Y/N's POV:

I was sleeping peacefully when an annoying sound woke me up. It continuously rang, almost as stubborn as me. Eventually, I gave up on trying to catch some sleep and reached for my phone to turn the damn thing off.

It was a hot sunny day outside even though it was just 7 in the morning. Birds chirped among themselves in the attempt to wake each other up and the bells from the nearest Shiva Temple could be heard.

With my eyes still closed, I yawned and stretched my arms lazily. I reluctantly got up and walked towards the bathroom to get ready for the big day.

Today was a new chapter of my life: the first day of work. It was a huge deal for me as I was luckily accepted in my dream job, physiotherapy. Saying that I was exotic would be an understatement.

After I was done getting ready, I walked down the stairs to the kitchen. Mom was cooking parathas and Dad was sitting on the dining table watching Aaj Tak on his phone. Yep, technology nowadays!

"Good morning!" I cheerfully greeted them both and kissed Mom's cheek. They greeted me back and I took my seat next to Dad while putting parathas on my plate.

"Y/N, ham tumhe kuch btana chahte he" Dad said casually, a bit too casually. He switched his phone off and turned his full attention towards me. Okay, this must be serious then...

"Kya hua?" I asked in the same casual tone but concern could still be heard

"Meine aur tumhari Maa ne tumhare lie ek rishta dekha he" Dad said slowly, watching me carefully to see my reaction. I kept a straight face.

"Papa mene apko kaha tha ki mein abhi tayaar nhi-"

"Pehle ki tum kuch kaho, uski photo toh dekh lo" Mom interrupted me. I rolled my eyes and kept quiet. I ignored them as I ate my breakfast, but was interrupted when a photo slid next to my plate.

In the picture, there was a fairly handsome man with beautiful brown hair and the most perfect smile ever. With the smile came dimples, which added more beauty to his face. He definitely was dashing.

I looked up towards my parents as they grinned. I rolled my eyes again, I just didn't feel ready for marriage yet. I still had to build my career and today was my first day of work. Not that they seemed to care.

"Aaj meri job ka pehla din he aur aap phirse mujhe yeh dikha rhe he" I said a bit irritated.

"Beta teri umar ho rhi he, ham chahte he ki tumhara ghar bas jae" Mom said in a caring tone and brought a small bowl with yogurt. "Aur ham bhule nhi he, yeh chini vala dahi tumhare lie shub (all puns intended) hoga" she said while making me eat a spoon. I smiled at her.

"Thank you Maa. Ab mein chlti hu, mujhe late ho rha he" I said quickly grabbing my backpack and leaving the house.

**********

I finally reached the Chatrapati Shivaji Stadium where the new Under 19 Indian cricket team were to practise for the upcoming T-20 series. My job was to assist them on an emotional platform and boost their confidence up as well as give them advice on their physical abilities.

I walked through the empty stands and towards the centre of the stadium. The team was preparing for the practise match already and they were all doing their warm ups. I went to Rahul Dravid, the coach of the team. I was very nervous as he is regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in cricket history. My palms started sweating.

"G-good morning Dravid Sir. Mein Y/N L/N, the um... new physiotherapist" I mentally facepalmed for stuttering. He turned to face me and smiled warmly.

"Welcome to the team, Miss L/N. We will start right away because, as you know, the world cup is rapidly approaching. Aaj aap Shubman Gill ko assist karengi. He is an extremely capable batsman, but he has been lacking confidence recently. This is hugely starting to affect this performance, is liye mein umeed karta hu ki aap Shubman ki madat kar sake" Dravid Sir explained to me and I nodded in understanding.

After he gave me some more details on the matter, he told me to go to the stands where I could just make out a faint figure of a man sitting in deep thought. I confidently made my way towards him with long strides. The man was slouched with his face down and hands rubbing his temples. He clearly gave the impression of a depressed person, but I knew better than to judge someone from the cover.

When I reached him, I stood there for a moment before saying "Excuse me". The man remained in his posture, oblivious to my presence. I tried again, but this time I tapped his shoulder lightly. He immediately jerked his head up and I completely froze. My eyes widened as I recognised his face from the picture that was shown to me this morning.

"Yes?" He asked keeping an emotionless face. I remained still.

"Aap theek he?" He knitted his eyebrows in confusion and asked again. I came back to reality and awkwardly shifted my weight from one foot to another.

"Uh, um... ji. I'm the n-new physiotherapist, Y/N L/N" I said shyly as I suddenly found the ground very interesting. I really can't believe my luck today. How the heck am I supposed to work with this guy who is basically my possible future fiancee?!

"Toh isme mein kya karu?" He asked keeping the same emotionless face. My mouth opened a bit in surprise. So he also had an attitude, a cherry on the top of the cake.

"Mujhe Dravid Sir ne bheja he. Aapko assist karne ke lie" I explained trying to remain cool.

"Well, mujhe kisi ki madat nhi chahiye. You may leave" He retorted with a cold tone. I clenched my jaw and turned on my heel without a second thought. I stormed back to Dravid Sir and narrated him the scene. He looked very annoyed and apologised to me for Shubman's behaviour. He then told me to wait there and went to Shubman. They exchanged a few words and Dravid Sir came back with Shubman tagging along.

"Shubman here has something to tell you" Dravid Sir said in a stern tone looking at the younger boy. Shubman pursed his lips in a thin line for a moment before looking at me.

"I'm sorry for my previous behaviour. I really didn't mean to burst out like that, it's just that I have been going through a hard time which is starting to affect my personality and moods" He said sincerely while locking his brown orbs with mine. I felt a strange tingly feeling in my stomach but chose to ignore it.

"It's o-okay... this is why I am here to help you, Shubman. Let's take a walk, shall we?" I smiled warmly at him. My breath got caught in my throat as I saw him smile back at me, his dimples adorning his cheeks gracefully. His smile definitely looked much more beautiful in real life. 'What the hell am I thinking?!!' I mentally slapped myself.

"I'll leave you two to catch up then, see you later" Dravid Sir said as he started to walk away.

"Lekin practise ka kya?" Shubman asked while looking at the retreating figure of the man.

"Uski chinta mat karo, I'm sure you can catch up" Dravid Sir replied while turning his head back and waving at us.

We stood there in an awkward silence for a moment, both of us looking anywhere but at each other. Shubman cleared his throat and broke the hush. "Chale?" He simply asked. I nodded and we started walking out of the stadium. This was going to be interesting...

***********

"Toh aapki practise kese chal rhi he aaj kal?" I asked dumbly as I didn't know what to say. "Sahi he, baas stressful he... you know, peer pressure" Shubman replied while looking straight ahead. I nodded in understanding.

"What aspect of training do you find the most difficult?" I questioned.

"Aalu chaat khane chale?" he asked totally out of the blue. I made a poker face, wondering if he was making fun of me. He looked at me when I didn't give an answer and softly chuckled at my expression.

"Sorry, lekin mujhe laga ki aap mujhe interrogate kar rhi thi" he clarified quickly.

"Shubman, yeh mera kaam he. I'm here to help you improve your skills" I slowly explained.

"Aur agar me kahu ki meri mental state improve ho jaegi jab tum mere saath aalu chaat khaogi toh?" he asked innocently. I contemplated what he said. There couldn't be any harm with this, right? I mean, aalu chaat is my favourite snack anyways.

"Theek he," I said and his face lit up, "lekin ek sharat par" I added. He gestured me to continue. "Aap mere sawaloon ke jawaab bhi doge" he nodded and took me to the aloo chat stall.

"But wait, isn't this unhealthy for you?" He nervously laughed at my question.

"I'm eating this after 8 months" he replied. My eyebrows rose up from that statement. This guy really takes his career seriously.

As we were eating, I asked him a few questions here and there. They were loosely based on therapy though, because I soon became more interested in him as a person. He was inspiring. A true hidden gem behind the piles of struggles. And I was willing to help him.

That aloo chat snack unknowingly became our first date and little did I know that there were many more to come.

***********

Hello lovely people!! Thank you for reading this one shot and I really hope you enjoyed it. Please comment if you have any other ideas as they are more than welcome!

See ya the next timee,
Diksha.