Page 30

Twenty-Nine. A swift kick in the ovaries

Elias

“ T here they are, my champions!”

I growl under my breath, but don’t look up from packing my bag as Dhruv walks into the room. We might have won the Qualifier against Mumbai last night, but my rage is still simmering below the surface of my excitement. I went into the match with so much weight on my shoulders, it’s a miracle I was able to focus. I scored a century and supported Bash as we tag teamed the heck out of that match. But the minute we finished celebrating in the locker room, I was angry again.

It’s one thing to fuck with me and my career, but to do that to someone else? Someone who is innocent in all of it. Someone I love with every breath I take. I can never forgive Dhruv for what he did and the fact that Vera has stayed calm through it all speaks volumes of how amazing she is. When I finally told Bash and Samar everything that went down, they joined me in making the executive decision to fire Dhruv. He might have helped us secure our Renegades contracts and pushed us in front of the BCCI for Team India, but fucking with my relationship was a step too far.

“What’s with the sad faces?”

“You’re fired, Dhruv,” I say, jaw tight as he looks at Bash and back at me.

“Come on, because of her ?”

“Because you got involved in something that has nothing to do with you.”

“Your career has everything to do with me, or did you forget what our contract states?”

Bash pushes past me and gets in Dhruv’s face. “Nowhere in our contracts does it say you’re in charge of our personal life. So consider this a termination.”

“You can’t fire me.” Dhruv laughs, because he thinks we haven’t covered all our bases.

Samar walks in with a stack of papers and sets them on the bed. “Our lawyer drew that up based on your contract, so we can most certainly fire you.”

“Instead of advising and accepting my decision, you made this about you, Dhruv. My relationship with Vera wasn’t going to change how I work or the money you make. But you got scared and you made choices that have led to this,” I tell him and he flips through the papers we’ve signed.

Thanks to Vera, I was able to speak to her contact last night after the match. Farhad is older and more established in the business, plus he’s worked with cricketers I’ve admired my whole life. I laid everything out for him and we came up with a plan. He got a lawyer to draw up termination papers and sent them over early this morning. Samar got them printed at the business centre, we signed it and now our relationship with Dhruv is over and done with.

“If you saw Vera as the best thing to happen to me and not as a hurdle in my journey, we’d still be working together. But if you can do this to me so easily, what’s stopping you from doing it to these two? Or worse.”

Samar claps Dhruv on the back. “We do appreciate everything you’ve done for us, because we know we wouldn’t be standing here if it wasn’t for you. But you took things too far, man.”

We grab our bags and walk out of the room, Bash getting one last mumbled threat in. The minute the door closes behind us, I feel the heaviness slide off my shoulders. I couldn’t shake this off last night while talking to Farhad or Vera, like everything was going to collapse around me no matter how hard I tried. But now…everything is clear.

We hop on the bus with the rest of the team heading to the airport and wait for our flight to get us home. Unlike the day we arrived, the fans are nowhere to be seen. And everyone who recognises us, stops to offer congratulations and take selfies. There’s a bunch of Chennai fans at our gate who praise us for the game we played, but not a single one of them brings up the article.

Which I finally caved and read.

If you took out all the idiotic quotes and angry drivel, it tells a story about two people who come from different worlds falling in love. They painted Vera as the villain, which is ridiculous because she’s the reason I’m able to breathe better these days. But they don’t want the truth, right? They want a scandal, something to sensationalise and a woman to hate.

I’m on my way home. I can’t wait to see you.

Peaches

I’m so proud of you, Elias.

You and me, dinner tonight?

I have to wait until dinner?

Peaches

Didn’t you hear? I’m a ballbuster of a boss who works too hard and has no time for genuine connections.

Fuck, she read the article .

I’ll show them a genuine connection.

Peaches

And I adore you for it. But I’ve got a few meetings this afternoon. Then I’m all yours.

You’ve always been mine, you didn’t know it.

Peaches

Maybe you can remind me tonight.

See you soon, sweetheart.

Kuriakose picks us up at the airport and after dropping Bash and Samar off at their respective places, he drives me home. With Nina off in Bengaluru for training, I’m surprised to find Patrick in front of the television when I walk into the house. Once I’ve dropped my things off in my room, I join my brother on the couch as he watches hockey highlights.

“Congratulations, E,” he mumbles, not taking his eyes off the screen.

“Thanks, Pat. What’s going on?”

“The usual.” I nudge him and he slumps back, turning the TV off. “Saw your match and started to get nervous about Paris.”

“Why?”

“Good question.”

We share a laugh and I say, “You can do this in your sleep, so what’s the issue?”

“I keep wondering if this is going to be my last year, if we don’t win, will they force me into retirement. I’m not ready to stop playing.”

At thirty-seven, Patrick is probably the eldest member of the Indian hockey team. I might be biased, but he’s also one of the best players. He’s mastered the sport and makes it look so easy. I tried it once and failed miserably. But not Pat. He goes out there every single practice session and runs loops around the younger guys.

“You always tell me to not think about the last game, so maybe you should take your own advice.”

“Blergh. That’s boring. Advice is meant to be given, not taken.” He grins and shakes his head. “How did things go with Dhruv?”

“As well as you can imagine.”

I sent my family a long voice note telling them what was going on, not leaving a single detail out. Between practice, the game and trying to keep my head on straight, I did the best to answer any and all questions. My parents had already changed their tickets so they could make it home for the finals, but my mother kept insisting on showing up earlier to deal with things. After much assurance that I had everything under control, she relented. Like me, they weren’t expecting Dhruv to turn out to be an asshole, so they were shocked. In fact, I’m still reeling from this weekend.

“Having the termination papers helped, so he couldn’t fight us on it.”

“I hate this for you, man.”

“I know. I keep wondering if this was going on for a while, but I only found out because of Vera.”

Patrick shrugs. “The past doesn’t matter. Make sure your new guy wipes all of it away so you can start fresh.”

Farhad’s already drawing up new contracts and putting everything in clear lines so there’s absolutely no confusion about what is expected of me. Obviously we need to meet face-to-face and finalise everything, but I see this as the right kind of relationship.

“You holding up okay?” I ask my brother, noticing the wrinkles on his forehead.

“I asked Tamara to meet me sometime this week.”

“Why?”

“I need to know why she hates me. You saw how angry she was, right? Like if she could, she might have stabbed me to the death with a candlestick.”

I wince at the visual, but he’s not wrong. Tamara was mad. I didn’t ask for details and it’s none of my business, but I’m still worried about Patrick.

“What did she say?”

“Yes, but on her terms and when she’s ready.”

“I’ll make sure to hide everything she can use as a weapon,” I tease and he laughs.

“She was my first love,” he admits softly. “Remember those summer sports camps Mom signed me up for?”

“The one you tried to force me to join?”

“The very same. I met her there, she was…man, she was pretty then. She’s a work of art now. I need the closure, you know? She can go back to hating me afterwards.”

“I’d say good luck, but I feel like you’re gonna need something stronger.”

He shoves me with a laugh. “Fuck off. So what’s your plan for the day?”

“Have to be in Navalur in an hour for debrief with the team, then a meeting with Mr. Jaishankar about all of this bullshit. I won’t be home tonight, so if Tamara is free today, you’ve got the house to yourself.”

Patrick makes a face. “Should I ask or wait for her to tell me?”

“You leave next week, Pat. That’s not a lot of time.”

He sighs and tugs at his long hair. “Fine. I’ll…text her.”

I punch his shoulder gently and get to my feet. “If you need anything, you know where to find me.”

“Buried in your girlfriend?”

“Damn straight.” With a grin I head back to my room to change into track pants and a T-shirt. I grab my overnight bag and hop into the car with Kuriakose.

The meeting with Mr. Jaishankar and the Renegades management goes off without a hitch. Only because Vera did the heavy lifting while I was away and laid the groundwork for our conversation. They made their displeasure known and warned me that if our relationship got in the way of my performance, they’d fire both of us. I think they expected me to flinch or apologise, but I was too focused on seeing her later that I nodded along with their demands. They even made sure to bring up Farhad and get his details to set up a meeting with my new agent. Safe to say, as much as they liked working with Dhruv, they’re not going to miss him.

In the car, Kuriakose asks me a million questions. He’s very involved in my career and knows my stats and details, so I’m not surprised when he gets into the nitty-gritty of what went down. He even politely tells me the article about Vera mole was complete horseshit. I’m so distracted by our conversation I don’t realise we’re not heading home until we pull up in front of a building with scaffolding.

“Why are we here?” I ask in Malayalam and he flashes me a grin, pointing to the entrance. The door swings open and Vera appears in a green dress with flowers. And the most beautiful smile on her face. I hop out of the car and rush towards her, arms winding around her waist to pick her up. Her laughter fills me with joy and I twirl twice before setting her down. Then my mouth is on hers, arms still tight around her body as I pull her flush against me.

“Hi,” she whispers as the kiss breaks.

“I missed you.”

“I missed you too, Elias.”

I bury my face in her neck, inhaling deeply and letting the scent of peaches and vanilla soak into my soul. Her fingers move through my hair and I don’t even care we’re standing like this in the middle of construction in public .

When I pull back, she’s beaming and my head feels light. Cradling her face, I stare into her twinkling gaze and say, “I love you.”

She hums, smile never wavering, and kisses me again. “I want to show you something.”

If I didn’t know there’s hard stuff in her past, I’d be upset she didn’t say the words back. We’ve talked about it a lot and I understand Vera. Her love for me is in the little things. Besides, I’ll be right here when she’s ready to say the words back. Hands linked, we climb into the elevator and ride up to the top floor in silence. There are so many things I want to say and ask her, but I have to remind myself to slow it the fuck down. We got over a huge hump in our relationship and our professional lives, enjoying the moment is important.

When the lift doors open greenery and cooler air greets me. I step outside and my eyes are drawn to flowers and colourful leaves and a whole ass tree in the middle of the room .

“Where are we?”

“This is Chennai’s best kept secret. I don’t think they’ve named it yet, but this company is working to build gardens in and around old and abandoned buildings. This is the first one they’ve done so far and I’m not sure if they’ll do more, because bureaucracy . But Tamara knows the people and I called in a favour.”

“Holy shit, Vera, this is gorgeous.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

I turn to her and she’s standing to the side, small smile on her lips. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” she breathes out, blinking furiously.

“Peaches, what’s wrong?” I’m at her side instantly, framing her face in my hands, pulling her towards me.

“This weekend was a rollercoaster and I haven’t stopped crying.”

“Baby,” I whisper and hold her against me. “We’re good, though. Right?”

She nods, arms tightening around my waist. “We are, I swear. I’m so emotional.” With a laugh, she pulls back and wipes at her face. I catch a stray tear and smile as I admire her. “I love you, Elias.”

My heart stops. My lungs quit. And even my brain ceases to function. All I can do is stare at her. It’s not like she’s saying something I didn’t already know, but she said the damn words out loud. While staring deep into my eyes.

“You good, superstar?”

“Yeah. No. Maybe. I don’t…”

She laughs, hands resting on my chest. “Did I break you?”

“Do it again.”

Pushing onto her toes, she brings her mouth to mine and says, “I love you. So very much.”

I kiss her, one hand supporting the back of her head as the other pulls her back into me. Her arms slide around my neck and I feel everything in the world settle into a sense of peace. “I love you too, Vera.”

“I appreciate the reminder,” she teases and steps away. “Want a tour?”

I want you more . “Absolutely.”

She shows me around the huge indoor garden and we stop to read the little labels on the wall. Even the ceiling is covered in bright flowers. The fact that they managed to put all this beauty in one place is quite something. While Chennai weather isn’t always harmful to plants, I can see the benefit of having an indoor garden. Especially when all the colours are contained in one place. When we reach the other end, there’s a little grassy mound with a blanket and a picnic basket.

A small bottle of wine sits in the middle of an array of food that includes sandwiches, cupcakes, a plate of peda, what looks like beef fry and a whole lot of other things we’ve talked about enjoying in the past. “Is this our celebration?”

“Part of it. I thought we deserved a beautiful place to be together for a bit before we had to get back to reality.”

“Yeah? What’s waiting for us in reality?”

“Everything else.” She grins and sits down, crossing her legs under her. Her dress rises over her thighs and I can’t help but lean over and squeeze her soft skin. She’s with me, but she also looks really distracted as she fills our disposable glasses and plates the food.

“Vera.” She nods, but doesn’t look at me. “ Peaches .”

She twists her lips to the side. “Thinking about all of this bullshit, right? This weekend got my wheels turning and it’s made me…reflect.”

“Is this because of what your ex said?”

“You read the article?” Her eyes are wide and I nod.

“Why did you ?”

She shrugs, looking away from me. “I resisted, but needed to know what kind of lies they were spewing. What kind of shit they were trying to stir up. Their words were not false, but it’s the way people interpret it that makes me sound like an asshole.” Vera pauses and finally meets my eyes. “Rakesh wanted me to spend less time working and more on making him happy. I met him well into my years with Lucky Shot, but he didn’t appreciate that I worked a lot. Or made more money than him. He wanted to be the alpha in our relationship and unfortunately I wouldn’t let him. So he claims. He found little ways to make me feel bad about building this business and being a boss, but when I refused to give into his demands, he ended things.”

While I don’t recall a single thing the asshole said in the article, it’s clear his past actions caused her to stop trusting people. I don’t blame her. Our exes have a way of screwing with our minds.

“My first girlfriend is the reason why I struggle to believe in myself.”

“She deserves a swift kick in the ovaries.”

I laugh at Vera’s expression. “Gayatri and I got together in college and it was great for a while. I was working towards joining the cricket team and she had this weird way of comforting me. It was always ‘maybe not this year’ or ‘pick something else’ or ‘don’t worry about them’. She never encouraged me to keep going and I truly believed I was bad at it, that it was why I wasn’t being selected. By the end of our second year, she was obviously convincing me I needed her to survive—‘what would you do without me reminding you of all the good in your life’ and ‘why cricket when you have me?’ I believed her, because she was my girlfriend. Patrick’s the one who made me see she was bad news. Took me a long time to see my own potential and even then, you saw how much it scarred me.”

Vera smiles sadly. “I promise to always encourage you to go after what you deserve.”

“And I am a hundred percent okay with you being the alpha in our relationship.”

She laughs and tosses a napkin at me. But hearing her laugh, seeing the darkness lift from her eyes, it’s enough. We’re enough.