8.Ehsaan🔥

Inaayat wore a simple pale mustard dress with oxidized earrings.

She combed her hair then Applied some lip tint on her lips & was good to go.

Haaris was waiting for her in living room.

He already informed his mother - Rabiya about their dinner.

She kept squealing like a kid every two minutes making Haaris embarrassed.

Inaayat took her phone with her & went outside to see haaris seated on sofa waiting for her.

She went & cleared her throat which gained his attention.

Haaris looked up & saw her staring at her feet.

Inaayat wasn't nervous... She was anxious because it was Haaris.

How could she trust him? She was worried thinking what was going on in his mind.

Maybe he hit his head somewhere or the pressure of exams evaporated his brain.

He got up & said " Chalo chalte hai "

Inaayat nodded & followed him outside.

He brought their car in front of the gate... Inaayat opened the car door & checked the seat if it was wet or something because she was sure Haaris had planned a prank on her.

Not finding anything fishy...she settled in passenger's seat thinking how she can figure out what he had planned.

Haaris drove in normal speed.

After half n hour they reached a restaurant.

Haaris said " Tum yahin khadi raho mai abhi parking kar aata hoon "

Inaayat nodded & waited for him at entrance.

Few minutes passed... Haaris didn't come... She thought " Oh shayad yeh mujhe yahin chor kar chala gaya hai "

She wanted to smack herself for coming here.

Suddenly she jumped feeling a tap on her shoulder.

She turned to see Haaris looked at her with confused expression.

Haaris said " Kabse bula raha hoon inaayat... Kaha khoi hui ho? Andar chalte hai "

Inaayat nodded & followed him inside.

The restaurant was beautiful & cosy... The entire vibe was calming.

Haaris went reception & asked for his reserved table.

" Table under Haaris Rehman "

Reception guy nodded & said " Table no. 3 sir "

He then asked a guy to show them their table.

Haaris & inaayat sat on chairs across each other.

Waiter came for the order.

Haaris told his & asked inaayat hers.

After ordering they waited for their food.

Haaris initiated the conversation.

He spoke " Sanam kya keh rahi thi ?"

Inaayat replied " Woh...woh bas gifts ka pooch rahi thi "

Haaris nodded.

They remained silent till their food was served.

Both dug into their meals.

Inaayat hardly ate her dinner  because she waiting for something bad to happen & Haaris reveals his evil self like a Disney villian.

(A/N aise⬇️😆)

But strangely everything was going well & she was safe.

After dinner Haaris asked her if she wanted anything. Inaayat shook her head in No.

She went to washroom &  came back.

they left the restaurant.

Haaris brought the car & inaayat quickly sat inside wanting the day to end quickly.

After driving for a while Haaris asked " Um inaayat Ice cream khaogi? "

Inaayat remained silent.

Haaris said " Iss khamoshi ko Haan samjhonga... Let's go "

Inaayat looked outside the window all the time avoiding him as much as possible.

While haaris kept stealing glances of her every few minutes.

Soon haaris stopped the car in front of a 24 hour drive in cafe. It was on outskirts of the city.

Inaayat looked at him & wanted to question why they were here instead of ice cream parlor.

Haaris understood her questioning gaze & said " Tumne restaurant mein kuch nahi khaya...khana acha nahi tha toh bata deti hum kahi aur jaate "

Inaayat shook her head in No & said " Aisa kuch nahi... Khana theek tha "

Haaris hmmed & said " Acha theek hai mujhe bhook lagi hai... Mai abhi aata hoon... Car mein hi rehna okay "

Inaayat nodded her head & looked away.

Haaris went out & ordered pizza, fries & coke.

He came back quickly as he didn't want to leave her alone.

Soon their order came.

Inaayat's eyes twinkled seeing pizza... She grabbed a piece & started eating.

Haaris chuckled lightly watching her eat.

Inaayat offered him pizza.

Haaris took one & munched on it while sipping coke.

Both are in silence but this time it was comfortable silence.

Haaris asked " Aur kuch mangwaon? "

Inaayat nodded & pointed to pizza.

She loved pizza.

Haaris ordered one more pizza & came back.

Haaris watched inaayat drink coke from the same can that he opened.

His eyes caught the ketchup on her upper lip.

He took a tissue & said " Ketchup laga hua hai clean karlo "

Inaayat nodded & cleaned it quickly & mentally smacked herself for behaving like a starved animal.

Haaris spoke " Sanam bhi pizza aur junk food se obsessed hai "

Inaayat smiled & nodded her head.

Haaris continued " Tumhari aur Sanam dosti ki kaise hui... Woh itni dramatic hai aur tum itni khamosh "

Inaayat replied " Ek Sanam hi hai jisse shuru se lagta tha ki mai sirf ek nerd behenji nahi ek insaan bhi hoon...usse koi uski khuraafaat mein saath dene wala chahiye tha aur mujhe koi aisa dost jo meri khaamiyon ko ginne ke bajaye mai jaisi hoon waise respect kare "

Haaris said "hmm... Waise mujhe ab uski zyada fikr nahi hoti... Ahmed bhai bohut chahte hai usse "

Inaayat smiled at him.

It was the first time Haaris saw her fully smiling... He could swear that his heart had captured that moment.

Inaayat said " Sanam bhi bohut chahti hai Bhai ko...dono ek dusre ko compliment karte hai jaise ek dusre ke liye baney hon "

Haaris nodded his head & watched her eat.

Suddenly inaayat coughed startling Haaris.

He quickly took a water bottle & gave it to her.

Inaayat thanked him & drank it quickly.

Soon silence engulfed them but their minds were full of thoughts & questions.

Then something happened that shook Haaris to the core.

He left inaayat at home & drove off to somewhere.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Next day :

Inaayat woke up to see the other side of her bed was unused & the room looked as if a hurricane passed by.

She sighed & quickly put everything in place & took her clothes & went to freshen up.

After taking bath she went outside for breakfast.

Haaris was already seated on dining table along with afsar.

Rabiya placed the casserole on table.

She saw inaayat & said " Aajao inaayat Naashta karlo "

Inaayat muttered 'Assalamualikum ' & sat across Haaris who had a poker face on.

Inaayat thought he was not a morning person so may be that face.

Inaayat served curry to herself & got up to serve Haaris because from past three weeks she was doing it.

Haaris held her hand & stopped her.

He said " Chota baccha nahi hoon jo apna khana khud na le sakun...mujhpar itna ehsaan mat karo "

Inaayat furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

She thought ' Ajeeb pagal hai...kal kuch aur aaj kuch aur '

Inaayat sat down feeling embarrassed.

Like inaayat ,Rabiya was confused too.

Everyone ate their breakfast.

Afsar left to office while Haaris got up & left without a word.

Rabiya looked at inaayat who sighed knowing rabiya was asking inaayat why haaris's mood was sour.

Inaayat said " Mujhe nahi maloom Ammi ke haaris ko kya hua hai...mujhe nahi maloom."

She got up & went back to Haaris's room.

She locked the door & sat on bed thinking.

Her mind clicked may be he just pretended to be nice to make her bad in front of his parents.

Or maybe it was a part of revenge cause she was the reason behind his cousins - Safina, Safeer & Naimah departure from here.

Or maybe...oh she was going mad.

Tears rolled down her cheeks... She genuinely thought that he was actually being civil & respectful to her during past few days.

She thought that may be she could live here safely for few months until Ahmed & Sanam bond be so strong that her marriage doesn't effect her brother & sanam's marriage.

Or may be she felt herself getting attached to Haaris... Doing his work...keeping an eye on him...watching him being civil to her indirectly.

His confrontation with his cousins & his apology moved her.

being in his presence 24/7 wasn't that hard anymore.

The change in his behavior frightened her.

It was an eye-opener for her that she was right about no one wanting to be with her.

Inaayat sobbed uncontrollably.

She felt lonely & shattered.

At this moment all she wanted was some peace nothing else...she just wanted to feel safe... She didn't want to be alert 24/7.

Her mind & body needed rest.

Three days passed & Haaris's behavior remained same actually worse... He didn't come home at nights.

Rabiya was worried watching the coldness between the two.

During haaris's exams she was sure that haaris's heart was softening towards inaayat but now everything was falling & she didn't know what to do.

She just prayed to Allah SWT to soften their hearts & save their relationship.

Inaayat didn't get proper sleep or more like she didn't sleep since 3 days...trying to think of a solution.

She was worried how everyone at her home would react if she told them everything.

After sometime...her eyes drooped & She fell asleep as she was tired mentally.

Haaris entered his room to see her sleeping in an uncomfortable position.

He heaved a sigh & went to her sleeping form.

As his eyes fell on her...He froze.

her face was covered in dried tears...her furrowed eyebrows...her palms curled in fists tightly as if she was sleeping in war zone.

He slowly moved his fingers on her fists & opened it with a little force.

He then touched her forehead lightly relaxing her eyebrows.

He placed his palm on her cheek & caressed it softly.

Suddenly Inaayat snuggled into his palm breaking his trance & making him move back.

He quickly went out before being caught by her.

Inaayat sleep broke after some time.

She looked at watch there was time left for Zohr Salah... She quickly got up & prayed.

Haaris was sitting in his study room when he received a call.

He looked at the screen it was taimur.

He answered it.

Taimur said " Salam Haaris kaisa hai? "

Haaris replied " Walaikumassalam... Theek tu bata?  "

Taimur said " Mai bilkul theek... Woh tujhe bataana tha ki college ki farewell party hai City grand Hotel mein.. "

Haaris said " Acha...par mai busy hoon nahi aa paunga "

Taimur said " Haan theek hai mat aana lekin Bhabi ko bhej dena... Hum sab milna chahte hai... Acha mauka hai..."

Haaris rolled his eyes & said " Woh.. Woh busy hai... "

Taimur said " Tumlog konse baal bacchon ki shaadiya karwa rahe ho jo busy busy kar rahe ho... Chup chaap aa warna Faiza aur Anum tera sar phod denge "

Haaris sighed & said " Theek hai... Mai batata hoon "

He disconnected the call & went to his room.

After praying she sat down arranging her clothes as she made up her mind that she would exactly do what she planned from the start.

Suddenly Haaris entered his room & went to inaayat.

Haaris called her " Inaayat suno "

Inaayat ignored him & continued her work.

Haaris called her again "INAAYAT "

Inaayat still didn't pay any heed to him.

He got furious...he grabbed her arm & made her look at him.

He hated her non - chalant attitude.

Inaayat looked at him & tried to pull her arm from his hold.

Haaris tightened his hold & said " Jab bulaon toh jawab diya karo... Yeh gussa kisi aur ko dikhaana "

Inaayat gritted her teeth & said " Haan sahi baat hai... Mera gussa bhi koi stable admi deserve karta hai... Tum jaisa koi baccha nahi "

Haaris glared at her & said " Shaam ko tayar rehna... Mere college ki farewell party hai... Dost milna chahte hai tumse "

Inaayat replied angrily " Mai nahi aaongi...lagti kon hoon mai tumhari? Rishtedaar ka thappa toh already lagaya hua hai...ab yeh kya naya drama hai?"

Haaris pulled her close to him & whispered " Thora dhang se tayar hona...yeh saada (simple) se kapde toh atleast mat pehenna "

& left.

He went to study room & slumped on his chair.

He didn't know what he was doing.

He didn't know what he was feeling.

His mind was stuck on only one thing & he didn't even know why it effected him so much.

It scared him...he felt as if he was drowning.

He wasn't able to remove himself from this agony he was feeling.

Assalamualikum😊

Did you like the chapter? 😄

Do Like & Comment ✨

Jazakallahukhair❤