One Day At A Time

Chapter Thirty - A Field Day

Kabir stood guarding the goalpost, his eyes squinting beneath the burning hot sun, following the tussle between Arnav and his team's players for the ball's possession in the midfield. Arnav was having fun, one could tell, as he crossed the midfield with organic fluidity, testing the patience of the tacklers around him. Kabir smiled. His brother seemed to have gotten better at the game over the years, and he knew, any moment now, he would be aiming for the goalpost behind him.

Kabir watched him approach the penalty arc area, his eyes following the ball and Arnav's eyes together like a hawk. As the defenders circled Arnav cautiously, a subtle touch of Arnav's right foot pushed the ball towards Sherry who had been running parallel to him all along from the right side of the field. When Sherry made a lazy turn towards the penalty box and glanced at Arnav, Kabir knew the ball was coming to him from the centre where Arnav was waiting like a predator. By the time the thought had struck him, Sherry had already landed the ball at Arnav's feet with a precision kick, and before Kabir got a chance even to turn or change his position, Arnav had caught the ball mid-air and flung it over Kabir's head, bending it into the goalpost.

Kabir shook his head, watching the opposition huddled up in celebration, for he knew he would never hear the end of it from his brother unless they equalised the goal.

"I was hoping you had gone a bit rusty, Bhai." Kabir smiled as he saw the gloating look in his brother's eyes as he approached him.

"I play regularly in London, half-pint." Arnav grinned, ruffling his hair. "All you had to say was — Bhai you are the best — and I would've spared you that one." Arnav teased with a wink.

"And this is where the ribbing begins." Kabir sighed and looked at Arnav. "Bhai, are you going to—" He stopped talking when he saw Arnav's attention being claimed by two girls who had just jogged in through the gate in track pants and dark sweatshirts and were now occupying one of the peripheral benches of the field.

"Is that Pi, Bhai?" Kabir narrowed his eyes and glanced at Arnav for an answer but found the nerve at his temple pulsating aggressively.

"Yes." Arnav confirmed and strode off towards his friends who were getting ready for play.

And then Kabir froze. Time slowed down along with his heartbeat when the face of the other girl came into his view as she straightened herself up after picking up a bottle of water from her backpack. He felt a massive punch in his gut while his heart hammered, the breath stripped clean from his body. Khush.

***

"Have you been working out all these years, Sakhi? I am completely out of breath, and it looks like you've just started to warm up!" Payal groaned and sat down on the nearest bench. "I can't feel my legs after that jog anymore!"

"There is nothing else in my life besides music, exercise and work, Pi."

Khushi saw Payal flinch at her words as she settled down next to her on the bench and pulled out a bottle of water from her backpack. As she gulped down half the bottle, her eyes followed the men playing football on their favourite turf. Her eyes followed Arnav and Kabir in the field, bringing back the memories of student life when she, along with Anjali and Payal, would sit watching them play football on the school or the college playgrounds. A smile lit up her face as she remembered her silly fights with Arnav when she would barge into the middle of their game to disrupt it because she would be too bored sitting around waiting for them to finish their play. How frequently they would fight or argue then, with all the drama and action, and come back to each other the next moment as if nothing had happened. Life had been so simple then, she thought and sighed wistfully. Her eyes then spotted Kabir, and she heaved out a deep breath. She had to meet him today and saw no point frittering her time waiting for a perfect moment to do so. With adrenalin pumping in her blood after the jog, she tightened her shoelaces and got to her feet.