Taqdeer - A Hum Tum Fan-Fiction

Chapter 1 - Aaj aur Kal

"Adam! One Eggs Benedict, one portion of Classic Pancakes and one English Tea on Table number 4 please!", Jenny, a Russian student who worked part time at the diner, yelled from the kitchen entrance

"Coming Right up!", Adam yelled back while he whisked the whipping cream with a hand blender, and adjusted the chef's cap with his other hand"

J:" Also, Expect a huge order of Desi food in the next few minutes, A big group of South-Asians has just come in.. They are either Indian or Pakistani as far as I can tell.."

A: "Right.. Noted!

Nathan, the owner of the diner was a big foodie himself! He had once tasted the Desi food that Adam had made, and had loved it so much, that he had put it on the menu.

Adam was doing a Masters in Hotel & Hospitality Management from UCLA, and was in his second and last year of the program now. He had gotten a scholarship and just had to look after his living expenses in the US, and for that, he had taken up a part-time job as a chef in a local diner in Downtown, LA. He usually took the morning shift at the diner because he had classes from 2pm onwards.

It had been almost 2 years since Adam moved to L.A for his Masters'. The program was almost coming to an end, he just had a 6 month long internship left. He hadn't gone back to Pakistan ever-since he had moved here.

As Jenny had anticipated, the South-Asian group had ordered for Desi food. They had ordered for Aloo Paranthas, Halwa-Puri and Masala Chai. Adam and his Indian colleague Raman, had gotten busy with prepping the order.

About 30 minutes after sending the order out , Jenny came into the kitchen and told Adam that the South-Asian group outside wanted to speak to him about the food that was served to them.

"Hi, I'm Adam. The Chef here... you had asked to meet me? How did you all like the food?",

He said while standing in front of the people who had asked for him. It was a group of 6 young people, who were probably students or tourists.

"Hi Adam! Aap Indian hai?!", asked one of the girls from the group.

"Nahi, Main Pakistani hoon.. Is everything okay with the food?", Adam asked with a courteous smile.

"KHAANA AMAZING HAI, ADAM! Hum yahaan ek academic conference aur exchange program ke liye aaye the aur pichle 8 dinon se achche Desi khaane ki talaash mein the, jo aaj aapki vajah se khatam hui! THANK YOU SO MUCH!", One of the girls said, excitedly. The others at the table also nodded in agreement and Adam smiled at them in response.

"I'm Neha, by the way.. Neha Sharma.. Really nice to meet you! I'm sure this is going to be our go-to place for Desi food for the entire duration of our exchange program!" The girl said with a wide smile.

As soon as Adam heard the girls name, he felt an intense pit in his stomach and hadn't able to register anything else that she was saying. Suddenly, tears were almost on the verge of falling out of his eyes. Just then, he heard something fall inside the kitchen and his reverie was broken. He composed himself, acknowledged what the girl was saying and excused himself from there. Thereafter, he ran straight into the bathroom, latched the door and sat on the capped toilet seat with his head in his hands.

He had heard that name for the first time in a while, and that one name was all it took, to bring back the memories that he had locked up in one tiny corner of his heart, and supposedly thrown the key away. Snippets of his life back in Pakistan, flashed in front of him, as he bawled his eyes out.

Two years Ago

Today was the day of Neha's Mehndi & Mayoun. She was getting married to Sarim, professor Jabir's son and her wedding was in two days.