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“Ok, ok,” Ivor held his hands up. “I thought since you invited me along… this was…”

“Samm! Wow!”

Avantika whirled her head at that familiar female voice and saw in slow motion how the woman from yesterday came barreling down to Samarth’s tent, a Gimble and a phone in hand. And tackled him. He caught her in time, the momentum making him spin a little.

His laughter was loud. His face all sweaty and grimy . When had he started hugging people like that? He liked to take a shower first thing… or kiss her.

Avantika exhaled, then quickly threaded her arm through Ivor’s — “Help me navigate, the ground is very soft.”

“With pleasure, babe,” he grinned. He was so tall, taller than Samarth. And when she glanced up at his harmless flirtatious face, she realised that any man except Samarth was too tall or too short for her. Even when she was a meagre 5’2”.

“Only navigating,” she warned.

“I get it, Ave. Relax.”

She relaxed her body and crossed the rest of the distance to the tent, just in time for the woman to climb down Samarth’s body. He was smiling at her and then his eyes met hers. The smile did not disappear, but melted into something softer. Something just theirs. Good.

“Ava…” he began to step towards her but she tightened her arm around Ivor’s, making a meal out of it.

“ Namaste, Kunwar,” she borrowed a leaf from Hukum’s book. “Bohot achhi paari kheli aapne. [58] ”

Samarth’s eyes followed her hand over Ivor’s arm, then to Ivor. Avantika could not look at Ivor to see what he was projecting. But she hoped he looked a little serious.

“ Dhanyawad,” Samarth’s mouth automatically opened to answer her in Hindi. “Padharne ka bhi dhanyawad. [59] ”

Avantika wanted to laugh. He was good at English, but his Hindi was often spoken in Gujarati, that accent a little heavy in his pronunciations and his tone.

“ Hume yahan aamantrit karne ki koi khaas mansha? [60] ”

His eyebrow cocked up, that smile transforming into an amused grin. Why was he amused? Didn’t he see she had come with a man?

“ Kuch khaas nahi, bas mere ghodo se milana tha. [61] ”

“ Bachpan se ladkiyon ko ghodo se hi milate rahe ho, Kunwar. Dekho kya haalat hai! [62] ” Hukum’s boisterous cheerful voice sounded from behind her. Before Avantika could even turn, he was in front of her and blessing Samarth with both hands as he bent to touch his feet.

“This is getting boring without the translation, Ave. And you didn’t even introduce me to your prince!” Ivor pouted.

“I am so sorry. Come.”

She took his arm harder and stood in front of the two men — “Ivor, meet the Prince of Nawanagar — Samarth Sinh Solanki. Samarth, meet Ivor. My copywriting partner at Van Cleef & Arpels.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Samarth extended his hand first, his face completely polite and even happy. Avantika recoiled when Ivor shook hands, equally thrilled — “What a game, Your Highness. You are a natural.”

“Thank you. You've known Ava for long?”

He knew she had joined Van Cleef & Arpels just this week.

“Oh, no, it’s new,” Ivor joked. Good boy.

“Aah,” Samarth nodded.

“ Priyatam ne bhanda phod diya aur yeh kiya goal, [63] ” Hukum pushed his hands behind his back, smiling benignly. Avantika glared at him.

“Ji?” Samarth frowned.

“We are wrapping up in 10, everybody!” Somebody shouted from the stables.

“I think you need to go,” Avantika took the opening. “And so do we. Thank you for inviting us today, Samarth. It was a good match. Congratulations.”

He looked bewildered as she stepped back, Ivor with her.

“Thanks for coming.”

“ Hukum, aagya leti hoon, [64] ” she touched her free hand to her chest, lowering her head.

“ Ghar kaise jaa rahi hai, Raje? [65] ”

“Taxi.”

“ Meri gaadi le jaaiye… [66] ” “I have a car for you, Ava.”

Ivor chimed in, reading the room — “Oh I’ll drop Ava. Don’t worry, gentlemen.”

That’s when Avantika got the reaction she had been hoping for. Even if for a split second. The stuttering of something confident in Samarth’s eyes. Good. She had a lot of stutters since last evening. He deserved one at least.

With that, Avantika took the three mandatory steps back from a king and a prince, turned, and added an extra swing in her hips as she walked away with Ivor as her arm candy.

————————————————————

“Whatever this was today, it was fun,” Ivor leaned out from the window of the taxi. “Let’s do it again.”

“Sure,” Avantika rolled her eyes. “You wanted to come watch polo, you got it.”

“Tell me again, you and that prince have a history of how many years?”

Avantika pursed her lips.

“Come on, Ave. It’s safe with me.”

“No history,” she still lied. Something held her back. The girl who had announced to the whole class that she was dating Samarth couldn’t bring herself to admit that she had once dated him. As if saying it out loud would shatter the sacredness of it.

“Liar.”

“Goodnight, Ivor. Bonne nuit, monsieur,” she called out to the taxi driver and stepped back.

“See you tomorrow, luv!” Ivor’s holler echoed long after he was gone. Avantika turned on the street, eyeing her building and the concierge lit up in muted orange light. The sun was now down, considering it was way past 10. People were asleep in half of their suburban neighbourhood.

She pushed her hair back from her face and entered the lobby.

“Ava.”

Her heart stalled before her feet did.

“Samarth?” She whirled, only to find him sitting on one of the plush waiting area sofas.

He was still in his polo gear — sweaty T-shirt, sweaty hair and muddy white pants.

One foot rested on his other knee, his hands clasped in the space his lap made — a king…

a prince, even when he had given it all up.

He got to his feet with the litheness of a leopard. But his face gave nothing away. He didn’t look like he was jealous. Or disturbed. Or even amused. He didn’t look like anything as he closed the distance between them.

“I wanted to call you and check if you were safe,” he said.

“So you ran to my apartment to see if I was?”

“I wanted to call you and check if you were safe after I reached here and found you gone.”

“Oh.”

One cocked eyebrow and nothing else.

“I am. Thanks. Goodnight.”

She began to walk away, knowing they weren’t done. He deserved some work to get his point across — whatever it was.

“Ritu is not what you think to me…”

“Who Ritu?”

“Ava, please. Act like yourself.”

“Like myself?”

He chuckled — “You come straight to the point and strangle me with both your hands.”

“Aah,” she laughed. “You remember?”

His eyes shut. And she felt bad. For him and for herself.

He was right. She was never a girl to beat around the bush.

She was never a girl to use others. Or make somebody jealous like this.

All that she had done in the last 24 hours wasn’t Avantika.

And now it dawned on her how stupid and kiddish it had all been. And for what?

Nothing.

“Samarth,” she sighed.

His eyes popped open.

“Did you even eat something?”

“No.”

“Come up and eat.”

“You?”

“I ate.”

“Then I’m good.”

“Just come, Samarth. We can talk upstairs.”

He took a second to think. Then nodded and ushered a hand out to her.

————————————————————

“This is a good idea,” he managed between bites. The freshly sliced tomatoes fell from the sourdough cheese toast she had made on a pan and he kept sliding them back. With a drizzle of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, some salt and pepper, she knew he could snack on them as is too.

“I learnt it from my Italian roommate at university in America.” Avantika slid another plate filled with sliced apples, a banana and a sizeable dollop of peanut butter. That was all the instant protein she had in her house to help him recover after the match. She turned to the kitchen.

“Where are you going?”

“To get you something to drink.”

“I’ll get it if I need it. Sit. Please.”

She took steps back and sat down on the chair opposite him on the small breakfast table. The night sky was dark, so unlike the one that had seen them share a dinner of dahi-chawal just a week ago.

“Ritu is our team’s social media manager. She is a bit handsy but that’s it. She does not mean anything, she is not a part of my life except for the game…”

“You don’t owe me any explanation, Samarth.”

“Let’s be honest to each other at least.”

“Samarth…”

“I do, Ava.”

“No you don’t, I am nothing to you.”

“You are the girl I owe my loyalty to. It was always you or nothing. Nothing became the fate I chose. Doesn’t mean I bring in other somebodies.”

She stilled.

“And I am not saying this to hold you back from anything.” He smirked. “I mean this in the nicest way possible — you are a terrible actor. Always were. Even your friend was clueless about how to take your sudden change in behaviour.”

“Fuck off.”

He laughed, popping a piece of tomato into his mouth.

“You don’t know how happy I was to see you yesterday on the field.”

“I know exactly how much, considering you tried to hide me from your dear Ritu.”

“It was to keep you from our public profiles. She was recording.”

“So?”

“So? If Papa gets wind he will not relent.”

“Relent?”

“He is obsessed with getting me married.”

She sighed — “What’s the scene there?”

“It has gone from bad to worse. He has made peace with me not inheriting the throne. But his new obsession is marrying me off. Says my marriageable age is passing because men in Solanki dynasty are usually on their way to mid-life crisis by now.”

Her eyes widened — “You are 25… just turned 26.”

“My father had married, inherited the throne and had me by 26,” Samarth rolled his eyes. But the adoration in his tone was clear.

“So we can see a swayamvar for Kunwarji soon, huh?”

Samarth shook his head, eyes down, playing with the crumbs on his plate.

“I have tried to explain to him, numerous times, that I cannot marry. That I made a promise. I do not want to have a family and create hurdles for the future for Sharan. Maarani and her family are finally at peace…”

“Of course they are! Haven’t they gotten to know you by now?”

Samarth chuckled, his gaze hitting hers — “She is not the villain you have built in your head.”

“Listen, you can live in your world of happy family delusion but a grown woman letting a teenager destroy his life for her peace of mind, even if she is an apsara descended from heaven… she is a villain in my eyes.”

He remained silent.

Avantika pushed the plate of fruit towards him. He quietly peeled the banana and ate. Then picked the apple slices one by one, dipped them in peanut butter and polished it all off.

“So,” she inserted, sensing his morose mood. “You weren’t even a little J?”

“J?”

“Jealous?”

His body vibrated, his amused eyes coming back to her.

“No, Ava.”

Her lips twisted.

“One day I will be,” he added.

She frowned.

“But I guess that’s what I accepted years ago. Not only a life alone for myself but a life of the best husband and the best family for you that is not me.”

Avantika did not want to say it. She did not want to tell him. She never wanted to tell anybody. Just keep pushing, stretching, dragging time with her until they stopped asking anymore.

“I will not give you the satisfaction.”

“What do you mean?”

“Who said I was ready for that best husband and best family that wasn’t you?”

His slumped body kicked to alert.

“Ava… Avantika, what does that mean? You can’t seriously…”

“My rizz is my art, my work and this life,” she smiled.

“What the f…” he shook his incredulous expression off. “You are too young to say that!”

“And you weren’t at 15?”

“Are you crazy? There’s a whole life, Ava. Tell me you just made this up to make me feel bad. Please tell me this is your idea of tormenting me.”

“No, Samarth.”

She collected his plates and walked to the kitchen.

“This can’t happen! What are your parents saying?” He followed her.

“Go live your life?” She laughed. “Relax.”

“Ava, I am serious.”

She set the plates in the sink and grabbed the dish soap.

“Ava,” he grabbed her wrist. Her tiny wrist in his big hand. And then his tall frame loomed over her, his sweaty body coming close to her.

“Don’t do this to me.”

“I am not doing anything to you, Samarth.”

“Then don't do this for me.”

“I have already done it.”

“Since when?”

“Since we were 15.”