The half time was announced and the Dino mascot went towards the crowd to entertain as usual. Sidharth's eyes were glued at his lucky mascot. His heartbeats rose as the distance between them got reduced little by little. She was just in the next row. He waved his hand at her with a blushing face.

"Good Evening ladies and gentlemen.. let's make this final match special for you fans. Delhi Dinos team's Dino Mascot will select five fans who would get a chance to play with your very favourite player. (Loudly) That's none other than the star player of the tournament and the captain of Delhi Dinos, Arrrrryan Joooooshiiiii." Came an announcement.

"Yyyayyyy!! Oooooooo!!! Joshi!! Joshi!! Aryan!! Joshiii..", Screamed the crowd consisting of his excited fans.

"Raise your hands and wave at the Dino mascot and if you are lucky, you play with Joshi.. and win a sports gift hamper from Delhi Dino Burgers", came the announcement.

Among all the waving hands Sidharth's waving hands were lost. He looked around disappointed cursing his luck.

The music played and the dino danced around selecting the fans who would play with Joshi one by one. Upon getting selected the crazy fans hugged the mascot tightly which made Sidharth feel annoyed. He sighed giving up and plopped on his seat when he found her far from him at the fourth selection. Rubbing his face in frustration, he covered it into his hands when something soft gripped his wrist. He looked up and found the Dino Mascot holding his wrist and raising his hand in air. He was the lucky fifth contestant.

"Shehnaaaaz..", he said with a big smile looking at the mascot.

The mascot danced on the music holding his hand.

"Shehnaaaaz.. mujhe pehchana? Main Sidharth.. Sidharth Agnihotri..", he said loudly to be heard in the noisey and beaming stadium. Dino nodded its head when the announcement came again asking the five contestants to come on field.

The dino mascot held Sidharth's wrist and pulled him to the field. One by one the four contestants played with Joshi and lost badly. The mascot kept reminding Sidharth to focus by pointing two fingers at its eyes and then at the field, who otherwise would zone out looking at the mascot every few seconds.

"Aapka naam?", Asked a lady with a microphone to Sidharth, who was lost looking at the Mascot once again. His heart was dancing in excitement and all he wanted to do was see her face once.

The mascot shook him and pointed at the mic gesturing him to answer.

"Mera naam Sidharth hai..", said Sidharth.

"Sidharth kaun? Crore-o ladkiyon ke dilon pe raaj karne wala Heartthrob Sidharth Shukla ya Shershaah Siddharth Malhotra?", Joked the anchor with a wink to which Sidharth nodded in denial. (🙈🙈)

"Agnihotri.. Sidharth Agnihotri..", Sidharth smiled nervously feeling shy.

"Are you a fan of Aryan Joshi? Do you think you can tackle and goal against him?", Asked the anchor.

He looked at his Lucky Mascot who nodded her head encouraging and asking him to say yes.

"No offence to Mr. Aryan Joshi but main unka fan nahi hoon. Main Dino Mascot ka fan hoon..", Sidharth pointed at the Dino and the crowd laughed finding his answer lame and funny. The Dino Mascot ran to him and hugged him which made him forget the insulting laughs and kept motivating him further.

"Ohhhh!! So you have an approval from your lucky mascot! Hope you fare well..", said the lady.

"Thanks ..aur yes, I can tackle and score goal against Aryan.", Sidharth spoke in confidence making the crowd laugh and boo him. The dino mascot turned around and showed the crowd thumbs down before turning back and showing thumbs up to Sidharth. Additionally, the mascot gestured to stay focused on the goal to which Sidharth smiled and nodded.

The mascot danced a little as Aryan Joshi came back on the field, who had a mocking and proud smile on his face while shaking hands with Sidharth.

Joshi looked at Sidharth's feet which had normal old shoes and shook his head in disapproval. He turned around and gestured to his team mate to get a jersey and sports shoes for Sidharth to play fair as he took his words as a challenge. The crowed cheered him and went aww.

Soon Sidharth was wearing a right fit jersey and sport shoes.

The whistle was blown and Sidharth took one look at his lucky mascot before he starts to play. The lucky mascot showed him a thumbs up. Having decoded Joshi's technic, Sidharth quickly got hold of the ball. For the next few minutes they played Joshi didn't get to touch the ball even for a second and Sidharth scored a goal. The crowd went utter silent in shock to find their favourite player lose to a novice.

Joshi was humiliated, he challenged him to play yet again and Sidharth obliged. This time scoring a goal even quicker than the previous one.

The mascot took off the gloves and clapped hands loudly which snapped out everyone and soon the stadium roared cheering with his name and bowed in sync to pay respect to Sidharth. Joshi was extremely embarrassed but shook his hand with Sidharth nevertheless and presented his signed jersey and brand new shoes in the form of gift hamper before going back to the stadium.

The dino mascot ran back to the stadium and hugged Sidharth to congratulate. Sidharth couldn't content himself and started blushing profusely. The photographers took Sidharth's picture with Dino Mascot.

"Shehnaaz, main match ke baad aapka wait karunga.", Said Sidharth before going back to take his seat. To his surprise, the people around him requested to take a selfie with him giving him a feel of a celebrity.

A few minutes later, the match resumed but to everyone's dismay, Joshi's ego was hurt and he not only missed goals but also made silly mistakes. Delhi Dinos lost the final match making Bengal Tigers the champions.

Not caring for the result of the match, Sidharth eagerly waited for Shehnaaz. A young boy asked him to come with him after the match and Sidharth happily went thinking that he had been sent by Shehnaaz but instead it was the owner of Delhi Dinos team who offered him to play for their time. Since Sidharth was in hurry to meet Shehnaaz he asks them time to think and leaves.

After an hour of waiting, he is asked to leave by the cleaning staff who informs that no one except the cleaning staff is there at the stadium at present. Disappointed and disheartened, he leaves.

.
.
.

Sidharth's colleagues at office, congratulate him showing the picture printed in the newspaper of him and dino mascot. Depressed Sidharth cuts out the picture and treasures it.

After a week, he gets a call from the Delhi Dino team again. With hope of getting to meet the dino mascot during the match sometime, he signs up a contract with them for 5 years after showcasing another round of his football skills. There were a few months gap for the new season to start which meant he would just train in the meantime. The team owners were happy with his performance graph while on the other hand Joshi's confidence level declined further down.

While Sidharth was hoping to meet Shehnaaz, he misses spending time with his ex-boss, Sana all the while. The way they ate together, the way she would pull his leg and cause him blush and the way she would guide and advise him on leading life in the city, he reminisced everything about her.

While folding his clothes, he finds a cap gifted by young footballers with whom he and Sana had once played a match. He chuckles remembering her filmy monologue to cheer the team. A blush appears on his cheek when he remembers her calling him her husband to share a betting money with the young boy.

Though he wanted to meet her, he feels guilty of his words and reactions towards her before he left her house. The same guilt which stops him from going and meeting her again. He had no face to show her, he thought.

Having a decent earning from sports alongside regular job, he gets his mother to shift with him. He asks his mother for an envelope which was sent by Shehnaaz, to see if she had written her from address. But to his misfortune, she had only written to address. Nevertheless, he treasures it with other fond memories of his life, hoping to meet her soon when the new football season begins.

"Maa, aap kya bana rahi hai?", Asked Sidharth filling his nostrils with aroma.

"Teri pasand ki daal chaawal aur kya?", She asked.

"Hmmm..", he hummed.

"Itna phikha sa jawaab? Kya hua tujhe?", She asked.

"Woh meri boss ki yaad aayi. Unke main harr Friday dal chawaal khaata tha?", Said Sidharth.

"Toh bula lo unko ghar aaj. Sab milke khaate hai..", suggests Maa.

"Woh nahi aayengi..", he said feeling sad.

"Kyu? Bahut ameer hai isiliye?", She asked.

"Nahi maa.. maine aakhri baar gusse mein unse bahut ganda bartaav kiya.. shayad woh mujhe kabhi maaf nahi karengi..", he said lost in his thoughts.

"Tumne try kiya maafi maangne ka?", She asked.

"Huh? Nahi..", Sidharth said.

"Toh phir, bina maafi maange tum apne lagne pe kaise chal sakte ho? Try toh karo pehle.. Rishton mein darrar ladhaayi se nahi balki ladhaayi ko time pe na suljhaane ke aur sharm ke wajah se maafi na maangne se aati hai.. apne rishtey ko apne ego se jyada importance do aur samay rehte hi maafi maang lo. Phir chahe woh maaf kare ya na kare, tumhaare mann ko sahi karne ki tassali toh milti hai.", Said Maa.

He nodded his head.

"Maa aap isko pack karke dengi? Main unse phone pe maafi nahi maanguna. Unke saamne jaake maafi maangunga.", Said Sidharth.

Picking up the tiffin, he travelled to the bungalow. He was surprised himself by how he remembered Sana instead of Shehnaaz on the mention of daal chaawal because technically it was made by Shehnaaz for him.

Sidharth was taken aback on finding a security guard standing in front of the bungalow. He asked him about the owner and the guard informed him that the boss was at work.

Thanking the guard, Sidharth then went to the Dino burger joint where he had often visited with Sana.

"Suniye, mujhe aapke boss se milna hai. Kaha hai woh?", Asked Sidharth to the waiter boy.

"Woh dusre branch mein hai shayad.", Said the boy.

"Oh!!", His face fell hearing the reply.

"Aapke yaha ek ladki dino mascot hai na.. unse milwa do.", Said Sidharth remembering Shehnaaz.

"Usko boss ne kabka dhakke deke kaam se nikaal diya.", Said the waiter.

"Kya? Kyu?", Asked Sidharth.

"Sab kehte hai, ki football ke final match mein usne kisi ladke ko support karne ke liye sab logon ko ulta tenga dikhaaya tha.. isiliye", said the waiter and gets back to work.

What? Meri wajah se Sana Ma'am ne Shehnaaz ko naukri se nikaal diya? Iske liye main unhe kabhi maaf nahi karunga.. ab na toh mujhe unse koi maafi maangni hai aur na koi rishta rakhna hai..

Sidharth seethed in anger and left.

_____________

To be continued.. ❤️❤️