Chapter twelve: Project Shubman (aborted)

"Subah hogayi maaamuu!"

"SANVI!" Sara's loud voice reverberated in the house while she was lying on the couch lazily. "Sanvi, lavkar ye movie suru jhala," (Sanvi come fast, the movie has started already) she called her friend again.

"AAALE!" (Coming!) Sanvi shouted back while she put a rubber band in her braided hair. She rushed out excitedly, eager to start movie night with her friend.

"Aye aalshi, sarak, me kuthe basu?" (Lazy ass, move. Where should I sit?) she said, moving Sara's dangling leg. She groaned, getting up.

"Just take a chair or something, why did you ruin my comfortable position?" She said, frowning.

"Whatever, child!" Sanvi replied, emphasising in the word 'child'.

"Yeah fine, I am a child, whatever." Sara mumbled under her breath.

"Aww, is the child angry?" Sanvi cooed and Sara rolled her eyes playfully.

"Stop it, stupid"

"Come here, sleep in my lap, you get to lie down and I get to sit comfortably," Sanvi said with a warm smile and Sara nodded.

"That's a good idea," she said, putting her head on the pillow Sanvi kept in her lap. Sanvi started gently stroking Sara's hair as the two watched 'Munnabhai MBBS'. A good half an hour passed in the movie and, Sanvi decided to speak up about tonight.

"Sara?"

"Hm?"

"What did you think about Abhinav?" She asked. Sara's eyes darted toward her best friend.

"He seems like a decent person," she answered truthfully, but Sanvi couldn't help but feel disappointed. "That's it?" She asked.

"I mean, he clearly makes you laugh and takes care of you, but I'm sorry that I can't trust him at first glance," Sara added and Sanvi just nodded. A sigh left Sara's lips and she got up, sitting straight.

"Sanvi, I know you're annoyed by my scepticism, I'm sorry for that. But please try to understand my perspective, too. You're my best friend and I can't see you hurt, I just want to be really sure that he's the perfect match for my perfect Sanvi," Sara said genuinely and Sanvi turned to face her.

"I know that, but are you even giving him a fair chance? You kept on zoning out a little today," Sanvi said and Sara felt her cheeks flush in embarrassment. "It's like you weren't even interested in what he had to say," she added, clearly disappointed in Sara. Sara's eyes left Sanvi's and she looked everywhere except her friend. What do I say when I, myself am confused about whatever that happened today?

Truth was, Sara zone out thrice thinking about...S h u b m a n  G i l l.

"Sanvi, I" Sara tried to defend herself, but Sanvi cut her off.

"I saw you zone out twice today, and both the times were when Abhi was talking,"

"The..the, Sanvi, the incident...it was super funny. I mean, yeah, Abhinav thought that a random guy in London was Virat Kohli and then he freaked out and ran to him for a selfie and all, yeah" Sara said, nervously.

"And yet, you zoned out!" Sanvi replied quickly. In all honesty, while Sanvi was disappointed that Sara did not give a fair chance to Abhinav, she was also worried that Sara was zoning out because of the anxiety attack she had, and was worried about the entire situation. So, she had to dig deep.

"Why would you possibly zone out when someone is taking about a Virat Kohli lookalike in London- oh, wait" Sanvi suddenly realised. "Oh, oh- I see why," she said, realisation hitting her. Sara's eyes widened.

"I, NO wait, listen!"

"You were thinking about Shubman, I see.." Sara sighed, not wanting to deny it anymore.

"Yes, that's true. It happened when Abhinav first said that he thought I would be like the person who does not like black coffee, and then I was like...yeah, I started liking it because of Shubman," Sara paused.

"And then, this entire London and Kohli thing and then at the end,"

"Abhinav ordered dry fruit halwa, Gill's favourite," Sanvi completed Sara's sentence. "Just accept it, Sara," she breathed out, looking at Sara, "you like him."

"I don't like him, like that, like I just like him...as a friend,"

"Okay, you know what, I'm sorry Shubman for saying this," Sanvi muttered. "I'm sorry Sara, but if the only two people you think about after having an anxiety attack are Shubman and his mother, there's something deeper than friendship, try and understand," Sanvi said, rubbing her forehead and Sara's eyes widened again. She knew? Seeing the shock on Sara's face, Sanvi decided to speak again.

"Yeah, I knew. Gill called me right away after he left your house, he thought I should know," she mumbled in a low voice.

"Sanvi, I was going to..."

"Sara, Sara," Sanvi said, taking Sara's hands in her hands. "It's okay if you didn't feel like telling me, it really is. I was hurt at first...but, I'm okay now. I know it's difficult for you to speak about it," Sanvi says.

"I wanted to tell you face to face, and not on the call." Sara muttered. "You're right...it is still difficult to talk about," she added and Sanvi looked at her warmly before pulling her in an embrace.

"It's okay, love. It really is," Sanvi comforted Sara, patting her slightly on her back. The two stayed like that, taking in all the warmth and love of the moment.

"Thanks Sanvi, I love you," Sara said, breaking the long hug. Sanvi smiled, but decided to revert to the original topic, not wanting to push Sara to talk about her anxiety more.

"Speaking of love," she said, teasingly.

"Why can't you just accept that you like Shubman?" She asked genuinely, wanting to hear Sara's explanation.

"Because, I don't!"

"Oh come on, you start thinking about him when you encounter anything remotely related to him, you watch every match he plays, you watch almost all his interviews and what not," Sara stayed silent, chewing her inner cheek in embarrassment.

"And I don't see why you should not like him- I mean, Gill's the first guy you thought was good looking, he's literally your first love, he's smart, successful, respectful, popular, why not?" Sanvi said casually.

"Okay I did think that he's good looking at first glance, then we became friends and that's...that," Sara said.

"You had a crush on him," Sanvi pointed out.

"HAD, the keyword is had. And that too, for a very short period, that's common okay, it's common in friends," Sanvi groaned at Sara's excuse.

"You know what, wait here," she murmured, getting up. "I'll be back, pause the movie by the way!" She said, walking in.

"Where are you going?" Sara asked.

"I have some proof of your feelings,"

Oh, the movie. Sara paused it, and started thinking again. What was she feeling for Shubman? Did she really like-like him? Or was it just a crush? Sanvi returned with a box and Sara looked at it, in shock. No way. Not the box. Not the god forsaken box. Sara froze as Sanvi kept the box on the sofa in between the two of them.

It was a decorated shoe box, with the words  'Shubman Gill' written in glittery ink. Sara's face flushed as she thought about the contents of this box. Her leg started shaking, heart beating loudly. It had been years since she laid her eyes on this. This was from almost four years ago.

"Remember this? This was the birthday present you were making for him! This was at the very beginning of his career. Every newspaper article you could find out him, every clipping, screenshots from online articles. Here's a screenshot of his very newly done Wikipedia page too!" Sanvi said, opening it and handing her a paper. Sara's hand trembled as she took the piece of paper Sanvi gave her. It had a very young Shubman's face on it, his Wikipedia page. Sara ran her other hand on the page, softly caressing it. The room suddenly felt very silent, and she felt tears stuck in her throat.

I miss him. His stupid talks and handsome smile. I miss him so much. I miss our actual friendship.

"But you aborted this project the moment you got to know that Shubman was dating that Leena girl," Sanvi added in a low voice, a bitterness in her tone. "You should have given this to him, he would've loved it!" Sanvi added quickly.

"I, uh...Sanvi," Sara mumbled shakily, not knowing what to say. Her mind seemed foggy, blanked out.

"Wait, Sara are you scared to admit that you like him because you're afraid he doesn't reciprocate?" Sanvi asked and Sara's gaze dropped down to the floor, a feeling of heartache spreading in her chest.

He doesn't like me, never has and never will.

Knowing that she had no energy to act like what Sanvi just said was not the truth, Sara nodded meekly, keeping the piece of paper back in the box. He didn't like her when they were just friends, before all the fame and popularity. Why would he suddenly like her now? Especially when he's THE Shubman Gill, prince of cricket, somebody sought by everyone. She was just an actress who just started getting recognition.

"Sara," Sanvi started unsurely. "Shubman's acting skills are mediocre, just look at him once, Sara. Look at him without your fears and you'll see that his eyes have never lied, Sara. His eyes have always spoken loudly about his feelings,"

Sara looked at Sanvi, a shimmer of hope in her eyes. Was Sanvi saying the truth? Did they have a chance? Or was she being foolish AGAIN?

A/N: I'm not that satisfied with this chapter because I'm going through a kinda writer's block, but at the same time I love it because of the entire shoe box gift thing, it's such an adorable thing and I teared up thinking that Shubman hasn't received the gift yet. Lmk what you thought about this chapter!!