The bus back to the hotel was one of tired silence; the lads were all too worn out to celebrate. Prince sat at the front with Gill on his left, headphones in. On his head was the cap he had Virat, Rohit and Dhoni sign, in his pocket, the ball which he stole and had Jasprit Bumrah sign. More than the signatures and memorabilia, what weighed more in his heart was the praise and warmth he had received from the senior players, despite their fiercely competitive spirit.
Gill, who was now nodding off in his seat, lost balance leading his head to fall onto Prince's shoulder causing him to wince as the effects of todays batting became evident, one six too many against Bumrah's fast bowling, Prince sighed and let Gill rest without disturbing until the hotel came into view at which he flicked the other boys forehead, "Oye, wake up Punjabi MC."
Gill slapped Prince back around the head before stretching and standing up, all the boys left the bus and stood in the hotel lobby holding their kit bags, too tired to move until Prince decided that he had things to do and dragged the kit bag up the stairs to his room, sighing as he approached his door, that's when a head poked out of one of the other rooms, Sourav Ganguly who prince had met just a while ago.
"Tired kid?"
"Very sir, had a tough match."
"Against the seniors? Heard you won," the legend had a grin on his face, "It looks like India had yielded good crop this year."
Prince was at first confused at how he knew and then suddenly realised he was talking to one of the greatest Indian players ever and the surprise faded to respect.
"Thank you sir, enjoying Bangalore?"
The man thought once, "Well, I'm here on business, but I'm sure Dona and Sana are relaxed and enjoying."
The past and the future shared a chuckle as they went into their respective rooms.
Prince dropped his kit bag, threw his phone onto the bed, emptied his pockets, stripped naked and walked to the shower without missing a beat, standing there as the water cascaded over him, the steam rising slowly and the stress and tension in his body evaporating just as quick as the vapour. He was coming to terms once again with the fact that he was living another life... a different Prince, perhaps finally worth the name. He could remember the taste of the alcohol, the mindless sex, the wasted opportunities and for the first time in Prince's lives, he was grateful from the bottom of his heart and the most inner part of his soul.
He let the water fall over him a little while more before cleaning himself thoroughly and getting dressed, he pulled on a pair of baggy jeans and a white tee with a design on the back, simple and comfortable he said, he sank onto the leather office chair in his room and sat for a few minutes, making himself coffee with the sachets of coffee and the kettle that the hotel provided.
The coffee was shit. He stood up and walked to the sink, poured it out and grabbed the hotel key before stepping out of his room where he was met by Gill, Aru, Parag and Arshdeep who somehow had the same idea. Together they walked the halls of the hotel and came to the lobby where Parag tried to ask the receptionist where they could find a nice filter coffee, thankfully Prince had dragged them all out insisting he knew a place because of his morning runs.
Eventually after some walking and a year's worth of complaints they reached a small shop, that was pretty much obscure in the presence of massive skyscrapers and malls, a small stall at the foot of a massive jewellers, Prince went up to the stall and ordered four coffees, before sitting down on the worn wooden bench, where even his friends were cautious to sit, but Prince made them sit anyway.
"Bengaluru is best experienced like this, not in cars and bikes, not in fancy buildings and malls, this is how I saw this city on my runs, and any way Rehman Chacha over here makes the best coffee."
Parag shifted in his seat once before teasing again, "Won't rich boy Prince's royal triple ply buttock get scratched if he sits here," everyone laughed, the way they always did, Prince smiled wistfully, he knew that in the last life, these were the moments he missed, the small people he looked down on. The truth is the coffee stall owner was not random, Prince knew him from his past life, less amicably. Even then watching him pour the filter coffee, Prince couldn't erase the man's dying face from his mind, when he had crashed into the stall, all those years ago, a drunken night in Bengaluru... a whole lifetime ago.
Since coming to the city Prince found the man and bought a coffee every day, talking to him and in his heart, apologising profusely, and this would be the last day he would see him as they all go home the next day for a break before the Australia series.
Prince turned to Parag, "Need I remind you, my dad owned a stall like this, and built an empire from one glass of coffee, I was raised on benches like this."
That shut him up for a while and when the coffee arrived, Prince said nothing but almost greedily snatched it up and sipped before releasing a massive sigh, "Hooooooof, there's nothing like this."
Every one drank their coffees and they all thanked Babu and sought his blessings before leaving, Prince stayed behind a second longer.
"Chacha..."
The old man turned around with a nostalgic smile, "Han Beta, what's wrong."
Prince bent down and touched the man's feet in an Indian way of seeking an elder's blessings, "Please keep me in your prayers Rehman Chacha."
The old man grabbed him by the shoulders and straightened Prince up, "May Allah protect you my son, Khuda Hafiz."
Prince smiled and walked away, heart and soul full, because in the language that souls conversed in, there was no religion or caste, there was love.
Separate Taxi's had come for the players, the team bus would take too long, for prince, his family driver had arrived in a Land Cruiser to pick him up, he had asked his father to be less showy.
Prince had loaded his bags when he turned to see the lads waiting for him, Prince took time hugging each one, Arshdeep smiled and joked with Parag asking what the rich boy would do without any friends at home, Abhisek, Shaw and Sudarshan were curt and respectful, mostly silent, Aru gave him a tight hug and said to him, "Oye, forget to call me, and I'll cut your balls off in your sleep." They shared a laugh and Gill too was like Aru, urging him to stay in contact, just as the pleasantries were coming to an end, Sourav Ganguly appeared with his family as they too were leaving.
"Leaving already kid?"
"Ha sir, camp is over isn't it, now it's rest then Australia."
Prince shook his hand firmly and then his wife's, his daughter Sana was shy despite being older than Prince but still shook his hand and as Prince got into the passenger seat of his car, he felt relief at being able to go home, but his heart felt heavy leaving his team, part of his family... because where the heart is, is where home is. If that were true, his heart would be split in two and his homes were miles apart.
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