Crushed and Created- Tangled series (Overprotective famous brothers)

Dubai

Pity, the exact thing I didn’t want. I didn’t need their pity; I didn’t need the world’s pity.

“See, that was quick.” I snapped back to Earth with Sohail’s voice. I nodded and thanked him, pulling the cover back up. The rest of the ride to the airport was silent, with Sam and Sohail talking in hushed voices. I stayed out of the conversation, I felt angry and irritated at everyone around. Better keep my mouth shut than get into trouble.

“Finally.” Sam breathed relief as we came to a halt outside the airport. My trouble had just started- paparazzi.

“Kill me now.” I repeated, wearing the sunglasses and picking up my bag. Getting down of the car, I kept my head low and walked with Mike as the reporters talked about my shopping trip and yesterday’s tweets. Both of them had caused quite a stir, and I hated the gossip-mongers for it. Only if I could ban all the gossip and make paparazzi illegal.

“Alisha, please!” a guy jumped in front of me, blocking my way and taking me by surprise.

“Come on.” I rolled my eyes and Mike shoved the guy away, and we got inside the airport security check. Paparazzi were not allowed beyond this area, but those cameras on phones weren’t less either. It was of course against the rules to use them in high security area, but nobody really cared about it.

“Not bad, we’re just on time for departure.” Arbaaz looked at his watch as he carried Arhaan. He was still sleeping, and I envied him for that.

“Carry me, let me sleep.” I spread my arms at Salman jokingly, but he actually picked me up like a baby swiftly, causing me to squeal. He chuckled and I snuggled into his jacket. If it weren’t for him half running and so many noises, I could have actually slept there.

We settled into our seat in a rush, and before I knew it we were in the air. Arbaaz was sitting beside me, and he was ready to get his phone out and get some work done.

“We’re on a vacation.” I reminded him and he frowned.

“Just one mail check?” he begged and I shook my head. I knew their work was important, but all of them needed a break. Checking mails, calling up and staying awake working would make this short trip worthless.

“Alright.” He handed me his blackberry and I smiled.

“So fill me up. We hardly got the time to talk yesterday.” Yeah, we didn’t. We didn’t get any time because I just locked myself in my room, and pleaded to be left alone for hours till I fell asleep with my bravery awards invite by my side. And then I had to wake up early to catch this flight. See why I liked private jets better?

“Nothing great. I just found out that arranging a school fest takes so much more than you can see.”

He smirked and I continued. Seriously, working with Being Human was easier because I knew what to do. I knew the organization, I knew the people and our jobs. But in the school fest, I had no idea about how to go about the entire thing. But then he was confident I could carry it off, and if he said so there had to be some observation or judgment behind it.

“And then someone is like they don’t feel like they belong in the school. Like I feel like it, but then we have to…”

“Pause.” He picked up a finger, catching my little slip. Oops. “What do you mean by you don’t feel like it?” he asked, concerned. The guys were always paranoid about my school life, and they weren’t wrong being. My school life had always invited problems over, and I was left devastated by many of them. But then I didn’t need them to constantly look out for me and trying to shelter me from the slightest of the breeze. I had to start being independent and mature enough to handle my problems on my own.

“It’s been a month since we started, how can it feel like home to me?” I took the easiest way out. It wasn’t a lie, it was just the half-truth. Alright, it was as bad as an entire lie, but I had no choice. The last thing I needed was to discuss my school.

My school. The school where the stupid rules hadn’t changed even after the attack that shattered our lives to the core. Bullies still bullied, haters still hated. It didn’t matter that we had been lucky to be even alive- they were just abusing their life again. Yes, a few had realized how precious life was, how precious the people around you are. They changed. A few on the other hand begun taking life as a joke, just a game. I couldn’t even hate them, in fact I pitied them. That was what events like the terror attack on us did to a person. You change, you change so much that you don’t even recognize your own reflection in the mirror. The person in the self-photos feels like a complete stranger.

School. A place where we all were supposed to be one, but now we were fighting and back-stabbing. In the world of girls, it was bitching about each other. In the guy world, it was physical fights. Give me the physical fights any day.

“You there?” Arbaaz waved his hand in front of my face and I got back to Earth.

“Yeah.” I yawned, digging deeper into my blanket.

“Come on.” He lifted by the arm rest so I could snuggle into him. “You should get some rest now.”

The last thing I remembered before sleeping was the movie scene we were playing, the scene where the baby reaches the zoo. Yes, we were totally watching ‘Baby’s day out’. Let’s admit it, it’s a classic.

I woke up a little before landing, thanks to the announcements in English and Arabic. Not that I understood Arabic, but then the green monkeys in my dream started speaking in Arabic, waking me up.

I looked at my side. Arbaaz was still asleep with his tablet in his hand. He would never give but on all the work he did. Frowning, I gently took it away and kept it into my bag before shaking him awake.

“Hmm?” he shifted to the other side, and I had to sniffle a laugh. He looked so innocent in his sleep, almost as cute as his son.

“We’re here.” I whispered as my family began shifting in their seats. Almost the entire first class was occupied by us and our staff.

“No.” he groaned and covered his eyes from the yellow lights. It was like we had switched roles right now.

“You can’t expect me to carry you now, can you?” I asked, adjusting my seatbelt for landing.

“Use all the invisible six pack you have.” He chortled even half-asleep and I rolled my eyes at him.

“I do not have six packs.” Ok, maybe I did have more muscle than normal girls, but I preferred to call it a toned and a fit body. I did not have six packs; I just had flat abs and strong muscles due to all the training we went through.

“Right.” He opened both his eyes and I shook my head. If nothing else, this senseless conversation helped me waking him up. He sat awake, buckling up himself and adjusting the seat for landing.

Landing on the international airport, I could not wait to get the hell out of this flight and into our home. Alright, Arbaaz’s and Malaika’s home, but we were used to call it ‘our’ home. My nickname for it was a palace, simply because it was huge and super-luxurious. At least that was what I felt before we shifted into our new home in Mumbai.

But back to the airport, we could hardly get out of the arrival area. The media coverage here was low, but the number of fans Salman had in the Middle East always took me by surprise. If it wasn’t for the airport security, they could have caused serious damage to us and themselves. Thankfully I was left out of the commotion this time, and I could get into the car pretty easily.

We were passing by the famous burj-al-arab, and I couldn’t help but gawk in wonder. Hello, Dubai.

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*sigh* now I wanna go to Dubai!

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