Uns Ki Mohabbat : Heartstrings

Chapter : 10 - Mohabbat Ka Izhaar

"That's exactly it. Has anyone ever greeted you like that before? And look at his consideration; he knew you had allergies to real daisies, so he gave you flowers that would never trigger your allergies.And didn't you keep those daisies in your room?" Ezzeh was questioning me.

"Well, they... they just looked nice to me," I said, stuttering.

"Oh, really?" Ezzeh replied, noticing my hesitation.

"You might not know him, Uns, but I do, and so does the whole college. He's the heartthrob of the college, perfect in looks, charm, academics, sports, personality-everything. Girls are crazy about him," Ezzeh began telling me about him.

"If girls are so crazy about him, why is he after me? He already has so many girls around him," I said through gritted teeth, feeling frustrated.

"Now, if Aziz Nader likes fire, what can we say about it? Anyone can see how much he loves you just by looking at him, Uns. Just admit it, you love him too," Ezzeh was making every effort to convince me.

"Ezzeh," I called out to her, signaling to stop now.

"Uns," she cut me off, "Okay, tell me, what's the problem? Why are you pretending to hate him so much?"

"Ezzeh, I am not pretending. I truly hate him, and I don't need any reason to hate him. He has already given me enough reasons to hate him with all my heart," I exclaimed, while putting the books in my bag.

"Like what?" Ezzeh asked.

"Firstly, he's not at all decent; he directly flirts with me. Secondly, he didn't fast yesterday, and that person didn't even go to pray. And thirdly, I don't know what issue he has with coffee, Ezzeh.

But even if he dislikes coffee so much, why does he keep coming to your cafe, Uns? If he doesn't like coffee, why does he keep coming to your cafe just to meet you? Isn't that enough to understand how much he loves you, Uns?"

Ezzeh's every word was chipping away at my wall of dislike towards him.

"I'm not forcing you to admit it, Uns. Take some time to think, and when he comes today, talk to him," Ezzeh said with great gentleness.

"Do you think he will come today after what I said to him this morning?" I asked her, guilt clearly visible on my face. "I said so many things to him; I shouldn't have."

"Uns, yahan baat Mohabbat ki hai (this is a matter of love) . Even though that person didn't know much about you, he kept coming to the cafe every day, just hoping you would show up. So, will he not come today, Uns?

If he does come to the cafe today, then understand, he loves you. If he doesn't come, then what's the harm in continuing to hate?" Ezzeh said, smiling.

"You should be a love guru, Ezzeh," I said, smiling.

"Finally, you smiled," she said, taking a deep breath and getting up, patting my shoulder as if she had won first prize for convincing me.

"That's what I do for a living," she said, and with that, she started walking. I joined her, and we both got engrossed in our classes then.

After iftar, I arrived at the cafe; I had to conduct interviews today. I hoped many people would come.

I opened the door to see Usman talking with a few people who were sitting near the counter. I went towards Usman; he greeted me and said, "Appi, here are the people who came for the interview."

"Okay, send them to my cabin, Usman," I said while going inside the cabin, removing my coat, and arranging the papers.

After 5 minutes, the interviewees came in: 5 females and 2 males for serving jobs and 2 males for handling the counter. I selected all 7 for serving drinks to customers, and now it was time to interview those two men.