To live and to love

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How was he here? Did Waleed know Faizan? What in the world was happening?

"Shazi?"

"You're the guy from the coffee shop?" Waleed asked, his lips thinned into a line as he stared at Faizan.

Faizan stepped towards me, his gaze appreciative. "You look beautiful Shazi, just stunning!" Waleed tensed beside me, his posture rigid.

Faizan looked at him, his brows furrowed together. "Uh, have we met?"

"Is that the girl you're in love with?" The man who'd come in with Faizan loitered around the door, his gaze filled with curiosity.

"What?" The woman beside him shouted out, her eyes wide with disbelief.

"What?" Waleed snapped from beside me.

"Excuse me?" I sputtered out completely losing my balance and almost falling to the floor.

"Yes, and she's in love with me!"

I froze, utter shock rippling through me, shorting out all common sense. Shocked silence echoed throughout the room. The beautiful olive skinned woman huffed and stormed out of the room, nearly knocking out Viv in the process.

"Hey guys, the food's getting cold..." she stopped talking and looked at our group, all poised and ready to explode. "What is happening here?"

Snapping out of my stupor, I whirled to face her. "I need to sit down," I muttered feeling dizzy.

"Shazi, look I can explain-"

"Shut up Faizan."

"Look, I just pranked her. You know, how we used to do when we were seventeen? Don't take it so seriously," his laughter bounced off the spotless walls and I stared at him, disgust unraveling through me. "Don't look at me like that Shazi. It's not like I said anything wrong. I know that you've been in love with me ever since we were seventeen. Every single person told me that..."

Just when I thought this day could not get any worse.

Pain, so sharp and so real, cut through me. Something hot hit my veins and poured into my chest, filling up the empty space. My hands stopped trembling. The grip of panic and shock lessened, replaced by rage. "And yet you lead me on?"

"Shazi, you never said anything..."

"You asshole. You lead her on, destroyed her life, let her believe that you'd come back and now you have the audacity to say that you knew all along?" I strode forward to grab Viv's arm, willing her to stop, willing her to be aware of the people in the room.

Faizan tried to reach out to me, his hands coming up to rest on my arms and I recoiled from his touch, the heat of my humiliation building in me, brimming to the surface. "Stay away from me."

Waleed was by my side in an instant, his gaze unforgiving, his jaw set in a hard line. "Get out of my house," the guy who'd walked in with Faizan nodded, grabbing his arm and urging him to leave. "Now!"

Giving me one last lingering look, Faizan exited the room.

My head fell into my hands, my eyes burning, but the tears...they wouldn't come. I almost wished they would just so I could get some relief. What had he done? And why had he done this? Just to get rid of someone?

He'd made a joke of me!

What was he thinking? Worse, what was Waleed going to think?

Viv rubbed my shoulders. "Are you okay?" She asked, her voice low. I nodded as she stood up, walking out of the room to get me a glass of water.