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"Can you open it for me?" Inara moved forward a soda can to him which she was able to catch from the refrigerator. Her mother would freak out if she saw her with the can so she sneaked to her safe heaven.
Zulaid looked at her silently.
"Pretty please!" She asked innocently.
"No. It's not good for you!" He shook his head.
"But you drink it too" She asked impatiently.
"I am much older than you. Why are you copying me?" He asked.
"Because I like you" She gave him her little puppish smile.
"Thank you" He smiled lightly.
"But you are acting bad. You aren't opening it for me. I would complain to Taya Abu!" She made an annoyed face and changed her statement the very next moment.
"Huh! Be a good girl" He said.
"I am not a good girl. I am a bad girl" She huffed.
"Who told you that?" Zulaid was amused hearing it from her.
"Hamad" She answered quickly.
Ulu. He muttered.
"You are a good girl. Behave like one!" He said to her.
"No. No. I am not a good girl. Nor are you a good boy" She took hold of a cushion and threw at him with full force. Zulaid easily caught it before it could hit him.
"Inara! Behave yourself" He shook his head watching her running upstairs.
"YOU ARE BADDD!!" She screamed looking behind at him.
"Toba hy" He muttered, fixed his eyes back to the TV screen.
(God Forgive me)
Inara was growing up into a very mischievous and stubborn child. She would argue with everyone especially him. She would want to be with him all the time he would be at home and tease him with different strategies. She loved pranking him.
She was getting spoiled as she was the only child of her parents. They wouldn't reprimand her or say no to her for anything. She was getting negative influence out of it. No one in the house had the heart to scold their only little girl for her mistakes except Zulaid. He was the only one who could scold her and not get affected by her fake tears and puppy dog eyes.
"Don't eat my mind" Zulaid glared at her. The seven year old girl stuck out her tongue at him.
"You don't have one" She chuckled.
"Will you just leave my room?" He asked her patiently. He was playing GTA vice city on his desktop and she was bothering him for no reason.
"No" She shook her head.
"Then sit quietly" He instructed seriously.
"Why are you not helping me?" She cried out.
"I have already helped you Inara! You have to write it by yourself. It's your homework. I will only point out your mistakes later but you have to try first" He tried to make her understand gently.
Instead of working on what he said, she plugged out the switch of his desktop.
"INARA!" He yelled unbelievably. He was in the middle of a crucial mission and she just spoiled it for him.
"Bohat badtameez hoti ja rahi ho" He controlled himself to not hit her forcefully but he couldn't stop himself from slapping the back of her head lightly.
(You are getting spoiled)
"SHUT UP" She yelled and started crying.
"Get out of my room" He instructed her.
"MAMA!!" She ran out of his room with tears in her eyes.
"Chachi! I am sorry for saying this but can you please teach her some manners. She is getting spoiled. She asked me to shut up today. Spilled juice on my ironed shirt. She disturbs me chachi! It's getting too much. Please take control of her otherwise if I took control of her you and chachu would mind it" He respectfully said it to Farida who was careless about her daughter.
The time was passing. Inara was getting older and sober. She wouldn't tease him anymore but they weren't close as they were when she was born. Zulaid was grown up to a young introverted man, his interests different than her. Age gap does matter in some relationships. He wouldn't relate to her in any way now.
But he never deliberately ignored her. His behavior was similar with Hamad but he was his only brother and he loved him a lot. He couldn't develop a bond with Inara naturally due to her rebellious nature. She was a tough child and he wasn't responsible to take care of her but her parents. He was responsible only for his brother.
Zulaid got into medical school. Tough medical studies took all his attention and he became less interested in the household. He was 23 years old when he went to US for his last USMLE exam.
In a few months, he got a residency in the US and left his home. He stayed in the US for the next 7 years. He never visited Pakistan in these years. He was thirty when he came back.
Back home everything was changed, the teenagers he left were now changed into matured adults. He was shocked to see Inara, the twenty years old shy girl. She smiled lightly at him when they saw each other after so many years.
She was dressed in a light pink shalwar qameez. She had gained weight and turned into a beautiful young girl. He noticed she wasn't talking much. In childhood, she was a chatterbox especially around him but with time things changes. He himself was very changed. He became more reserved in these years.
"Aslamo alaikum" She greeted nicely.
"Walekum salam" He stood up at his place and patted her head lightly. It's a gesture older men shows to youngsters. He was also her elder.
"You have grown up" He said to her.
She just smiled meekly in response.
"It's good to have you back" She mumbled to him as she served him a cup of tea.
"Bhai can't say same about you" Hamad joked.
"Thank you!" Zulaid ignored his comment and took the cup from her hands.
"How is it?" She asked impatiently as he took the first sip of the tea.
"It's nice" He nodded his head.
"He is lying. Can't you read faces Inara?" Hamad couldn't live without taking part in conversations he wasn't needed.
"Really?" She looked at Zulaid innocently.
Itni masoomiyat. Zulaid was impressed. She was really changed. Her whole personality was different from what he expected.
(This much innocence)
...
"Get done with his colonoscopy today!" Zulaid instructed Dr. Babar and completed his morning round.
"Sir! Should I discharge bed no. 7 patient?" Dr. Azwa took his attention who was about to leave.
"Dr. Azwa I think I have already asked you to prescribe him antiemetics and discharge him. Moreover you are in the last year of your training and you can't even decide when to discharge a post appendectomy patient" He scolded her when she heard her words.
He was understanding that she was trying to get his attention. He was trying to maintain a professional relationship with her but she wanted more from him. Something he would die before doing.
"Sir! I was-just confirming" She stuttered.
"Were you sleeping when I asked you to discharge him when we were at his bed?" He asked her seriously. This was getting too much.
"No Sir!"
"I want all of you to open your minds and ears when talking to me" He said loud enough to be heard by everyone. He glanced at everyone before leaving.
He was going back to his office when his gaze fell at a group of medical students coming out of medical ward. One of them was his wife whom he hadn't seen from last night. She didn't come back to their room after their argument and when he woke up in the morning she was had already left for the hospital.
He slowed his pace as they came near.
"Aslamo alaikum Sir!" The students greeted him warmly except his wife, who was looking away, seemed totally disinterested.
"Walekum salam! How are you all?" He nodded.
"Jese ke Inara kehti hy Sir bilkul wese! Asman se girrey, khajoor main atke" One of them joked.
(Sir as Inara says we escaped from one problem but unfortunately fell in another problem especially worse one)
Inara didn't try to look at him but glared at her friend who said it to him. What was the need to say that to him anyway. Bloody friends.
"Why do you say that Dr. Inara?" He called her name. She couldn't ignore him any longer now especially when they weren't alone.
"Medicine is hectic Sir!" She didn't look up at him when she replied.
"It is truly. Best of Luck everyone!" He couldn't just stop them to talk with his angry wife.
"Thank you Sir! Have a good day" They said to him. Inara kept her mouth shut. She didn't want to communicate with him.
Her cell phone blinked after a few seconds.
Dracula ð§ââï¸: Will you go out on lunch with me?
Inara: No thank you! You shouldn't waste your time on me.
Dracula ð§ââï¸: We need to talk.
Inara: I am busy. Don't disturb me.
Dracula ð§ââï¸: I am sorry for everything that might have hurt you.
He apologized but did he mean it? Did he realize he wronged her. She rolled her eyes at her cell phone as if it was him.
You have hurt me so much. You were always important to me. Why wasn't I important to you then? A lone tear escaped her eyes which she quickly wiped.
..................................................................
Well. Well. You guys needs to understand the age gap between them. He is freaking 11 older than her. When he was in university, making a new life she was still a kid studying in school. Their interests could never be similar.
He did care for her always but nobody really likes mischievous kids when they aren't their own.
He is definitely on mistake for ignoring her later in their lives as from Inara's perspective we already know but when she was really young he did take care of her even when he was busy in his studies.
As it's a long story now so we will get to know about Zulaid's point of view too. So stay tunedâ¨
Anyways, enough of ranting, How was the chapter?