5th April, 2017 

Dear readers, wish Shamaaz all the best as he embarks on this IPL journey. Oh, and if you're a cricket fan, please let me know which team you'd be supporting this season. Let's see the variety of supporters we have ;) Happy reading :* 

To my non cricket fans: I hope you guys don't mind the reference to the sport in this book/ chapter. Anabya hates the sport, so she's on your side lol.

 "Wama tawfiqi illa billah: My succes is only through Allah."

[Qur'an]

Chapter 21:

  An Incomplete Victory  

"Bee? Are you ready?"

"Coming, Ma."

Slinging her bag across, picking up her laptop pouch, and giving herself the once over in the mirror, she pushed in one of the pins that was about to fall from her hijab and walked out of the room.

She quickly tossed in a piece of apple in her mouth and walked to her mum.

"Make dua for me," she said, taking her mother's hand in hers and dropping a kiss. She did it very rarely, but she did it every time she started something new.

Of everyone in her life, her mum meant the most to her. With her duas by her side, she knew she could win the world.

"May Allah make things easy for you and grant you success of both the worlds," Nikhat prayed, caressing her daughter's face as she smiled tenderly.

"All the best, Bee," Aamina wished, coming out of the room as she hurried to the kitchen, getting Furqaan his morning tea. "All set?"

"Alhamdulilah, Bhabhi," Anabya smiled. "Bhai, shall we leave?" She asked turning to Furqaan.

"Yes, please," he said hurriedly, while he sipped the tea Aamina got him and typed a quick message on his phone.

When they were outside and Anabya was sitting by the stairs, strapping her shoes, as she looked up, she found her brother kiss Aamina on the cheek as he bid her goodbye.

Blushing by the display of emotion and not willing to seem like an intruder, she re-strapped her strapped sandals, her eyes downcast.

"Done, Bee? We're getting late," Furqaan said, walking two steps ahead and quickly nodding, Bee followed him.

Standing by the door, Aamina waved at her husband and sister. "Take care and don't fret too much," she beamed, and Anabya hesitated for a moment, taking a step towards her sister in law but stopping mid way.

Why did she find it so hard to show her emotions? 

As if reading her thoughts, Aamina stepped forward and hugged Anabya. "You'll do well in sha Allah," She assured Bee and smiling in return with eyes glistening in appreciation, Anabya nodded.

"See you in the evening, Aamy," Furqaan called behind him while she broke off from the hug and the brother and sister took the flight of stairs to the basement car park.

"Nervous?" Furqaan asked referring to her emotions on the first day of the internship.

"Excited," she answered.

"Good," he mumbled, quickly unlocking the car as they occupied the seats.

This was a very important day in Anabya's life. There was a time when she hadn't thought much about her future but over the days, she had grown passionate towards seeking a profession that she wouldn't be tired of. To some, it was just an internship, but to a girl like Anabya, who felt so deeply, this was her stepping stone to her dreams. This meant a lot to her, and she couldn't even say that getting into The Mind Reader was a dream come true, because truth be told, she hadn't even considered it as an option so early in her college life. She was so glad to have such amazing Professors.

And now that such a huge blessing had come her way, she was going to make the best use of it.

That day, as she walked to the vast institute, she looked up at the skyscraper before entering, her gaze finally landing on the clouds. 

Standing on the ground, her eyes meeting the sky, she knew her destination. A long way to go, but in sha Allah, she'd reach there.

Upon entering and meeting the boss, she was highly relieved. No blazers and suits, he was impeccably dressed in a formal striped shirt and jeans. Seriously, the boss was dressed in jeans at work! That implied one thing - they wouldn't have a problem with the Abaya, and thank God for that!

She was introduced to the other interns and people she'd be working with and while none of them gave her mean looks, being an introvert, she did feel awkward interacting with them. The first day at work, she was just asked to observe the nature of work and was  briefed about her task which, might you notice, was an extremely interesting research project and was provided more information in a mail sent to her later on.

Hello, Anabya!

Good day to you!

Attached is the questionnaire of the psychology research project we are working on. Kindly find suitable subjects to fill the data and convert the same into a write up. Since this is your first story, we will give you five days of time. Hope to receive the final document by Monday.

Regards,

The Mind Reader Team

Sitting in the office, just before leaving home, she smiled receiving the mail. Five days, huh? She'd admit that it was ample time but before the procrastinator in her kicked in, she shooed it away. Today, at the first day of her internship, while Furqaan dropped her home, he had dramatically asked her to make a resolution.

'Aamina thinks I am to be blamed for your procrastination,' he had huffed. 'So I'm going to show her how I can impact your life positively. For my sake, Bee, finish work when you're given and don't push it to day night of submission, ok? I promise you I'll get Nutella cheesecake and pineapple pastry.'

She had laughed at her brother, but she did promise him the same. In fact even before he said all this, she had made the decision.

Now if she could live up to her words, that'd be great...

***

"Not coming for lunch?"

Looking away from the laptop screen, Anabya replied, "I'd like to finish this first, Ma'am."

"Oh Anabya, please, I'm hardly a few years elder to you. I've been saying this from the past week, call me Natasha."

"Alright, Natasha," Anabya smiled. "Please carry on, I'll join you soon."

"Cool,"she shrugged, and after taking a few steps, she walked back to Bee.

"Hey, I was just thinking, are you free this evening?"

"If there's some assignment you need to give me, please go ahead. I don't have any plans for the evening."

My life is mostly boring like that, she mused.

"Wonderful! This isn't an assignment, but I was thinking why don't you join me to watch the IPL today?"

"IPL as in you're going to watch the cricket match?" Anabya confirmed, her eyes widening.

"Yes, captain obvious," Natasha smirked. "My friend is playing for the first time in the city and I don't want to miss it. My boyfriend ditched the last minute, so although I have another friend coming along, I thought I'd ask you too."

"Ugh well, why don't you go ahead with the plan, I'm not sure if I can make it," Anabya answered vaguely.

"But you said you were free, right?"

"Yeah, but I'm not a cricket fan," Anabya confessed.

More like I hate cricket, she thought.

"You mean to say you've never attended a match? Never watched a game?"

Looking at her, Anabya replied coolly, "No, and I don't intend to. It really isn't a big deal. Cricket is not my cup of tea. I'm a soccer person."

"But how can you not like cricket?"

"I just don't," Anabya laughed, looking at her reaction.

"I have free VIP passes, and I really think you should come with us. Who knows you'd change your mind after the game."

"That is very kind of you, but I don't feel like it," Anabya insisted.

There really was no reason for her to go.

She disliked crowds.

She hated loud noises.

She abhorred cricket.

She couldn't find a single reason to trade her peaceful hours at home to watch the game in the crowded stadium.

"Oh come on! My observation from the past week says, you could probably get used to crowds. Enough of busying yourself with books, get used to your surroundings, get involved."

"But..." Anabya hesitated. No, she was still sure she didn't want to attend that god forsaken match, she just didn't know how to convince her senior.

Why was she being so persistent anyway?

"I believe yesterday you handed over your evaluation sheet to me?" Natasha smirked and Anabya nodded, relating to her line of thoughts.

This internship that Anabya was doing wasn't just for certificate, it actually carried marks. And the best/ worse part? Her teachers weren't going to evaluate her because obviously they weren't aware of what was going on outside campus. So the solid 100 marks solely lay in her employer's hand.

Which in this case, was Natasha.

The same girl who was calling her for the match.

Why oh why?

"And in that evaluation section, upon reading, I understood I have to evaluate you on certain criteria. Few of which are team work and interaction."

She hit home. This is it!

"While I'm quite impressed with your work, I think you could work on your interpersonal skills. I hardly see you interact with other members. Maybe after attending today's match, being amidst such a large crowd, your anthropophobia may decrease."

Anabya choked on the water she was sipping and wiping her mouth with a paper napkin, she protested, "I do not have fear of humans."

"I was hired for this job because I could read people at the first look. You don' have fear of humans, I must say you're a confident girl, but I'm certain you have fear of social interaction. You avoid it at all cost."

Oh the bane of working with psychologists!

"So, Anabya," Natasha chirped, seeing her expression. "Are you coming for the match?"

Anabya nodded, not sure if she was even given an option.

She hated crowds, and people as such, and she never really wanted to change that. She was happy the way she was, but looks like her job had entirely other demands.

"Don't worry, you'll have fun," She was assured.

Two hours with Natasha, and she'd beg to differ.

The minute she entered the stadium, she was met with overenthusiastic spectators who felt the need to scream their lungs out every time a cricketer passed by. And Good Lord, there were thousands of people and although she knew it before, she was reminded again how big of a sport cricket was in the country. While the strong flood lights illuminated the field, from the outside stands, she initially didn't understand the concept of a live match because the field was so huge that to concentrate and keep track of what was going on, you had to anyway focus your gaze on the projected screens. It was a different case from the front and middle stands though, it gave you you a much clearer view.

Might as well watch it on the television at home!

But the number of fans gathered would vehemently deny such an absurd idea. They were thrilled to watch it live.

"Anabya, say cheese!" Anabya looked up from her phone screen and smiled, just in time as Natasha's friend, Shelly, clicked a picture.

"Are you having fun?" Natasha smiled.

"It's alright, I guess."

"You aren't a cricket fan, I suppose?" Shelly asked.

"Yeah, never liked the sport."

"Same. But one of our close friends is playing today, and I wouldn't want to miss it," she grinned.

"You are a very good friend, I must say. I don't think I'd ever agree to watch the sport, even if my brother played the match!"

"You dislike it that much?" Shelly asked, crinkiling her nose. "Why did you come then?"

Anabya looked at Natasha in accusation and Shelly put two and two together.

"In that case, I apologize on behalf of my friend. She's evil, and she gets a kick out of troubling others."

"Hey, I was just trying to introduce her to the world."

When both remained quiet and Anabya couldn't help but roll her eyes, Natasha sighed

"Fine, sorry! I didn't know I was being bothersome," she apologized.

Happy realization, Natasha!

"That's alright," Anabya shrugged. "I'm sure this would be a great experience."

Yeah right.

She winced as the crowd broke into loud cheers once again and everyone turned their attention to the field while the players from both teams emerged out in the open. The home team loss the toss and where given no choice but to be the first ones to bowl. Call her speed worse than that of a snail, but it was only ten minutes later that her eyes settled on something, someone, rather, and she couldn't believe what she saw.

She turned her face to the large screens just to be sure, and as the cameras focused on him, going from his hands that cupped the cricket ball to the large smile that shone on his face as his team mates celebrated the first catch of the match, SHE WAS SO DONE!

NO FREAKING WAY WAS SHE ATTENDING SHAMAAZ'S FIRST MATCH!

She was watching the guy she disliked play the sport she despised? Was this real? What had she done to be put through this torture?

"GO SHAMAAZ!" Natasha yelled, jumping out of her seat and hopping in the air. 

"MAAZY! MAAZY!" Shelly sang, clapping her hands together.

So he was their friend?

She knew he played cricket, but goodness, she didn't know he was this big a cricketer, playing IPL and all. Some neighbor she was.

"What's going on?" Natasha asked, looking at her awe srtuck expression.

"Nothing," she replied shaking her head. "He caught me off guard," she stated.

"He's amazing, and I'm honestly so glad his dreams are finally coming true. About time!"

Anabya was silent for the rest of the game, and to be frank, she didn't even understand half of the rules. Why was the batsman ducking and not aiming for the ball? Why didn't the two players run across the field even after hitting the ball at a short distance? Worse still, she had no idea how one striker was dismissed when the cricket ball touched his padded leg.

About an hour and a half later, it was the home team's time to bat. Quite surprisingly, the first batsman was out by the first ball that directly hit the stumps while his counterpart was dismissed after a decent 50 off 28 balls. After the fall of two wickets, it was Shamaaz's turn to step in and while Shelly and Natasha went on another round of cheering spree where they were determined to lose their voices, Anabya quietly observed the said batsman.

First ball, and it crossed the boundary, the runs going from 58-2 to 62-2.

He was good at the sport.

Sadly, for her, that's the only thing she found him good at.

Within 17 overs, they managed to cross the earlier team's score and were declared winners.

As the clock struck 7 and some of the cricketers headed for interviews while some stepped into their rooms, Anabya stood up to leave.

"What? You're going already? Stay for the party!" Shelly insisted.

Here, she drew the line.

No way was she going to attend the after party. She had seen pictures in the newspaper and that was something she'd never like to be associated with.

 "You guys can carry on," she denied politely. "I'd call it a night."

"It's going to be difficult to find a ride back home," Natasha said. "I'll drop you halfway and we can then head to the party. What's say Shelly?"

"Yeah, that'll be great."

On their way out, Natasha asked, "So, how's your anthropophobia?"

"For God's sake, I don't have fear of humans!"

"Fine, fine alright," she grinned. "Did you enjoy the match?"

"It was a different experience," Anabya nodded. "Quite unexpected."

So unexpected that it blew her away.

Since Anabya was simply following Natasha, it took her moment to realzie that they weren't really heading towards the exit.

And when Shamaaz stepped out of the large cricket pavilion, her question was answered and she grew rigid.

Natasha crashed into him, hugging him as she yelled some more and while Shelly hugged him too, his eyes were trained on only one person. Somehow, despite the appreciation of his friends, he seemed to have lost his voice.

He was utterly shocked. What a magical day it had been, full of surprises.

"Bya?" He asked, not even sure that he was seeing her in front of him, right after winning the first match of the season.

Lady luck was by his side today.

"Since Rohit ditched, I got Anabya along with me," Natasha explained. "You two know each other, don't you?" She asked and when Shamaaz looked at her with wide eyes, conveying some discreet information, realization struck her.

"Or do you? I don't know," she trailed off. 

"Bya, I didn't know you were coming, it's nice to see you," Shamaaz grinned, ignoring Natasha's previous statement.

"I didn't know you were playing," she shrugged nonchalantly, making it clear that she hadn't come for him. He was crazy enough to get such ideas. 

"Do you even like cricket?" he asked, seeing her lack of interest. And here, he had been genuinely happy seeing her. 

"I don't," she answered.

This girl was so freaking hard to impress. Not like he was trying, but still.

"Did you at least enjoy the game?" He asked, with raised eyebrows,  curious to hear her reply.

"It was alright," she shrugged again and turning to Natasha, she said, "You guys carry on, I'll manage."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," she smiled, and before she could turn around, she saw a group of girls approach Shamaaz, and he more than willingly hugged them and snapped pictures with them.

She didn't spare him a glance as she walked out, and with a fan girl in his arms as he gazed at her retreating back, he knew one thing.

He may have won the match but he'd never win her.