chapter 17

.

Ayesha's POV

.

I turned up the volume as I began driving. It was a Monday morning and I was on the way to take Reem to her University.

Her car was still parked at the club, the weekend went by in a blur, we didn't get time to collect the car.

Saturday morning i woke up with a headache, when Reem told me what I did a night before I was so embarrassed, that I hid myself in the blanket the whole day.

It was Sunday by the time I gained courage to face the world. We went shopping then spent the rest of the day at the orphanage.

I looked at Reem she was sitting awfully quiet, she looked like she was in deep thought. I nudged my shoulder against hers

"What happened baby, what are you thinking?" I asked

"I'm thinking about Zuhan" she spoke

Last night when we were returning from the orphanage Zuhan was not letting Reem go. He cried so much, that boy is addicted to her. Even Reem loves him terribly, she is quite disturbed since then

"Don't worry he'll be ok. Talk to him when you take him out for vaccination today" I suggested

"I'm thinking about something else"

"What?" She turned to look at me, her face looked very serious.

"I'm thinking of adopting Zuhan" she said, and my eyes widened in surprise

"Huh? What?" I asked still unsure if I heard her correctly.

"You heard it right. I really want to adopt him. He needs me, I need him too" she spoke

"Woah! Wait! It is not a small decision to make. I think you are being too emotional right now" I tried making her think straight

"You wouldn't understand" she was getting pissed now

"Baby I understand. But I'm not just thinking about you, I'm thinking about Zuhan also. You are talking about adoption here, it's a huge decision to make. Think about it, you love him you will take good care of him, but what about izhaan and his family, will they be able to accept him"

"I'm sure they will"

"On just the basis of presumption you cannot make such a big decision. From what I have noticed, Khans are closely knit people, i don't know if they can welcome an outsider in the family"

I was just trying to make her see the light. It was about the life of a little kid. No doubt Izhaan is a wonderful person, but who knows if he'd be able to love zuhan as his own blood.

If Reem will adopt him, Izhaan will become equally responsible for zuhan by default. But who can guarantee if he even wants that.

"Think thoroughly baby before you can decide anything. And just keep in mind, zuhan deserves loving parents, a happy family" I put my hand on hers, "do you understand?" I asked, she nodded.

Soon we reached her University, I parked the car and we both got out of the car. I tossed the keys to Reem

"I feel horrible about making you leave your car to me" she stuck out her bottom lip.

"Don't be mad. It's all fine" i smiled

"This is why I was not interested in studies, time management has become a task now" she huffed

"It's just two years of that task, then you'll have your degree as a reward." I spoke, then I gasped, "speaking of degree, I must leave for office now, God knows what that devil has in store for me today" i shuddered, Reem chuckled

"Good morning ladies" a voice said, i turned around and found Sufiyan standing there.

"Good morning" I chirped, Reem also greeted him

"Fancy seeing you here Ayesha" he said

"I just came to drop Reem" I spoke.

"And I must be going now, I'm getting late for the class. I'll see you at home, Ayesha." She gave me a quick hug, "see you around" she murmured to sufiyan and left

"I must also leave now." I said

"Come, I'll walk you to your car" he requested, I giggled

"I am gonna take a cab."

"Cab? Why?" He asked. I told him everything

"So you will go to pick up her car in the evening?" He asked

"Yup" I nodded. He put his hand in his pocket and brought out his car keys

"Here. Take mine" he said putting the keys infront of me

"What! no" I shook my head

"There's no way I will let you go via cab. I would have dropped you myself but I have a lecture in half an hour"

"Don't worry I will manage"

"I am sure you can manage, but for my own selfish reason I'm insisting"

"What selfish reason?"

"There will be a cab driver in the cab" he said scratching the back of his head.  I smiled feeling happy about his care.

"But how will I return your car?" I asked

"I'll come to your office, We will go to the club together to get Reem's car. If it's okay with you" He shrugged

"Okay" I took the car keys from his hand

"Thanks. I'll be at peace now" he smiled brightly. "Umm Ayesha, if you don't mind, can we go out for dinner?"

"Sure" I nodded

"Thank you so much. You just made my day"

He directed me towards his car, I settled in and pulled the window down.

"No guarantees that I will not damage your car" I smirk

"As long as you are safe, do anything with it" the genuine care in his word left me speechless. I just looked at him.

"So you want to go? Or You want to attend the university today" he asked when I kept staring at him for quite long, I looked away feeling embarrassed

"Bye" I mumbled and buckled myself in the seat belt. I started the car and left the university's premises

A small gesture made me happy.

Soon I reached the office. I parked sufiyan's car in the basement parking lot and made my way to the 25th floor.

******

.

Reem's POV

.

My heart pained when I heard a loud scream of my poor boy Zuhan. If it was not necessary I would have never let him come to the hospital.

One after the other all of the four children got their shots.

I had to skip my last lecture so that I could take kids for vaccination.

We sat on the bench in the hospital. Zuhan sat on my lap. Even though he was five years old, but he was so thin and small he looked like a three year old.

"Are you all ok?" I asked

"Di! It hurts" sneha said, I pouted and gave her a hug

"Oh my little girl" I kissed her head

"I hate vaccination. I'm never going to get it" suhaib stomped his foot

"Yes sir. As you say" I saluted him. I looked at Amay who was sitting quietly.

"Amay! Baby! Why are you so quiet?" I asked, he looked at me, his eyes turned glossy. I pulled him on my other lap

"Why are you crying?" I asked, he burst into tears, I began to panic

"What's wrong? Are you hurt?" I asked, he looked at me

"I'm hungry" he said and I sighed in relief

"That's it? You got me so worried" I smiled while ruffling his hair

"I'm also hungry" all the kids chorused

"Okayyy! What do you want to have?" I asked

"French fries" they chimed

"Let's go then" I smiled.

I took the kids to the mall, first we went to McDonald's, they enjoyed their food and I enjoyed looking at them.

After they've eaten. I took them for shopping, we bought new clothes, shoes and toys.

When we passed a play area, they insisted on going in, so I got them registered and sent them to play, there was help already so I didn't need to be there.

I got myself a cup of coffee and sat just outside the play area I was making their video and taking pictures as they were playing

My phone rang, it was Hayat's call, I answered instantly.

"Hello doll" I spoke

"Hi bhabhi! how are you?" she said excitedly, I feel uncomfortable every time she calls me with that name

"I'm well! How about you?"

"I'm bored" she groaned

"Why?" I asked

"Everyone is busy. Nobody has time for me" I could picture her pouting

"That's not true"

"So let's go out right now somewhere" she spoke immediately

"Right now! Ummm I'm a little busy right now. Let's make a plan over this weekend"

"See I told you nobody has time for me"

"Ohho! Don't feel sad. I would have come if you told me in advance" I tried to rationalise

"It's ok, I understand" I heard the sadness in her voice.

"Now you are making me feel guilty, let's do one thing I will pick you up, we'll go somewhere for dinner"

"Really? Do you mean it?" Suddenly she got excited

"Of course I do"

My eyes went to the kids, I saw Zuhan climbing the wall. He went up quite high. I stood up to look at him

"Hello bhabhi, are you there?" She asked

"Hmmm I am"

My whole attention was on zuhan now. I couldn't understand what hayat was saying.

Suddenly zuhan's foot slipped, I called his name and ran towards him, my phone fell from my hand.

Thankfully he was tied up with the harness so he was just floating in the air

"Bring him down" I shouted

He was immediately brought down and I went near him and hugged him tightly.

"Are you ok?" I asked

"Yes di. I am fine. Don't get worried. I'm not a kid" he said with a brave smile on his face, I smiled at him

"Shall we go now?" I asked.

It is so difficult to bring kids out from a play area, after a lot of convincing, they finally agreed only to run to the candy store. We could leave the mall after the kids were satisfied.

After dropping them to the orphanage I went to the NGO. I had a lot of pending work there.

I messaged Hayat to be ready by 8 o'clock so that we can go for dinner. Hayat insisted on bringing Ayesha along so I called to find out what her plan was. I was surprised to find out that she was going out with sufiyan.

I let Hayat know that Ayesha was busy so it was just us. She was sad at first but understood when I told her that she already had a plan.

*****

.

Izhaan's POV

.

After the completion of hearing, I headed straight home, and I was feeling very tired. So I didn't feel like going to the office.

I left my car in the driveway only, I didn't even have the energy to park it. I went home and went straight to my room. I took a hot water shower, and changed into comfortable clothes.

After that I went to maa's room. I knocked on the door, when I got the permission I entered the room

"Assalamualaikum" I said

"Walekumassalam. When did you come?" Maa asked, she was sitting on the bed while doing some knitting, I laid next to her

"Just a while ago"

She dropped her work and turned to my side, she massaged my hair, I felt calm and closed my eyes.

Maa was talking to me, she was giving me updates about her relatives, and all the random things. She asked me about work and I updated her. I looked at her face, she was holding something back, I sat straight

"Tell me maa" i said

"What?" She asked

"I know you want to talk about something, but you are just trying to hold it in" I said, she sighed deeply

"Do you know the girl Athar loves?" Maa asked

Oh so she still believes in his lie. Should I tell her the truth? No no buddy will kill me

"No maa, I don't" I shook my head

"It is very surprising. I wonder why he has never told you about her. He never hides anything from you"

"Maybe he's just waiting for the right time" I supported his lie

"Amma is quite adamant to find that girl. She will talk to athar tonight"

"I must warn him then" I said

"You will not do such a thing"

"One thing more" she said

"Now what?"

"As you know we all have been waiting for Reem's twenty third birthday. It will be in a few months, so we were thinking of going to her parents house and talking about what has to be done" she said

Even though I have been preparing myself for this day for quite a long time, it still came as a surprise to me. I still don't feel ready. But I nodded my head nevertheless

"I'm okay with it. Just let me know when you have to go"

She caressed my cheek lovingly

"You are such a good son. I'm proud of you"

"I feel hungry maa. I have to go to eat something"

"I will prepare something for you"

" No, no need. I will help myself"

I was not really hungry but I just wanted to get away from there. I didn't want to talk about it.

I went to the living room, I found hayat there, and she was talking on the phone. She was so engrossed in the call that she didn't even realise my presence.

"Hello bhabhi are you there?" She said

Is she talking to Reem?

"Oh you seem very distracted" she said over the phone.

"Who are you talking to?" I asked, she got startled and turned around

"Oh Bhai, you scared me. Bhabhi, Izhaan bhai is here, talk to him" she said and passed the phone to me

"What?" I raised my eyebrows at her

"Talk to Reem bhabhi, I'll give you some privacy" she said and left

I pressed the phone on my ear

"Hello" I said

"Zuhaaaan" she called and then the line went silent.

Zuhan? Has she forgotten my name? Why is she calling me zuhan, not izhaan. Crazy girl.

I threw Hayat's phone on the couch and took out my phone. I was watching some video when hayat returned

"Done talking already?" She asked

"Hmm" I replied

"We are going for dinner tonight?" She clapped her hands excitedly

"We?"

"Me, bhabhi and Gabbar" she shrugged

"Ok"

"I'll go and let maa know" she ran away

"She can't call me by the wrong name! So who is zuhan?" I wondered

******

.

Athar's POV

.

"Give this file to Ayesha" i said to Rose, she nodded and left.

I was sitting in my cabin. Ayesha wanted real work so I made sure that I kept her busy today. I have given her so much work that since morning I could not even get a glimpse of her as she was too busy in completing her work.

The girl spoke too much that day  and for some reason I didn't like her appreciating izhaan and saying bad things about me. It made me feel something weird in my heart.

I gave her a lot of work. I expected her to barge in my room and shout at me how she will be able to complete all the work but to my surprise she just sat and tried to finish it. Maybe she is embarrassed to face me after what happened friday night.

There was a knock on the door. I expected it to be Rose. I gave my consent to enter, but it was Ayesha

"Good evening Mr. Khan" she said cheerfully, "here are the notes" she passed a few papers to me

"You have completed it already?" I asked in disbelief

"It wasn't much" she shrugged, "May I go now?" She asked

"Yeah you can go to your cubicle"

"It's 6:30 Mr Khan"

"Really?" I asked looking at the time I didn't realize when so much time passed

"Yes, half of the office has left already"

Oh shit! Dadi will kill me. She told me to come early.

"Okay you can go" without saying a word she left

I quickly gathered my stuff and prepared to leave. In hardly 5 minutes I was out of my cabin and walked towards the lift I was about to enter when I saw Ayesha already standing in there. She frowned at me

"Do you want me to go?" She asked

"No it's fine" I got in the elevator and pressed the basement parking button

"I really enjoyed my work today. I hope you continue giving me such useful work everyday" she spoke, I nodded

It was bothering me how she was just not talking about the last conversation that happened between us in the club.

"So about the club..." I was about to speak but she cut me off

"Yeah Reem told me about that, I can't believe how I have embarrassed myself" she giggled

Should I ask her about our conversation?

"What happened to your hands?" She gasped loudly, I looked down at the deep scratches she only gave me.

"You don't know what happened?" I asked

"You are talking as if I was there when it happened" she chuckled

Oh that means she doesn't remember our conversation.

"So?" She asked

"A stray cat scratched me" I spoke, she smiled raising her eyebrows

"Looks like a lioness has done it" she spoke, I looked at her

Sab bhool kar bhi apni tareef karna yaad hai (she can forget everything, but not compliment herself)

The lift opened at the parking lot, both of us went outside.

"Bye" she said and walked away

I walked towards my car, but something in me made me go back to her. When I reached back to her a rug was pulled out of my feet.

A guy was standing there, Ayesha stood next to him, they were talking, but then Ayesha took out something from her bag and handed it to him. Then they both walked towards a car which was already parked there, but it was not Ayesha's car.

They sat inside, Ayesha was on the passenger seat and the guy was on the driving seat he was saying something to her and she was laughing loudly

I clenched my fist in anger. I marched towards them to beat that guy to pulp. Who was he and why is he with ayesha? Before I could reach them, they left. I hissed in anger

Why is it bothering me so much that she has left with some guy, to hell with both of them.

I got in my car and headed home, I couldn't think straight. My mind was going haywire. She can go with anyone she wants. Why should I bother?

When I reached home. I found that dadi was already sitting in the living room along with izhaan. Whatever she wanted to talk about. I was not in the correct mood to listen to it but I could not say anything to Dadi so I went straight to her, greeted her and sat next to her.

"I told you to come early. Is this your early?" Dadi questioned

"Sorry I lost track of time at work" I apologized

"All okay at work?" Izhaan asked, I nodded

"I want to talk about something very important to you" dadi said. My mind was just lost at the sight. I just witnessed. I clenched my fist and sighed to control my rising temper

No matter how bad my mood is, I can never upset dadi. Very carefully I chose my words and spoke

"Can we please talk about it later? I'm quite tired right now" I requested

"You have changed now Athar. You don't listen to me at all and I'm pretty sure it is because of the girl you love. I won't take much of your time. I just want you to tell me the name and address of the girl, so that I can go and fix your marriage with her" she spoke, I frowned in confusion

"Girl I love? What do you mean?" I asked

"You told everyone that you are in love with someone, Dadi is asking about her" Izhaan spoke

My mind was not working in a way to understand what he was saying.

"I don't understand the point of you hiding that girl from us. We are not going to get against it. Who is she?" Dadi asked, Ayesha's face floated in my head. She was laughing freely like the whole world belongs to her. I shook my head immediately

"Dadi please give me some time" I said

Before she could reply, Hayat came.

"My beautiful Mumtaz begum, your Shah Jahan is calling you" she looked like a life savour to me, i could even kiss her right now

"I am not done with you yet. We will talk about it later" Dadi said to me then she got up immediately and was about to leave when hayat spoke

"I'm leaving now" she said. Dadi kissed her forehead and gave her blessings and prayed for her safety. Then dadi left

"You should at least remember what you have lied about" izhaan mumbled to me

"Bye brothers, I'm going now" she said

"Where?" I asked

"Out for dinner, with Reem and Ayesha" izhaan said

So Ayesha is going out with Hayat! Then why was she with that guy? Who was it?

"Change of plan Izhaan bhai, only me and the bhabhi are going." Hayat spoke

"Why not Ayesha?" I asked

"She has a date" Hayat shrugged

Her words pierced through my heart. Izhaan looked at me with wide eyes.

"I should go now. Bhabhi is here" Hayat spoke, looking in her phone

" I will walk you out" izhaan spoke then. They both left.

I was feeling suffocated in the living room so I came to my room. I was pacing around restlessly. She's on a date. why?

Who was the guy? What does he do? What does he want with Ayesha? Why is she hanging out with him? It felt like my head was hammering

I took out my phone and dialled her number. She answered

"Hello"

"Aaa ummm" I stuttered, Why have I called her? What do I want?

"Hello, Mr Khan" she spoke, I stayed quiet, "hello.. hellooo" she continued speaking

"Just hang up" a male voice said, I grinded my jaw in anger

"It's my boss' call" she spoke

"He must have called you by mistake" the guy said

"Hello." She said

I just wanted her away from him, i don't know why!

"I can't hear you, your voice is cracking. Come out in the network area"

"Ok." She said, then i heard a few shuffling, "can you hear me now?" She asked

"Not clearly" I replied

"Hello" she shouted so loud that I had to pull away the phone from me, "am I audible? Hello.. hello" she continued shouting

I felt a presence behind me, I turned around and found izhaan there. He was smirking. Ayesha could be heard shouting, I immediately cut the call.

"What?" I asked

"What were you doing?"

"Nothing"

"You are trying to get her away from her date, right?"

"What? No I don't even care"

"I can see how much you don't care. Why don't you just accept it my brother, that you like her"

"You're out of your mind" i turned my face away from him.

"Really? I am out of my mind? I saw what you were doing. You are not liking it that she has gone on a date with some other guy. You can't see her getting away from you. You want her near you and because she is with somebody else, you're feeling restless and trying to sabotage her date"

"It's not true"

"Yes, it is. You just look for reasons to keep her close to you. If it is not true then why are you not giving her a degree? Just let her go" he spoke. My already bad mood worsened. After hearing his crap I took out my phone and called Ayesha

"Mr Khan" she immediately answered

"You don't need to come to the office tomorrow. I'm sending you a location. Go straight there. Spend the whole day there study the area" I spoke and hung up without even listening to her reply

"See I'm not keeping her close to me. She can go wherever she wants" i said

"Who are you fooling Athar?" he shook his head at me and left the room

"No one" I shouted behind it but he was long gone

What the hell!!!

Please vote and comment.