chapter 16

Chapter 16Mishal‘Ya Allah, make things easier for me and do not make them difficult. Ya Allah, give me the courage to tell Daniel the truth. Ya Allah, make it end well. Ameen.’After making the dua’a, I wiped my face with both hands and stood on my feet. As I folded the prayer mat, my mind whirled back to Daniel’s last text message. He told me he was coming over to my place to surprise us, and I couldn’t help but wait for him. When I told Amma about it, she became excited. She was looking forward to meet her friend, Nigar aunty, but at the same time, deep down, I knew she was more excited about the prospect of welcoming Daniel to her home for the first time. In fact, she was so much happy with the idea that she asked me to prepare a few hi-tea food items in honor of the guests—pakoras, shaami kebabs, chicken spring rolls, vegetable spaghetti, and what not. I looked at the wall clock and realized it was half-past seven. What made him so long? I contemplated sending him a message but then decided against it. Maybe I should just wait for him. Or maybe I shouldn’t. There was no harm in checking on him. Over the last few days, our friendship had blossomed to the extent that I could reach out to him without any apprehensions. By now, I felt I had the authority to ask him anything I wanted as a friend. Suppressing all the hesitations and fears, I sent him a text message. Where are you?Normally, he used to revert within a few seconds, but this time I did not hear back from him even after a few minutes had passed. What if he was never coming? What if he was fooling around with me? It was hard to say anything about Daniel, given his nonchalant attitude toward almost everything.  I decided to send him another message. Mishal: Are you even coming? Daniel: What makes you think I won’t?Mishal: It’s hard to trust people like you, Daniel. Daniel: Oi! That was cruel. What’s wrong?Mishal: Nothing Daniel: Please open the door, would ya? We’re waiting outside your door. Surprised, I closed the messaging app and headed downstairs to open the door. On my way to the door, I told Amma that the guests were outside and asked Rayaan to behave decently in front of them, to which he made a face. Amma nodded at me reassuringly and gestured for me to welcome them. I opened the door to find Daniel and Nigar aunty standing before me, a warm smile spreading across Nigar aunty’s face as soon as our eyes met. She carried a huge clay pot in her hands, whereas Daniel held a bouquet. I looked into his eyes, and he was quick to pass me an empathic smile. Apparently, our recent chat had upset him, and rightly so.  ‘Asalaam U Alaikum, aunty,’ I greeted Nigar aunty, and she reached around to hug me. ‘Walaikum Asalaam, sweet heart. How are you?’ she asked, still holding me in her arms. I released myself from the hug, my eyes locked with Daniel. ‘I’m fine. How are you doing now?’‘Mishi, wouldn’t you invite her in?’ Amma called out from a distance, resting her palms on her hips. ‘Mishi?’ Daniel said in a whisper, a surprised look on his face. Ignoring him, I immediately took the clay pot from Nigar aunty’s hands and asked her to come inside. Daniel smirked when he noticed I did not invite him in, but he did not bother to react or make a face at me as I had expected. He just tagged along behind his mother politely.  ‘I’m so happy to see you after so long, Nigar,’ Amma hugged her friend in a long embrace, and Nigar aunty did the same. As they continued to meet and greet, I walked into the kitchen, carrying the clay pot on the kitchen counter. I was quick to open the lid and find deliciously-looking chicken biryani in it. This was the surprise Daniel was talking about. I couldn’t help but smile at the thought. ‘Likewise, Rubina. I missed having our morning tea together.’ Nigar aunty continued as I joined them in the living room.  ‘Don’t worry, Nigar, we will start our morning heart-to-heart sessions very soon.’Nigar aunty laughed. ‘Of course. Let’s start with Biryani first.’Amma made a scowling face. ‘Why did you bring it?’‘Daniel and I wanted to have dinner with you guys tonight.’ Nigar aunty leaned on Daniel’s arm. He pressed his lips together and blinked his eyes the second I looked at him.  Amma turned to Daniel. ‘How are you, beta?’ He focused on Amma and smiled graciously. ‘I’m doin’ good, thanks. How about ya?’ ‘I’m also fine, thank you.’ Amma smiled at him sheepishly before her eyes shifted towards the bouquet in his hands. He instantly caught her stare and handed over the flowers to her quickly. ‘Actually, we brought this for you.’Amma blushed. ‘These are so beautiful. Thank you, beta.’He smiled at her in response. Amma was trying hard to make him feel comfortable at our house. I could tell the way she asked him to sit on the couch and then asked Rayaan to greet him. Daniel’s face lifted all of a sudden the moment he saw Rayaan. ‘G’day mate, how ya goin’? He shook his hands with my little brother, to which Rayaan blushed. Perhaps he was already in awe with Daniel’s Australian accent and his height. Rayaan had to crane his look to a 90-degree angle to look at his face, and I felt sorry for the little guy. ‘Are ya into games?’ Daniel asked him as he noticed the gaming console at the TV table. Rayaan’s cheeks flushed at the mention of his video game. Any soul (apart from me) that took an interest in his video game became his absolute favourite all at once. I could not believe the kid who always used to throw tantrums at home and behaved recklessly in front of Amma and I had turned as innocent as a lamb in Daniel’s presence. ‘Yes,’ he replied in a whisper, still blushing. ‘Do you want to check them out?’‘Why not?’ Daniel grinned. ‘Not now, Raayi,’ Amma interjected and shot daggers at him before turning her gaze on me. ‘Mishi, start serving the dinner na.’I nodded at Amma and made my way toward the kitchen. From the corner of my eyes, I noticed Daniel watching me go. Amma helped Nigar aunty and Daniel sit in the living room, whereas I set the dishes on the dining table one at a time. As Amma engaged herself in a conversation with her friend, Daniel excused himself and followed me into the kitchen. ‘Can I be of some help?’ His sensuous voice made me jump a little the second he walked into the kitchen. I looked up at him as I picked up the bowl of salad. ‘No, I’m good, thanks.’‘Let me take this.’ He reached for the bowl, and before he took it from my hands, our fingers brushed. I melted right away at his touch. He locked his eyes with me, letting his fingers rest on mine for some time. I did not move either. With our eyes locked and fingers entwined, we remained in that position for a few seconds until I heard Amma’s loud laughs resonating across the living room. I blinked my eyes several times and cleared my throat. ‘I… I need to go.’ ‘What if I don’t let you go?’ I was baffled by his response, my lips quivering. I wish I could come up with some response, but my mind was completely blank. My heart turned into a marshmallow, and I could not process anything. He leaned closer to me and whispered, ‘I didn’t like when you said you don’t trust people like me. I want to know why you said that.’My stomach was in knots, and my heartbeat accelerated. ‘I…I need to go, Daniel. Everyone’s waiting for the dinner.’His brows creased in worry, and he held my hands tightly, the bowl of salad still intact in our hands. ‘I want to know what you actually think of me.’I whispered. ‘We can talk about this later. Maybe after dinner. Okay?’ Just then, he released my hands, his eyes still boring into mine. ‘On the terrace?’I nodded at him quickly. ‘Promise?’I shot daggers at him, getting annoyed by his childish behavior now. ‘Yes! Promise! Now let me go!’ I walked past him, carrying the bowl in my hands, my heart thudding loudly against my chest.DanielLike a lovesick teenager, I followed Mishal into the dining room area, carrying the bowl of yogurt in my hands. She turned around, and before we could bump into each other, I gestured with one hand to make her stop. She frowned. ‘Daniel, what are you doing?’I shrugged. ‘I’m just tryin’ to help ya.’She shook her head curtly and took the bowl from my hands before walking back into the kitchen. As I contemplated joining her again in the kitchen, Rayaan came up to me. ‘Care for a video game?’ he asked, excitedly raising his brows. ‘Actually, I think…’‘Rayaan!’ Mishal cut us in between, looking crossly at her younger brother. ‘No more video games. It’s dinner time.’In response, Rayaan’s shoulders slumped in disappointment, and he passed me a gloomy look. I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. ‘No worries. We’ll play after dinner, okay?’He craned his neck to look up at me and nodded with a smile. From the corner of my eyes, I could tell Mishal was watching us adoringly, but as soon as I locked eyes with her, she continued setting the crockery on the dining table. After a while, all of us—my Mum, Mishal’s Mum, Mishal, Rayaan, and I—devoured the tantalizingly delicious Biryaani Mum had cooked along with the other mouth-watering items Mishal and her Mum prepared for us. While having dinner, I kept throwing glances in Mishal’s direction, somehow trying to get hold of her attention, and all I could manage to get were a few half-hearted smiles from her. What the f*** was wrong with her, after all? It wasn’t like only she was angry at me. Even I was pissed off at her. I was happy to show up at her place until she sent me a weird text saying she didn’t trust people like me. Honestly, I was pissed off. Like super pissed off. What made her say that out of the blue? What sort of a person she really thought I was? I would have understood if she was dismayed about me showing up late at her place, but I could not understand what made her say what she said. Hearing from someone that they can’t Jumping to any conclusion was wrong, so I decided to wait and talk to her in person once we were done with the dinner. After dinner, I played Nintendo switch with Rayaan as I had already promised him. While we both played the game, Mishal served herbal tea to everyone, including me. With my eyes fixed on the TV screen, I refused to accept the tea from her. She grimaced and stomped back into the kitchen, carrying the tray in her hands. I chuckled softly as I watched her leave. It was my turn to leave her sulking. ‘What’s wrong?’ Rayaan, seated next to me holding the joy-con in his hands, scowled at me. ‘Why aren’t you concentrating on the game? You’re losing, mate!’This kid seemed to be the first kind of a guy who seemed to care too much about his opponent’s defeat. I smirked. ‘Sorry, mate. I’m back in the game.’ ***I deliberately let Rayaan win all the rounds and feigned being regretful in front of him. Patting his back, I praised him and promised to play with him again. He requested me to visit his place every evening so we could spend more time and play games together, and I couldn’t tell him no. As I was making promises to the kid, I looked over at his elder sister and found her still in a bad mood. Before I could walk up to her and initiate a conversation, Mum called out to me. When Mum and Mishal’s mother were done chit-chatting and sipping green tea, she asked me to leave, and I obliged. Both Mishal and I passed each other a long look before I bid goodbye to her mother and Rayaan. Rubina aunty embraced me for a bit too long and asked me to visit again. I watched Mum and Mishal share an endearing hug before passing through the hallway, making my way towards the door. Mum followed me and stepped outside, still chitter-chattering with Mishal and her mother. I stepped down on the porch steps and waited for Mum, tucking my hands in the pockets of my jeans and watching as Mum made her way outside along with Mishal and her mother. To my luck, I found Mishal gazing at me as well, her face completely blank. Mum embraced her best friend and Mishal once again before joining me and waving at the hosts. I waved at them, my eyes still lingering on Mishal, and hoped to see a smile on her face. However, much to my chagrin, she didn’t pass any smile toward me. With a stern look on her face, she turned her back on me and walked inside. Mum and I returned home only to find Khalid Butt waiting for us in the TV lounge. As Mum began to have a conversation with him, I managed to escape from the scene and headed towards my room. Once I was in my room, I began to take off my clothes. Then, I reached for the remote control and switched on the ac. I figured it would be best to take a shower amid the humid weather. A few minutes later, I walked out of the washroom, dripping wet and wrapped in a towel. Standing before the dresser, as I began to comb my wet hair, I heard my cellphone ring on the nightstand. Setting the comb on the dresser, I picked up the phone to check the screen and saw a text message from Mashal flashing on it. Getting a message from Mashal was not something that happened often. Although I was slightly giddy with excitement on getting a message from her, at the same time, I also felt a tad disappointed with her attitude when I met her a while ago at her place for the dinner. I thought you wanted to meet me at the terrace. Where are you now? A huge smile plastered on my face as soon as I opened her text message and read it. Without wasting another minute, I quickly grabbed a pair of PJs and a sweatshirt from the closet, dressed in a jiffy, and rushed to the terrace. It was a relief to find Mashal standing on her side of the terrace. She was in her usual self, dressed in sleepwear, specs set on the bridge of her nose, hair pulled up in a bun, arms crossed across her chest. ‘Hey,’ I called out to her in a whisper as I took a few steps towards her. Her glowing face was crestfallen, and I was deeply concerned for her. What was wrong with her? Why did she seem so upset? Was it because of what Haider said to her about us? Or was it because of some other reason that I was unaware of? ‘Hi,’ she said in a small whisper, her face still solemn. ‘I’m glad you kept the promise and came to see me,’ I told her as I reached for the adjoined wall that connected our terraces and rested my elbows on the surface of the wall just to see her from up-close. She closed her eyes only to open them again and sighed. ‘I had to. Otherwise, you wouldn’t stop bugging me.’ I chuckled softly. ‘I didn’t know my words had a deep effect on ya.’Ignoring what I had just said, she continued. ‘Why did you call me here?’ I bent down a little to match her eye level and tucked my hands under my chin as I looked at her. ‘I just wanted to talk to you.’‘About what?’ she said irritably. A slight frown appeared between my brows. ‘You seem disturbed, mate. Tell me, what’s wrong?’As if on cue, she placed her palms flat on the surface of the wall connecting our terrace and looked into my eyes. ‘Nothing.’Taking advantage of our proximity, I dared to reach for her hand and held it. ‘Don’t lie, Mitchelle. I can tell when you lie to my face.’I took her by surprise when I held her hand and noticed how her hand squirmed against my hold, blood rushing to her cheeks. ‘Daniel…’ she whispered, her lips quivering, and then paused as if she was looking for words. Leaning towards her, I strengthened my grip on her hand and went on, ‘I want to know why you said you don’t trust people like me. Am I that bad? Do you still not trust me?’She turned silent, casting her eyes down. ‘Is it because of what Hammad said about us? Or because… you still don’t trust me enough?’Now, she looked up at me, deep into my eyes. I whispered, holding her hand firmly and intertwining my fingers with her. ‘Do you still doubt me because of Anna?’She gulped and stared into my eyes and then looked down at our hands. Catching her sight, I looked down at our hands and realized perhaps I had gone too far. At that point, I did not even care about causing her discomfort. I only wanted to know what bothered her so much. ‘Do you still think I’m involved with her?’ She looked back into my eyes, a shadow of doubt crossing her face.  I furrowed my brows. ‘Your silence is killing me. For God’s sake, please say something.’I watched her as she tried to struggle against my hold, but I did not let go of her hand. ‘I won’t let you go unless you tell me what’s wrong.’‘I don’t care even if you’re involved with Anna,’ she said. I snorted a laugh. ‘Really?’‘Yes,’ she said sternly as she managed to release her hand from my hold. It was a bit disappointing to hear that she did not care if I was involved with some other girl. ‘Aren’t you jealous?’ I teased her. ‘Not even a bit?’She frowned. ‘Why would I be? I’m not your girl—’ She stopped in the middle of the sentence as if she realized that she would omit a forbidden word. I raised my brows. ‘You’re not my girl… what?’Shaken at her own words, she looked away and refused to meet my eyes. ‘Am I that despicable that you wouldn’t even consider becoming my girlfriend?’She sighed, looking back at me. ‘Daniel, please… Do not complicate this conversation.’ ‘You’re the one who’s complicating the matter. Why don’t you tell me what’s actually bothering you?’She shushed me and said, ‘Please lower your volume. I don’t want anyone to hear us talking in the middle of the night and then talk bullshit about us.’I chuckled softly. ‘So basically, you’re worried about Hammad catching us red-handed.’She passed me a cold stare. ‘What now?’  ‘I just need to go back inside.’ As she was ready to leave, I caught her hand once again, taking her by surprise. ‘Please don’t leave. Not just yet.’Her nostrils flared. ‘Just let me go.’ I leaned towards her, drawing my face closer to her, and wished there was no wall between us. ‘I don’t want to let you go.’Her face softened as she looked back into my eyes and allowed me to hold her hand for a little longer. I did not want to let go of this opportunity. I wanted to make the best of this moment as much as possible. I put my hands on hers, and it made her shudder. ‘Mitchelle, I like what we have… what we share… whatever it is… I don’t know what it is… but… I really like it… and I… I do not want to let go of this… ever.’For once, she did not falter even for a bit and did not blink her eyes. A small smile appeared across the corner of her lips as she stared into my eyes. Our eyes and hands were locked, and everything around us came to a standstill for a moment. I had not experienced such a magical moment ever in my life, and I was beginning to love it. ‘I just want you to trust me, okay?’ I whispered. Quiet and breathless, she nodded. I smiled. ‘Just stay with me, and I promise I’m going to fix everything.’She parted her lips as she looked at me, a look of surprise clouding her face. ‘You don’t need to worry about Hammad or anyone else because I won’t let anyone lay a finger on you, ever. If something goes wrong because of me, I’m going to bear the brunt of everything, and I’m going to protect you with all my life. That’s a promise.’ ‘Do you really mean everything you just said?’ she asked. I exclaimed. ‘I mean it—cross my heart.’Smiling shyly, she lowered her gaze and cleared her throat, indicating that I should let go of her hands. Embarrassed, I released the grip of my hands against hers and chucked a laugh. She put a hand against her lips as she continued to giggle timidly. All of a sudden, there was no tension in the air, and I was happy to see her get back into a cheerful mood. I felt it was the best time to tell her the truth about my feelings so I could win her trust again. ‘Mitchelle…’ I continued. She looked back at me as I managed to grasp her attention. ‘Have you ever thought about how you’d look without these specs on your face?’ She grimaced. ‘No.’Slowly, I reached for the specs on her face and took them off. ‘Daniel!’ she scowled in a whisper. ‘What are you doing?’I put them on my face and looked at her through the glasses, pressing my lips in a thin line. ‘Do I look good with them?’ She snickered. ‘No, you look stupid. Now give them back to me.’‘But you look good without them. Trust me.’ I winked at her. She blushed at my remark and shook her head. ‘You’re so annoying. Did you know that?’ ‘And you’re so beautiful. Did you know that?’