The next day was a holiday. Neeti woke me up by screaming, "YOU NEED TO SEE THIS!"

I jumped out of bed in shock. "What's the matter?" I said groggily.

She flashed a newspaper called T2, which appeared only in West Bengal, in front of my eyes.

There was a picture of me and Shubman getting out of the car to join the Nokia party yesterday. I snatched the paper from her hand and read the article.

"When we asked our star cricketer about this beautiful young lady accompanying him, he said she is his friend Alisha.
Now, our dear readers, does it look like they are only 'friends'? I leave that to you!"

I studied the picture. It was the moment after I told him I love his mystery thriller behaviour, and he was looking at me in a non-just-friends sort of way.

But he said we're just friends. What if he really considers us just friends? I was starting to freak out.

"What do you think?" asked Neeti.

"He told them I'm his friend," I said.

"Well, you two are friends right now," she said sensibly.

"I love him," I muttered.

"He loves you too, you idiot. But he hasn't, like, spoken yet, and you haven't told him either, so he couldn't very well say she's my girlfriend, could he?" Neeti was in full defend-Shubman mode.

My phone beeped.

Shubman had messaged, "got tickets for you and Neeti for the next match, Thursday. can you come?"

"YES!" screamed Neeti as I asked her. "Shouldn't we tell Abhi too?" she added uncomfortably.

I shook my head.

Neeti looked grim and defeated.

--------------------

KKR lost to RR. I don't know how exactly that happened, because Neeti kept telling till the 16th over or so that KKR will win easily. I don't know where it went wrong.

I guessed Shubman would be in a sour mood again, because KKR was nearly out of the playoffs according to Neeti.

Our seats had been in the VIP box. We hung around as the players came back.

As Shubman was coming towards us, Neeti shouted something like, 'Want to--meet Jinks' and Shubman grinned and nodded.

"What does she want now?" I asked as Shubman reached us.

"Just to meet an RR player," said Shubman. "He's a great player--Ajinkya Rahane."

"I hope you're not going to yell at him like you did at Kuldeep. Please don't embarrass us again," I warned her.

"I won't," she promised, as Shubman laughed.

"It did Kuldeep good, Neeti. Everyone was really glad you said that to him," he said.

Neeti smirked at me; then she suddenly saw someone and ran towards him.

"She won't be coming back anytime soon," I said.

"Good thing or bad thing?" asked Shubman, his voice suddenly soft.

I hesitated, staring into his eyes.

"We won't qualify!" screamed a tragic voice behind us, breaking the spell.

We turned.

It was, as expected Miss Suhana Khan, drama queen and my Shubman Gill's lover.

I wanted to kill her right then.

"Shubman, we won't qualify this time," she said, more softly, her lips trembling.

"I--I know, I'm sorry," said Shubman, flustered. "I mean...we're sorry..."

She began to sob.

Honestly? Who cries like this in public after your daddy's team is eliminated?

Suhana was howling now, and she swayed like she would fall. Shubman stepped forward hastily and supported her shoulders. Suhana, the witch, had apparently been waiting for it, because she threw herself into his arms and hugged him like there's no tomorrow.

If I hadn't been so blinded by rage, I might've noticed that Shubman looked both terrified and helpless, but at that moment I could only think about how Shubman had been about to tell me something when she interrupted and now HE WAS ENTERTAINING HER; HE WAS HUGGING HER WHEN I'M STANDING IN FRONT OF HIM!!!

AN ACTOR'S DAUGHTER, A FUTURE ACTRESS, NO LESS.

I'M SO DONE WITH HIM!

I turned and found Neeti talking with Kuldeep at a distance. I stormed up to her.

"Alisha!" Shubman called after me, but I ignored him.

"Come on, we're leaving," I told Neeti.

"Now?" she demanded.

"Yes, this moment," I said shortly.

"Not now, not now, please give me just 5 minutes, no, 10 minutes, he's my favourite bowler along with Bhuvi, one of my favourite players, you know that..."

Kuldeep smiled indulgently at her words, but I noticed him looking around the field. After seeing Shubman and Suhana, he turned to me and started to say something.

I didn't need his sympathy.

"Fine, I'll wait outside," I said and walked off.

"Alisha," Shubman called me again. He wasn't hugging Suhana anymore, but I don't want anything with him anymore.

I quickly walked towards the exit from the stadium.

-------------------

I heard footsteps behind me, and a hand grabbed mine a moment later.

"Allie, wait!"

I whirled around to face him. "What do you want?"

"Allie, you know I can't help behaving like that with her," he pleaded.

I tried to pull my hand away, but he was clasping it too hard.

"You could help it if you wanted to!" I said.

"Wanted to?"

Shubman let my hand go, and I felt both furious and disappointed at the same time.

But then...he stepped forward and touched my cheeks with both hands.

I froze.

Shubman pressed his forehead against mine. Our lips were inches apart.

I forgot to breathe. I forgot where I was. I forgot everything except that Shubman and I are standing like...

I stared into his eyes, my eyes wide.

Shubman's eyes crinkled as he smiled. I reached up to touch his dimpled cheek, something I've always wanted to do, ever since I saw him in the match against SRH.

"Suhana could come here and see us," I whispered.

"Oh, I'm so scared," he whispered back.

I put my arms around him, pulling him even closer to me.

"I love you, Allie," he breathed.

I closed my eyes, trying to memorize this moment for ever and ever and ever.

"Tell me you love me too!" he said indignantly.

And just like that, I kissed him.

I don't know how long we stayed with our lips pressed to each other's, him holding my face and my arms around his waist.

Footsteps made us break apart abruptly, but Shubman kept my hand in his.

It was Neeti, coming towards us with a big smile on her face.

"Hey, you ready to go?" she asked.

"No, actually," I said, unable to remove the silly grin off my face.

"Oh, I like that! You were the one who told me we have to leave!" said Neeti.

I glanced at Shubman.

"Our next match is in Kolkata too," he said. "See you tomorrow?"

I don't know how I'll endure the entire night without him, but I nodded.

As Neeti and I started to leave, he asked teasingly, "Didn't you forget to tell me something?"

I turned back, and not even caring about the fact that Neeti was staring at us in shock, I grabbed his face and kissed him again.

"I love you too."