The Distance

Paas hain phir bhi paas nahiHumko yeh ghum raas nahiSeeshe ki ek diwaar hai jaise Darmiyaan......

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Anamika sat in her office, working on thier next project while sipping coffee from her mug. The exhibition at BCCI house had ended and the company was now working on their next exhibition. Anamika, Pooja and Sandhya were back to working from their headquarters at Charni road with rest of their team. As she decided to take a break from her work for a moment, Anamika picked up her phone to go through her social media. She saw a text from an unknown number and opened it.

Unknown:Decided to take up your suggestion and watched this show. The text had an image of Bridgerton playing on the television.

Anamika's love for historical fictions was not a secret to anyone. She could talk about those for hours and hence, couldn't figure out who this was.

Anamika:Who is this?

Unknown:Shubman here. Sorry, I forgot to mention this. 😅Have to change numbers when you're in a different country. Hehe!

Anamika did remember vaguely mentioning the show to the group. However, she did not expect one of them to actually watch it.

Anamika: Ohh... Hi Shubman. Hope you're liking enjoying it.

Shubman:Yesss... We are loving it!!Or rather swooning over it!!

Anamika chuckled at that,which later turned into a full blown laugh when she saw the next picture attached to it. It was a selfie of Ishan and Shubman sitting together on the bed, their faces covered in sheet masks.

Anamika: I wonder what will happen if this picture is leaked on the internet???

Shubman:YOU WOULDN'T!!!

Anamika:Ofcourse I won't!!!You guys look cute tho 👀

Shubman:Ishan says thank you..

Anamika glanced at the clock to check the time, it was almost 2 pm, which meant it must be 10-11 am in South Africa.

Anamika: Just curious, don't you guys have practice today?

Shubman:Nope... Off day. So decided to binge watch something.

Anamika:Okay... Enjoy your binge session. Need to get to work...

She was about to put her phone back when she felt it vibrating again

Shubman: Have you received any news about the Chandigarh conference?

Anamika:Not yet... Would let you know as soon as I hear from them.Bye..

Shubman: SureBye...

"Ho gaya tera?" Shubman heard Ishan asking him from the side.

"Ha.. Play it." He replied, now, putting down his phone.

"What's going on between you two?" The shorter male asked as the sound of one of the Bridgerton renditions filled the room.

"I burn for her!" Shubman said referring to the show making the other man chuckle.

Their little exchange of text was followed by weeks of sharing memes. Anamika would at times text him after the match, at times congratulating him and the team and at other times simply asking about his well being. This continued between them, strengthening their bond and maybe leaving something new to brew between the two.

A few weeks later, on a Friday night Anamika was curled up on the bed she was sharing with her mother. Her father had to visit their native place and hence Anamika and her mom occupied the same room. She had started a book in the evening that day on one of her colleagues' suggestion and it was interesting enough to keep her up until almost 4 in the morning. As she was scrolling through the pdf book, very close to the final chapter, her phone started ringing. Cursing under her breath, she silenced it and sneaked out to the kitchen, clicking the green icon.

"Hello, Shubman?!?!" Anamika asked a bit suprised.

"Hi-hi Anamika..."

"What happened?! Why did you call this late in the night?!" She tried not raise her voice and risking her mother waking up

"Wo actually-" He said when the phone was snatched from him.

"Hi Anu, Ishan here!" Anamika heard Ishan's deep voice over the phone.

"Hello Bhaiya, what's wrong? Why did you guys call at this time?"

"We need to ask you something..." He sounded a bit unsure to her.

"What Bhaiya?"

"What is the oldest piece of literature on earth?" Ishan said a bit too cocky and confident for Anamika.

"What?" She asked a bit suprised.

"Oldest piece of literature?" Ishan repeated his question unaware of Anamika's frustration.

"What?"

"Cassette atak gayi kya tumhari? Maine puchha what is the oldest piece of literature on earth?"

"Legend of Gilgamesh. But-" She answered a bit irritated by the fact they would call someone at this hour to ask a question that could be answered by a mere Google search.

"Okay!  Thank you! Bye! "

"Bhaiya wait-"

"Hi Anamika.." She heard Shubman's apologetic voice fill from the other end and felt a little swarm of butterflies for no reason.

"You guys could've just googled it, Shubman! I got scared you know...." She said expressing her concern.

"I'm really sorry, even Ishu is sorry. We were solving a crossword puzzle and just did not want to use internet for this..." He still sounded a little sorry to her and Anamika could almost imagine the pout on his face.

"It's..... okay. I wasn't sleeping anyways.." She admitted sheepishly.

"It must be around 4 there. Why are you awake?" Shubman asked bit sceptical about why would she be awake at this hour.

"I was reading a book and it got interesting! I have a holiday tomorrow so..." Anamika even felt embarrassed at this point, like a teenager caught doing something they shouldn't.

"Haha okay... Sleep now though, it's not good for you." Shubman said and Anamika could sense a bit of concern in his voice.

"Yeah... Goodnight"

"Good night!"

"Wait Shub-" She said remembering something.

"Yes?"

"I got selected for that Chandigarh conference! It's in February" Anamika said doing a little fist pump. She couldn't get over the news even after 12 hours.

"Great!!! Let me know the dates. I'll take you around" Shubman sounded excited to her but then it could be the excitement in her that might cloud the judgement at times.

"Yeah.. I'll send you the itinerary."

"And Anamika?"

"Yeah?"

"It's a date.." Shubman said tentatively.

"Okay., Mr. Gill!" He heard Anamika say over the phone and felt someone engulfing him in a hug

Anamika was about to cut the call when she heard a sequeal from the other end.

"I told you she won't mind!" Ishan's cheery voice filled the speaker.

"Do you think she bought it?" Shubman was still doubtful over it.

"She's not that dumb, Shubi!" Ishan said probably smacking Shubman's head, "But she's dumb enough to go on a date with you!"

"You... Shorty cupcake!!" Anamika heard a dull thud followed by Ishan's infectious laughter and assumed he might've gotten hit by a pillow.

Anamika cut call, feeling a bit guilty for eavesdropping but smiling ear to ear only to collide with her very sleepy looking mother.

"Aai? What's wrong why did you get up?" Anamika asked hoping she hadn't heard the phone call.

"I was thirsty. Why are you up?" The older woman asked moving to fetch a glass of water.

"I was checking up on Pooja!" Anamika said the first thing that came to her mind. "She has an exam tomorrow and you know her habit of pulling all nighters" She said sighing.

Well it wasn't entirely lie because Pooja did have an exam tomorrow. She was also a freelance transciptor which along with the internship gave her very less time to stay updated with her studies. Hence, she'd pull all nighters to study a day before exams.

"Okay. Go sleep. I'll join you in sometime." Her mother said.

"Okay." Anamika replied rushing towards the bedroom.

Sleep, though, seemed miles away for the woman. And how could she honestly sleep? Her teenage crush, someone who had a million girls and thousands of boys swooning over him had just asked her out.

Texts and phone calls had now become an everyday routine between the two. It would be something as simple as a flower Shubman saw or how Anamika claimed Kadhi chawal was superior to Rajma chawal, and the two would still talk over it for hours.

But today was a bit different. She sat on one of the little tables in their office pantry, drinking some coffee and eating makhanas when her phone rang indicating a video call from Shubman. Anamika used her little tiffin to support her phone and picked up the call, not without quickly checking if anyone was around. As the picture came to view, she saw nothing but darkness indicating the phone was pressed against someone's ear.

"Shubman, you've video called me." Anamika said a bit amused.

Soon a sheepish looking Shubman came into view. He looked sweaty, probably coming back from the gym according to what he once told Anamika. "Sorry. It must have happened accidentally."

"It's fine. How are you?" She said popping another makhana in her mouth. Shubman then actually took in her appearance, a boat neck top that showed off her collarbones, her hair in a bun  with some strands framing her face, her earrings glinting in the sunlight and she bit her lips lightly, maybe out of nervousness.

"I'm good.... I was just calling to let you know that I'll be leaving tonight. I've a pit stop in Delhi for a shoot and then would go to Chandigarh. I hope to see you there." He said as he strode through the hotel's corridor. "How are you? How's the.......paper?.... I honestly don't know what that conference is about." He added a bit shy to admit the last part.

"I can't tell you about the paper now actually. It's kinda confidential." She sounded apologetic.

"Hey.. it's okay. I just asked out of curiosity." He shrugged and Anamika finally looked at him properly as he entered his room and sat on the bed. He looked sweaty from the workout session but definitely still beautiful. His hair were a bit ruffled in a way she wanted to run her fingers through it to tamp it down a bit.

"Anamika.... Sandhya ma'am is calling you!!!" Pooja's voice broke Anamika's staring session and she blinked a little to get back to the real world. "Oh.. hi Shubman!!" She said as she noticed the person on the screen.

"Hi Pooja." He waved at the newcomer. "I think I should leave you to your work... Bye." He added.

"Bye!" Anamika said as she ended the call.

As she proceeded to collect her phone and tiffin box and threw the paper cup, Pooja came up next to her.

"Wasn't I right about him staring at you during the exhibition?" The little one asked as they wound their path towards Sandhya's cabin.

"Maybe. Maybe not." Anamika replied winking as she knocked on the cabin's door.

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Late updates are my thing now I guess!!Let me know how you guys like this chapter...Also did anyone here watch Bridgerton Season 3? Which characters do you relate from the show??Mine is often between Penelope and Eloise 😅😂