The Gift

Hellooo peeps!!I had two really busy weeks at work, hence the late update 😔😔But here we go 🎀🎀

Aankhon se choo lun ke..Bahein tarasti hain..Dil ne pukara hai haan..ab to chale aao..~~~

Shubman sat sulking in a corner of the practice ground when the coach noticed him. As Rahul made his way towards the boy, he noticed his hand playing with the chain around his neck. "Gill! What are you doing here?!?"

Shubman startled at the loud voice and looked up at the coach, "I was just taking a break.."

"What is it? Why have you been like this since we came here?" The older man looked concerned now. He saw the word 'nothing' forming on the younger one's lips. "Don't you dare say 'nothing'! You can fool Yashasvi, not me!"

"It's just.... It's Anu's birthday tomorrow. I don't know why but I'm feeling sad that I'm not closer to her." Shubman said almost sheepish, his hand returning to play with the ring on his chain. 

"Hate to break it to you, we are 10 hours 30 minutes behind. So her birthday has already started." Rahul said patting his head as he heard Shubman curse under his breath and smacked his head. "No swearing around me!" 

"Sorry sir! I haven't even wished her yet and she must be asleep by now.." The batsman held his head in his hand, resisting the urge to cuss again. 

"You can call her after dinner. Text her now and you've sent a gift already, right?" The coach said as he remembered taking Shubman with him to shop in New York. He saw the other man nod and ruffled his hair. "Don't worry about something like this so much." 

"Says the man who almost got insane when he couldn't call his wife on their anniversary!" Shubman mumbled softly, remembering that one day during his under 19 days when they were England and their phones were not in service. 

"Is that how you talk your coach, now?" Rahul looked at him with mock disappointment. "Meera was sick that day, Dhruv had his exams and the little one was making things easy for them. I felt bad that I wasn't there to help her out, you know!" He sighed. "Enough of my personal life. Come on now, back to the nets!" 

***

Shubman was at the dinner table, enjoying the grilled chicken, when Siraj sprinted in to show him something on his phone. "Shubi! Shubi! Did you see Anu's story? Birthday hai aaj uska!" He said sitting down on the empty seat beside him, while Yashasvi and Rahul sir occupied the remaining two seats on that table. 

"I know! I texted her in the evening." He said as calmly as possible.

"Okay... I will do now!" Siraj said, tapping on the screen to see the next few stories. He had kept his phone between them, so that Shubman can see them too. Siraj did not know these two were dating, but he hadn't missed the tension between them during the walk. As one particular story came up, Siraj laughed out loud, making Yashasvi look up from his plate. Rahul looked at the bowler with curious eyes, but then noticed Shubman's cheeks turning pink.

"What is it?" He asked as Siraj held his phone infront of the two men. It was a bento cake with purple icing and had tiny butterflies and pearls scattered across it. What caught their attention was the quote written on it. 'Too young for Dravid, Too old for Jaiswal.. But just perfect for Gill <3' 

Shubman did not know what to feel about the cake. But he couldn't hold back when he saw his friend and coach bursting in laughter across from him. "Direct proposals aa rahe hai ab to!!!" Siraj poked him on the waist as he moved away. 

"But isn't she just a year older than me? Why the 'too old for Jaiswal'?" They heard their youngest complain looking at the candles indicating 23 on the cake. This made the other three laugh harder.

"She just wanted to say, she's perfect for Shubman. Right, Shub?" The older man couldn't hold back from teasing Shubman now who almost looked like a tomato. 

"Maybe I should take a screenshot and send to Meera ma'am. Anamika clearly has a crush on you too! What say Yash?" Shubman said, smirking now.

"Perfect! Get me killed by my wife's hand before I turn 50!" He said chuckling. "Besides, I didn't know there are still girls crushing on me?"

"Because you are not on social media, sir! I get atleast one fangirl edit of yours everyday." Siraj said, typing a quick message to Anamika. 

"Maybe we should send some of those to Meera ma'am then. She will show him!" Yashasvi chimed in, clearly enjoying the teasing session of their coach. 

"Filhal ke liye to screenshot bhej dete hai!" Shubman said taking a screenshot of Anamika's story from Siraj's phone. 

Rahul's phone buzzed on the table, claiming the four men's attention. Meera's name flashed on the screen as Rahul hurriedly picked up his empty plate to get on a call with his wife. "You wouldn't want to do that to your girlfriend Shubman.." He said walking away as he picked up the call. "Good morning, sweetheart!" He turned around a few steps later as he smirked and winked at Shubman. 

As the three men watched their coach walk away, realisation dawned on Siraj. "Since when is Anamika your girlfriend??" He almost screamed. Shubman eyes widened as he looked at the bowler, Bhagwan bacha lena!

***

Shubman finally settled in his and Yashasvi's shared room, after pacifying Siraj and taking a hot shower. Yashasvi had gone out for a walk, so he still had time for himself. He looked at the clock, while drying his hair with a towel and decided it was a good time to call Anamika. It must be past 7 am in India and Anamika must be getting ready for work. He dialled her number and quickly switched it to video call. 

He watched as Anamika picked up the call and placed the phone in a way that it would lean on to something as she took off the towel from her hair. The sunlight coming in from her window made her look ethereal and once again Shubman hated the fact he wasn't in India. "Good morning, butterfly! Happy Birthday!" He said, chirpy. 

"Thank you, baby!" Anamika said, rubbing the towel across her hair to dry it. Shubman chuckled at the moment. The two of them were at two different corners of the world, in completely different timezones but still doing the same task of drying their hair. 

"So.. any plans for today?" He asked as she finally kept her towel aside and looked at him. 

"Let's just say, Aai Baba aren't home so I've to make breakfast and lunch for Aayush and I. Then we both will go to Mandir and leave for work. In the evening, he's taking me for dinner!" Anamika said, listing things on her fingers. "And I might try and convince him to let me have some wine." She added sheepishly. "How was your day?"

"Good.. now that I'm talking to you!" He said, sending her a wink. "Tumhe dekhke sounga to acchi neend aayegi.."

"Aise chhitar marugi na!" Shubman saw her talking in mock annoyance, but her pink cheeks gave it away. He couldn't help but feel happy at her frequent use of Punjabi words these days. "Shub?"

"Hmm?" He was too distracted looking at her as she brushed her hair. 

"Woh cake dekha tumne?" 

"Ha. Mere saath Yashu aur Rahul sir ne bhi dekha!" Shubman said now faking seriousness on his face. 

"Fuck! I'm so sorry... Maine majak mein last year mere friends se kaha tha mere birthday pe aisa cake laa ne ke liye. They took it seriously.. I'm so so sorry!" Anamika said, looking very close to crying now. "They don't know about us."

"Anu yaar, birthday ke din nahi rote! It's okay.." He tried to pacify her. "Humne bhi majak mein hi le liya usse. Chill baccha!!" 

"Are you sure? What if Yashasvi or Rahul sir got offended?" 

"Yes baby! Although Yashu had a complain that why does it say you are too old for him if you are just a year older?"

That made her laugh and Shubman finally sighed with relief. He narrated the whole dinner table conversation with Rahul sir, watching her get ready for her day. Anamika laughed at the incident and called the coach 'Cute', which got her boyfriend all pouty. 

"So, Siraj bhaiya knows now?" She showed him two earrings holding them near her ears, asking him to choose one. He pointed at the left one and she put it on. 

"He does. I don't know how long he will be able to keep it in." Shubman chuckled and then continued. "You should tell your friends, too." He watched her nod at that as she moved a bit away from the camera. 

"How do I look?" She was wearing a half sleeved, red ribbed top with a white skirt and the cherry earrings Shubman chose for her. 

"Ekdum goad!" He somehow never failed to notice the rose quartz necklace around her neck as he did a Nazar utarofying gesture. Anamika chuckled at the use of Marathi words. "Kala teeka laga lo!" 

The two were disturbed as Ayush knocked and entered her room. "Oye, birthday girl! Come on, aren't you getting late today?" He noticed, Shubman on video call when he came to stand behind the stool she was sitting on. "Hi Shubman!"

"Hi dada! Good morning!" Shubman watched as Ayush took the tube of kajal from the dresser and applied a dot behind Anamika's ear. He smiled affectionately at the duo as he remembered to call his sister in the morning. 

"How are you? This one doesn't trouble you, right?" He pointed at Anamika, flicking her earring softly. 

"I'm good and no she doesn't! Oh, you might get your bats by tomorrow!" Shubman said looking the date on the bedside calendar. "Your gift is in the same parcel." He added, looking at Anamika now. 

"I told you not to get me anything!"

"I wanted to. Besides, you will like it!" He winked and Ayush took it as a cue to leave the two alone. 

"I made some pasta for lunch and we will have breakfast on our way to the temple." He said, moving towards the door.

"I was going to make lunch and breakfast today!" She pouted.

"Yeah! Baba will kill me if I let his Princess cook on her birthday!" Her brother said over his shoulder, exiting the room. 

"Does that mean we have some more time to talk?" Shubman asked, now that she didn't have to cook. 

"Aren't you tired? It must be almost 10!" She said, calculating the time difference in her head. 

"I can stay up a little longer for my Princess!" He smirked and winked again. 

"I will kill you if you call me that again!" She said, organising her table again.

"Why is everyone so violent today? And are you really not my Princess?" Anamika could practically see mischief glinting from her boyfriend's eyes now. 

She cleared her throat, wanting to change the topic. "What did you send for me? Please tell me it's not-" Anamika remembered a pair of lingerie she had shown him a couple of weeks ago, while texting. 

"Ofcourse not! Waisa kuch dena hoga to in person de dunga. Marna nahi hai tumhare bhai ke haaton mujhe.." He said, suppressing a yawn. "The gift is pretty innocent, yaar!"

"Okay.. You should really sleep now!" She said, as he yawned again. 

"Hmm.." Anamika watched as he got up, pulling back the duvet and got under it. He placed the phone next to him, supporting it with a pillow and turned to face it. "Happy Birthday, again!" He said softly.

"Thanks...Bye! Good night!" She said just as softly. 

"Hmm... You have a good day. Love you!"

"Love you too!" Anamika said as she watched him let his eyes droop and nod off to sleep.

***

The next afternoon, Ayush opened the door to find a courier boy with a huge box standing on the other side. He quickly received the package and called Anamika out loud. 

"Why are you screaming? I was sleeping.." She yawned loudly. 

"Your boyfriend has sent a parcel. Nako asel tar zop parat!!" He smirked as he watched his sister quickly sit down on the floor next to the package.

"Scissors??"  Anamika said, holding out her hand and quickly opening the packet once it was handed to her. 

She pulled out a smaller box from inside that had 'To my Butterfly ♡' written on it. "Ohhoo... Butterfly…." Ayush said, wiggling his eyebrows. "Cute!" 

"Jaa na! Open your parcel!" Anamika said, pushing her brother away. She slowly unwrapped the paper on it to reveal a little plastic bag and another box wrapped in gift paper. She opened the bag first and a jersey fell out from it. 

She opened it and turned it around to find out it was indeed the no. 77 jersey. Anamika giggled and noticed a piece of paper with the jersey. 'Maybe you can wear this while watching matches now...' was written on the chit. She flipped it to see more writing on the other side. 'Or whenever you miss me ⁠♡' 

"Open the box now!" She heard Ayush say. 

"Look at your bats na. Why are you being creepy?" Anamika said, suppressing her blush at being watched. 

"I'm just curious.." He shrugged but his eyes widened later, "Or is it something I shouldn't be seeing? I told you, I don't care how tall he is I can still kill him with my bare hands!!" 

"Aala motha He-Man! Shut up! It's probably a book.." Anamika gauged the weight of the box and slowly opened the package. She squealed with suprise at the contents of the box. 

"What is it?"

"A leather bound version of Jane Austen's 'Emma'! I can't believe this!" She held up the book to show her brother.

"Oh wow!" He came closer, ruffling through the book's pages that were slightly yellow. "He really knows how to impress you!" 

Anamika could only giggle to suppress the blush coating her cheeks now. "Should I call him now?" 

"Yes go ahead! It must be still pretty early for him to be at practice." Ayush handed over her phone. "I was kind of worried about this whole 'dating Shubman Gill' thing at first, especially after what happened with that ex of yours. I'm glad he takes care of you and makes you happy." He said softly, patting her hair. 

"He's a good man, Dada. You shouldn't be worried about him." Anamika assured him. "Go check your bats! I will call Shub..." She quickly excused herself to her room but was pulled into a hug by her brother. "He loves me, Ayush! Sometimes it all feels like a dream but it's true."

"I'm happy for you!" He said, pulling away. 

"Or you are just happy you got your signed bats!" Anamika said, wanting to lighten the atmosphere now.

"You little brat!" Ayush said as he watched Anamika run away to her room to call her boyfriend. 

***

So, when Anamika sat down to watch India's Zimbabwe tour with her father, she wore her boyfriend's jersey proudly. "Where did you get this from??" Her father asked, checking the material as it was different from the ones found in the stores. 

"From Ayush dada's friend, who got him his bats!" Anamika smirked at her brother as he sat down next to her. 

"Shut up or I'll tell him, this friend of mine is his 'potential Jawai'!" Anamika heard her brother whisper as she felt her father's eyes on them. 

~~~

Did I use this story to introduce my other story? Yes I did!The Rahul Dravid fanfiction is out now! Please check it out 🎀🎀

Also, I saw this F1 cake on Pinterest and got the idea for Anamika's birthday cake 😭😭