thought could help her at that moment.

"hemlo, virat bhai. you free right now?"

"ha bol na kya hua? pohoch gyi kya?"

"ha abhi just pohchi and i need some serious moral support at this moment. please mere room pe aajao as soon as possible."

"sab theek hai na kuku? you don't sound so good."

"aap aao toh sahi, sab batati hu. room number 703."

"ha theeke 5 min ruk main aya." with that they ended the call. she layed on the bed and covered her face with her hands. it was still raining.

after about 10 minutes, there was a knock on her door. she opened the door to see virat standing there with two plates of food in his hands. "khaana nhi khaya na tune? maine bhi nhi khaya eksaath khaate hai." he asked.

"nahi.... i think." she said.

"you think? tujhe khaana khaya ki nhi yeh bhi yaad nhi?"

"bhool gyi." she said sheepishly.

"kaisi ladki hai re tu, chal andar aur yeh chhole bhature khaa le." virat entered her room and settled the plates on the table in front of her bed and sat on the sofa while she plopped on her bed face first. "aur kya hua tujhe? itni tensed kyu hai?" she pointed at the tv without looking up. "baarish?"

"this is not fair yaar. aise kaise ho sakta hai. shubi ka naseeb mere jaisa kabse ho gya? it's almost 10 still agar baarish ruki nhi toh match abandon ho jayegi and gt still needs those 2 points to stay in the tournament. par unko agar khelneka chance hi nhi mila toh kaise hoga." she ranted, her head still in bed. her voice was muffled a bit.

"sun, tune abhi jo bhi bola usme ka 70% bouncer gya but I'm sure it's true aur tu koi thor ki behen nhi hai jo tu weather control kar sake. kuch cheezein humare haatho mein nahi hoti aur abhi humare haatho mein jo hai that is chhole bhature. kha le nhi toh main teri plate bhi kha jaunga." virat said making her sit up straight.

she started eating while looking at the tv. the match was abandoned. kasturie got very sad that gt was out of the tournament for this year. "i never hated rain this much." she said with teary eyes. "yeh log match postpone kyu nhi kar sakte? it's not fair. aise kaise seedha abandoned.?"

"tu kyu itni dukhi ho rhi hai teri team is still in the league. tu chill kar aur chhole bhature kha."

"damn you are really obsessed with chhole bhature, aren't you? but still yaar woh bhi abhi abhi captain bana hai, yeh public kitna gaali dega pata hai? kisko bol rhi hu main." she face palmed. "and the thing is, he's still a child, he doesn't deserve all the hate that he gets or will get."

"tu bhi uske hi age ki hai re."

"main badi hu usse, ek mahine se."

"ek pura mahina bhi nhi hota tere birthday ke baad toh uska birthday aa jata hai. woh chhod re tera khaake ho gya na ab tv band kar aur shaanti se so ja. main bhi jaata hu sone, late ho rha hai. jyada jaag mat." he turned the tv off and left her room.

kasturie just layed on the bed, staring at the ceiling and thinking if she should call shubman or not. after a while, she checked the time, it was 11:49 pm. suddenly, she got a notification, she opened it.

shubudi<3

you alive?

unfortunately yeah
bol na
all okay?

so rhi thi?

nhi re
bol tu kya hua?

you dead?

almost

mood kharab hai?

tujhse baat karunga toh ho jayega theek

bas bas maske mat laga

arre sacchi

match ke baare mein bolna hai? i saw it all and i genuinely feel bad for you and the team

nhi yaar match abhi ke liye gya bhaad mein
mujhe abhi uske baare mein nhi bolna hai

okok as you wish
jevlas ka?
(khana khaya?)

abhi kha hi rha hu

toh nalayak kha le na phone baju mein rakh de

nhi
baat karni hai tujh se

kya baat karni hai?

kuch bhi just match ke baare mein nhi sochna
distract me please

acha fir terko gaana suna du?

ha theeke
but acche avaaz mein
uss din jaise phate speaker ki tarah nhi

ha baba
▶︎ •၊၊||၊|။||||။‌‌‌‌‌၊|• 0.53

yeh kaunsa gaana hai?
it's sounds good
naam bata baad mein spotify pe sununga

itna acha nhi gaaya but i tried lol
it's a marathi song
ka kalena from mumbai pune mumbai

acha theek hai
waise mast gaaya re tune

ab main itna bhi kuch khaas nahi
chal chal abhi khaana khaake ho gya hoga toh so ja without thinking of anything
mere baare mein soch sakta hai
after all tum log ke happiness ka reason main hi hu

baat toh sahi hai
acha toh hum chalte hai

fir kab miloge?

jab tum kahoge

kal dupher ko
on skype
you, me and ishan

okay then
bye bye kastu

byeeee

end of the chat

shubman went to his room to sleep and plugged his airpods in and played her voice message again and again until he finally drifted off to sleep.

🕸️

a/n : people i wrote the first half while watching yesterday's match. honestly, gaand fati padi thi. in the end i lost hope and fell asleep. also because i woke up at 7 am and next day i had to wake up at 6 am. merko sapne mein aya ki bc india haar gyi aur main ekdam se jaag gyi. pehle uthke phone check kiya it was 3:39 am. with shaking hands maine hum jeete mi nhi check kiya tab pata chala we won.

kya mast neend lagi uske baad but almost 2 ghante uthna pada. lectures the. naseeb mera is very bad but atleast we won.

btw tum log bhi woh gaana suno, it's my favourite.

peace out.
~k.