14
Raina
OVER THE NEXT FEW days, we found a new rhythm between us. Oliver and Rihaan—who was still avoiding me—usually left for their training early in the morning and didn’t return until later in the day. I had been mostly working from home, avoiding the office where possible and spending my evenings with Oliver going over more cricket jargon and basics.
But today, I was spending my day out and about for a change. This was my last weekend off before the last leg of the race calendar began. And although I only had two more races to attend, it was pretty much all back to back.
The autumn chill seeped into my skin, but for a change, the sun made a full and unapologetic appearance, covering the busy streets of Covent Garden.
I pulled my phone out, waiting for Leah to come out of the shop. We’d spend the morning doing retail therapy, and the evidence of it was placed between my feet. I was still slowly building my closet back to what it was before the leak, but my focus was mostly on work clothes, seemingly content with lounging around the house in some yoga pants and borrowed hoodies from Oliver and Vedant.
The store door buzzed next to me, and I slipped my phone back into my coat.
“Got everything?” I asked, picking my bags up before looking at Leah, who gave me a nod.
Leah frowned, before a slow grin spread across her face. “Well, well. Look who it is.”
I followed her gaze, and blinked in surprise.
Of course, out of all the places, he was here. London was big enough for people to be lost—but somehow, each day, I realised that when you notice someone in your life, you found the true meaning of ‘What a small world’.
Oliver stood by one of the coffee trailers, looking like he’d just finished a cover photo shoot for a magazine: smart trousers, a light blue sweater over a white collar t-shirt. A soft breeze ruffled his hair which held his sunglasses as he chatted with the barista like they were old mates.
As though sensing my gaze, Oliver looked sideways and his eyes locked into mine. The grin he had been wearing turned wide, as he finished his conversation without looking away.
“Maybe it is my lucky day,” Leah sighed happily, and an involuntary groan slipped my lips at the reminder. It had completely slipped my mind, or rather, I’d erased it from my short-term memory. One of the stops we’d made as we hopped around between stores was a little tarot stall in the Piazza. Truthfully, I hadn’t much wanted to do it. Over the last couple of weeks, I was very much aware of inexplicable things happening around me, and I didn’t want to pay someone to tell me that something big was coming. But Leah had insisted, and well, her’s was that today would turn out to be a lucky day for her, whereas for me, it said. “And, look, your love life is already starting to blossom.”
Yep. Definitely didn’t want to pay someone to tell me that.
I shot her a look as Oliver stepped in our direction. “Shut. Up.”
“Hey, Gorgeous. Fancy seeing you here,” Oliver said, giving me a small wink, and I didn’t need to look at Leah’s face to see the sly grin that had already formed on her face.
I opened my mouth to reply, but Leah beat me to it. “Well, isn’t it cool how the universe works sometimes.”
“It sure is,” Oliver replied, his eyes never leaving mine. “I’m Oliver, by the way. Nice to meet you.”
“Leah, and trust me, the pleasure is mine.”
“I suppose I should be thanking you?” His tone was light, but the teasing undercurrent was evident like he knew exactly what he was doing, and I rolled my eyes.
God, talk about two peas in a pod.
“Me?” Leah’s gaze bounced between me and Oliver, thoroughly confused. “What did I do?”
“I’m not quite sure either, but clearly, whatever you said at brunch worked.”
“ Really?” Leah’s reaction threw me off completely. I’d never seen her this flustered before, and if I hadn’t been so caught off guard myself, I would’ve taken a picture of her face. She must’ve seen it in my reaction, though because she quickly composed herself before giving me a smile. “You took the job?”
“I did,” I replied, tugging on my lower lip nervously.
“I’m proud of you,” She replied, and I felt my blood rush to my face before she turned to Oliver. “And you better not make me regret it.”
His grin deepened as he gave her a nod. “I won’t.”
But before any of us could say something, he leaned down in my direction—close enough to catch the familiar scent of him and the faintest trace of coffee.
“I thought I was doing better at providing the data for your predict-o-meter, love.”
I felt my heart skip a beat at the way he used the nickname today like it meant something more. “It’s nearly not enough to tip the scales in your favour.”
His grin widened, but before he could reply, Leah, who was clearly delighted by the situation, beat him to it. “Should I give you two a minute?”
Oliver’s eyes never left mine as he replied. “If you don’t mind.”
To my horror and amusement, Leah nodded, almost proudly. “I’ll be over there. Take your time.”
Oliver chuckled softly as I watched her walk to the coffee trailer.
“You are truly something.”
“Question is, am I exactly what you’d hope for?”
My brows raised. “If you weren’t, what would you do?”
“That implies I am.”
Fuck. It does.
I pursed my lips, and Oliver grinned, clearly pleased with himself.
We stood there for a moment, the hum of spilled laughter and conversations carried around us, but the way he looked at me made me feel like the only person in the crowd.
And then, as if on cue, Leah appeared next to us. “Your minute is up, and I would like my friend back. She’s already hard to hang out with.”
Oliver laughed, the sound warm and reached everywhere in my body. “Don’t I know it.”
“I’m standing right here,” I narrowed my eyes at both of them. “And I’m not that hard to hang out with.”
“If I—” Leah began, but I shot her a look.
“I said not that hard.”
Shoulders still shaking, Oliver nudged my bags gently. “So, what’s the plan for the rest of the day? More shopping?”
“Maybe, but I want a coffee first,” I replied.
“Okay, meet me in Aespo?” Leah asked, and I nodded as she turned to him. “By the way, if you want to join us, I’ve got no issues.”
She didn’t bother to wait for my reply, but the grin she had on her face as she walked away told me she knew exactly what she was doing.
“I can’t tell if you want to kill her or thank her,” Oliver chuckled, and I let out a half laugh.
Maybe a bit of both.
“Don’t look so smug.”
“She’s good.”
“You just think that because she invited you to girls’ day,” I rolled my eyes before narrowing them in his direction. “Also, I’m hard to hang out with? We see each other nearly every day.”
“But not every day.”
I sighed. “God, you’re impossible.”
“You like it,” He flashed me a grin, before tugging me in the direction of the trailer. “C’mon, let’s get you your coffee. My treat.”
“Bribing me now?”
“Just being polite. For crashing girls’ day, and all that,” The glint in his eyes told me a different story.
I hid my smile as I walked next to him, trying to keep my expression neutral. But he wasn’t wrong.
I did like it.
SOMETHING I NOTICED when Oliver was around, was that time slipped away like water, and the fact that he somehow always managed to blend into pieces of my life like he had always belonged there.
But Leah, in her true matchmaking heart, couldn’t help but butt in. After a successful day of mooching around and retail therapy, we decided to grab a bite at my favourite restaurant.
We sat down at our booth and ordered our drinks before Oliver went to the bathroom, and Leah conveniently ‘remembered’ she had to get home early because she had dinner plans.
“I’ll tell them not to bring out my drink,” She winked at me, and I sighed, watching her walk away with an innocent expression, but as she turned around, I caught the mischievous grin that was tipping up her lips.
Leaning back in my chair, I watched the sky outside become a canvas of colours—painting the canopy glass windows above us in hues of a soft blue blending into the pink. It felt like it was holding its breath, enjoying the last moments of the day just before the night settled in.
Once the waiter placed our drinks in front of me, I sank further back into the plush velvet couch, the deep blue fabric cradling me as I watched the sky, and waited for Oliver. The place was buzzing, as it usually was; people talking, waiters rushing by, and sounds of clinking glasses, but my attention was instantly pulled on him as he stepped in my line of vision.
Gone was the big grin and the easiness he’d been carrying around all day, but now, as he walked back, his shoulders were tightened, and a small frown was on his face. But as he neared our booth, he wiped his face of any traces of the heaviness that surrounded him.
Oliver gave me a smile he’d given me before, and for some reason, my stomach dropped. “Hey, where’s Leah?”
“She bailed. Something about having plans later.”
He chuckled softly, taking a seat closer to me than he had before. “She’s subtle, isn’t she?”
“She likes to think she is. There’s a difference.”
Oliver leaned back in his seat, watching me closely. “You tired?”
“A bit,” I said softly as I watched him. “Did you have a good time?”
His body relaxed, and he nodded. “I did.”
I smiled, my eyes tracing his face. “If I ask you something, will you answer me?”
“Anything.”
“Why are you single?”
He paused mid-drink, clearly caught off guard. “Out of all the things I expected, that wasn’t one of them.”
“What were you expecting me to ask?”
He gave me a confused look. “What was I planning to order?”
“We are at a sushi bar. I think asking that question would’ve been a moot point.”
“There’s different kinds of sushi, and they also do...” He glanced at the open menu in front of him. “Teppyanka and grilled dishes.”
I pursed my lips before nodding. “Alright, what are you planning to order?”
He licked the corners of his lips before replying. “A crunchy roll platter.”
I tilted my head, and a tiny glimmer in his eyes told me my gut instinct was right. He was deflecting.
My breath got stuck in my throat, suddenly amused.
I had called Leah and Oliver two peas in a pod earlier, but in that moment I had realised how similar we were.
“You said anything.”
Oliver smiled, and this time, it reached his eyes. “I did, didn’t I?”
I nodded, pleased with myself.
“Okay, I’ll answer anything if you answer my question.”
“That’s not fair.”
He lifted a shoulder. “Life’s not fair.”
“Answer mine first, and then I give you free rein over your question.”
He shook his head, amused. “Honestly, I’ve never really wanted to be in a relationship before. I’ve only ever known the meaning of love when it came to cricket, and that always seemed enough. It wasn’t like I had any spare time, either. Right up until last year, my schedule was filled to the brim and the most I could manage was no strings attached fun.”
“And after last year?”
Oliver looked away, almost as if gathering himself, before his eyes flickered back to mine. “Rules are rules, love. One for me, one for you.”
I exhaled, but the tightness in my chest remained. “Sure, what’s your question?”
He stared at me for a beat before asking. “Why are you single?”
I pursed my lips, trying to hide my surprise—almost expecting him to ask me why I had brought it up instead. “Let’s just say that I didn’t exactly have the best display of a relationship growing up, so the idea of being in one is as appealing to me as watching a cricket match.”
“Hey. Now, that’s just rude.”
I grinned as I continued. “Plus, with my work hours, it’s not exactly easy to manage a relationship.”
“Maybe you just haven’t found the right person to make it work with.” Something about the way he’d said it made me still, but I didn’t let myself read too much into it just yet.
“After last year?” I echoed my question from earlier, and he sighed.
“Let’s just say that life got a bit too real, and fun wasn’t fun anymore, and I had bigger things to focus on.” Suddenly, the air felt charged, and he glanced at the glass in front of him, his shoulders stiff.
“Maybe you just haven’t found the right person to make the real stuff fun with yet.” The words left me before I could register, but when his eyes shot to mine in surprise, lingering in a way that made my stomach flutter, I realised that I was glad I did.
I spent the rest of the lunch prodding him with questions, both out of curiosity and the addicting feeling that came with each answer. What course did he do at university? “Business Management.” Why not something in sports? “My Mum wanted me to have a degree as a backup plan, and doing a course related to anything with sport could’ve made it difficult if I had an injury.” Was it common for cricketers to have their off-season now? “Depends on what the highest level of format they are in. For players still in their domestic careers, it was. For players part of the main squad, their off-season changes according to the match schedule.” Is the match schedule different every year? “For domestic, it’s pretty much the same, but for International matches, they change based on the format time. As for the Test Series, there’s a rotation policy, and countries take turns hosting the series, and then comes the factor of weather. For Example, the series held in England are usually from May to September, compared to Australia and India, who hold their matches from October to March. This also affects ODIs or One Day International Series, and the country they are touring. But both series have concluded for this year.” Were he and Rihaan part of the squad? “This year, I wasn’t. But Rihaan was.”
He’d said it in a hesitant but even tone that made me pause. But before I could question it, our food arrived, and he changed the topic altogether.