Khwahish- Pt 4

*****

Masar scowled for the umpteenth time as he saw the bandar in black suit laughing at a joke said by Sabir. His fists kept clenching and unclenching as he tried his best to not throw these rishte wale out of the house in one go.

His eyes were drilling holes after holes in the man's head but the guy seemed to be ignoring it or maybe, he was just foolish enough to not notice the intensity of Masar's death stare.

"Arey Humaid bhai, aur le, itna kya sharma rahe hai?"

Sabir buttered his maybe or maybe not-to-be jiju and offered him more of the sweets and the snacks but the said man refused them with a polite smile.

Masar's glare shifted from Humaid to Sabir who was smart or maybe foolish enough to look at him and his eyes widened as he found his cousin murdering him by his stare.

Arey ab toh inko maine kuch khilaya bhi nahi, phir kyu mere sar ke peeche pade hai?

He thought with a gulp before looking away and chuckling nervously towards Humaid.

"Acha Humaid bhai, I would like to take my leave now. You enjoy yourself."

With that, he ran out of the living room as if the devil was chasing him. Well, he wasn't wrong in a sense since Masar was still glaring at the place where he had disappeared.

"Humaid beta, baki baatein baad mein, let me get straight to the point. Aapke abbu toh Mustafa ke dost hai, but profession perspective se, what do you do?"

Humaid smiled politely at Abeer before clearing his throat and replied with a calm and collected tone.

"I am related to the tourism industry. Basically an agency that has set it's roots on most of the western as well Eastern countries. Alhumdulillah, filhaal ke liye everything is going pretty well and Insha'Allah, aage bhi sab theek hoga."

Abeer's eyes assessed his features for a few seconds before he gave him a nod, content with his answer and his posture. The guy was confident to say the least and he could only hope for more positivity from him.

Masar scoffed lightly, unintentionally grabbing the attention of the man he was digging a grave for. Humaid smiled at the youth but was met with a neutral and bored look. He raised an eyebrow at Masar who copied his gesture but with a more serious expression.

"Aapki tareef?"

"Arey ab Masar bhai khud ki tareef khud ke muh se toh karenge nahi. We are there for that. Lekin sawal acha tha. He-"

"Tareef matlab appreciation wala nahi but introduction wala, bewakoof."

Mayza smacked Zuhayr's head to add some sense in it and smiled sheepishly at Humaid who just chuckled at the two.

"Masar Abidi."

Humaid looked at Masar and nodded his head. The latter ignored him and got back to staring at the blank wall with a frown. Humaid sighed, not understanding the reason for this rude behaviour but nonetheless didn't question it and moved on to have a conversation with the rest of the cousins.

Masar grumbled under his breath incoherently and not being able to bear it any longer, he stood up and walked out of the living room. His eyes looked at his moving feets and before he knew it, he once again found himself lost, lost in the 'what ifs' that the future held.

What if Ezah actually got married? Married to someone that wasn't him.

What if Ezah leaves from his life? Would his life even be the same again?

What if Ezah didn't love-

"Masar?"

He blinked a few times, once, twice, thrice before finally looking up only to curse his fates.

Right now? Like right now?

Nahi, mazak uda rahe ho na mera? Masum ki duhaye lagengi!

He thought to himself before gritting his teeth and looking away from the hoor of a woman standing in front of him. She was adorned in a multi coloured kurti embedded with beautiful gems and sequences. The colour combination of peach, fresh orange, and off white just enhanced her beauty.

Was she always this breathtaking or had his nonsensical emotions taken over his visual capacity too?

"Masar, itne ghabraye hue kyu lag rahe ho? Kuch hua hai kya?"

Tumhara rishta aaya hai! Am I supposed to dance about that fact?

He bit his tongue lightly to not let the words slip. He couldn't trust himself with his emotions at the moment, so giving Faeezah a tight lipped smile, he tried to walk past her but stilled all at once when she pulled him back by gripping his elbow.

He quickly pulled his hand away as if the touch had burnt him in the worst way possible and hastily took a few steps back, creating a needed distance between him and her.

Faeezah passed him a weird look, trying to ignore the sudden prick that occured out of nowhere. She might have eaten something wrong and was now facing the consequences, or maybe it was-

Before her train of thoughts could reach the correct station, she heard Masar's stiff reply, which resulted in nothing but a frown on her features.

"Main theek hu. Yaha bahot bore ho raha hu isliye bahar ja raha hu. Everyone's waiting for you inside. Tumhe jaana chahiye."

Faeezah scowled at him and his choice of words but anyhow stood her ground and narrowed her eyes at him.

"Kya hua hai tumhe? Kyu aise baat kar rahe ho?"

Masar mirrored her expression of displeasure and ran a hand over his face.

She wasn't helping him even one bit and his heart was steps away from either stopping or going into hyperventilation.

"Kuch nahi hua hai mujhe. Is it so tough to just leave me alone?"

His voice raised slightly in the end and Faeezah flinched slightly. She had seen the first of many things but never in her wildest dream did she expect such a rude behaviour from Masar towards her.

He didn't want to talk to her? Very well, she wasn't dying to initiate a conversation either.

"Jaisi tumhari marzi. Sado ja kar kahi. Muh mat dikhana apna mujhe!"

She didn't spare him another glance and was out of his sight while Masar stood in his place with a sullen look. The amount of guilt that had hit him with full force was unfathomable but it was supposed to be done.

He couldn't lose himself to this emotion and do something stupid and unexpectable. He had ruined himself enough as it was.

So suppressing the guilt that was rising second after second, he walked out of the house without turning back. If life was going to play this dirty game with him then he was going to be prepared for it.

Heartbreaks weren't meant to exist and he surely wouldn't be a target of one.

*****

Faeezah and Humaid were strolling in the garden. The latter was enjoying the soft breeze but the same couldn't be said about Faeezah. She looked lost in her own thoughts and was mindlessly moving her legs, looking around once in a while.

Humaid took a glance at the woman beside him and cleared his throat. How would the proposal move forward if they didn't get to know whether they were compatible for each other or not?

"Not a fan of speaking?"

He joked to light up the environment but was met with silence.

"Faeezah ma'am, I don't think conversing with the air would be more pleasant than me."

The one called out to finally snapped out of her thoughts and looked at him with wide eyes, as if she wasn't walking beside him for the past 10 minutes.

She quickly composed herself and passed him an apologetic smile before looking ahead.

Humaid sighed softly and chuckled at her cuteness. The maturity in her looks balanced the adorableness in her personality. He knew what his answer would be and he could only hope the same from her.

Meanwhile Faeezah was busy contemplating her attitude in front of Masar. She shouldn't have reacted that way. Something was bothering him and she clearly saw the agonizing conflict in his eyes but rather than helping him and comforting him, she did the opposite, increased his worries and maybe, maybe he was guilty for his behaviour too?

Faeezah came to an abrupt stop and looked at Humaid with an alarmed look, making him think about what had he done wrong all of a sudden.

"I am extremely sorry Mr. Humaid but an urgent matter needs me right now. Kya hum please kisi aur din continue kar sakte hai? Please, sorry and thank you!"

With that, she ran out of the garden and towards the car that was parked near the fence.

She got hold of her phone and quickly dialed Masar's number but the guy seemed to have been busy doing something since even after many tries, he didn't pick the call.

Zyada naraaz ho gaya hai kya?

She bit her lips and smacked her head before groaning in frustration. Why couldn't she remain calm in the situation? Was it necessary to reciprocate his attitude?

She shook her head and took deep breaths to calm her worrying heart. Rubbing her temples a little, she quickly started the car and made her way towards Allah knows where. He couldn't be at his house since Sahar phupho had the key, college campus was a no and the only other place that he could be at the moment was the lake.

More like a mini paradise that the cousins had discovered all together a long time back.

She drove towards the place with an anxious expression because no matter what, she knew Masar was extremely sensitive when it came to controlling his emotions.

Slightest of words could hurt him and the smallest of efforts could make him smile till the time that his bateesi was on display.

Parking the car near the rows of trees that screamed beauty and peace, she got out and walked towards the insides of this small forest. She scolded herself for wearing such an outfit that didn't support hiking but could anyone blame her?

This was definitely how she expected her day to go, especially not the anger filled encounter with Masar.

She heard small sounds of splashes and walked faster. Her legs finally stopped when her eyes caught Masar's form sitting at the edge of the lake and his hands were throwing the small pebbles in the lake once in a while.

"Masar!"

He stiffened when the familiar voice reached his ears. Closing his eyes for a nanosecond, he opened them again but didn't bother looking back. He heard her walking towards him and held the pebble tightly to not do anything absurd or spit more bullshit than he already had.

Faeezah silently sat beside him, not caring about the dress that she had successfully spoiled and looked at the lake just like Masar. A thick silence clouded their forms as the two gazed at the serene water.

"Kya kar rahi hai yaha?"

She finally looked at him with an expression that clearly screamed annoyance. He looked at her too and raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously? That's all you got to say?"

Masar bit the insides of his cheek to stop the chuckle from escaping his lips at the adorable scrunch of her nose and the clear complaint in her eyes.

"Aur kya bolu?"

She gritted her teeth and moved her hand forward to shake his head as harshly as she could but stopped herself, fisted her hands and dragged them down slowly in front of her face before taking deep breaths.

Masar watched her with an amused expression and covered the bubbling laughter with a cough.

He absolutely loved annoying her and right now, he was thoroughly enjoying the show.

"Masar, tang kar raha hai na mujhe?"

"Who? Me?"

He asked with an innocent expression and just got a narrowed glare in return, that did anything apart from scaring him.

She sighed and finally let a small smile slip on her face. The guy beside her was just too cute to be mad at and she knew better than to keep trying further

"Acha sun?"

He called out softly after a moment of comfortable silence. Faeezah hummed in response as she threw a pebble of her own in the lake that drowned completely into the water after making more than a few circular rings.

"I am sorry."

**********

Does that count as a cliffhanger?!

Lol, can someone please tell me why I am feeling guilty for making Humaid as the, I don't know, an unnecessary villain in a sense? And that's the very reason why my kind heart decided to spare the man and add some other mixes in the story that weren't supposed to be in the start.

Hayee, all I will say is that the book is heading towards the plot that it was supposed to have and some of you might curse a huge amount of human population after 2 or 3 updates and I mean it, like literally

**********