Better cover?
Okay I hope you guys like this one. Yes I've been a little lazy with the update but I have finals soooo.
Anyway, enjoy and make sure to tell me what you think.
Comments? Okay. Great.
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Aaina X Zaydaan.
There were not alot of similarities between the two brothers, they were poles apart from each other. Ahad was affectionate with his family where as Zaydaan was respectful, Ahad had eyes that showed kindness where as Zaydaan had pure cold eyes, the only shone with warmth when he was really happy or he really cared about something.
But the one thing that she could say was quite common was the way they expressed their anger.
It started with a blank, cold face, hard eyes and firm lips, then there was a scowl that emerged after a while, and then finally, crazy anger.
She had not even taken a sigh of breath after reaching back home when she spotted her brother-in-law rushing towards her in utter anger and madness.
She gulped, not even ready to hear him yell and shout about something that she didn't even do. She was sure this was Saaniya's doing.
"Did you meet up with Saaniya and tell her to breakup with me?" He questioned, eyes glaring at her with such hatred that Aaina had to look around embarrassed at the few house workers that were busy in cleaning.
"Is that what she told you?" Aaina asked, voice soft and calm but he wasn't going to have any of it.
Ahad scowled as Aaina cross questioned him.
"Answer me!" He exclaimed, screaming at her once again.
"Don't raise your voice at me." She said to him, then motioned the house workers to clear the area.
If he was going to yell and shout at her, it might as well be when she was alone and not among ten other people.
"Tum dono Mian biwi ghatya ho, zindagi barbaad kar rahe ho meri. Hoti kon ho tum us ko ye sab bataane wali?"
She didn't know what lies Saaniya had fed him, she didn't know what kind of words she had used to convince Ahad Aaina had done something to their relationship.
"Ahad, calm down." She advised, knowing that she could only talk to him once he had calmed down and was ready to listen to whatever she had to say.
"I've never hated people, but I do hate you. And bhai. I hate you both for ruining my fucking life!" She took a deep breath and sighed, knowing that being angry at him would only make things worse.
he was her best friend and she had to protect him because she knew that he had always protected her or at least he had tried to do so.
He had protected her mental well being which was so important. when your own husband had shattered her self identity and her power of loving her own self, he had been the one to remind her of it.
"Ahad," She took his name once again projecting a calm demeanor.
But Ahad, he looked like he had lost his damn mind.
She supposed love did that to people, before loving Zaydaan, Aaina herself was so different.
"No! Who gave you the right to meet her without even telling me? Who gave you the right to talk to her? Who gave you the right to threaten her?"
Threaten? Was that what she had said?
Did Aaina threaten her? Yes. Did she deserve to get threatened? Hell Yes.
"It's not about right, Ahad. It's about -"
Before she could even utter another word, he stopped her and snapped. Once again.
"About what? About your life not being happy enough? Or about you being jealous of my happy love life? Is that it, Aaina?"
She closed her eyes as she felt the sting.
Her eyes burned and she knew she was about to feel the tears stream down her face, so she took another deep breath.
"I expected this from Zaydaan, not you. You betrayed me! Twice!"
He accused her.
"I was protecting you, twice." She shot back at him.
"You weren't! You're actually a cunning bitch who is hiding beneath this innocent demeanour!"
Aaina could take anything, just not being abused like this. She glared at him.
"Ahad, that's enough." She said firmly.
She couldn't even imagine how Zaydaan would have reacted if he had heard Ahad's words.
"Shut up, you and my brother ruined my life!"
And then, she snapped. She had enough. Enough of his accuse, enough of his yelling and enough of his fake hatred.
"We ruined your life? Your girlfriend is the one ruining everything!" She screamed back.
Ahad had hardly heard her scream so when he did, he actually felt shocked at the shrillness of her voice.
"She's not! She's the only one holding me together," He denied, continuing.
"Zaydaan bhai ko main barbaad kar dunga, tum dekhna. Main chorunga nahin, zaroor unhon ne tumhain force kia hoga. Mujhe pata hai us aadmi ka!"
Aaina could take him insulting her but she couldn't take him insulting her husband. Her husband who was his brother too but Ahad's blind love had made him forgetful of that.
"Aur tum us ke pyaar ke liye kuch bhi karo gi. Wo chutiya bana raha hai tumhain aur tum ban rahi ho."
She wanted to smack some sense into him, she wanted him to stop using her relationship as an insult.
"Ahad, Zaydaan didn't do anything." She mumbled instead, trying to be calm, trying to control her own anger.
"He did. He ruined it all."
But Ahad was far too gone for that.
"Ahad." She took his name once again, Ahad quite simply snapped at her.
"Shut up Aaina!"
And she was done.
"No! You shut up. I'm done being the door matt. You're my friend and I was protecting you."
She said it loud and clear, continuing her words and not even looking at him as she opened up her cell phone and the conversation with Zaydaan that contained all the dirty details of Saaniya bloody Chaudhry.
"I protected you from a cheat, from a liar," She stated, gulping as she thought of his heart breaking.
But she knew damn well that this was necessary.
"She's no liar." He denied. Aaina sympathised with him, she truly did.
"She is. And a cheat too."
She turned her cell phone towards him, holding it close enough for him to see and read everything.
"Zaydaan asked me to not to, because it will break your heart. But here, look at it and tell me whether we ruined your life or not." She said, turning the images and showing him each and everything.
"She was sleeping with someone else, behind your back. She was informing her brother of everything that we told you and you told her."
"When I was leaving, she told me that her brother is going to ruin us all and when he does, she's gonna stand there and watch our world go up in flames."
Her eyes watered at the look on Ahad's face.
Imagine being a ladies man, imagine getting attention from every girl that your heart desired, imagine dating beautiful girls, imagine falling in love with one of them after a long long time and imagine seeing their betrayal with your own eyes.
Ahad was hurting and it was visible on his face.
"She was using your love to betray it. Maybe I don't have Zaydaan's love but atleast he's not sleeping with someone behind my back, atleast he's not cheating on me, atleast he's not faking himself."
She said it with such content and confidence that she herself was amazed.
"I know you were angry and hurting, but this was the second time you brought up Zaydaan not loving me."
That hurt.
That always hurt.
"and if you ever do that again, I promise you Ahad I'll never even see your face."
She promised. She closed her phone and held his hand, Ahad who was in too much of a shock didn't say anything for a while.
"Aaina.." He trailed off with a shaky tone, she felt like he was going to either break something or with sob out loud.
"Aaina, I-" She hushed him.
"I know this is crazy, I know betrayal stings and hurts like anything. But I'm here for you and I'm sure Zaydaan is here for you too."
She squeezed his hand, his right hand that was so cold.
"It's okay, you take your time. But I'll be right upstairs if you need me."
She knew he needed to be alone, he needed to confront his demons. Alone.
---
A week later.
Make the first move. Talk to people. Tell them how you feel. Text them first. Call them first. Stop feeling so scared that things won't go your way. What if this happens? What if that happens? But what if it doesn't happen? What if life actually shows you what its worth? What if your courage makes you reach where you want to reach?
Stop feeling the pain. It hurts. Ofcourse it hurts. And it can't stop but once you pretend that you can't feel it, once you decide for yourself that you are going to be happy, nothing can stop you.
Ahad had so many thoughts in his head. A part of his brain said fuck her, fuck her love and fuck it all.
But another part, it screamed at him all the time. It's your fault. You trusted the enemy. Now you have to suffer the consequences.
He rubbed his face hard as he heard someone knock on the door and enter his bedroom.
He didn't turn to see it was. But a smack on his shoulder was enough to confirm it was his best friend.
Aaina. Aaina who consoled him and Aaina who told him he was stronger than this. Aaina who made sure that he ate and Aaina who hadn't even demanded an apology.
"Chalo utho." She said, a hand on her hip and eye raised at him.
"Kya?" He asked, a yawn escaping his mouth.
"Utho, ek hafta ho gaya hai. Ab bus."
She remarked, pulling at his arm. He frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"You're done mourning the loss of the love that didn't even exist. Go talk to your brother and sort things out with him." She told him.
Ahad shook his head, the same Ziagil ego taking the best out of him.
"No. He yelled at me and fired me."
She groaned.
"He did. But he also saved you from falling into a trap."
"No, I'm not going." He denied.
Aaina thought he looked cute. A twenty eight year old man, pouting over a girl and loss of his ministry.
She bit back a laugh.
"Ahad, I want you to get up right now and come with me or I'll drag you." She ordered.
He raised his eyes at her fresh and firm behaviour. Where was the timid girl?
"You've been too bossy lately, like taking charge and all."
He commented but stood up regardless and stretched his shirt, fixing himself.
"Zaydaan told me that I'm a first lady and I need to act like it."
Aaina replied to his comment as she crossed her arms and stood there, waiting for her friend to look a little less miserable.
The past week had gone by in a blur, with Zaydaan being gone on a three day visit to China and her preparing for the upcoming exams, she didn't have alot of time on her hand.
Whatever time she did have, she spent it with Ahad.
Zaydaan had returned home for one day before going on a visit to Lahore and karachi. His schedule had been packed.
But this time, Aaina felt content. Content because Zaydaan did reply to her texts, he did call her, even if it was after her several text messages.
So Zaydaan was liking the transformation in her personality, and she was liking the change in him..even if it was the slightest one.
"Is that so?" Ahad raised an eye at her, replying to her earlier statement about how she has to start acting like the a first lady.
Aaina rolled her eyes.
"Ahad, don't change the topic. Let's go." Her hand was just on the door knob when he stopped her.
"Did I tell you I'm sorry? I didn't even apologise to you." He murmured and looked away, embarrassed.
Aaina clicked her tongue.
"You don't need to apologise to your best friend."
Yes, his words had been extremely hurtful but she was over it all. She was over his words and his taunts on her relationship.
Things with Zaydaan were going so well, his words didn't matter at this point.
"Maine tumhain bauhat bura kaha yaar." Ahad still said, sitting back down on the bed.
She sighed but sat back herself.
"It's okay,"
"No, it's not. I was so -"
She interrupted him with a shake of her head.
"You were a douchebag and an utter jerk but it's fine because you're the best person I know."
She assured.
Ahad didn't feel like a good person at all. Was he really so blind that he couldn't decipher the reality that was Saaniya? Was he really that blinded by her fake love that he didn't trust his own brother and his best friend? Was he really that stupid?
Before the self loathing could arise, Aaina smacked his hand.
"Stop moaning."
"Aaina, I'm unemployed and heartbroken. Give me a break."
Even though he had said it in a lighter way, like he had cracked a joke...the sad smile on his face was enough to make her understand what he was going through.
"Your heart will heal soon and you'll get employed sooner. So get the fuck up."
Finally, he obliged.
And got the fuck up.
"Fine, let's go."
---
Usually, Zaydaan Ziagil had no problem with working at home, infact, he liked it. He liked that he had enough power to work from his home and not from the Prime Minister's secretariat. But for some reason, today, he felt unproductive.
His mind was all over the place. With covering up Ahad's loss of a huge load of money and making up a good enough story to holding talks at the OIC to making sure that he was handling the opposition well, it felt like too much.
He usually focused on one or two areas of work per day which helped him make the wisest of decisions. For some reason, that wasn't happening since the past few days.
As if that wasn't enough, his father had called him up and asked if Zaydaan needed any assistance. Of course, he did. But his ego was way too big for him to admit that.
So he had shaved and changed and drank about three cups of tea, he had yelled at three of his workers, had opened all the relevant files, and had done alot more but none had seemed to help him.
Maybe I should just go to my wife and sleep with her.
A thought occurred in his head but before he could even stand up, he heard a knock on the door.
Aaina entered the room with a hesitant smile, looking around to see if anyone was there with Zaydaan or not.
A moment later, his brother entered the room. Zaydaan hadn't seen Ahad since the past week but Aaina had kept him updated.
Zaydaan hated it, he hated Aaina taking care of him and going to him and consoling him but knowing her, even if he stopped her, she would do it in secret.
So he let it go, just like he had let alot of things go in the last few days.
"Zaydaan, aap se koi milne aya hai." She announced as he looked up at his brother and acknowledged his presence by taking his name.
"Ahad."
"Bhai, kese ho aap?" Ahad straight up asked him to ease up the awkward conversation.
"Theek. Tum?"
Zaydaan's voice was hard and cold, just like Ahad had sensed that it would be. Zaydaan's anger was justified, Ahad understood that.
But he wasn't much at fault either, except maybe he was blinded by love. But he did work hard.
Sensing the awkward tension in the room, Aaina realised that both of them needed to be alone to sort out their issues. So she decided to leave the room and give both the brothers some space.
"I'm going to go," She awkwardly announced, a hand on the door handle and another one holding her phone.
On the other hand, Ahad, who was feeling the awkwardness himself panicked upon Aaina's decision to leave them alone.
He grabbed her hand in his.
"Ruko, don't leave me." He whispered, Aaina gulped as she turned around, seeing her husband glaring at Ahad and the way he was holding his wife's hand.
Ahad pulled it back. This was honestly the first time that she had seen him so nervous, he was usually the one who would talk all kinds of shit with his brother without a care in the world.
Ahad never got intimidated or scared by him but maybe it was the guilt or maybe it was the heartbreak that had made him so cautious.
She didn't hear him say anything to his brother, he simply glared at him.
Aaina didn't mind holding Ahad's hand or touching his shoulder or giving him a comforting hug but clearly Zaydaan didn't like it.
She gave a soft smile to the both of them, knowing it was best that she left
"I actually have to study so I'll go now." She mumbled again and rushed out of the room after that.
Ahad stared at Zaydaan, who pretended to work. Zaydaan could hardly concentrate but he still flipped a file open, skimming through it.
"Bhai." Zaydaan felt the hesitation in his brother's voice and frowned, not looking up but at the file instead.
"Zaydaan bhai, I want to say that,"
"I want to apologise to you, I-"
Ahad would start a sentence, then stop and sigh, he would do it again and then stop. Either it was his manly ego that wasn't letting him do the deed or either it was the guilt of thinking that his brother didn't want the best for him.
"Not apologise but like, I just want to-"
Zaydaan finally looked up, tired of this game that Ahad was playing. Start, stop. Start, stop.
"There was no hesitation when you were betraying me without a single thought in your head, there was no hesitation when you didn't pay attention to the job that I trusted you with, there was no hesitation when I warned you about her and you called me out for not loving my wife."
He spoke each and every word so seriously that Ahad had to look away, ashamed.
"Why the hesitation now, brother?" Zaydaan asked, Ahad took a deep breath knowing that he had to make things right.
This was enough.
"Because I really am sorry this time, you've always let go of my stupid mistakes, let this one go." Ahad started off, seeing as Zaydaan put the fine away and looked at him instead, paying his complete and utter attention.
"I'm sorry that I didn't trust you and I'm sorry that I mistook your care as you trying to dominate me."
He apologised.
Family over everything. Family was power. That was the motto of the Ziagil family, all of them knew it.
Their father could use them, abuse them but at the end of the day, he wanted the best for them. And Zaydaan was far far better than his own father.
"You're my brother, why would I want you to not be happy?" Zaydaan cross questioned.
"I know your passion was acting and I know you gave up that dream for all this, but I believed that you would still be good at this." He continued.
He didn't want to talk about Saaniya, he didn't want to talk about the love and the betrayal, he didn't want his brother to feel even more upset, that chapter was done and dusted.
He wanted to talk about the things that truly mattered, like Ahad making the people believe in himself.
"You have the potential too, but you disappointed me." He remarked. Ahad let out a dry chuckle.
"And you disappointed me by insulting me in front of everyone." He shot back.
Zaydaan smirked.
"If I can appreciate you in front of all those people, defend you in front of the whole country, I also have the right to call you out when you're wrong." He argued back. Ahad rolled his eyes.
"Nobody can win an argument when it comes to you."
There was a moment of silence between the two brothers, before both of them cracked a smile.
"I accept your apology and I want you to come back and work for the railway, prove me right and use the potential you have." Zaydaan told him, picking up the same damn file one more time.
"I don't want a pity job, just because you feel sorry for the heartbroken Ahad."
Ahad commented, Zaydaan's disgusted expression was enough to make his brother realise that this wasn't a pity job.
"I don't give a fuck about your broken heart, I want you to fix what you ruined." Ahad stood up, nodding.
"Fine, okay. So we're good?" He mumbled.
Zaydaan shrugged.
"As long as you stop touching my wife with those filthy hands of yours."
He answered back, Ahad laughed but nodded anyway. He was almost ready to leave, as he reached for the door when the Prime Minister's voice stopped him.
"Ahad, one more thing."
"Yes?"
"Baba called, he wanted to talk to you."
"Is he coming back?"
"He said something along the lines of an urgent thing coming up and that he wants to talk to Ahad about his future, and I need to be there too."
Both the brothers knew this was definitely not something good, it was probably going to be another cunning scheme by their king maker father.
"What is Mr Idrees Ziagil planning to do now?" Ahad asked, eyes playful.
Zaydaan had no answer to that but he could only hope that it wasn't something manipulative.
"Hopefully nothing that screws up your life like he did mine." He shot back.
"You got Aaina and the Prime Minister status, I don't think that counts as a screw up." Ahad shared his views.
Zaydaan agreed with him, he did but there was definitely a part of him that remembered what he had to give up.
"I lost something too." Zaydaan murmured, more to himself than to Ahad.
But his brother, who had heard him anyway, turned to look at him.
"For the good." He assured..
Aaina was good, ofcourse she was.
So Ahad left the room, Zaydaan got back to his work and the storm? It was just around the corner.
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This chapter was getting way too long so I divided it.
What do you think is gonna happen next?
Hope you guys liked it.
Love you ❤️