Damsel In Distress (COMPLETED✓)

CHAPTER: 40 | CHANGE OF HEARTS (PART-4)

He bit his lip as he couldn't help but stare at her.

He didn't know how much time he spent staring at her face but he was sure he could stare all day and still would not get enough of her.

Zeeshan took a screenshot of the post, cropped Handal out and saved Laiba's picture in his gallery.

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An ice cream bowl sat unattended on the table in front of Zeeshan, the content melting into milkshake while he was seated on a chair, staring at a picture on his cellphone which he knew he should delete but had not been able to bring himself to do the deed.

Beside him, Areesha was on her cellphone too, running her fingers on the screen, busy texting her fiancé.

In front of him, sat Burhaan and on either side of him, sat Essa and Maha whereas Habeeba was adjust to them. All of them, talking and laughing and trying each other's ice cream while having their own.

The ice cream shop they were at, was a two storey building with cute rectangular pastel colour benches and chairs. The flooring was marble and the pattern was checkered red and white, like that of a table cloth. The counters were all designed like that of a Picnic basket and there were glass walls and push-pull glass doors  covered with all kind of stickers that would attract children. The walls were painted mint-green and the wall art was of all the Disney characters.

The place was a two hours drive from Haveli and was popular for late night hangouts because of its odd open-close hours. The shop basically opened only after midnight and would close before 6 in the morning. The children of Othman family had been coming there since ever. They had never been to Haveli and not have planned a trip to the shop.

And that night, after dinner, when all the cousins were lounging in the living room, Essa had complained how he was bored and would have been better off back at home. They all then agreed how they had wasted their first day in the Othman Haveli which they usually never do.

That was when Aariz decided to take them all to the ice cream shop.

And that was how, they all ended up there in the middle of the night, eating ice cream while they should be sleeping instead.

"Zee?"

"Zeeshan?"

"Huh?" He snapped his head up from his cellphone which he was hiding under the table, looking startled as if he had been caught doing something wrong.

Areesha, Habeeba, Maha and Burhaan, who were seated across from him at the table, exchanged looks whereas Essa chuckled at him, "Where you lost at, Zee?" He pointed his ice cream spoon at him, licking his lips as he continued, "They have been calling your name from a while now." He said and got back to savouring his ice cream.

"Urgh!" He locked his phone which was still under the table and squirmed in his seat, scratching his neck nervously, "I just zoned out I guess." He covered it up with his signature light hearted laugh, "What did I miss??" He asked sheepishly, sitting straight.

Areesha stared at him, apprehending his expressions while Burhaan put his hand around Maha who was sitting next to him, "Nothing much. We were just talking about this game we could play.." He appraised, side hugging her.