To say the day was long, would be an understatement.
It wasn't just long, but it was like a rollercoaster that made Anabiya feel different emotions, all at once.
She refused for dinner, once in her life, and now laid on her bed just staring at the ceiling of her hotel room.
The physical exhaustion, the shock she received when she learned a random guy likes her and then a bigger shock when she learned he wasn't just any random guy, the pain she felt on her soul when she almost agreed to go on a date with a non-mahram..... all these were replaying in her head again and again, thus exhausting her more and killing her appetite.
But the most frequent thing that was again and again ringing in her mind was the words of Yusuf Elmaci for Arhaan.
He was ready to let this deal go. For You.
Anabiya smiled at this. She then thought of all the incidents where Arhaan was there for her, like a strong yet invisible wall.
A part of her heart knew that a tiny, minute part of him cared for her. And that somehow felt right to her.
......................
Sanaya sat on the couch and poked her brother who in return mock glared at her and then laughed.
"Someone looks in a good mood, ha?", she smiled and Omar shook his head.
Yes, he was happy. Why wouldn't he be? Anabiya's family was more than happy to accept him as Anabiya's other half. His dream was going to be completed.
He couldn't wait for Anabiya to return back. He wanted the ring of his name on her finger.
He wanted to make her His.
And same goes for Sanaya. Arhaan's family was in love with her and she was confident that even Arhaan will fall for her. Why wouldn't he? She had everything. She was Perfect.
The siblings were shining and Glowing because of the happiness. Both of them were waiting for the week to end. Both of them were waiting for their soon to be partners to come back. Everything seemed perfect.
But was everything perfect?
...........
Arhaan sighed as he turned and grabbed his phone from the table.
"00:13" flashed the screen.
Arhaan groaned and sat up straight on his bed and leaned his head on the headboard.
The day was a big day and although he was really happy that he got the deal and the meeting was successful, he still couldn't get over the fact that Anabiya actually agreed to go on a stupid date just to save the deal. He heard her words that showed how much she hated to go on the date but she still agreed because of the team and their efforts.
Arhaan on the other hand, really wanted to smash Yusuf's face but he controlled himself.
He missed Anabiya at the dinner party though. Even he didn't know why but he felt as if something was missing when she wasn't present there at the dinner.
Arhaan sighed and got up from his bed and walked towards the balcony and looked at the garden.
Thinking of taking a small walk, he slipped on his hoodie and sneakers, grabbed his wallet and phone and walked out of the room.
Arhaan massaged his forehead as he strolled lazily in the garden when he saw a hooded figure, sitting on the grass. He narrowed his eyes to focus on the person and he was a bit surprised to discover that it was none other than Anabiya.
He walked towards her and stared down at her but she was still looking ahead, clearly zoning out.
Arhaan then sat beside her, clapped his hands and then shouted.
"HEY!!!"
Anabiya screamed as she immediately got up but eventually slipped and fell back on the grass.
She yelped and putting her hand on her chest, to calm herself down, she glared at the person in front of him who was laughing hysterically.
"Anabiya.... You look.... like a cat.... who's tail just got stamped on!", Arhaan said in between his laughing session and Anabiya gasped.
She snatched some grass off the ground and threw them on Arhaan while Arhaan raised his left brow and then again started laughing.
Anabiya tried to maintain a long, straight face but failed. She too broke into fits of laughter and then lightly punched Arhaan's arm.
Realising what she just did, she quickly retrieved her hand and started to push some hair strands inside the hood of her hoodie. As it was midnight and no one could be seen, Anabiya ditched her hijab, instead she used hoodie to cover her hair. Which actually worked well.
"You scared me, Sir!", she whined and Arhaan finally composed himself.
"Sorry, sorry!", he apologised.
"But seriously, what are you doing here at this hour?", he questioned.
"What are you doing here?", she asked instead.
Arhaan shook his head.
"For once in this life, answer to my questions properly!", Arhaan said dramatically and Anabiya chuckled.
"Drama Queen!", she teased and Arhaan playfully glared at her.
"Okay okay. I was getting bored in the room and I kind off needed some time with myself here because you know the day we landed here, from that very moment, we have been working. And now that finally we have completed this deal, I feel relaxed. And I love gazing the sky at night. So....", Anabiya explained and Arhaan nodded and smile.
"Ditto.", he said and Anabiya smiled.
Anabiya and Arhaan were sitting quietly, in a comfortable silence. They both felt peace. The only sound of Anabiya's humming could be heard. She was slowly humming a song and Arhaan just stared at the dark sky enjoying the melody.
"Anabiya....", he trailed off, breaking the silence to which Anabiya replied with a 'Hmm'.
"You were actually considering to go on a date with Yusuf? I mean he looked pretty interested in you. What if he... uhm... You know wanted to take it further? I mean as in a relationship?", Arhaan asked, though a bit unsure of his question.
He was worried though, regarding how Anabiya will react but surprisingly, she smiled.
"I don't know, Sir. I mean I had no choice left. But yeah I even thought about what to say to him to get rid of the date and stuff. And well I decided I'll tell him that I already love someone else.", Anabiya said and Arhaan looked at her, clearly confused.
"You do have a guy in your mind?", he curiously asked.
Anabiya nodded with a big smile on her face .
Arhaan was disappointed. Even he himself couldn't figure out the reason for such weird feeling but he felt his mood getting sour. He just nodded though he wanted to know the name but he kept quiet.
"I was going to take Samad's name.", Anabiya suddenly said and Arhaan instantly looked at her,amused.
"What? I find your eight year old cousin absolutely adorable! He owns my heart, to be honest.", Anabiya said truthfully and Arhaan laughed.
"But what if he would've still forced you or anything?", Arhaan asked slowly, his voice now burning with anger. He still couldn't get the scene out of his head where Yusuf practically threatened Anabiya.
Anabiya stared at Arhaan. She noticed the fire in his eyes.
"Then I would've punched him.", she simply said and Arhaan again chuckled.
"Yeah like you did that day outside that cafè.", Arhaan said and Anabiya looked at him, all shocked.
Many questions as to how Arhaan got to know about 'slapping the hell out of Raiyyan' incident. And she vocalised her thoughts.
"Uhm well, I was with my friends just opposite to where you were standing and then I saw that guy running towards you and holding your wrists and the next thing I know is you punched him. That was pretty intense though!", Arhaan exclaimed with so much enthusiasm and Anabiya hid her face in her hands, embarrassed.
"I slapped him!", Anabiya weakly defended.
"No. You punched him. I clearly saw the bruise too. That was pretty savage.", Arhaan replied proudly.
Anabiya stared at him and then smiled.
"Why did you punch him?", Arhaan again asked and Anabiya chuckled.
"He wanted to marry me-", before Anabiya could complete, Arhaan interrupted her.
"WHAT? You punched him because he wanted to marry you?", Arhaan asked, disbelieve and shock written on his face.
Anabiya face palmed herself and shook her head.
"For once in this life, listen to me completely.", Anabiya mocked Arhaan and he grinned.
"It's like, I mean.... uhm.... He was my college friend and well it was a shock when he proposed and well I wasn't interested so I rejected him due to certain reasons. His male ego was hurt I guess and he said some bitter words and well stepped on my insecurities. Also he touched me without my consent. So I guess that punch was necessary. Wasn't it?", Anabiya explained and Arhaan slowly nodded.
He was affected when she said that the guy wanted to marry her. But he was more effected when she said that the guy said mean and bitter words. He wanted to know about her and her insecurities. He wanted to know everything about her. Even he doesn't know why.
"You know Anabiya, I always thought of you as an immature girl. But that day when you said those words to Tanya's friend, I realised that I was wrong. You're childish but you're not at all immature. What you said to her was really sensible and good.", Arhaan truthfully said and Anabiya widened her eyes in surprise. She never thought of Arhaan complimenting her and more shocking fact was that he listened to whatever she said.
"Well, it just came out. It did because in Raavi, I saw myself. She was bullied and body shamed. So was I. I related to her. I was relating her pain with all the pain and suffering through which I have gone and suffered.", Anabiya revealed and Arhaan just stared at her, surprised by such revelations.
"I gained a lot of weight due to some hormonal problems and yes, I had eating disorder too. It wasn't much of a problem though. But you know school and people can be mean sometimes. I was bullied. I was called mean names. I wasn't allowed to participate in certain activities because people thought my weight was a hurdle. I was made fun of. I couldn't argue with anyone because the other person would just bring my weight in between and Voila! They used to win. I was bullied at such a point that I wanted school to end as fast as possible. You know I didn't shed a single tear during the farewell party and the last day of my school. Because I was happy. I was glad that it ended. But little did I know that my sufferings didn't just end there. I have relatives too. I was considered as the ugly duckling of my family. I was the most mischievous one. I didn't like to dress up like a doll back then. I was overweight too. I even had a darker complexion back then due to school and stuff. I used to burn my myself in the sun to shed those extra pounds. So yeah, I was considered ugly.", Anabiya's voice broke a little.
"College was better than school. But still I was labelled and bullied.", she slowly said.
"But then eighteen months back, I had it enough. I didn't want my weight to be my weak-spot. So I decided to shed it. Take the burden off me. And so I did. Surprisingly but not so surprisingly, the people who used to call me names now want me to marry them and in case of desi aunties, they want me to marry their sons.", Anabiya let out a bitter laugh, trying to conceal the tears and sobs threatening to escape.
Arhaan wanted to hug her. He wanted to hold her so tight, so tight and firmly. He wanted to fix her from breaking and falling apart. But he couldn't. He couldn't touch her.
"Miss Anabiya, but look, you did it. You did what you wanted to. Don't let those words effect you now.", Arhaan tried to console.
"No, Arhaan Sir. No. I never thought anything about my weight or looks back then. You know it's because of the pressure and hate I was receiving. I became vulnerable and let those words effect me. And you know, it kills me. It kills me because I changed myself because of other people, not because of my own will. I want to be happy with this change, and sometimes I am happy. But then it again hits me. It hits me that I actually let other people enter and let their words have an impact on me.", Anabiya cried and this time Arhaan felt a lump in his throat and his eyes watered.
"Hey hey! Listen, you did what you thought was right. You changed for good. You do realise that you could've suffered from a lot of medical problems too if you wouldn't have lost weight right? And whatever you did, you did it all by yourself. You just got a push from their words. Stop blaming and torturing yourself.", Arhaan explained, his words and pitch slow, as if he's talking to a child.
Anabiya looked at him and finally smiled. She nodded her head slowly.
She let all the words said by Arhaan absorb inside her and she realised he was right. It wasn't like he said something new.... But what he said calmed Anabiya down and she felt peace inside her. Her soul felt the warmth she was craving for.
She was still staring him until he spoke again.
"Since I was a kid, people used to think I got everything I ever wanted and I was born with a silver spoon. But that's not true. My father's business started to grow when I was around 9 and my siblings were around 11. Before that even we had struggles and hurdles which we had to overcome. Then when I was studying, people used to say 'Why so much of hard work Arhaan, you got your father's business. Your future is secured.' But why? My parents never let me nor my siblings misuse money or anything. Yes, we studied abroad but we got in through scholarship. Nabeeha became a dentist because she wasn't interested in business. But me and Humaid were. You know nor me nor Humaid wanted to take over any of Dad's companies. We knew people would say that we just got it. Just like that. Though some people know that me and my brother had worked hard enough to get to this position. But others think we just got lucky by being born in a 'rich' family.", Arhaan spilled out his thoughts and Anabiya smiled slightly.
"I know what happened last year. You saved Saeed Industries. From a big loss. You basically saved the whole empire. That's why Mr. Saeed gave you this company. And Humaid Sir was the one who was with Mr. Saeed and guided him when Aifa Company was launched. Infact he started it", Anabiya said and Arhaan looked at her obviously confused as to how she got to know about this incident.
As if Anabiya read his thoughts, she immediately answered.
"Tanya told me and I did some research.", Anabiya said sheepishly.
Arhaan nodded.
"You know I wanted to start my new business but Dad trusted me on this company. Humaid was the one who dragged me out of my thoughts and dilemma regarding this company. He helped me in believing myself. You know what he said?", Arhaan asked and Anabiya shook her head.
It looked as if Anabiya was a child and Arhaan is her mentor.
"He said that our struggles are our steps. It's between us and Allah. No-one will understand what the another person goes through. So there's no point in proving those people what we are going through or what have we gone through. If someone realises it, then it's good. But if someone just wanna talk negative, then we really couldn't do anything about it.", Arhaan completed with a sigh and Anabiya smiled widely.
"You know what was scaring you?", Anabiya questioned and Arhaan shook his head in negative, still looking at her.
"It's the one question that runs in our minds. What if I'm not good at the only thing I want to do? This is the question where we start doubting ourselves.", Anabiya said and Arhaan couldn't agree more.
This girl and her words, all were true.
"How did you know?", Arhaan asked.
"Because it scared me too.", she smiled.
Anabiya and Arhaan felt peaceful. They both felt the chaos inside them, finally resting a bit.
Though Arhaan spilled everything, every demon haunting him, but Anabiya very carefully didn't open up about the one black spot on the canvas of her life...... Zayd.
The two souls, who were hustling and colliding with each other, found peace within each other.
Will this peace last forever?
Or there are other things that are Meant To Be?
......
So an early update! Yayyy!
Okay I love this chapter. Favourite tbh. And don't worry, Arhaan Anabiya moment is gonna last for one more chapter. Yes, I'm gonna continue this night scene in the next chapter but it won't be emotional. ;)
Also, TheLearningSpirit made a new cover. Isn't she a sweetheart?
Thankyou love.
But I'm still waiting to decide for the new cover. So others could still message me their work.
Vote. Comment. Share.
All the love, A. ♥️♥️♥️