Chapter 2

Chapter 1 – The Basic Pitch of My Life

Arnav's POV

Cape Town- South Africa – 8.00PM

“Hey Arnav,great day in the nets today, im sure it will be a good game tomorrow..”, spoke Ravi, my team-mate, as we walked towards our hotel rooms.

Ravi was an ace bowler of our team.His pace and bowling length was something that intrigued me greatly,because his deliveries always turned out to be wicket-taking ones in the big games, and also because I loved to practice my shots with him in the nets,his game made me improve and innovate my shot-taking techniques. I gave him a small smile and nodded – “ yes it should be..im looking forward to it..it’ll be a large turn out surely, with the fans equally divided on both the sides…”

Ravi grinned – “ ofcourse ya, South Africa loves cricket as much as we do, and although I love a good old test match and the one days, you gotta admit, with t20, the game has sort of evolved and is becoming more interesting, its like the new age short and sweet cricket entertainment for the generation that loves the game and prefer to enjoy it with a shorter overs and the thrills and the risks off it..i quite enjoy it myself, and I know you do so too, your shot selections and temperament completely differ in the t20 match…”

I smiled back at him, for he was right about that.The t20 format was something I exclusively enjoyed a lot, it let me play more aggressively,exploring new shots from the edge of my bat, and I said – “ and you are right about that…and its been a long tour though, nothing better than to finish it off with a t20 series win too…”

Ravi grinned – “ you bet, nothing better than that..surely…”,and he paused as he asked, as I reached my room – “I will see you in an hour for dinner with the team then?”

I shrugged – “ not really, im thinking of giving it a miss…I just want to relax a little by myself, ill just order in..”

Ravi – “ really? Ok, I wont push you, its been hectic, but we will miss our all rounder favourite vice-captain…but you should relax, we need you to fire tomorrow…”

I grinned – “ thanks, and im going to use just that excuse to get myself some me time, I will message Cap..”

Ravi nodded – “ great then, I will see you tomorrow…”

I nodded, as I patted his shoulder and I spoke – “ take that little muscle pull seriously though once we are back home..”

Ravi smiled – “ I will…”, and he made his way to his room and I walked into mine.

I kept my kit aside on the sofa, and lied down on the huge L-shaped sofa in my room.

God, I was exhausted, it had been a long and much needed practice day in the nets and all I was looking forward was to some alone time now, just too unwind at my own pace.

Cricket was such an important part of my life that I could almost say that Cricket was Life, itself. Ever since I was young, my father had encouraged me to explore my passion and interest in the game and for that I could never thank him or my family enough. I wouldn’t have been able to get through to where I am today without their constant support and guidance.

I was going to turn 27 ,five days from today , which was also the day our third and last t20 match was scheduled for, and we were going to leave for India, the next day, and I was kind off looking forward to it too, it had been a long tour. I had been playing for India officially since the age of 20, and had been the vice- captain of the team for four years now and I quite liked things this way as they allowed me to concentrate on my game.

And the plan was to continue giving the best of what I had to the game and the country, until I turned 30 and took a back-seat from it all, and kept my part of the promise that I had made to my mother and grandmother. I was to step into business to help Dad, the Raizada business empire had grown so much, that even I was worried about the stressful impact it could have on my father’s health as he tried to juggle in between all the numerous roles and responsibilities as the Chairman and CEO of Raizada Industries, and I know Dad was looking forward to have me step in as the CEO too.

It had seemed fair to draw a line in between the two things that ruled my dna, business and cricket. I had been aware about this all my life, that my ability to step in and take hold of the reins of the business empire, my grandfather had built had equal importance with my love for cricket.And that is why, I have spent my initial school years balancing it all out, never compromising on my education.And even after I officially started playing for India, i made sure that I finished the degrees that prepped me for the business world, through good correspondence courses ofcourse, because I didn’t have the time for attending a full time course at a regular college.I had taken short breaks from cricket every now and then, to attend different summer schools at prestigious universities all over the world, as the experience added a lot of perspective to my knowledge, and the rest of the break time would be dedicated to getting hands on training from dad, about the way our businesses and industries worked.

So yes, in between all the great expectations that are expected out of me as the Vice Captain of the Indian cricket team in the country in which the game is almost an unofficially declared religion, and the great expectations and responsibilities that are awaiting to lean on my shoulders as the sole heir to the Raizada business empire, I just try to pause every now and then in between and steal some time out hoping to make the best of the little time I can squeeze out for myself to unwind at the pace I want and to just have the space to do what I want to do.

I mean, I knew that there are two sides to the coin even before I got into this,so I don’t have any complaints there, but the challenges and the downside of being a celebrity in the cricket world can be overwhelming sometimes.I mean, I totally love the person I become on the pitch and the crazy rush of adrenaline as I dawn the jersey and helmet every game, but I am also aware that the love and the constant scrutiny, that people shower on me is for the game I play,and not for who I am as a person within, because no one apart from my family and my team members , and a couple of close friends, no one really knows me well because people often forget to look beyond the surface. And amongst all the fan frenzy, competitive matches, harsh judgements, and the never ending expectations, the showbiz and the glamour attached to the sport, it often becomes overwhelming to cope up with it all at the same pace as it actually happens, it was definetly very challenging very emotionally too, so all my energies and efforts have totally gone in balancing it out in between the cricket world and the world of business, that I have never really have had the time for anything else in my life, and specially not for relationships, because I never wanted to get into something, I knew I couldn’t be fair too with my time.

I had a deep respect for relationships and love for I have seen my parents have and live such a wonderful marriage that I kind off agree with my mother on the note that that relationships and love was something which involves nurturing each day. And so I have never stepped into a serious relationship because I never had the time and the commitment for it and also because I never wanted to be unfair to the other person or hurt them unintentionally with my actions, which I would have surely because my life schedule had been surely no short of a rollercoaster.

It wasn’t that I wasn’t a party or a get together kind off person, I enjoyed it all, but all to a limited extent, unlike the image the media like to potray off me, otherwise. I have also indulged in casual one night stands over time, but definitely not in ‘playboy’ tag kind off way the media had assigned to me. I was not a playboy, I never could be because I never did have too much time for it all, too.

But over time, I had come to terms with accepting the fact that no one really cared to know what lay beneath the surface of all the show and the glamour and the game, and that all that mattered to people was what they liked to perceive and believe in their own different ways.

My family, my friends and my team-mates, knew me and loved me for who I am, and I was content with that.

I felt a longing tug the strings of my heart at that thought, for that missing special someone in my life, and I reminded myself again, that I didn’t have the time for it right now and discarded the thought out off my head. I got up from the sofa and drew out the curtains of my room and looked out the skyline of this beautiful town. I loved Cape-Town, we toured here almost every year, and it always mesmerised me in different new ways every-time.

I often longed for one more thing though, and that was the wish that sometimes, all I wanted was to just step out as a nobody and get lost in the crowd, away from the constant scrutiny and the camera and the media and their eyes that are always watching and judging.

And tonight was many of those nights, that I actually wanted to just walk around this beautiful city and not be recognised for who I was. I quickly walked up to my cupboard and took out my casual tracks and my favourite black hoodie (they came to my rescue, because it kind off hid the sides of my face and the upper half of it successfully and if I looked a little down as I walked, no one would know it was me, until they were up close.).I laid the clothes on my bed, and stepped into the shower to refresh myself, before I stepped out for a quick bite at a local food store.

We had a big game tomorrow, and this little alone time was exactly what I needed to unwind myself and get ready to fire those shots off my bat tomorrow.

……………………………………………

Khushi’s POV

(@Chai and Coffee – a small cafe in the city center of Cape Town)

I looked at the time in the desktop in front of me, it was 830PM and I still had so much work to do. Gosh, I really had to get these accounts sorted before tonight, for amongst the three part time shifts tomorrow, I was definetly not going to have the time for it.

I looked up as I saw Verma uncle enter in, into the small room which he had made his cabin,and I almost got up from his chair and he smiled at me – “ Khushi, please continue with your work, like I say, it want you to use my chair because of the way the computer is fixed, its easier beta, don’t worry about it…and I would like to thank you for your help with the accounts…”

I looked at him and I smiled as I spoke – “ uncle, you know right, you shouldn’t even be uttering these words to me, youv been so kind to me after…”,and I paused as the emotions dried up my throat and I spoke – “ im just so happy that I can help…”

Verma uncle smiled as his phone rang and he spoke – “and I will just take that, its your aunty, or im going to go hungry tonight…”

I laughed at that and I nodded,and I watched him step out of the door.

And I took a few minutes out to use the washroom and I splashed some cold water on my face to refresh myself,and I looked at my reflection in the mirror, who would know that even though I looked the same like I did, everything in my life had changed on that fateful day of the plane crash that killed my parents and my little brother krish, a year ago.It was their death anniversary tomorrow, and I had purposely kept my schedule super tight so that I wouldn’t have the time to think about anything but work.

It was the day three and a half months after my 21st birthday; and my entire Life came crashing down around me in a flash off that one frantic phone call from Verma uncle asking me the details of the flight my family was travelling on, and then asking me to turn on the news to come face to face with the dreadful information, that my entire family had been killed in the crash. Now that I looked back, I still don’t know how did I cope up with the rest of the days that followed, the revelation about how my parents had mortgaged our home to fund for my management degree and the chartered accountant course that I was pursuing for my career, the decision I made to sell our families Indian restaurant, in order to settle all the financial matters as I didn’t want any outstanding debts in my dead parents name.It had all happened so quickly that it had felt like my life was just passing by around me and I was being absorbed in the shocks it was giving me.

I had lost my family, our home, our restaurant, basically everything. And I had just started out in my third year of college when this happened, so I decided to put a pause on my education for a year, so that I could earn the money that I needed for completing it all in that one year.Because of my high grades and my situation, my professors were kind enough to give me letters to support my action for the same at the college admissions office, and I was given the permission to convert into the flexible programme option, and I was going to complete my education surely,it had meant the world to my parents, and for them, I would do everything I could in my life today to fulfil the dreams and expectations they had from me,because I knew that they were watching over me from wherever they were.I was going to complete studying, and then get a good job, earn and save money so that I could finally buy back our family restaurant that Muma and Papa had built with so much love,and I was going to use my study of management and accounts to make it a successful chain of ateast 5 resturants in South Africa – this had been my fathers dream,and I was going to make sure that I worked towards accomplishing the dream,that was left unfulfilled due to his untimely death.

I loved my family to bits and they were taken away from me too soon,but I was trying to be super strong about it and face life head on and move on no matter what, because I knew they would have wanted that out of me.They hated to see me cry and ofcourse I was in a breakdown situation for two whole months after their passing, but I started to cope up and counsel my way through it, and I tried to remember them with a smile on my face. I had collected all the things that had been dear to them in some suitcases and kept them safely in the little store room, next to my little room, that was above this café.

Verma uncle was a good family friend and, Chai and Coffee was his small cozy little café in the city center of Cape town, he had two little stock rooms above the shop, and he cleared them up for me to move into after I lost my home. Aunty helped me set up one of the rooms as my bedroom and the other as a little study and storage.

I have been living here ever since, and in the mornings from 9am to 3pm, I am interning at a company I had interned at in my first year summer break from college, and luckily for me my immediate boss was very helpful when I had seeked out for help this time around.And after three pm, I worked in the café with Verma uncle, learning the art of both tea and coffee making and running a restaurant, for which he paid me per hour, but because he wasn’t taking any rent from me for the living, I had offered to help him with the finance and accounts voluntarily, for free.And then three days a week, I used Rahul’s car and worked as a Uber driver in between off 9pm to 1am in the night. Rahul was my goodfriend from childhood, and he was also Verma uncle’s son, and he sole handedly managed the other three small cafes Verma uncle had started out around the city at various ends, but because this was the first founding outlet of Chai and Coffee,Verma uncle wanted to look after it himself.

I splash my face two more times with cold water again, and I stepped out the washroom and walked back into the small cabin which was the backoffice and I saw Verma Uncle pick up his bag as he spoke – “ Khushi beta, im leaving early, if that’s ok, I promised your aunty id be home early today…”

I smiled – “ ofcourse uncle its her birthday today, take her out somewhere nice…”,and I opened the drawer and kept the present box on the table as I spoke – “and give this to her for me please, I wanted to meet her today, in person, but I couldn’t…”

He smiled – “ you shouldn’t have Khushi, I know you are working so hard to save..”

I gave him a small smile – “ its nothing much uncle, please just a small gift..please take it…”

He picked it up and he spoke – “ thank you, and Jack and Varun are here managing the front, its going to be closing time soon anyway…”

I smiled – “ don’t worry uncle, I will lock up at 10pm,and safely retire for the night, Im not on my uber schedule today anyway..”

Verma uncle – “ I still have to find a way of talking you out off that, I worry about you, its not safe..”

I looked at him – “ ofcourse it is uncle…”,and I picked up my phone and swung it in front of him – “ and Rahul made me install a gps tracker  on my phone..so don’t worry…”

Verma uncle – “ ok baba, but we will talk about this later…”

I nodded and he left.

......

Ten minutes later

I was starting to crave for my caffeine dose, to get my brains to keep functioning efficiently and I walked out to the front and right then Varun jumped up in front off me, he was four years younger to me, just 18, and this was his first part time job and he spoke – “ Khushi can please leave a little early today, don’t tell uncle, its tanya’s party tonight,and shes going to kill me if im more late…”.

I looked at Jack, and silently gestured to ask him if this was ok with him and he smiled – “ don’t worry Khushi, ill cover up…”

I nodded – “ fine, but uncle will know…”

Varun smiled – “ ofcourse…”,and he started to get ready to leave,and I started to make myself my coffee.Most of the customers had already left and the a couple of them were about to leave too, as Jack prepped their bills at the till,and I walked back to the backoffice with my coffee in hand,and I watched Varun rush out the washroom, all changed and fresh and I grinned – “ look at your face, you are so excited, the arrows of love have nailed their way into your heart Varun..”

Varun rolled his eyes at me and then he grinned – “ as if ya, I don’t know if I love her yet though, but I like her, she makes me happy…”,and he paused as he asked – “ iv never seen you go out even on a date for so long Khushi, you are too hard on yourself…”

I rolled my eyes – “ oh please Varun, I don’t have the time or the patience for it…”

Varun grinned – “ but you are so pretty, Jack told me that his friend Ryan has this huge crush on you…and even Rahul bhaiya’s friend, whats his name, yes I remember Armaan,the only one you dated for a while…”

I rolled my eyes,I couldn’t believe the grapevine in between our Chai and Coffee network – “ remind me to kill Rahul tomorrow…”

Varun grinned – “ well news is that Armaan is still not over you…”

I groaned – “ oh pls, Varun, stop it now, aren’t you getting late already??”

He remembered and he immediately started to walk out and he gave me a hug – “ thank you so much Khushi, you are like the elder sister I never had…”

That warmed my heart and wet my eyes at the same time, as I remembered my little brother krish in the moment.

I hugged him back briefly and then smiled as I watched pick up his phone and he spoke – “ tanya, my love ill be there in ten minutes…”,and then he ran out at the speed of light.

I started to walk in the hallway to the backoffice – I had never really been in Love.I never gave much thought to it, because I never had the time for it,I was always an overachiever in my studies and all the other activities so in my head that was the last priority.I had been on a couple of dates with some of Rahul friends,and dated Armaan officially for two months, until I realised it was getting too serious for him and I was no way near to him on the emotion tangent, so it felt it was fair to break up,he deserved to be with someone who felt the same way about him, which wasn’t me surely.

This was a little before my 21st bday last year,and three months later, the plane crash happened and my life turned upside down anyway.

I sat back in Verma uncles chair and resumed my work with the accounts,and returned my attention to the entries and numbers which I understood and knew how to comprehend and deal with.

No point in thinking about something that I didn’t have the time or energy for, because after everything that had happened, it was starting to feel like – that Love was always going to be that luxury that I couldn’t afford in my Life.

…………………………………

Tada!! Let me know what you guys think of the first Chapter.

Pls vote and comment guys , I love to hear from you all.

Hope you all had a wonderful Xmas…and best of holiday greetings to you all.

Thank you for all the love and time to my work.

P.s – Pls excuse editing errors, not proofread.

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