'Tᴀʟᴇs ᴏғ Dᴇʟɪɢʜᴛ'

• his lies •

"Tou tum ankhein band kar liya karo." Radwa replied in all seriousness. Gule rolled her eyes, giving her a done look.

"Honestly, Gul. I find him sus. Jahan tum hoti ho, har jagah kesy pohanch jata hai? What if he's some creepy stalker-"

"Dekho, wo jo bhi hai, jesa bhi hai, bohut acha hai. I know, for a fact, he is not a bad person. He is so respectful and just damn." She mused and Radwa shook her head.

"You can't judge a person based on their looks. Your words."

"I'm not talking about his looks, only. They're just a bonus." Gule pointed out.

"Don't trust him too much." Radwa warned, still not getting good vibes out of the sudden appearance of the same man again and again.

"I have blind trust in him." Gule declared dramatically. "Aag mein koodny ko kahy ga, kood jaungi."

"Down bad, brown dad." Radwa crooned as Gule chortled.

She so wanted to show that video of Idrees to her, tell her what had happened that made her so obsessed with changing how she looked, what had made her realize the fact that getting home-schooled was the best for her, away from the judgemental society.

Gule chose to remain silent for now since Radwa was already stressed about her work. She'd tell her later. When the right time comes. Putting those thoughts aside, she returned to the present moment.

"I'm still so happy. I've been floating all day." Gule gave her a full-blown smile and her best friend put aside the negative doubts watching her happy.

"You are way too into this one." She sighed, praying internally for the happiness to stay intact and never get snatched away by pain or any misery.

It was night time and Gule was in the kitchen with Neelofer baaji, preparing tea for herself. Radwa had left by the evening, but Gule still couldn't stop thinking about sharing her secret with her, which she'd told him so easily.

She heard her father's strained voice calling her out from the TV lounge. She placed the saucepan from which she was pouring the tea aside, and rushed out.

"Jee, baba jaan?" She softly asked, noticing that he was sitting near the telephone. She couldn't have called him again. Gule clenched her teeth together.

"Beta aap ki mama jaan ny koi invitation bheja hai aap ko?" He questioned and her gut feeling was proven right.

"Mein nai jaun gi iss baar. Pehly tou kabhi nai bulaya tha unho ny?" Gule bit out, angry and hurt.

Her mother was an actress. She'd always been busy with her own social life and Gule had barely spent any time with her even as a kid. They were never a complete family way before the separation of her parents.

Ever since Gule had started working as a shoe model, since she lost weight, her mother had started inviting her to those events and parties as 'her dear daughter'. She'd went to two of them and they only made her realize what a fake woman her mother actually was.