You want me, I want you, baby
My sugarboo, I'm levitating
The Milky Way, we're renegading
Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah...
"Ugh, for god's sake." Mashal slammed her book close in anger, her ears were feeling numb with how loud the song was played. She walked towards her windows and pulled her curtains open as she stared at the house across theirs. It was a beautiful two-story house. They lived in a dead-end of the street and theirs was the last two houses. Others were situated a few minutes away.
How cool. Mashal thought when they first moved in here a week ago. She loved her peace and silence. And had sighed in relief thinking she had gotten rid of all those gossip aunties they used to have back at their old home. But she certainly did not expect to get this annoyingly loud neighbour though.
Was he deaf or what?
Gossip aunties seemed much better... No, that might be an exaggeration. Gossip aunties are never better but she might as well consider them to be one in front of these insensitive ones, who had no consideration of others. What did he think? Playing songs in such high volumes? She could hear it from there to here. How the heck was she supposed to prepare for her interview if he's going to be so loud and annoying?
Having enough of the nonsense, she marched downstairs and shut her ears close as the noise invaded her ears more and more.
Meher, her sixteen years old sister was singing along with the neighbour's song, which has now changed into, Charlie Puth's; we don't talk anymore.
Her 5'5 figure looked funny as she swayed her hips to the rhythm, making her ponytail bounce along.
"We don't talk anymore..." Her sister screamed like a pig, "like we used to do." The voice was even louder this time. Gross.
"You sound so awful, stop." Mashal made a face before walking out of the main door. Meher followed her behind, curiously.
Her mother has gone shopping something and father was at work, leaving them both alone, otherwise, she'd have asked her father to go and have a nice little chat with that insensitive neighbour, who has still not stopped playing loud music. She must have hummed along, if and only if there wasn't an important interview tomorrow regarding which she was hell nervous.
"God, I feel like breaking his speakers down." She grumbled annoyedly while wearing her slippers and stridden towards the opposite house.
"How do you know it's a he?" Meher asked, with raised brows while walking along with her.
Mashal turned pink at that question. She may or not have peeked out of her bedroom windows at times and watched her neighbour. Especially that guy, who looked too good for his own good. If she blushed for a second, she hid it well and made a poker face instead.
"Go back to home, what if someone came in our absence. Where is your dupatta? Papa is not going to like it if he sees you coming out looking like this." She told off her sister, instead of admitting how she creepily knows a little too much about the handsome neighbour, no scratch that, he's an annoying neighbour now. But hot nevertheless.
Meher just rolled her eyes in response. Yes, rolled her eyes.
The audacity of kids these days. Mashal shook her head at the disrespect.
"Fine, grandma. I'll go. Don't get beaten up or something," her sister joked mockingly and ran off into their home and stood at the threshold of the door, eager to see what Mashal was up to. Little Meher was a gossip queen herself and she's always eager for dramas.
Mashal gave her the stink eye before trying to look intimidating, he may be a handsome dude but he's going on the black list if he plays such loud songs. Her ears are feeling like they'd lose the power to hear anytime soon as she stood outside the neighbour's door. She was sceptical about her spontaneous decision of coming here like this, before finally ringing the bell.
I've been running through the jungle
I've been running with the wolves
To get to you, to get to you
I've been down the darkest alleys
Saw the dark side of the moon
To get to you, to get to you...
Selena Gomez' wolves song played loudly as someone opened the door, staring down at her. The distance from her window failed to make her realize how tall this dude in front of her was.
Because oh my freaking god, he's so tall. Mashal gulped before bringing back that poker face. Which she highly doubt was poker anymore. Handsome guys made her fluster. This one looked too good. She waited so long to have a closer look at his face, now that she has seen him, her heart began to act weird.
With just his khaki pants and black checked shirt, which fit his body oh so perfectly, he looked like someone straight out of the runway. Did she mention the first two buttons were undone? Also the muscles. Gosh, so many muscles.
Astaghfirullah, she told her off inwardly for the hundredth time and cleared her throat, trying to act intimidating in front of this 5'11 handsome guy. Regretting her decision of not listening to her mother's advice of jumping the rope.
It probably helps you grow taller it seems. She was too lazy to do that in the younger days and still was. Ha, who cares if she was just 5'3? But at this moment she certainly did.
"Are you going to talk something or not?" The guy interrupted her inner thoughts annoyedly, flustering her more.
I've been running through the jungle
I've been running with the wolves... Continued to blaze in the background, reminding Mashal of why she came here in the first place.
"How about toning it down a little, mister? Are you freaking deaf or what? You're disturbing the whole neighbourhood. Hello? Eyes up here," she told him off as he eyed her from head to toe with his gorgeous black eyes. From when did black eyes begin to look so good? Her cheeks turned more bright.
"Who are you?" Mashal opened her mouth and closed it again, feeling slightly speechless because God damn, he sounded so good. Like one of those soothing male singers. Why didn't she noticed it before?
Because you were too busy ogling at him. Again. Mocked her inner self. Clearing her throat, she frowned at him slightly, "your neighbour." How could he not notice her in the past one week?
All she did was only notice him!
"I live across you, and you're disturbing me. I'm studying something and can't concentrate much with such loud music," she slightly glared at him for the effects. Trying to maintain the intimidating role. Otherwise, a 5'3 feet woman, yelling at you would certainly look funny. At least she thought she would. But her pink cheeks made all her efforts to go in vain.
Mashal expected him to do many things at that moment, but not slam the door on her face, she blinked twice before opening her mouth to argue but what the freaking hell? She couldn't believe his audacity. She felt hurt!
How can one be so damn rude? But the music died down almost immediately. He did turn it down after all. With a huff, she turned around and walked towards her house in disbelief, only to watch her sister burst out laughing at her,
"Yeah, enough. Remember, I am the one giving you rides to school. Behave!" Meher just laughed more before walking inside the kitchen while Mashal was still in astonishment, no one has ever been so rude with her. Leave about rude, it was humiliating if anything. Who does that?
And why are all handsome guys the douche ones?
Frustrated, she walked upstairs and slammed her door just like how he did to her. And kicked the baseball that lied on her way, "Harry, how can he do like that?"
Her sister's Persian white cat blinked twice before playing with the baseball and running along with it, almost not giving a damn to her. Cats just don't care about you unless they want something. Mashal huffed feeling furious.
How can he do that?
"Papa, you know what that rude person opposite our house did today?" Mashal stated the first thing as her father entered the home after a tiring day at work that evening, her mother and sister groaned from the kitchen.
Meher ran towards Arsalaan to take his laptop bag, "that's going to be the third time you're going to say the same thing all over again, papa just came back. Spare him,"
Mashal ignored her like she never spoke anything and continued to narrate everything with her father, who looked amused and a little angry, but he composed himself well as they took a seat on the sofa, "can I get a glass of water first?" He spoke while removing his first two buttons and loosened his tie and before he even finished that line, his wife handed him his glass of water, "here, go stir the pan," Malaika smacked her daughter's head, who walked away with a sulking face.
"Thank you, sweetheart." Arsalaan winked at his wife and heard the usual fake gag from Meher, "papa, your little daughter is still here," He just smiled smugly at her before placing a lingering kiss on his wife's face, who flushed hard as he made her sit beside him and placed his hands on her shoulder. Even if she blushed, their mother didn't seem to mind the kiss or his public display of affection. Meher laughed at them before going back to whatever she was doing. She makes fun of them just to see these little reactions every now and then.
Even after twenty five years of marriage, they both were so in love. Madly and crazily kind of love.
Mashal watched this scene from the kitchen and smiled to herself, her parents defined true love for her. They were just so precious. For a moment she almost forgot all about that rude neighbour who is so annoyingly hot.
But why the hell was she finding it difficult to just forget him in the first place, damn it? She groaned to herself before continuing to stir the side dish.
"Papa, she's still sulking over that." Meher said with a chuckle, as they ate dinner that night.
Arsalaan eyed his daughter and smiled to himself, even at twenty-two, she behaves so childishly sometimes, "that guy did turn off the music, let it go, Mashal."
"But he also slammed the door on my face," Mashal couldn't get herself to forget that incident, it was all she could think about the whole day and that made her angrier if anything, because she needs to prepare for an interview. Damn it.
"I've heard that line for like hundred times today, papa." Meher groaned, whilst gulping her juice, "did you feed Harry?" She asked her sister with a raised brows, "he's your cat, you feed him." Mashal counter replied, and ate her pasta annoyedly, the thought of not getting selected for an interview made her feel restless. Because she has always excelled in everything so far and not doing well in something makes her feel very weird. She was not very used to failures and hardships. Growing up with silver spoon kind of does that to you.
How to get selected in an interview. Mashal googled it that night as she sipped her fifth cup of coffee, feeling anxious and quite nervous. It was almost close to midnight and she hadn't slept a wink. With a sigh, she walked towards her window and pulled her curtains away and her eyes gets glued to the guy, who stood on his balcony. Shirtless and sad.
Her cheeks flushed as she closed it back and turned around. Her heart began to beat frantically as she recollected his shirtless state. So many muscles.
Ugh. Stop it, Mashal.
"Why are the handsome guys so douche?" She whined to herself again.
But he looked so sad, her curious heart couldn't take it any longer and she opened her curtains again to have another look at him, and to her dismay, he wasn't there. Disappointment engulfed heart as she closed the curtains back.
Why was she so bothered about him anyway?
A huff left her lips as she sipped her coffee again and sulked to herself. The fact was, in a week's span of time, she has developed an unknown crush on that handsome guy which she herself wasn't aware of it, to be begin with. She couldn't get herself to avert her gaze all this while and the encounter which happened in the morning has left her very heartbroken. She felt it very frustrating that she had no one to share these feelings so openly with.
What if they judged her? She hated to be judged.
She thought it was humiliating to be treated that way and that's how she found herself disliking that rude and handsome stranger, who was so annoyingly hot. She vowed to herself to never cross paths with him ever again, but fate had different plans anyway.
It always did.