آفرین
𝐀𝐚𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧: 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠
noun: moonlight, something which is
full of beauty.
تُم جو کہتے ہو تو مان لیتے ہیں ،
کہ فرشتے ہی صِرف جان لیتے ہیں۔
- 𝗧𝘂𝗺 𝗷𝗼 𝗸𝗲𝗵𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗵𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝘂 𝗺𝗮𝗮𝗻 𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗻
𝗞𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗿𝗳 𝗷𝗮𝗮𝗻 𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗻.
• • •
THE NIGHT SEEMED TO AS IF HAD SLOWED DOWN FOR THE MAN DRIVING BESIDE ANABIYA, he was still finding it hard to believe that she really was right next to her.
He kept looking straight ahead with his stiff hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly that his hands had their veins prominent now. His lips flattened, and jaw clenched. Sweet Vanilla scent going through his nostrils. It seemed somewhat sensual. She was definitely a pleaser.
Anabiya peeked through her lowered eyelids to look at him. Sleeves folded till his elbows, wearing black shalwar Kameez and an expensive watch lying on his firm wrists. An austere look on his face.
Anabiya could feel her bones straining under the weight of the tension in the car.
"Kya umar hai tumhari?"
The tensity was finally revoked and she couldn't be more grateful for it. "19" she replied in an instant. To which Jalal took a prolonged deep breath before nodding his head slowly.
"A-ap Aisa karay, yahan kisi hotel Mein chor day mujhay." she replied in a meek voice and Jalal chuckled coldly at her statement.
"Abhi ghar jaye gay, phir jab dil karay hoteling kar Lena."
His reply made her confuse. "Kiskay ghar? Nahi mujhay kahin nahi jana. Aap please yahan kisi hotel chor day. Ya kahin drop karday, khud chali jaun gi" she looked at him with her desperate doe eyes.
"Larki ho, is tarah akelay nahi chor sakta. Baat suno meri, meray ghar tak thora sa hee safar hai. Phir wahan say kisi rishtedar kay pass chor kar aunga."
"Aap samjh nahi rahay na!" She replied in a barely audible and exasperated tone.
"Aap samjha do na" he said under his breath.
"Jee, ap nay kuch kaha?" She was puzzled. Aapki issi masoomiyat pey qurban hain hum, he thought to himself and shook his head negative with a small smile playing on his lips,
which Anabiya failed to notice as she was too busy watching the scenery outside the window under the moonlight.
Suddenly, the car stopped moving and halted with a grinding sound. "Pencho-" he managed to stop himself from completing the word and cleared his throat.
She looked at him with a questioning look in her eyes which he ignored and got out of the car slamming his door shut. Opening the bonnet of his car he had it completely figured out in seconds, Faulty battery.
Ab kya karna hai. His phone wasn't showing proper signals to make a call so Jalal Shah asked Anabiya for her phone. She nodded and turned to grab her phone only to find it missing.
"Jaldi karo larki, phone kahan hai?" He asked her in a irritated tone. "P-pata nahi, sath lekar tau ai thi" she replied in a small, panicked voice.
He clicked his tongue in disappointment. Anabiya on the other hand felt like crying. She'd never been this careless. She must've lost it while running from Batoor Khan. She had nothing to help herself with. Little amount of money but there was no public transportation at sight.
Jalal saw her eyes welling up with water and could feel his chest tightened. "Yahin hoga, theek say dekho?" he asked her softly. "Nahi hai, wo peechay rastay Mein bhaag rahi thi na? Udhar phenk diya." She croaked.
"Gari khuli hui hai, roshni sirf kuch hee ghanton Mein hojayegi, phir kisi say madad lekar chalay jaye gay. Tum seat peechay kar lo, Mein bahir hun tab tak."
She could only nod her head on this. It was cold outside, she wanted to stop him but she was aware she wouldn't be able to rest with his sulking presence.
The man slammed the car door shut after grabbing his shawl from the backseat. It only took her 10 peaceful minutes till she dozed off to sleep.
Jalal shah had been walking around in those minutes. It had turned out to be more chilly than he had imagined. He took out his cigarette packet and lit one before dragging it to his lips and taking a long kash.
His gaze went towards his car unintentionally.
She had fallen asleep after covering herself completely. She hadn't forgotten to lock the doors, not that he didn't have the keys, but it was very thoughtful of her. He let out a throaty chuckle.
He moved towards a tree on a distance with the car. He leaned against it on the ground and could perfectly look at her under the light of moonlight.
He started thinking about this whole situation. It took him calculated 4-5 seconds to know it was her through her voice. He could've guessed it a million times. It was almost impossible to forget her voice as it kept on haunting him for days.
He kept on looking at her sleeping self for hours till he finally got up after giving his legs a break. Jitna bhi dekhu lagta hai kam hai. Ya rab teri yeh anaiyat waqai hee bay mol hai.
His phone next to him ringed for the umpteenth time. Hassan had been calling for hours now. He smiled down at his phone, this kid really took his job seriously.
He could've easily attended the call and called Hassan at their location but something told him that she really needed this sleep.
He further delayed for 5mins before opening his car door with keys. The rustling sound was loud but that still wasn't enough to wake the vixen on the passenger seat. His hands itched to touch her, her chadar had somehow moved from its original place and was lightly uncovering her face but he wasn't that weak.
He cleared his throat and still no response. She really was a heavy sleeper. He opened his door only to slam it shut again but with a strong force this time.
The girl got up in an instant.
She turned towards him and took in his form. The man was looking straight ahead on the road as he informed her that a car was arriving for them and they were finally leaving
He had texted Hassan, Jalal Shah had left without his guards many times, but every time it managed to irk the hell out of Hassan. He always advised his boss to take a few guards with him which Jalal Shah always ignored.
Two cars came in exactly ten minutes. Jalal got out and started giving everyone orders.
About 3 minutes later Hassan came out to Anabiya's side. "Ma'am ap samnay wali prado Mein chalay, sir bas arahay hain." He informed her with a respectful tone.
She nodded before leaving the car and walking towards the other car. The front door was opened for her by a guard standing next to the car. Seeing so many armed men, it didn't take her long to figure out that he certainly was some kind of powerful figure.
Soon Jalal came in to sit next to her, he inserted a key in the ignition and roared the engine to life.
With one hand tightly gripping the steering wheel and another on the gear shift, he had efficiently managed to influence Anabiya.
کسے بتاتے کے منظر نگاہ میں کیا تھا۔
- 𝖪𝗂𝗌𝗌𝖺𝗒 𝖻𝖺𝗍𝖺𝗍𝖺𝗒 𝗄𝖺𝗒 𝗆𝖺𝗇𝗓𝖺𝗋 𝖾 𝗇𝗂𝗀𝖺𝗁 𝗆𝖾𝗂𝗇 𝗄𝗒𝖺 𝗍𝗁𝖺
❏❏❏
Noor woke up to loud screams of Gul bano Bhabhi. She quickly threw her quilt away and went downstairs. With everyone gathered down it was hard to not figure out the whole problem.
Gul bano saw her Noor and quickly went to her. She dug her manicured nails into her arms. "kidhar hai wo? jawab do mujay!"
"Paregda ché zmm Gul bano bhabhi!." [let me go.] she snatched her arm back. Blood droplets were running down her arms.
Agha Zaeem Khan felt as if his years of respect had been snatched away in a second. He was livid.
He came in the haveli and Gul bano leaped towards him. "Baba, heghwa d khebero neh aneka r okeṛ!" [they refuse to talk].
He saw noor behind her mother and gripped her hand tightly before dragging her out in the middle. Noor had imagined a 100 situations of today but none of them revolved around her getting killed. This was definitely bad. She wiped her tears roughly as she heard her mother screaming for mercy.
Agha Zaeem Khan started abusing loudly and the whole haveli went silent. No one intervened. No one had the authority to do so.
He raised his hand high to slap her when a strong hand of Daryab Khan gripped it in air.
"Baba!" Daryab Khan roared out as if warning.
He was finally here. As soon as he had been informed about Anabiya running away he had immediately come back home. Gul bano screeched at him to let their Baba hit Noor, but one hard stare from Daryab Khan was enough to mute her in fear.
"Dil, chachi kamray Mein jao" Daryab Khan bit out his words. Noor was still awestruck.
"Jao!"
That definitely bought her back out of daze, she turned her attention to her mother pulling her towards the staircase. She rushed to her room along with her mother.
❏❏❏
Jalal Shah stopped his car outside a fancy looking restaurant. Anabiya looked at him "mujhay bhook nahi hai." After the journey she had finally let her walls down, grown comfortable around him.
"Mujhay tau hai, Bethi raho yahan ya beshak ajao sath."
He dismissively informed her and got out of the car. He entered but made sure to stand near the door of the restaurant for a few minutes as if waiting for her next step and as soon as he heard the car door unlock he smirked.
He asked the person on the counter to call their manager. Ahmed was his school fellow. As soon as Jalal Alam Shah was dropped out of school he refused to study further. It wasn't that he couldn't pursue his studies, he just became more interested in land work.
He had left school but his friends made sure to contact him every time, either for some help or to check in on him. His contacts included people from highest ranks, all of them were as if bought by him. Either it be the police forces or the political parties.
Ahmed rushed out of his office after being informed by his assistant. "Kee gal ae Sardar ji, aj tau baray log aye hain hamaray ghareeb khanay!" Ahmed complained to which Jalal Shah chuckled.
"Gharwalo kay sath aya tha, kha kar chalay jatay par socha, banda aamad ki itlaah tau deta hai." He replied back in his deep accent.
"100 bismillah Sardar sahab, pehli dafa aye ho. Apnay jigar ko behtareen jagah aur khana khilaunga."
Jalal nodded at Ahmed as if signalling and Ahmed asked the waiters to take Anabiya to the vip, secluded area as soon as she had entered the frame after using the restroom.
The low lit lights and the voice of the live qawali session going on made the whole atmosphere, serene. Jalal made her sit on the chair with the back towards the other people in the restaurant indulged in their food. Leaving her sight to be filled with his self only.
He had already informed Ahmed to bring in few of their best dishes. Something had told him that she wouldn't really be a fan of eating.
As soon as the table started filling up with the dishes Anabiya was left confused. She didn't have enough money to pay for all of this.
Jalal Shah looked at her for 2-3 minutes and after he had learned that she wasn't comfortable to let her chadar loose in front of him and start eating, he got up and left towards Ahmed.
As soon he left Anabiya took in that moment as her cue to start eating. She was famished. Everything seemed so delicious so she had tried a little amount of everything. She continued devouring unaware of Jalal Shah looking at her from a distance with a little smile on his face.
This was new for her, she had never been to a restaurant to dine in. Still, she was trying all her best to look all prim and proper whilst eating. People from elite classes were here wearing clothes that disturbed her. The reading being her completely covered from head to toes in a beige coloured shawl, now that she was thinking about it, her attention shifted to her clothes. The frock definitely had to get changed.
She mentally facepalmed her consciousness, she wasn't in an holiday for gods sake. Pata nahi ghar Mein kya horaha hoga Abhi. Ya Allah meray ghar walon ko apni hifazat Mein Lena. She quickly prayed for her family's wellbeing before taking a sip of the mango juice.
"Janab, ap nay kuch nahi Lena?" Ahmed noticed jalal Shah staring at the girl intently and spoke out.
"Aisa kar, doodh patti mangwa day ya koi thandi si lassi." Jalal replied back in a refreshed mood. Ahmed shook his head feigning disappointment. How typical of him.
"Sardar sahab, aisay hattay kattay mard ho. Itni behtareen dishes hain, magar ap nay phir b lassi hee peeni hai" he joked
"Kya karay jani, paindu log hai ham. Inhi cheezon say bhook khatam kar letay hain." He played along. It was a lie which Ahmed was aware of.
Everything about Jalal Alam Shah screamed rich.
He had tried everything, every dish, sports, luxury and had no regrets regarding them. Legal or illegal, halal or haram. He had lost count of things years ago.
Jalal gulped the strong cup of doodh Patti, and placed the 40k cheque on Ahmed's table which Ahmed refused to take initially but Jalal forced him into taking it and hugged him goodbye. He then finally made his way towards the table where he had left a part of himself.
Like he had assumed, her tiny physique couldn't take more than a sparrow's fill. She had tried everything but in a very little amount.
He cleared his throat and Anabiya quickly fixed herself, becoming aware of his presence behind her back. "Chalain?" He asked her in his baritone voice which only took her a second to reply "chalain."
واللہّ کیا کشش تھی کہ مت پوچھیئے صاحب
مجھ سے یہ دل لڑ پڑا ، مجھے یہ شخص چاہئیے۔
- 𝖶𝖺𝗅𝗅𝖺𝗁 𝗄𝗒𝖺 𝗄𝖺𝗌𝗁𝗂𝗌𝗁 𝗍𝗁𝗂 𝗄𝖺𝗒 𝗆𝖺𝗍 𝗉𝗈𝖼𝗁𝗂𝗒𝖾 𝗃𝖺𝗇𝖺𝖻
𝖬𝗎𝗃𝗁 𝗌𝖺𝗒 𝗒𝖾𝗁 𝖽𝗂𝗅 𝗅𝖺𝗋 𝗉𝖺𝗋𝖺, 𝗆𝗎𝗃𝗁𝖺𝗒 𝗒𝖾𝗁 𝗌𝗁𝖺𝗄𝗌 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗁𝗂𝗒𝖾.
(unedited)
• • •