"Sorry I couldn't join you guys earlier," he said.
Laila continued walking in pace with him knowing he was purposefully slowing his gait. He walked tall and with eloquence. She liked that about him. She liked many things about him.
"Its alright," she replied in a soft voice. She wanted to ask why he hadn't joined them, but she was still hesitant around him.
"I'm glad you're here though. I also wanted to give Amina and Hassan some space," she chuckled.
"What do you mean 'also'?" he questioned with a slight frown.
"I mean, that's why we went away from there right?" she replied.
"No. We went away because I wanted to walk with you. We can go back if that's not what you want," he said whilst looking at her from the side.
He wanted to walk alone with her thought Laila, surprised at this. She could feel her face getting warmer, probably turning red.
"No, no, yeah let's walk," she babbled with a hesitant chuckle.
Why did he want to walk with her? Did he find her interesting? Was that too much to hope for?
"So, any plans for the rest of your holidays?" he asked after a moment.
Laila scoffed and said, "Rest? There are barely four or five days left."
He nodded his head and continued, "I see you don't want to go back. Not even after three months?"
Laila shook her head and grimaced, "Not really."
"Why not? If you don't mind me asking," he politely asked.
"I think you're the one who's going to mind asking. I have a whole list. A whole freaking book," she said bitterly.
He began laughing. A good, hearty laugh from the back of his throat.
"There must be a start. Something you hate more than anything else," he cajoled.
She let out a frustrated sigh. Why was he talking about such a depressing topic on such a delightful day?
"Well, the people I guess. I don't like the people there. They're so...," she trailed off, not knowing how to describe people like herself.
"Fake?" he offered.
She let out a short, humorless laugh, "Yeah."
"The teachers too! I thought favoritism ended once you got into university but I guess not," she continued.
Ismail was about to say something but she cut him off, "But also the education system itself. Why is my whole academic year dependent on three freaking hours?" she complained.
Ismail nodded, seeming to be deep in thought.
"I understand you. It really is unfair," he put in his two cents.
"Was it the same at your university?" she asked, not probing but also questioning.
"Um, not really, no," he replied.
"Lucky," she murmured but didn't ask anything more.
They walked in silence, a sizable distance between them. No one was speaking but somehow, Laila was okay with it.
"How're you okay with all of this?" Ismail suddenly asked.
The abrupt question threw her off.
"Okay with what?" she asked.
"Okay with letting your friend date a guy not in the same class as you guys, okay with coming to a small, dingy house in Lakshmi Chowk, okay with hanging out with me," he said in a single breath.
Laila, not expecting this question so soon, kept her eyes locked ahead not looking at him.
"So you're the only one who's allowed to ask personal questions?" she asked but kept her tone light. She didn't want an argument where there didn't need to be one.
"I'm sorry, I didn't realize I'd asked a personal question," he apologized, it seemed sincerely.
Instead of responding to his apology, she said, "To be honest with you, I don't know. With Amina and Hassan, I see the love so who am I to say anything. With this place, I don't know, I really don't. With you...you're, you're just there when I want to get away from Amina and Hassan," she rushed out the last part, covering her face with her hair.
Ismail began to laugh once again on her side.
"Well good to know I'm good for something," he continued laughing.
Laila joined in on the laugh and said, "Guess you are."
They continued talking and laughing well into the afternoon. Only once the sun had set and it was dark did they realize how much time they had spent together and the chilling realization that the park was suddenly very empty.
"Ismail what's the time?" she asked in a voice bordering on shaky.
His face was washed in his phones glow and she saw his eyes widen in surprise and she knew she wasn't going to receive a good answer.
"We have to go its seven thirty," he said and without warning grabbed her hand, sending tingles up her arm and began to race towards the exit.
After almost ten minutes of fast pacing, the reached the southern exit. The gate was shut and no guards were surrounding it. It was closed! And there was no one around to open it!
"No, no, no, no, NO!" Laila wailed as she saw her only exit blocked. In a rather dramatic fashion, she sank down to her knees and began crying into her hands.
"I can't be trapped here. My parents will kill me!" she cried.
"Laila, relax. We're not trapped," Ismail said, exasperated from above her.
Laila snapped her head up to glare at him.
"How?! How exactly are we not trapped?" she shot at him.
"Because" – he started but Laila cut him off.
"Yes exactly! Because of you! If you hadn't wanted to go on your goddamn walk we wouldn't be in this mess!" she screeched and continued to wallow into her hands.
He let her have her mental breakdown, growing more annoyed by the second. Sometimes, he wanted nothing more than to talk to this girl for hours on end, sometimes – like right now, he wanted nothing more than to strangle her.
He sighed and continued, "Because there's another exit."
Her angry monologue was abruptly cut and she looked up at him with tear soaked eyes
"What?" she asked in a meek tone, looking up at him with puppy dog eyes.
"Get up, this isn't the main entrance. That ones probably open," he said. ignoring her extended hand, he walked passed her towards the main gate.
She stared after him, her mouth agape.
The nerve of this guy. Sometimes he infuriated Laila like no one else had before. Sometimes...not so much.
She quickly got up off the floor as Ismail disappeared behind the trees and rushed after him.
By the time she caught up with the recluse, she was seething. First he has the nerve to put her in this situation then he dares to disrespect her like this. Unacceptable.
As soon as she was within toughing distance of him, she used all her leftover force to shove him in the back, surprising them both.
He stumbled forward, almost falling. Once he had regained his balance he turned around and looked at her incredulously.
"What the hell was that?!" he shouted at her.
Laila stood still, not knowing what to say. This excursion had caused her to loose her mind.
But she was never going to apologize. He didn't deserve her apology when it was his fault to begin with.
"What? Now only you have the right to be rude?" she shouted back.
"Rude? When the hell was I rude?" he said and threw his hands up in the air.
"What do you call what you did back there huh?" she threw at him.
"What? Because I didn't hold your hand all the way to your freaking car I'm all of a sudden rude?" he shot back.
Hold her hand?
"What?" she said, confused.
"Alright, I'll do it now. Will that keep you quiet?" he barked then stalked over to her, grabbed her hand and marched down the dirt path, yanking her with him.
"Oh my God!" she exploded and yanked her jerked her hand free from his.
"Are you insane?! Why do you like touching me when I've explicitly asked you not to?!" she roared.
"Touch you? You're the one who's insane," he countered.
She let out a short, bitter laugh, "Yeah, of course I am. I always am right?"
She stormed past him, tears stinging her eyes. She was always the stupid one, always the one who got blamed in the end without being the wrongdoer.
"Laila!" he called from behind her as she began to run instead of walk, needing to get away from him.
"Laila stop!" she heard him call out in the distance. She was a fast runner and had already created some distance between them.
She ignored his calls and kept running, clearing her mind of all that was invading it.
"Laila!" he called out right behind her and seized her by grabbing her hand, jerking her to a stop.
"Hey, hey, stop it," he said as he put his hands on her shoulders, stopping her resistance.
Ignoring him, she continued to thrash and flail around.
Ismail firmly cupped her face in his hands and guided her eyes to his.
"Laila, stop," he said in a firm voice but one which conveyed softness.
He continued to stare into her red rimmed eyes, not wanting to say anything.
He had never noticed how beautiful they were. A rich, dark brown that were almond shaped at the start and only slightly droopy at the end. Framed by thick, dark lashes that conveyed an air of docility and serenity to a girl that had yet proved to be neither. As they looked up at him, helplessly, he felt himself entrapped in their gaze.
Unconsciously, he used his thumb to wipe away the tear that had trickled down her cheek.
Laila in turn gazed into his hazel eyes, lost in their uniqueness. Could you really call his eyes hazel? In their depths swirled a mixture of green, brown, blue and specks of gold. Her Pandora's box as they would turn out to be.
The hypnotic stupor was broken when up from above the trees, a drop of rain landed right on Laila's forehead. She broke away from his hold and looked up at the sky, for want to do anything other than look at him.
"It's raining," she proclaimed.
Ismail had to tear his gaze from her in order to look at the sky.
Another heavy drop plopped onto his face, confirming Laila's truth.
Suddenly, he realized what the consequences of the rain would be. They had a good ten minutes walk ahead of them and couldn't exactly afford to get soaking wet.
"Laila we have to go now," he emphasized.
Laila understood what the severity of his words entailed and turned pale.
She was wearing white! She couldn't afford to get wet.
"Oh my God, yes let's go," she said.
Without warning and despite their previous argument, Ismail grabbed her hand as the rain began to pour and led the way.
They ran all the way to the main gate, their journey cut by half. By the time they reached the gate, both were soaked to the bone. Laila's kameez clung to her as if she had worn cellophane wrap. She crossed her arms over her chest, wanting to hide.
To Laila's absolute distraught, this gate seemed to be closed as well.
Her panic attack was about to return in full force when Ismail broke away from her and went over to the closed gate.
She couldn't even sink to the floor in fear of something foreign coming out from the water and biting her.
Distraught and panicking, she realized what she had to do.
She took out her waterproof phone from her destroyed leather bag.
There were several missed calls on it, mainly from her mom, Amina and Shehryar.
She called her mom.
The bell didn't ring.
She tried again.
The same repeated.
She looked at her phone angrily, wondering if it was broken. Even this stupid companion of mine can't get me out of here she thought.
But she saw that her phone was in fact intact, it just didn't have any signal.
"What're you doing?" Ismail shouted from over the rain.
"Calling my mom!" she shouted back, "Back I don't have any signals!" she continued.
"This gates closed too Laila," he said, barely loud enough for her to hear over the roar of the rain.
Now, Laila really began to cry. Real, silent sobs that revealed the extent of the helplessness she felt.
She spotted a drenched bench nearby and sluggishly walked over to it and slumped down.
She was scared and cold and helpless.
Ismail looked at the down trodden defeated girl on the lone park bench and felt a pang in his heart that he hadn't felt in the longest time.
Sympathy.
Here she was, a privileged girl, away from home without the knowledge of her parents, in a land that despite being her homeland, felt foreign to her. With a stranger that hadn't exactly made things easier. He had to admit that this was his fault. He was the one who had noticed the time but had chosen not to reveal it to her for his selfish enjoyment.
He was responsible for this mess and now it was his duty to get her out of this.
So, he did the one thing he had vowed to never to again in his life.
He took out his phone and dialed the number.
"Hello?" came the strong, authoritative voice, eerily like his own.
"It's Ismail...I need a favour."
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Best part so far and I hope you guys agree! :D
Please VOTE and COMMENT if you guys enjoyed. Things are only escalating from here on :D