Page 35

Vera

August, Two Months Later

I n the months since the Chennai Renegades won the 2024 ICL Championship, life has been moving at the speed of light.

First, they did the whole drive along Marina in a special bus with the trophy and the entire team and management. It was a day-long spectacle that blocked traffic and caused so much chaos, I gave everyone at Lucky Shot the day off.

Then there were talks about next year’s team. Every ICL team can retain a certain number of players, but a lot of the time they have to go through the whole auction process to snag other players they might want. It’s similar to the ‘free agent’ situation in other professional sports. There was a lot of confusion about whether or not Elias would be retained and they kept him on tenterhooks for weeks before announcing that he wasn’t going anywhere. Farhad was ready to burn everything down.

And finally, Elias was asked to join Mr. Jaishankar on a trip to Texas. Trust me, nobody is more surprised than I am at the knowledge that the US has Major League Cricket . Multiple ICL team owners have invested in American teams to form this league and after two moderately successful seasons, they’re looking to get their act together. So Elias, Bash, Samar and Florian flew out for three weeks to train the Texas Renegades.

The unfortunate part of this was that his original plan to join his parents at the Paris Olympics had to be scrapped. He was in the process of trying to convince me to go with him too and make a holiday out of it. But with the trip to Texas and other scheduling conflicts, his parents went off on their own.

With him gone most of July, I buried myself in work. Thanks to everything we did with the Renegades, more sports teams have approached us for work. But I made a hard decision to be very picky about new clients. Money is good and so is the recognition, but if my team’s falling apart and burning out, it’s not worth it. So our plan is to go over our workload and make a decision based on whether or not we can actually take on anybody new right now.

We’re now in the early days of August and Elias has been non-stop party planning. Since he couldn’t make it to Paris for the Olympics, he’s hosting watch parties on the days his siblings have matches. He sent out invites to everyone—his teammates, my parents, brothers, Tamara, my friends and their partners—and opened his house up for the gatherings. Everyone has been showing up regularly, which is the best part.

We’ve watched Patrick and the Indian team on New Zealand and Argentina. And tonight is the team meets Ireland on the pitch. I don’t know a single thing about field hockey, but I’m learning on the go. And Elias is a really good teacher when he’s not groaning at missed opportunities.

Tamara’s sitting by herself and frowning at the television, where they’re showing us the team line-ups. She’s terrible at controlling herself whenever Patrick appears on the screen, yelling instructions at him like he can hear her from across the world.

“There has to be something better than destroying that cushion,” I tell my cousin as I sit on the arm of the sofa she’s hurting.

“Ugh. Sorry. I’m stressed.”

“For him?”

She nods, still staring at the screen. “He called me a few days ago, then sent a voice note.”

“Saying what?”

“I dunno. Haven’t listened to it yet.”

“Tam,” I sigh and she groans.

“I know. I know . Why can’t he just leave it alone, though? The sex was good and we had a fantastic time. It doesn’t have to be anything else.”

I kiss the top of her head and smile. “I think it’s unfair to not give him a chance to explain things. Maybe you could still be having fantastic sex together.”

She makes a face and before Tamara can protest, I walk away. I make the rounds, playing hostess with the mostest by checking on everyone. I refill drinks and clear away plates. I stop to talk to everyone and check on my parents who are canoodling in the corner of the living room. I head to the kitchen to get more food and squeak when two people jump apart. Blushing, I walk out and leave everything on the table.

Before he went off to the States, Elias brought Kuriakose’s wife to Chennai to work for him. She’d been looking after her aging mother and after she passed, there was nothing keeping her in Trivandrum. So now husband and wife are reunited and living in the quarters behind the main house. She’s been cooking for Elias, stocking his fridge with delicious Malayali food that I take with me to the office whenever I stay the night at his place.

Filling up a plate with finger food, I turn around and bump into the man of the hour.

“Where are you off to in such a hurry?”

“I interrupted a little something.” I gesture to the kitchen and hold up my plate. “Snack?”

“Rather be snacking on you.” He wraps his arms around me and presses his mouth into my neck.

“We have a house full of people. Do not get frisky right now.”

“They won’t even know.”

I chuckle and turn my head to kiss his bearded jaw. “Later, okay?”

He hums and our lips meet for a soft peck. “Think your family is having a good time?”

“My brothers are loving this and my folks…well, they’re on a date.”

We look out at everyone and I smile. This is what our world looks like now. All we’re missing are Elias’s family members and everything will be complete.

“Thank you for inviting them,” I say and he shakes his head.

“You never have to thank me for that. I’m glad they’re here and they’re comfortable enough to be on a date.”

I lean into him and listen to his steady heartbeat. I’ve never been a romantic, but since meeting Elias, there are signs everywhere.

“You’re supposed to hit the ball you handsome oaf!”

We’re in the third quarter of the match and my cousin has not held back on her thoughts about Patrick’s form. He’s playing well and defended every attempt that Ireland has taken to score a goal. But she’s obviously angry with him and picking apart his playing. My mother has tried to calm her down, but that lasted about five seconds before Tamara was yelling again.

“You’re an idiot,” she grumbles, now on her feet as one hand holds her drink and the other gestures wildly at the screen. “Defend him, you fool!”

Between bouts of silent laughter, Vikram’s recording this whole meltdown. As he has the last three matches. I’m not entirely sure what he plans to do with the footage, but I’m pretty sure that he’ll torture Tamara with it for the rest of her life. Elias isn’t faring any better, because he’s tipped back in his seat and his whole body is shaking as he laughs. His friends are split between watching the Tamara Show and keeping up with the match. My parents and I might be the only people worried about her.

“One job, Trick. You. Have. One. Job,” she says shakily.

She’s about to cry and before I can get to my feet, my mother has an arm around my cousin. She guides Tamara out of the room, their soft whispers reaching me briefly. I pat Elias’s thigh and follow, finding my mother attempting to soothe Tamara, who is being stubborn as usual.

“I’ve got her, Amma.”

My mother doesn’t look convinced and I don’t blame her. The two of us have always caused drama when we’re together. But not tonight. My cousin apologises as my mother walks away and then looks at me. I see the tears in her eyes and I pout.

“Come on, let’s go outside.”

She follows me to the side veranda, where the humid Chennai air clings to our skin instantly. I love my city, but I hate this fucking weather. Who thought torturing us for nine months out of the year was a good idea?

“I hate him,” she says, stomping a foot as she stares out into the garden.

“Really?”

“Would be easier if I did. Listened to his voice note, though.”

I wince in preparation for what she’s about to say. “And?”

“I wish he wasn’t being so nice, because I could really hate him then.”

“What did he say?”

“Everything I wish he’d said to seventeen-year-old me.”

I sigh. “Can you just tell me what he said instead of this cloak and dagger nonsense?”

“He apologised and then…asked me for another chance.” I stare at her as she knocks back her drink, grimacing as she swallows. “I don’t trust him to not hurt me again. And he’s a professional athlete. He’s going to be gone a lot and I can’t be waiting for him to come home every single time.”

Her reasons sound very similar to mine at the beginning of the relationship with Elias, so I don’t fault her for it. But looking at what I’ve been able to have since then, I feel like she’s being unfair. Mostly to herself, because she could have something so good if she just got out of her own way.

“If you were the one waiting at home, I think he’d be here more often than not.”

She rolls her eyes. “A part of me is always going to be in love with him and I can’t help but relive that night over and over. What if he breaks my heart again?”

“I’ll beat him up for you,” Elias offers and we jump. “My brother can be an idiot, but if he’s making an effort, it means something.”

Tamara stares at him and shakes her head. “I want to believe you, but I can’t.”

“I get it. Don’t not give him a chance because of your history, though.”

She sighs, staring out at the dark garden before turning to me. After a brief hug and a squeeze of Elias’s arm, Tamara walks back into the house.

“Is the match over?”

“Yeah. Two-nil,” he says with a wide grin.

“Seriously? That’s amazing!”

I wrap my arms around him and rest my chin on his shoulder. “Are you really going to beat up your brother if he hurts Tam?”

He chuckles. “Maybe. I think they could be good together. Besides, Tamara is a national treasure.”

“You should have said that while she was here. She would have put that on a T-shirt and told everyone about it.”

He smiles, turning to me. “Now you, my beautiful girlfriend. You are the best thing to ever happen to me.”

“Better than the ICL trophy or Player of the Tournament?”

“So much better.”

I fake a swoon. “What ever did I do to deserve such a sweet talker?”

“You appeared in a sports bar full of cricket fans and yelled at the bartender to change the channel. That’s when I knew that you were going to change my life.”

“Stumped you, huh?”

“From day one, peaches.”