⊹₊⋆☁︎⋆⁺₊⋆ ☀︎ ⋆⁺₊⋆☁︎⋆₊ ⊹

Aditi got up by her alarm at 7:30. She had an hour before they had to meet in the lobby. They planned on taking their breakfasts outside. Shubman and Ishaan were already on their practice schedule. She checked her phone for messages, she found none necessary. She then remembered to text Hardik and Natasa about going out.

Aditi had a hard time picking her outfit after taking a shower. She played a shuffled playlist of Taylor Swift, right now playing Lavender Haze. She decided to call Shahneel and ask for her help. "Shahneel di. Good morning, Did I wake you up?"

"No, I was putting on my makeup. Kya hua?" She asked from the other side.

"Can you come and help me with my clothes." Shahneel said she would be there in a while after asking for her room number.

When Shahneel came, Aditi was in the robe. She had sprawled her clothes on the bed. Shahneel was all ready wearing a black patchwork short kurti and faded dark blue jeans. She picked up a pink and white kaftan dress for Aditi. "What footwear do you have?"

Aditi showed her a pair of beige sandals with straps. Shahneel nodded and pushed inside to change while she cleans up the mess. "Are baad mai kar clean kar dungi."

"Nahi tu ready ho mai abhi kar deti hu." Shahneel refused Aditi and made her get ready. While she was doing her makeup she asked. "Do you like Taylor Swift too?" She noticed all the songs that played were of Taylor Swift.

"Me loving Taylor Swift is an understatement. I am literally obsessed." She took a last look at herself. "Do you like her music?" She asked Shahneel and picked her phone up to stop the music.

"She's amazing." Shahneel stood up from the now mess free bed. "Lets click a picture together." She posed with Aditi and took a few mirror selfies. "Chalo, let's go."

They locked her room and gave the key to Natasa before going down. They waited for Khushpreet and Garima for a while. "Oh you guys are already here. Let's go shall we." Jugnu was the last to arrive.

"Click a few pictures of us before we go." Khushpreet saw it coming. And he couldn't stop the inevitable. He had to be the photographer for the whole day now.

He rolled his eyes and took a few pictures of them. "Chale ab." They took a car from the hotel that was meant for the team and their companions. They drove to a cafe near the site and had their breakfasts.

Shahneel clicked a few candids of Aditi without her knowing and then showed them to her. She was the perfect person to hang out with according to Aditi. After the breakfast, they went to the Adalaj stepwell and checked in through the security system.

The whole site was fascinating for others, while Aditi relived her childhood memories by remembering how she and her brothers would play hide and seek here whenever they used to come. They had an amazing time there.

Of course Shahneel and Aditi clicked a lot of photos. Garima got along with them too but she wasn't as photogenic as the two. They explored the stepwell. Aditi shared a few facts and history about the stepwell.

⊹₊⋆☁︎⋆⁺₊⋆ ☀︎ ⋆⁺₊⋆☁︎⋆₊ ⊹

They didn't take a driver so Aditi insisted on driving as she's familiar with the roads. Shahneel sat in the front while Garima and Khushpreet were at the back. Khushpreet was smiling and chatting to someone on his phone the whole time.

They reached the stadium a bit late due to traffic. They picked up Shubman and Ishan, who were clearly tired. Ishan was knocked out as soon as he sat in the car and on Khushpreet's shoulder.

Garima went in the back of the car and Shahneel did too to give some company to her. Shubman sat next to Aditi. She offered him a bottle of water and he took it muttering a small thank you.

"What does everyone wants to eat for lunch?" She had to know their choices to go accordingly. "Do all of you eat non veg?" She suggested an indian non vegetarian restaurant. All agreed to tru what she was suggesting.

⊹₊⋆☁︎⋆⁺₊⋆ ☀︎ ⋆⁺₊⋆☁︎⋆₊ ⊹

The interior of the restaurant was beautiful. It was Indo-Bohemian themed. They found a table on the second floor. It was low seating, indian styled divans and wooden table with carving on it. "This place is so beautiful." Shahneel compliments. She gets in and made Aditi come next. On the other side Ishan sat with Garima.

Shubman secretly eyed Jugnu to sit with Ishan as he sat beside Aditi. He did not admit to anyone but he liked Aditi's presence. Maybe he had grown to have a crush on her. He was infatuated by her since last night.

His stance of thoughts were broken by Aditi nudging him with her elbow to pay attention to the menu. "We can have aloo kuchle and chicken angara if you like spice or we can have butter chicken too."

"Let's have butter chicken" Khushpreet suggested. "It's Shubh's favorite." Shubman knew what he was doing, he glared at his friend who gave him a smirk.

They ordered for aloo kuchle butter chicken and patra, a famous Gujarati dish. Till the time their food came Aditi showed their pictures from Adalaj to Shubman. He saw the snaps she sent to him as well. He wished he was there with them but practice was more important. He liked how he had time to relax before the match.

Ishan grabbed the attention of everyone. "Guys, I have to rain check on the Ahmedabad tour. Garima aur mujhe thoda kaam hai iski meeting ke baad, so I'll go with her." He said. They understood his concern.

"Aditi, where are we going for shopping?" Shahneel asked. Aditi gave them a few options and they chose to shop in the local market as well as a mall.

They devoured their delicious meal. After that Ishan and Garima left in a cab while the four of them went in the car to the market.

⊹₊⋆☁︎⋆⁺₊⋆ ☀︎ ⋆⁺₊⋆☁︎⋆₊ ⊹

The whole market was lit in the festive glow of Navratri. Shops of traditional wear, decorations and more were busy and crowded. Shubman had a little difficulty with people recognizing him everywhere, but he paid no heed to it. They first went to a shop for buying ghaghra. Shubman and Khushpreet sat in a corner while the two girls dived into a heap of clothes.

Aditi chose a red and black lehenga with a red blouse and a white mirror-work lehenga with a detailed colorful dupatta. Shahneel chose a bandhani pink lehenga with white dupatta and a orange and brown one.

The two showed the clothes to the guys who weren't interested a bit. But they didn't know Shubham had been stealing glances at Aditi. He noticed how she selected her clothes. The way spoke to the shopkeeper in Gujarati while bargaining.

Then they went to a jewelry stall and bought some silver oxidized sets. They spent almost two hours before they took a break and had Dabeli which Shubman had to refuse due to his strict diet after recovering from dengue three days back.

"You sure you don't want a bite." She offered her dabeli to him and he shook his head. "Not even one tiny bite." He refused again this time a bit firmly.

After refreshments they continued shopping "aur kitna lena hai." Khushpreet got irritated.

"Tumhe kapde nahi lene? Garbe ke lie?" Aditi asked in disbelief. He was about to say something but chose not to. They continued their activity and went to a men's indian wear store.

Aditi got two kurtas for her brother and nephew. And also a one for Krunal and Kavir. Khushpreet got a champagne colored one with patterns on the border.

"Should i get the this one or this?" Aditi showed a salmon pink and a beige kurta for both Agastya and Kavir.

"Pink" Shubman said. "Beige ganda kar de to." Aditi nodded and got her choices packed.

Shahneel gave choices to Shubham and he chose a black chikan kari kurta and a white one with mirror-work pattern. Shahneel was disappointed that he didn't chose the blue one.

"Take this one too and gift him for Diwali." Aditi whispered to Shahneel. Her face instantly got brighten up and they proceeded towards their car.

⊹₊⋆☁︎⋆⁺₊⋆ ☀︎ ⋆⁺₊⋆☁︎⋆₊ ⊹

It was about dinner time so Khushpreet suggested to get Chinese takeouts. Aditi got stir fried noodles, Shahneel had momos. Khushpreet went for fried rice and Manchurian. Shubman opted for a Caesar salad as he had a match to play the next day and he couldn't take a risk of getting ill again. They asked if Ishan and Garima wanted something but they already had their food.

They reached the hotel by nine. They decided to eat their food together. They went to Shubman's room and ate their food. They talked about their interest and shared stories of their childhood. Aditi told them about London. They decided what pictures they should post on the instagram.

"Aditi you are going to sit with me during the match." Aditi didn't fight, she liked Shahneel's company. She had to tell that to Natasa but she will spend some time with her too.

Their day ended well, all went to their rooms and posted stories on instagram about the day. Aditi posted a story of Adalaj mentioning all of those who went with her. She reposted a story of Shahneel, it was one that had, the picture that she and Shahneel took in her room, and during shopping. She tagged her too and captioned "when two shopping enthusiasts meet 🤝🏽"

⊹₊⋆☁︎⋆⁺₊⋆ ☀︎ ⋆⁺₊⋆☁︎⋆₊ ⊹