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"AsSalamuAlaikum!" Arham's voice boomed around the premises of the lounge as he strolled inside.
Sameena who was in the kitchen, preparing breakfast with Raina, came out and hugged him.
"Hey, how's my biscuit?" He asked as he pulled away and wrapped his arm around Raina.
"You've got to stop calling me that." She scowled, excited nevertheless, since they were meeting after days.
"Nope. Nada. Never gonna happen!" He shook his head and Raina giggled.
"What about your test, hun? How'd it go?" Her face fell on the question as a somber look clouded her innocent features. Sameena gestured at Arham with a 'no' and he bit his tongue on his naivety.
"Huh. Dafa karo. NUST ki kya auqaat k humari Raina usme parhe! (Let it go. NUST doesn't have it in it to have our Raina study there!)"
"If you put it like that..." She guffawed, deliriously and Sameena closed her eyes in contentment.
"Ooh. What's cooking? It smells so nice. My stomach is already growling with hunger." He held his stomach as he sat on the couch.
"It's just omelette, you foody!" Raina flopped down on the couch adjacent to his.
"Look who's talking!" He narrowed his eyes as he took off his coat and placed it on the arm of the couch. Sameena went back to the kitchen.
"Anyways, where's Azlan? The 'king' called me here and is nowhere to be seen now." He used air quotes on 'king' with ludicrous expressions etched on his face, making Raina chuckle.
"And the 'king' asked his peasant to meet him at the office since the meeting is supposed to take place there only and not in here." Azlan's voice cut through his antics and he stood up as he held out his arm to hug him.
"Yeah, I was really hungry so thought of dropping by here first. God knows, auntie makes the best food! Been a while since I had that." He said as he pulled away and they both sat on the couch.
"So basically, you're indirectly calling Asmara's cooking bad, hmm." He squinted at him while Arham gave him a confused look.
"How do you know she sends me food everyday?"
"I didn't. Now I do." He smirked and Arham convulsed his head at his stupidity.
He still hadn't told him about Khalil Pasha and his entire fiasco. He already had so much in his plate, right now, let alone him adding more to it.
"No doubt you're one hell of a shrewd business man."
"Raina, auntie's calling you..." Safa had just entered the premises when her eyes fell on Arham and seeth took a hold of her.
Oh, so his pawn is here! Good. I have to do a one-on-one with him.
"Look look, who's here!" Arham who was surprised on seeing Safa here since he knew she'd moved out, wiggled his head back and forth between Safa and Azlan.
"Yeah. Something came up so she had to come back." Azlan announced, the nervousness in his stance not escaping Arham's eyes. God, why was he feeling like this out of thin air?
"Oh, really?" Arham raised his eyes at Azlan and he gave him his say-more-and-I'll-punch-you-where-the-sun-doesn't-shine look.
"Yes, really!" Safa intervened as she smacked his head and he "owed."
"Come'n now, Raina!"
With that both were out of sight.
"Did you see what she did?" Arham stared at Azlan, his eyes bogging out of his sockets.
"Yeah, I did." He replied back and smacking him harder than before, strolled out of there.
"NOT COOL, DUDE! IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOUR MOM'S FREE FOOD, I'D CREATE A BIG DRAMA AND WALK OUT OF HERE AT THIS HUGE AND UNACCEPTABLE INSULT WITH DHOOM DHOOM TANA PLAYING IN THE BACKGROUND." He yelled as he followed suit.
"NO ONE'S COMPLAINING!" Azlan's yelp hit his ear.
Once at the dinning table, the usual clatters of utensils began as everyone immersed in conversations while Safa's mind went back to Ayyan. She had promised him that she'd be there early today but the circumstances were not in her favor. First, sleeping late because of the chaos that had ensued because of Raina's condition and, now, Arham's arrival. Frantically, she checked her watch yet again.
"Mom told me about you staying here. Thank you so much!" Raina put her hand on Safa's as a heartwarming smile graced her lips.
"You're staying here?" Azlan who was busy in his business talk with Arham looked at her suddenly at this new information, completely unbeknownst of the grin that had carved on his face but wasn't hidden from any occupant of the house. Well, except for Mr. Shehryar who still hadn't returned back.
Finding everyone's heads arched towards him in bafflement, his mind registered the blunder he had committed as he pulled himself together.
"No, I was only asking because she didn't check out from the hotel properly the other night since we were in a hurry. I mean a person should have some etiquettes, no?" He grumbled, getting back to his breakfast while Raina and Arham exchanged smirks and Safa dug deep in her scrambled eggs. No one noticed the humongous smile that had occupied Sameena from every nook.
******
She came back to her room after the breakfast to get ready to spend her entire day with Ayyan today. The incident that had taken at the breakfast table had vanished from her mind now. She didn't mull over it. What was there to mull over, anyway?
But first she had to change the dressing of her wound. So, she pulled the first aid box out of the drawer and as she proceeded, her mind went back to the other night's events. How Azlan had gotten all worked up on this small wound. How he had lectured her to take care of herself. Her eyes crinkled after ages, mimicking the smile plastered on her face.
While all the other wounds brought her trauma, holding nothing but bitterest of memories attached to them; this one, right here, brought her nothing but happiness. A happy memory filled with care. The contrast was huge and so were going to be coming days as her heart had already started brewing something her brain had no idea about yet.
Once done with the dressing, she went for her suitcase that their driver had already brought here on Sameena's order.
As she pulled the lid up, her eyes fell on his jacket and another memory flashed by her. The way he had veiled his jacket on her that night, not caring about himself. The way he had consoled her. The way he had asked her to come with him.
What is this man?
She held the jacket with her other hand. The cinnamon and minty smell of his wasn't there anymore but the remnants of that comforting memory were. His act of providing her solace was still entranced on every nook of that black jacket.
Every time she'd make her mind up to return it to him, something would pop up, slipping it out of her mind. But not again. She had to give it to him today. So she turned around to make her way to his room but caught him standing on the door instead, just about to knock.
She dwindled back as a gasp escaped her lips.
"You scared me there for a second." She huffed as her nerves had calmed down.
"Sorry! I just came here to check up on you... your wound." He reconstructed his statement as his eyes flew over her hand.
"Oh yes." She held her hand up. "Yeah, I just changed the dressing. It's fine."
"Are you sure?" He shoved his hand in his pocket. "I mean I'd suggest you to get it checked in the hospital since you're already going there."
Not in the mood to argue, she nodded without actually obliging in heart.
"Also, here!" She extended his jacket towards him. He eyed it and, then, her with a perfectly arched eyebrow.
"Your jacket." She gave him a duh look.
"Did you dry clean it?"
Whaaaaaaattt???
Folding his sinewy arms on his hard chest, he stood there with a questioning look.
"Umm.. no."
"Then, keep it!"
And within a second he was out of the room.
Seriously, what is this man? Azlan Asshole Shehryar!
******
A/N
Wrote this chapter hours back but then internet decided to ditch me. Yep, the usual. SMH!!!