When I see her,
the feelings in my frozen heart
Start to blossom into beautiful flowers
like the warm spring.
When I see her, I keep laughing.
When I see her, my heart flutters.
If I'm happy, then it's only because of her.
But my happiness doesn't last long
As my eyes fall on him,
Her beloved.
Whenever I see her looking at him
With those love-filled eyes,
My heart shatters,
Making me face the harsh reality.
I couldn't help but cry out,
'Why me?
Why does my fate always stand on the opposite side?
Why?!'
~ Imraan.
■■■
"Have you seen Ayana? She's not in her room."
Taking her seat at the breakfast table, Mrs. Malik asked her youngest son.
"She went out a long time back."
Ayyan replied while pouring juice on his glass.
"Went out? This early?"
Mrs. Malik repeated with a frown. Ayana was supposed to go late to the hospital today.
"There must be an emergency from the hospital. That's why she didn't inform you."
From her side, Mr. Malik said.
"No. She didn't go to the hospital."
Ayyan informed them.
"She went to meet Zaid. And from there, she will go to the hospital."
"Zaid? Why?"
Ayyan shrugged.
Just then Reeha climbed down the staircase getting ready to go to work.
"We are getting late. See you guys in the evening."
Finishing his breakfast, Ayyan went out to get his car out whereas Reeha went to her in-laws.
"Allah Hafiz, mom and dad."
"Allah Hafiz. Drive safely."
Mr. and Mrs. Malik simultaneously said.
Once Reeha and Ayyan went away, Mr. Malik asked his wife, who was looking lost in her thoughts.
"What happened, Numa? What are you thinking so deeply?"
"That guy… Zaid… don't you find his family weird?"
Mrs. Malik looked at her husband.
Zaid was the engineer guy whom Ayana met last week because of Mrs. Malik. And to Mrs. Malik's surprise, Ayana liked the guy.
"Weird?"
Mr. Malik confusedly asked.
"Don't you like Zaid?"
"No. I do like him. He is well-mannered, has a stable job, good looking, and is a gentleman but… but his mother…"
Mrs. Malik stopped a bit before continuing,
"You saw what happened yesterday, right? After that, I don't know why but I don't get a good feeling about this alliance anymore."
"Did you talk about it with Ayana?"
Softly Mr. Malik asked.
"She said I am overthinking. "
Mrs. Malik nodded.
"Maybe you are overthinking."
"I don't know. I really hope I'm wrong."
Mrs. Malik sighed.
"After so long, I saw her genuinely liking someone. I don't want anything to go wrong. Not this time. She suffered a lot. I don't want her to suffer anymore."
"She won't, In Sha Allah. Have faith in Allah."
Side hugging her, Mr. Malik said whereas Mrs. Malik nodded whispering,
"In Sha Allah."
♧♧♧
"Here."
Spotting her son on the breakfast table working on his laptop, Sherebano Quraish kept an envelope over the table.
"What's this?"
Moving his eyes from the screen, he looked at the envelope.
"See for yourself."
"Don't tell me it's the girls' pictures."
Narrowing his eyes, Imraan spoke.
"It is. I chose a couple of-"
"Maa, please. Not again."
Cutting her off, Imraan whined.
"What not again? At least see the pictures."
Sherebano Quraish frowned. She was fed up with trying to persuade him to marry.
"I won't. Why are you after my marriage?"
Getting up, he put his hands on his mother's shoulder.
"I'm happy the way I'm now."
"But I'm not happy. I'm not happy seeing you like this. You completely became a workaholic. Let alone spending time, this week, I barely got to see your face."
Sherebano Quraish frustratingly said.
"How long? How long are you going to be like this? How long are you going to lament over… her?"
"I'm not-"
"You are! You are just acting like you are alright. But you are not. You haven't moved on. From her."
Mrs. Quraish cut him off.
"And from what I see, you have no intention of moving on from her."
Imraan looked away.
"Yesterday, you saw her, right? You saw how happy she is with her husband and her in-laws. She is happy in her new life. It was clearly evident on her face."
Taking a breath, Mrs. Quraish held Imraan's face and made him look at her.
"My dear, you need to move on from her. You need to let her go from your heart. Can't you see, she has moved on. And you too need to move on if you don't want to hurt yourself more."
"I know, son. I know it's not easy. It is hard… difficult… painful but you need to do it. You need to let her go."
Softly, Mrs. Quraish said.
"Stop fooling yourself with the thought that she's going to come back. She won't come back. So stop foolishly hoping for her to come back."
Imraan looked at his mother with hurt and embarrassment. Hurt because whatever his mother said was the truth… the harsh reality. And embarrassment because his mother was right. No matter how much he denied it, deep down in his heart, he was hoping… and maybe is still hoping for her to come back to him.
"I won't force you for marriage nor will I force you to meet someone. But I want you to move on. And for that, I'll do everything."
Saying sternly, she went away leaving Imraan behind with his messed up thoughts.
♧♧♧
As soon as it was 8 am, Imraan got up and then, taking his laptop, he was about to go out of the villa for his office when he saw Mr. Quraish getting down from upstairs.
"Assalamualaikum, uncle!"
Going towards him, he greeted.
"Waalaikumussalam!"
Eyeing the laptop and the bag, Mr. Quraish said,
"Leaving for office?"
"Yeah."
Opening his bag, Imraan pulled out a bunch of paper.
"About the new project, I have written the-"
"Don't."
Imraan was cut off by Mr. Hakim Quraish.
"Huh?"
"Forget about the new project."
"What? Why?"
Confusedly Imraan looked at his uncle.
"You liked my idea. So why are you now rejecting it?"
"I do like your idea. The project is new and unique but…"
Mr. Quraish looked at him pitifully.
"… it's a risky one too. The investors, they didn't agree. They won't invest."
"But they already signed the agreement."
Like a child, Imraan retorted. That project is his dream. He has a lot of hope for it.
"You are not new in this field to not know that they can back down anytime."
Mr. Quraish lightly patted Imraan's back.
"I tried. But they aren't ready to take such a risk. They won't invest. I'm sorry."
"I'll convince them. I'll arrange another meeting. Maybe last time my presentation wasn't good enough but this time I'll-"
Desperately Imraan said.
"-I'll convince them."
"Imraan!"
This time Mr. Quraish strictly said.
"Forget about that project."
"But, uncle-"
"Focus on the current one."
Closing his eyes, Imraan forcefully nodded before dashing out of the Villa.
Seeing Imraan coming outside, Adil, his secretary, quickly opened the back door of the car not before greeting him.
Instead of getting inside, Imraan forwarded his hand.
"Key?"
"Sir, are you going to drive?"
Adil asked only to get a glare from Imraan.
"The key. Give it."
This time Imraan said loudly. Immediately Adil handed over the key to him.
Taking the key from him, Imraan sat in the driver's seat and then started the car.
"Come by bus or cab."
Saying Imraan drove away making Adil curse him. After all, that car was Adil's only ride to the office.
♧♧♧
"Ms. Ayana!"
Spotting Ayana, Zaid waved his hand.
"Sorry to make you wait. There was a lot of traffic."
Sitting on the chair, Ayana apologized.
Last week, when her mother told her to meet Zaid, she was determined to scare him like the previous ones but after meeting him, she realized how easy-going and genuine he is.
Instantly they bonded well. Although his looks are average, he still is a charmer. But what Ayana liked about him was his genuineness and soft nature.
"It's alright."
With a smile, Zaid said.
"Let's order first."
"Sure."
After ordering their food, Zaid looked at Ayana.
"About what happened yesterday, I'm really sorry. I didn't know my mom would do something like that. I swear, I didn't know she would …"
Zaid stopped before resuming,
"If I knew, I wouldn't have let her go to your house."
Zaid said, embarrassedly.
"Gosh! I'm so embarrassed."
Yesterday suddenly Zaid's mom visited the Malik Mansion. That too with a ring. While chatting with the Maliks, she expressed that she didn't want to wait and wanted Zaid and Ayana to get engaged. An embarrassed Zaid tried to stop his mother, but she was stubborn to get them engaged then and there. After much persuading from everyone including Mrs. Malik, at last Zaid's mom stopped her stubbornness.
"It's alright. You don't need to be embarrassed."
Ayana softly spoke.
"Honestly, it was a bit uncomfortable. I mean we barely know each other, our family and now suddenly rushing for marriage, it's not…"
"I understand."
Zaid said before adding,
"You don't need to wear that ring. It must be uncomfortable."
Eyeing the ring on Ayana's hand, Zaid said.
Yesterday before leaving, Zaid's mother gave Ayana the ring saying that she'd be delighted if Ayana wore it. And not being able to refuse her request, Ayana accepted the ring.
"Oh, it's okay. I don't want to disrespect her by not wearing it."
"You are too good."
After a while, Zaid said, making Ayana smile.
♧♧♧
After having their breakfast, Zaid offered.
"Let me drop you."
"No. There's no need for that. I brought my car."
Sipping her coffee, Ayana refused.
"You sure?"
"Yeah. But thanks for the offer."
Once they were done having their coffee, Zaid stood up to go to the cash counter to pay when Ayana also stood up.
"I'll pay for my breakfast."
Ayana said.
"Not happening. I want to pay for both of us."
"But-"
"As I called you over so I'll pay. You can pay next time."
Cutting her off, Zaid said.
"You can go outside. I'm coming after paying."
Without waiting for her reply, Zaid went to the cash counter.
Ayana smiled to herself and then started walking towards the exit while looking at her phone. Just when she opened the door, she bumped into someone.
"Ouch!"
She heard the other person hissing.
"I'm sorry. I didn't-"
She stopped as she looked up at the familiar man whom she bumped into.
"You!"
Imraan, who came to the cafe to get his coffee, narrowed his eyes.
"What are you doing here?"
"This is a cafe. And if you have a tiny brain inside your head then you would realize why I'm here."
Sarcastically Ayana said.
"Don't you think I deserve an apology?"
Ignoring her remark, Imraan said.
"Apology? For what?"
"For that stupid bag of yours…"
Eyeing her bag, he continued.
"… for which I am now labeled as the bag slapped man."
"Well, you should be thankful for that. I mean my bag practically made nobody like you famous."
Ayana snickered.
"A n-nobody?"
Imraan took a breath to calm himself.
"Woman, you don't know who you are messing with."
"I don't want to know."
With her hand, Ayana indicated Imraan to move.
"Now please excuse me. I don't have time to chat with you."
"Hah! Even I don't have time to have useless conversations with a useless person like you."
Imraan retorted back.
"Useless? Did you just call me useless?"
Clenching her hand, Ayana glared at him.
"Oh my! I didn't know that you have hearing problems. Should I recommend you to a doctor?"
Imraan smirked at her, making her fume.
"You-"
Before Ayana could insult him back, Zaid came.
"What happened?"
Cluelessly Zaid looked at Imraan.
"Mister, who are you?"
"He's a nobody."
Ayana replied before elaborating,
"Just an annoying person with an annoying face because of whom my whole day is ruined now."
"Well, Miss thanks to your irritating face, my whole day along with the whole night is now ruined."
Looking at Zaid, he added,
"Mister, you seem like a nice guy, so I'm giving you a free advice."
Leaning towards Zaid's ear, Imraan whispered.
"Your girlfriend is a mental patient. If you don't want to go crazy with her, then break up with her."
"Excuse me! I can clearly hear you!"
Gritting her teeth, Ayana said.
"And I'm not his girl- whatever. Why am I even wasting my time talking with you?"
"Mr. Zaid, please let's go. I don't want to spend a second here."
Saying Ayana went out of the cafe as Zaid followed her confusedly.
♧♧♧
Going inside his cabin, Imraan ordered his assistance.
"Stella, tell Adil to come to my cabin."
"Sir, Mr. Adil hasn't come yet."
Stella informed.
Frowning, Imraan nodded.
"Send him here as soon as he comes."
"Okay, sir."
"You can go now."
As soon as Stella left the cabin, Imraan engaged himself with his laptop.
A couple of minutes later, he heard a knock.
"Sir, may I come in?"
From the other side, Adil knocked.
"Come in."
As soon as Adil entered the cabin, Imraan frowned at him.
"Why are you late?"
"I'm sorry, sir."
Adil said and then mumbled audibly enough for Imraan to listen.
"Someone didn't take me with him today so I had to take the bus all the way here."
Poor guy had to change buses three times to reach the office.
"Contact the KSH firm and book an appointment."
Ignoring Adil's remark, Imraan authoritatively said.
"I want to give them the work of the farmhouse."
"Okay, sir."
Nodding, Adil was about to leave when Imraan called him.
"Adil."
"Yes, sir?"
"Do you have any dinner plans tonight?"
Without looking at him, Imraan asked.
"Not really. Why?"
Gloomily, Adil looked at him. He was still pissed off at his boss to leave him like that.
"Good then. Because we are gonna have a feast tonight."
"Feast?"
"The dinner is on me."
Imraan placed his card at the table.
"Choose whatever you want."
"Really?"
Adil's eyes shined as he swiftly took the card.
"You may leave now."
Nonchalantly Imraan said. Nodding happily, Adil left the cabin, making Imraan smile at his reaction.
♧♧♧
"What exactly happened to him?"
Ayana asked the 4 years old boy's parents who brought the boy to the hospital.
"He was playing with a ball in the hall when suddenly he slipped and fell on his right side. And since then he hasn't been able to move his right hand."
The mother of the boy cried.
"Please do something."
"Okay."
Ayana nodded before looking back at the boy.
"Does it hurt when I press here?"
Lightly Ayana pressed his right arm making him yelp in pain.
"It's alright. Take a deep breath."
Ayana instructed the child. As the boy took a deep breath, he cried out.
"What happened? Does it hurt when you breathe?"
Instead of replying, the boy simply cried.
"Did you see him falling directly on his hand? Did he perhaps hit his chest on a hard surface or something?"
Looking at the parents Ayana asked.
"No. I wasn't there at that time. But I heard a loud cracking sound after he fell."
The father of the boy replied.
"Judging from his condition, I think he might have fractured his arm."
Ayana nodded before saying.
"We need to do an X-ray of his heart as well to check."
"Please do something and stop his pain."
The mother begged.
"Don't worry. We'll take the necessary measures. Let's get the X-ray done first."
Then looking at the nurse, Ayana ordered,
"Give him some painkillers for now."
After talking with Ayana for a couple more minutes, the parents went to the x-ray room with the nurse. As soon as they left, she looked at the clock and then messaged Deira. After getting a reply, she went out of her cabin.
♧♧♧
After checking up on his patients, Saad entered his cabin. As soon as he turned on the light, sounds of crackers were heard.
"CONGRATULATIONS!!!"
His two best friends shouted from both sides, making him close his eyes at such loud noise.
"Gosh! Are you guys trying to make me deaf?"
"Congratulations on becoming the head of the cardiologist department!"
Ayana said as she burst another cracker whereas Deira put the cake on the table before slapping his back,
"I'm so proud of you, BFF."
"Thank you, guys."
Saad said with an appreciative smile. He was so glad to have them as his friend and colleagues.
"Time to cut the cake!"
Deira yelled before handing the knife to Saad.
As soon as Saad cut the cake, from the corner of his eyes he saw two hungry wolves in the form of his friends trying to eat the cake from both sides. Immediately he grabbed them by their cheeks.
"Ouch!"
The girls yelped in pain as Saad pinched their cheeks.
"Back off you wolves. It's mine."
Narrowing his eyes, Saad said, making them frown.
Then grinning, he gracefully cut a piece of cake.
"My yummy cake!"
Ayana and Deira looked at each other before smirking. Just when Saad was about to put the cake in his mouth, the girl pushed his face on the piece of cake making it smash on his face.
"What a foundation!"
"Looking handsome!"
The girls said simultaneously before cracking up.
"Three seconds."
Somehow opening his eyes covered with creams, Saad dangerously said.
"You guys have three seconds to run."
"1."
"Saad, we were just joking!"
Deira nervously said.
"2."
"Come on, Saad. Don't be a party pooper. We were-"
Saad glared at Ayana who immediately shut up.
"3."
Quickly grabbing the rest of the cake, the girls run out of the cabin to save their precious lives.
♧♧♧
At night
Hearing the doorbell, Adil got up from his bed and almost ran to open the door to get his pizza.
"My piz-"
Instead of the delivery guy, another person was holding the pizza box with a smile.
"Hi!"
Before Adil could close the door when the other person barged into his house.
"Why are you here?"
Frowning Adil asked.
"To eat."
Imraan said entering Adil's room.
"I gave you my card, so of course, I'll also eat with you."
"Let's watch a game."
Saying Imraan was about to turn on the TV when Adil snatched the remote from his hand.
"Nope. You are not watching anything."
Opening the pizza box, he handed a slice of pizza to Imraan.
"Here. Eat and then leave."
"Hey! Rude!"
Imraan whined.
"How can you behave like this with your boss?"
"Exactly, sir. You are my boss."
Blandly, Adil said.
"I have to see you all day long so at least spare the nighttime. I don't want to see you at night too."
Ignoring his remark, Imraan moved to Adil's bed.
"How many times have I told you that you don't need to call me sir after office hours. Just call me Imraan."
Adil was Imraan's junior in college. Once Imraan saved Adil from ragging and after that Adil used to follow Imraan until Imraan moved to the US. After graduating when Imraan came back, he got to know that Adil's parents passed away in an accident. That time Imraan just joined Quraish Enterprise. He recommended Adil to Mr. Hakim Quraish and after interviewing with Adil, Mr. Quraish appointed him.
"I am comfortable being formal."
Adil replied, making Imraan pass him an annoyed look.
"Whatever!"
Murmuring annoyedly, Imraan started to eat. Having no other choice, Adil also sat beside him and grabbed a piece of pizza before starting to eat.
"I don't want to go home."
After a while, Imraan spoke.
"You can stay at any hotel for the night."
Drinking the coke, Adil said.
"I don't want to."
Winking, Imraan added.
"I like this place better than hotels."
"Eww! Don't talk like that."
Making a 'yuck' face, Adil said, making Imraan chuckle.
"It's creepy."
"That project… uncle dismissed it."
Lying on the bed, Imraan vocalized.
"I heard about it."
Adil said.
"I'm sure he had his reasons to dismiss it."
"I feel like he's hiding something from me."
Looking at Adil, Imraan asked,
"Do you know what he's hiding?"
"No."
Without looking back, Adil spoke.
"If Hakim sir is hiding something, then it must be something that you shouldn't know. Instead of digging it, it's better to wait for him to disclose it to you."
Imraan sighed looking up.
"Did something happen other than that?"
Adil asked only to meet with silence.
Thinking Imraan didn't want to talk, he was about to get up when Imraan spoke.
"Maa wants me to move on."
"She brought up the marriage topic today."
"I agree with her. You should move on."
A couple of seconds later, Adil spoke.
"I can't. I can't forget her."
"Then don't forget her."
Imraan looked at Adil.
"You don't necessarily have to forget about her to move on."
"Instead of thinking about her, think about yourself. Focus on yourself."
Adil looked back at him.
"Be selfish and stop running back to her."
Looking at the clock, Adil got up.
"I'll inform ma'am that you are crashing at my place."
Saying he went to the other room to call Sherebano Quraish to inform her about Imraan's whereabouts.
♧♧♧
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