Unexpected Turn of Events

Chapter 24

And there was silence... AGAIN.

Hardik's behavior was more than confusing and, quite frankly, very odd. He was never this vocal and obvious when it came to harassing me. He had this sick pleasure of acting like an angel in front of everyone else, but his real devil horns came out in front of me.

"Nah, but on some real shit... WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" 

Leave it to Maria to make awkward situations more awkward, I thought. In any other situation, I would have laughed; Maria and her zero fucks given attitude was always like a breath of fresh air. But right now, I wanted nothing more than to disintegrate into the Earth.

"I'm only doing you a favor, Coach Lawrance, and stopping from a future scandal," Hardik continued ignoring Maria's comment. 

"I don't understand?"

"Well, you see, I have known Jasmine for a long time, and she may be a bitch, but I know her loyalties lie with India. I am doing you guys a favor; she will probably make your team's condition worse, Coach Lawrance. And I also know that in the future, if your team does have a medical issue, you will start to suspect her for sabotaging your team, and I will not stand for that."

Is he actually standing up for me?

"Not that she is not capable of doing such act, she is, and she probably would do it if I am honest. But I will not have my country look bad and be in part of a scandal because she is a petty excuse for a doctor and cannot keep her personal reservations aside and do her job."

Andddd there he goes ruining my life again.

"That's enough," Coach Sharma's voice boomed. I've never really heard him this angry before. 

"I will deal with you two later" Coach Sharma looked at both Hardik and me and continued to talk to Coach Lawrance. 

"How can I make this better for you Coach, I am sorry about his behavior; I really am, but if you are going to make me follow the contract, then I am going to have to make sure you follow it word for word as well." Coach Sharma's threat was clear: if Hardik gets removed from the game, so will Tobias.

Coach Lawrance looked fierce. His eyes hard and jaw locked. He probably did not expect a relaxed, mellow man to come up with such a response. Quite frankly, neither did I, I never saw him as a diplomatic man, but I guess it comes with being the national level coach.

"If there is no counteroffer, I will say that I am ashamed of my player's actions, and we Indian's believe that our guests are like our gods, so I am aware that there is a tour guide allotted to each team to explore this city, but you won't get to see all the hidden gems from them. This is why I am assigning Jasmine as your new tour guide for the day."

Coach Lawrance seemed displeased by this. He probably got his hopes up that Hardik could sit out of the games. He is a powerful player and an asset to the team, and everyone knew that.

Tobias, however, was beaming, and soon Coach Lawrance accepted and called a truce as it would do no team any good if both of them had to sit out.

The crowd was disappearing, and I took it as a queue to slowly leave like a spy and not get caught, but that plan quickly failed as Coach Sharma called my name to come back.

"I have raised two children, and all the boys on this team are practically five-year-olds mentally. Did you really think you could get away from me, Jas?" Coach Sharma laughed as I looked at my feet because I was ashamed and also because I was disappointed my spy skills were not enough to get out of this awkward conversation.

"I don't know what is going on between you two, but it needs to get sorted out. Before the games. Which is why you two will be spending all your free time together fixing whatever lovers quarrel you guys have going on-"

"We arent-"

"She ugly I don't-"

"Save it, you two. As I said fathered two children and am currently fathering about 15 more from this team. I know what I see, and you may not admit it right now in front of me, but whatever it is, it impacts the team and how other teams see us. Hardik made us look like a fool today, and it will not go unnoticed by the board. I will do my best to do damage control, but I need you two to fix whatever issues you have going on, or there will be consequences for the BOTH of you."

Nothing can go back to Mr.Smith. He'll be so ashamed of me if he finds out what happened, I thought.

"So after you're tour and our practice, you guy will find the team manager. He will give you a new key for your new rooms."

"New rooms?" Hardik and I asked together.

"Yes, I wasn't kidding when I said you guys would spend every last free minute together. You guys will be living in the same suite." He said nonchalantly.

"WE WILL WHAT?" We yelled together again.

"My decision is final. The suite has two different bedrooms and a living room, so no need for an over-dramatic reaction. I am not asking you guys to be best friends, just civil enough to be in the same room without the constant bickering."

"But-"

Coach Sharma put his hand up to stop me from continuing, "My decision is final, so don't even try to get me to change my mind. Now, Jasmine, you have to get ready for your tour, and Hardik, you have to get ready for practice so you both may leave."

I turned around quickly, eager to get out of this hall and to enjoy my last bits of freedom when I heard Coach call Hardik, and I slowed down, wanting to hear what he had to say.

"Oh, and one more thing, Maya is no longer welcome here at team events. She can come for practices and games but not in formal settings like this and get on the field 30 minutes early. After today's events, your punishment is to run 10 more laps, and if you don't finish when the rest of the team finishes, I will add 5 more. Is that understood?"

I heard Hardik mumble a yes, and smile crept on my face.

Karma's a bitch.

Lost in my own thought, I didn't even hear the heavy footsteps that were chasing me down the hall. Someone grabbed hold of my arm and pushed me into their chest.

Hardik raised his hand to touch my face. His thumb moving back and forth on my cheek. Something he would do to me back in college whenever I was stressed about an exam. It used to give me immense comfort and bliss, but now it felt foreign to the touch. He was a stranger, fragments of the person I once knew. He was ten times worse. "Don't get too close to him. I don't like sharing what's mine," and he pressed on my bandage, making me wince. "See you soon roomie" he winked and ran off.

I don't know what I did to deserve this, but Karma really is a bitch.

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A/N

Helllooooo my lovelies!

I hope you enjoy this chapter. I tried to make it a little longer than the others to compensate for the fact that I was indeed mia for almost a year hehe, don't hate me!!!

But!!

I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and much as I had writing it

More juice to come in the upcoming chapters, so stay tuned, hehe 

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Word Count: 1225

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