Beginning of The End

V

Ajinkya Rahane was a patient man.

He could stand indifferent in front of the most brutal sledging side in the world. He could handle hundreds of fingers pointed at him. He could keep his silence intact even when a storm was brewing within.

But he had to grit his teeth in annoyance when his phone started buzzing once again. He let out a short breath and glared down at the name on his screen.

The first name on the list had a C against it.

If this had been under normal circumstances he would have been the first person to call his best friend up to congratulate him, but this time it was different. This time it felt wrong.

That is why although it was not their regular time for a phone call Jinx could not wait any longer than this to call Virat.

Had he already seen the news? He thought as he waited for him to receive the phone. Virat liked to act like he was the tough guy who couldn't be bothered by anything but Jinx knew he wore his heart on his sleeve.

"Jinx? Are you fine?" Virat's concerned voice came through the speaker and he felt the dread in his heart lessen slightly. He sounded a little worried but that was granted the situation, but he did not sound like he had seen the news yet.

"No, no, I mean yes I'm fine. How are you?" He squeezed his eyes shut, biting his tongue and hoping that Virat had not picked up on the small slip up he just made.

"I'm okay, how's Arya? She looked so big in the last picture I saw. I can't believe how quick she's growing up." Jinx felt a strange burn in his chest when he heard his best friend's fond voice.

He had been one of the first people Arya had warmed up to, much to the dismay of the other boys. Once Virat had pacified the wailing little girl she'd clung to him as her life depended on him.

"She's fine, as stubborn as you if not more."

Virat laughed heartily, having heard that numerous times before since Arya actually was a lot more like him than her own father, who rarely ever lost his temper.

"And how are things with Anushka?" He asked once the laughter died down on the other side. Virat let out a shaky breath and Jinx knew the answer already.

"All the same. All the same." He muttered under his breath and before he could say anything Virat beat him to it with a strained chuckle.

"But it's going to be okay." Virat said firmly, trying to keep his voice from trembling. But who was he trying to convince? He sounded so exhausted that Jinx wanted to fly to London right away just to be with him.

"You called to check if I heard the news, did you not?"

Jinx felt annoyed at the way he changed the topic so swiftly, but the knowing tone of his voice told him that Virat already knew why he had actually called. He always had a way of knowing things so Jinx wasn't phased but he did feel surprised at the lack of emotions in his voice.

"Why didn't you say yes?" Virat questioned him in a quiet voice and Jinx knew his assumptions had been correct.

"I couldn't take that position. It was never mine, to begin with." He replied without any hesitation. The minute the team management had asked him about being the captain for the team, he knew that Virat was the one behind it.

"Well if not you, then let's be glad that someone deserving is finally up there." Virat chuckled as he said that but Jinx found nothing funny in that statement.