The screen lit up with static for a second, then cleared to reveal Ishan Kishan — hair ruffled, shirt half-buttoned, AirPods in place — lounging across a hotel bed littered with SRH kits and charging cables.
“Rhea?” he squinted at the screen. “Wait, is this a professional call? Should I sit up straight? Adjust my tragic collar?”
Rhea huffed a soft laugh, curling up on her couch in a faded NYU sweatshirt, hair piled in a lazy bun. “Definitely not professional. This is... weirdly personal.”
Ishan grinned. “Okay, now I’m interested. Is this about you finally admitting I’m the most emotionally intelligent person on the team?”
“I won’t go that far,” she muttered, and then paused. “But… I did want to talk to you about something important. Something I haven’t even told Shubman yet.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Oho. That serious, huh? Spill.”
Rhea took a breath. “He offered me a position. With Gujarat Titans.”
Ishan blinked. “Like… a full-time thing?”
She nodded. “Team psychologist. For the whole IPL season.”
The line went quiet for a second, until Ishan whooped loud enough to make her wince. “NO WAY! RHEA! Bro, that’s huge!”
She tried to smile, but it wavered at the edges. “I said yes.”
“No sh*t you did.” His grin softened. “Wait, you said yes?”
Her voice dropped lower, quieter. “Yeah. I don’t know if it’s brave or stupid, but… it felt right. The work is meaningful. And the team really needs mental health structure. Plus…” She trailed off.
“Plus?” Ishan prompted gently, sitting up now, more brother than joker.
“Plus,” she said softly, “it’s time I stop running.”
Ishan’s face shifted — something knowing, something proud. “So this is about closure?”
She shook her head slowly. “Not closure. Not anymore. I think… I think it’s about beginning again. From a place that’s honest.”
Ishan leaned back, processing. Then he said, quietly, “Can I be real with you for a sec?”
Rhea smiled faintly. “Since when have you not been?”
“I saw what Shubman became after you left. We all saw it. Even when he was scoring centuries, even when he got the GT captaincy… there was this wall. Like he was afraid to let anyone too close.”
He paused, eyes steady. “You cracked that wall open again. Whether you realize it or not.”
Rhea’s throat tightened. “I don’t want to make the same mistakes. I want to earn the team’s trust — and keep boundaries clear. But I also want to forgive. And maybe… learn what it means to be seen again. Properly.”
“You deserve that,” Ishan said, softer now. “And for what it’s worth — you’ve already got one loudmouthed wicketkeeper rooting for you.”
She chuckled. “Thank you. Also, side note: your collar is tragic.”
He dramatically adjusted it. “Now you’re just bullying the mentally fragile. I should report this to the ICC.”
“Don’t forget to cc: your fashion therapist.”
They both laughed.
Then — just before she was about to hang up — Ishan said, “Hey, Rhea?”
“Yeah?”
“I know he broke you once. But I also know he’s trying damn hard to be worthy now. Just… let the man prove it. Slowly. One honest day at a time.”
She nodded, lips parting around a thousand unspoken things. “I’ll try.”
And for once, that was enough.
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almost, Always.
FanfictionA Shubman Gill fanfiction There are some people you never really get over. Not because you still love them-sometimes you do, sometimes you don't. But because what happened between you and them carved something so deep, even time walks around it car...
