n i n e
beneath the stars

Sara laid on the soft mattress as she blankly stared at the ceiling. Her mind had been a mess lately and all the jealousy and insecurity she felt sometime ago had fuelled to her dilemma.

"Shubman," she muttered and he hummed.

"I'm going to the rooftop," she said. "I can't sleep,"

"Hmm," his reply came and Sara got out of the bed, donning a jacket as she made way to the hallway of the hotel.

She got in the elevator, pressing the button for the topmost floor. To her discomfort, a man entered on the next floor itself. He looked shady, wearing a hoodie, his hair falling till almost his eyes. Her chest tightened, as she clung onto the metal rod, slightly scared.

God, why did I get out of the room at night?

While he stayed silent, Sara remained nervous till the time the elevator doors opened with a 'ping'. To her sheer joy, she saw a familiar face.

"Virat bhaiyya," she smiled as she quickly walked out, clinging onto his arm. He was a little shocked, his eyes immediately landing on the strange man.

"Hey love," Virat and Sara heard a British accent as he pressed his phone to his ear, walking away.

"Did he do something, Sara?" Virat asked, gritting his teeth, fists balled and she shook her head.

"No," her voice was feeble. "I don't know, it's late night, I panicked without any reason I guess," she mumbled, sighing in relief.

Virat noticed how Sara had a firm grip on his arm. He smiled a little, trying to cheer her up.

"Did you get angry on Shubi and leave the room or something?" He joked, laughing. Sash's softly laughed, shaking her head as she left his arm.

"Kya kuch bhi bhaiyya? I was just not sleepy so I thought of coming to the garden," she informed him and he nodded.

"Well, Nush, Ritsy, Rohit and Rishabh are all in the garden, go join them. I'm going to bed,"

"Bhaiyya, mein abhi aayi, aap kya jaa rahe ho? Come along," she practically dragged an unwilling Virat with her. The others were sitting in a gazebo on the lawn.

"Arey thank God tu aagayi Sara!" (Thank God you're here Sara!) Rishabh dramatically declared. "These old people were boring me with their ultra mature talks," he shook his head. Sara giggled, sitting right beside him.

"Aye jyada mat bol," (Don't say much) Rohit said, slightly slapping the back of Rishabh's head. He yelped, turning to face Rohit when his phone rang.

"Oh, I got to take this," he muttered. Sara squinted her eyes, trying to read the caller id as he scurried away.

"Urvashi ka phone hai kya?" (Is that Urvashi's call?) she asked a little loudly, just to annoy him. Rishabh pulled away the phone, tilting his head.

"Chup kar chutki!" (Shut up!) he said, annoyed. Everyone in the gazebo laughed, as Anushka turned to look at Sara.

"What happened sweetie? Not sleepy?"

"Yup, I thought of coming to the garden and see the stars. You all are also not able to sleep?" She asked and everyone nodded.

"Yup, Ritsy is not able to sleep so we are all awake," Virat commented and Ritika nodded.

"Mera toh theek hai, tumhe kyun nahi neend aarahi?" (It's okay for me, but why aren't you sleepy?) Ritika asked, raising her brow.

"Yeh toh engineer haina, saare ullu hi hote hai, kyun Sara?" (She's an engineer and they're all nocturnal, right Sara?) Rohit asked and she nodded, grinning.

"That is true, sleep and me have become enemies from the time my college started!"

The five indulged in a conversation, laughing and cracking jokes while Rishabh was talking to his mysterious beau. Just then, a tall man walked to the gazebo, taking quick, long strides.

"Kasam se Sara, meine tumpe tracker laga dena hai abb!" (I swear to God Sara, I'm going to out a tracker on you!) everyone was shocked to hear Shubman's loud, annoyed voice.

"Kya hua?" (What happened?) Sara immediately got up, bewildered.

"Aise bina bataye aadhi raat ko koi jata hai bhala? Yeh aurat meri jaan leke hi maanegi," (Does anyone leave without telling? That too, at midnight? This woman scares me to death) he said in a huff, sitting down. Sara gasped as she sat again.

"Meine bataya tha tumhe!" (I had told you!) she interjected. "You even said 'hmm' so I came up here,"

"I was very clearly sleeping, Sara!"

"Shubman, calm down. She's okay, hm?" Anushka decided to intervene, sensing his anxiety. He simply nodded, exhaling. Sara's chest tightened as she noticed the sincere concern in his eyes. She moved closer to him, placing her hand on his.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean-

"It's fine, now that I think about it, I do remember you telling me. I wish I remembered five minutes ago," he whispered, as he put his arm around her, almost instinctively.

"You must have panicked in sleep. I'm sure recent events didn't help either," Sara smiled warmly at him.

"Recent events?" Rishabh asked, who had just returned after his call.

"Tujhe nahi pata? The great Rishabh Pant tak yeh news nahi pohochi?" (You don't know? This news didn't reach till the great Rishabh Pant?) Rohit asked in shock and Rishabh furrowed his brows, confused.

"Kaunsi news, bhaiyya?" (What news, brother?) he asked, settling down in his seat again.

"That Shubi was this close to sealing the city of Mumbai!" Virat chimed in.

"What?"

🪷

( the next day )

"So what did you think about the interviewee?"

"Well it was a good candidate, but she does not seem very well suited for a leadership position. Her knowledge was immaculate and, you know...she had a strong base, but you need to fierce, you gotta be strong, ready to be a villain too sometime-

Sara was interrupted by a buzz.

"Yeah, you saying something? I can't hear you?"

"Just give me a second, Manny. I gotta open the door for my husband," Sara said and her coworker nodded.

"You know what? Let's take a quick break. I've been on calls for the last four hours now,"

"Cool, I'll ping you back in thirty,"

As she hung up, she heard the buzz again. She opened the door, grinning as her eyes landed on her husband.

"HI!" She enthusiastically greeted him. He lazily smiled, walking in.

"Hey, sorry to ring the thing twice, I'm just tired," Shubman drawled as he walked in, crouching down to remove his shoes.

"Quick, quick! I want to tell you something," Sara couldn't contain her excitement as he untied his shoelaces.

"Kya hua? Itni khushi? Did Ajit resign or something?" (What happened? How are you so happy? Did Ajit resign or something?) Shubman asked, getting up.

Sara jumped, wrapping her arms around him. He was shocked, but held onto her nonetheless.

"I got it!" She squealed.

"Got what?"

"The promotion!" She giggled happily, pulling away. "You are now talking to the Vice President of delivery, Think Wave!"

"That's amazing!" He said, excitement laced to his tone as he twirled her.

"You deserve it," he softly said and Sara let herself believe him.

"Thank you,"

"I'm not letting you go over a simple thank you," he teased. "The new Vice President should pamper her husband," he urged and she nodded.

"What does my husband want?"

"Remember the Audi we were talking about? How about that?" He asked and she rolled her eyes.

"You're back at that Audi again!" She groaned. "Do you have wet dreams about it?"

"Ugh," he groaned, making a face of disgust for a moment. "Ladies and gentlemen, Sara is back at ruining sweet moments,"

"Then why are you smiling?" She asked, poking his dimples. He frowned, slapping her hand away.

"You're a not nice woman, but I'll treat you to a nice dinner right after this match," he declared and she smiled, nodding.

"That would be nice,"

"Anything involving me is automatically going to be nice," he said and she shook her head.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Shubman is back at his annoying narcissism," was what she said, but in her heart of hearts, she agreed.

Anything involving him would be nice.

A/N: couldn't resist. How was the chapter? One more chapter and then boom boom boom, something's gonna happen!