"Okay Ziah and Naim you did not have your dinner so get up, you guys continue your bickering in the hall" Ziyan throws my leg away carelessly which makes me hold the bed sheet tightly so I do not fall from the way I stumbled. Rude beach he is.
When he sees me still seated with a sigh he pats my arm and pulls me up ignoring my whine. He pushes me aside and grabs the blanket to cover aunty.
"I am sleeping with aunty" I tell him which makes him look over his shoulder, after a stare he hums nodding.
"Ofcourse darling first go eat" she gives me a very soft smile and I nod before throwing my arm over Naims shoulder, who grins and rests his head on my waist since he is a little tiny cutie pie.
Naim was adopted when he was month's old because his stupid useless parents who were are relatives abandoned this beautiful soul and left to stay in abroad, I am not sure were they went.
And that was when Saif was only three years old so Uncle came to a decision that he will take him and I am not sure if Naim is aware about this, I guess he is not, even though he is10 he is still unaware about this truth which no one is planning on telling him any time soon.
But one day he will know and I hope his reaction is not hurtful.
"I am hungry!" Naim jumps on the seat on the Kitchen counter as I do the same. We see Ziyan walking towards us with a bag of our ordered food and I can already smell delicious meal inside.
"Ziya we can watch a movie and eat ice cream andâ" Naim starts pronouncing my name wrongly since his birth so I do not try to correct him again but someone interrupts his plan.
"You have school tomorrow Naim. After eating your going straight to bed" he whines loudly swinging his legs up and down at his brothers words which sounds bitter to any kids ears.
"No! I'll take a leave tomorrow please bro please" he asks so cutely that if I was in Ziyan's place I would have quickly nodded and would have given a month leave if he promises me that he will show me this cute puppy face everyday.
I wonder why Saif can't be this cute. I am sure he is sleeping with his body wide spread on my bed cause it is bigger than his bed and he only needs an excuse to jump on my bed.
Ziyan shakes his head acting like a tough greedy politician who ignores people's protest.
"A No is a No Naim" he drops a plate in front of me and a silent Naim and I clear my throat to speak "It's okay bud we can have a fun night later, I will come for you this Saturday? How does that sound?" His eyes lits up hearing me and that toothy gummy grin he gives me is all I ask for.
He is lovely.
"Really?" When I give a bright nod he grins more happily and digs in his food but I see Ziyan grabbing a cup to I guess make coffee or tea for himself so I do not disturb him but fill my empty stomach.
We eat in a comfortable silence and mostly Naim is the one who talks about his friends and his little gang who always have fun, I hear to everything he say interestingly, finding some incidents funny. But my mind forces myself to take a peek at Ziyan who is walking towards us looking a little phased out.
A sigh escapes Ziyan's lips as he takes a seat with us, I can clearly see his tired features and dull sleepy eyes but still he is sipping on caffeine here.
I forward my plate in-front of his face so he can take a bite or maybe eat fully if he did not had his dinner because as far as I remember I had a very nice meal in the morning and even in the evening as I was working Alia bought me a burger, so I know I will not faint if I don't eat now but I never saw him eating and I will happily give him my plate if he wants to eat because that is something he does very less nowadays or Is it just me that I do not see him eating? I don't know.
"Thankyou Ziah but I am not hungry" he politely pushes the plate towards me declining it in a soft tone "You had your dinner?" He takes a sip and before he could answer Naim speaks.
"No he did not" Naim exposes him and I am already standing on my legs to go grab a plate but was stopped with a rough hand that tugged me closer by my wrist "I am not hungry Ziah, I'll eat when I am hungry" he tugs me back so I do not move forward, shaking my head I turn to look at him.
"You are eating it now. With us" I remove my wrist from his hold, ignoring his sigh I grab a plate and the paper bag which has more food that is probably for him, but I don't trust him that he will eat it later.
I drop a large amount of food on his plate before placing it in front of him as I take a seat "you don't expect me to eat all of this, do you?" He raises his eyebrow looking annoyed but I give him a bright smile "I do Boss, eat up now like a good boy" I pat his arm before turning my head to Naim to give him a wink telling him that I Shut up his brother very smoothly.
He giggles winking back but ends up squeezing both his eyes which for him is considered as wink.
After having our dinner I place all of our used utensils in the sink to wash it up later after tugging Naim in bed.
Ziyan ate everything like I asked him to do, well he was hungry I can tell that from the way it was empty so quickly. Mens do lots of work and they do have bigger appetite for their big body and this little piece of nugget tells me otherwise and he thinks I will believe him? Hell Nah.
"It's sleeping time It's sleeping time" I sing as I drag the giggling Niam down the hallway where his room is, beside Ziyan's.
After tugging Naim in his bed which was apparently easy than expected cause he was already feeling sleepy and within few in our no sense talk he started drifting off to his dreamland so I let him sleep in peace slowly tiptoeing out, a sigh of satisfaction leaves my lips as I make my way towards the kitchen to wash off the dishes which were dirty because of me so it's my work to do.
I feel like a housewife all of a sudden, giggling alone at my thought like a psych I reach the kitchen only to find the sink empty cleaned and shining new.
Huh? I do not remember cleaning those dishes. My head snapped to the leaving room were I see Ziyan seated on the big couch with his legs resting on the small tea table.
Did he perhaps washed those dirty dishes?
Ziah darling, there is no one else who can clean it except you and the handsome Zombie boss of yours unless their are jinn roaming around his house.
Only at the thought of ghost washing those vessels shudders my whole body and I drag my legs towards Ziyan, this house is Mashallah bigger than it should be, for three human it is a very large house which is designed very modernly and I love every inch of this house, cause who wouldn't.
It has a spacious living room and 5 bedrooms for only three humans let me point it out that with 7 bathrooms I remember and a beautiful garden outside, and the terrace is all I would die for just by giving it a quick glance, it is an amazingly beautiful house designed by my late uncle.
"God Ziah not again" A groan leaves Ziyan lips and when he mutters annoyingly that's when I come out of my engineering world.
"Why do you phase out so much girl, I hope you don't do that in the meeting with Rags" he mutters with a head shake finally bringing something which was thrown at the back of my head.
"Did You cleaned the dishes?" I raise my eyebrow at the seemingly tired guy who shrugs boringly "we don't keep maids at this hour Ziah, so it's obvious it's me" he throws his head back on the couch, with his head up he looks at me straight into my eyes.
"I know that, you don't have to play smart with me. And Boss I remember telling you I will clean it, didn't I?" I would be labelled as disrespectful soul who only know how to eat if I don't even do something as washing dishes.
"It's okay, I did, you had a long day today, go take rest" he speaks in his calm soothing voice which has a hint of sleepiness in it as he shooes me away.
I take a seat beside him, in a mood to speak and pick up an useless argument "but you look tired too, why did you wash themâ" he cuts me and I have never ever felt as fool as I felt now, ever in my life before.
"Darling there is something called dishwasher which I remember you forced me to buy it and let me tell you the use of it, it washes all the utensils and the only think we have to do is place them in place. So it did all the work Darling" I just want the ground to split open and swallow me like a whale hearing his Darling- which held so much sarcasm in it that GodâI was looking up and doubting on my existence.
He is a rude spoiled smelly nugget. I was being sweet and worried all here and this nugget, no smelly nugget used all type of sarcasm in one sentence.
I throw the pillow on his face to which he chuckles humorously "you didn't have to be so rude you jerk! Humans forget things and I am a human too! Damn goodness how sarcastic your comment was" I mumble the last sentence to myself feeling stupid for even caring for this idiot.
When I was about to stand up and leave him to choke on his laughter and maybe die he stops me by holding my wrist and pulling down so I sit with him.
"I am sorry" he chuckles very lowly in an adorable manner, his tired eyes squinting and wrinkles form on the corner of his eyes as he grins happily looking at my pissed of face, "But anyways Thankyou for your care, darling" he starts chucking at his pathetic lame joke.
I roll my eyes sitting back annoyed at his guts.
"You can take a day off tomorrow" Ziyan voice breaks the conformable silence and my eyes jump up with amusement "Is Ziyan Obied Ali himself coming forward and saying someone to take a day off?" My voice nothing near humble but it is more like a mock. He shakes his head with a small smile playing on his lips.
"Thankyou for your offer but nope I am a workaholic and I'll become worksick if I don't go" I flip my hair for no apparent reason but stand up from the comfortable couch.
"I'll be going ba-bye sleep tight" before I could go away, his calm deep voice stops me, "yes?" I turn to look at him and he pats the couch "sit for a minute" with confusion written on my forehead I take a seat "hmm?"
"You're okay right?" He asks ever so softly, his voice just above a whisper so only I could hear, knowing what he is implementing at I don't act dumb and I quickly nod my head "Then why are you not sleeping in your room?" He asks drawing imaginary circle on the couch and I wish that couch was my head and his fingers would be playing with my hair, because it look so calming and so peaceful and so soft that I would sleep day and night without waking up if someone does that to me.
"Ziah?" He calls out while I was dreaming over his hand "yeah?" Clearing my throat I look up "What's wrong? Do you want to talk out? I am here to listen" he gives me a worry full look while taping his finger on the couch as if he is hesitating to hold my hand.
"Um No there is nothing to talk" I give him a small smile but he still does not look assured. "Then why are you not sleeping in your room like you always do when you stay here" he talks about the guest room which I have labelled it as my room after staying here for a month when uncle passed away.
"Because I want to sleep with aunty" I tell him half truth, I want to stay near aunty but the other reason is I don't want to sleep alone, I know things will haunt me and I am scared of waking up in the middle of the night with no one in bed.
"Okay...If you need something, you won't hesitate to knock my door, did you get that?" I nod standing up and straightening my Abaya which I still did not remove but only the hijab.
When I was about leaves Again like deja vu he stops me "Waitâ" what is with him and stopping today?
"Yes?" I blink my eyes when he stands up towering my body "Let me grab you some clothes, you'll probably go for a shower now so Is T-shirt and sweatpants okay?" My eyes widens at his thoughtful gesture, why is being such a gentleman today. I was really thinking hard on what to wear after showering, It's obvious I won't wear the clothes which I am wearing inside my Abaya again after a shower and on top of that, in a hurry I wore a very short top and pants which reaches only below my knee which is not at all appropriate to wear and roam around when their are boys in house.
I don't wear such tight clothes and come infront of my father and brother so it's impossible to wear it here.
"Ziah?" A sigh escapes his lips and he takes a step forward to stand close to me "your again spacing out...what are you even thinking about so much?" I press my lips as embarrassment creeps through my cheeks in the colour of pink.
"Iâ umm..sorry" he shakes his head and pulls me by my wrist towards his room, pushing the door open he walks in with him.
And I feel like jumping on the bed and snuggling closer to those pillows and blankets when I step inside and that sweet yet strong scent reaches my nostrils, his room smells like him. I close my eyes at this peaceful feeling as my eyeballs dance behind the curtains.
He finally leaves my hand and walks towards his closet, and I am so near to kick him out and make this my room.
The room is perfectly clean, no hint of dirtiness can be pointed out, sheets are perfectly set which tells he did not rest on the bed after coming from the office.
"Here" Ziyan walks towards me handling me a white long sleeved t-shirt with black sweatpants.
"Thankyou" I grin holding it near my chest, feeling happy all of a sudden. At what reason? only god knows.
A chuckle leaves his lips seeing me so happy, he brings his hand up to ruffle my hair, which makes me scrunch my nose in annoyance "Go sleep, you have lot's of work to do tomorrow Ms Ziah" my smile falls and it replaces with an annoyed scowl.
"Okay boss" I turn around to leave with his clothes which I am still holding like a treasure against my chest.
Later that night, after freshening up and changing into those giants clothes which looks like a loose bag on my body but is hell comfortable that I am finding myself snuggling into those clothes and sniffing it like a dog cause it smells so amazing that I can even sleep on a wooden floor just by sniffing and snuggling into these clothes.
I am already planning on stealing it.
I quietly crawl towards Aunty so I do not wake her up, resting my head on the pillows, a sigh of tiredness escapes my lips as I let my eyelids close and take me to my dreamland, where my Prince Charming who lives in a castle is waiting for me. I don't know how even after being a Gen-Z women I think about Prince Charming in white horse, when I should be thinking about CEO Entrepreneur, coming out of a shining black Bugatti.
What can I tell about my mind.
Next Morning
7:30 am
A yawn escapes my lips as I stretch my body in the bed to find and empty bed, I slept after praying Fajr so I guess aunty left for breakfast after trying to wake me up in such a soft tone that only made my eyelids more heavy.
Sitting up, I rub my sleepy face with my palms but his sleeves are so long that only my finger tips are poking out, standing up I pull the pants up which are loose and are sliding down, finally assuring my self that they are pulled up till my chest I decide to go wash my face again.
Standing near the sink I pull these long sleeves up to my elbow with so much laziness so I do not wet them. In the morning when I was doing my Ablution it annoyed me so much that I wanted to ripe those sleeves off because they were slipping down so much that it soaked in water and I was practically shivering in the morning because of those cold sleeves.
After washing my face and rinsing my mouth I walk out of the bathroom door, and straight to the living room.
Like thought everyone were seated on the table and as if they sensed my entry Naim turns his head to look at me and a big grin broke on his face but I feel my self mirroring his actions.
Just when I was about to give him a big wave a loud gasp leaves my lips when those long pants ditches me and I trips and stumble three steps forward "Ya Allah" I hold my heart and balance myself in the Air but find Naim already running towards me while gasping in surprise that I did not break my head.
"You okay?" I nod calming my heart but take a peek to see Aunty looking at me with worried eyes and Ziyan has a boring expression as if he is used to these things, well he is.
Breathing out the embarrassment I just now faced I pull the long pants up so they do not become my unwanted socks.
"You gave me these long pants on purpose right? So I trip and fall and maybe die" I speak when I finally reach the table with Niam who leaded me by holding my hand.
Ziyan drops his fork and licks his lips looking handsome as ever in his casual attire but I ignore his bright handsome morning face and put my all interest on his full proof plan on killing meâwhich unfortunately for him he failed.
He eyes me up and down, his eyes trails from my messed up hair to my freshly washed face and them my hands which are now hidden inside his t-shirt which reaches above my knees, and down to my foot which is now covered with his pantsâagain this has slide down! Freaking hell!
With an annoyed huff I pull the pants up but see him lowering his head and chuckling to himself, finding it funny when there is nothing funny in it!
"Sit here" he taps a chair which is on the other side and since I was feeling very lazy I obey him by taking a seat but a gasp leaves my lips and I hold the table so I do not fall when he pulls the chair in which I am sitting closer towards him, since he sits on the front were those big elder people of the house sit in those typical movies, yeah that's were he is sitting now.
"What the hell?!" I give a good minute glare but he ignores it like always and taps his thigh "your legs" and without thinking twice I throw my leg on his lap with a little too much force so it hurts him but he shows no sign of pain.
I roll my eyes getting annoyed but he knocks on the table to get my attention "look here"
"When you have long sleeves and pants like these what you should do is..." he very professionally folds the pant up and my brain gives me a hard smack for not doing this before.
"I totally forgot to do this" a pout automatically forms on my lips for forgetting it and he nods as if understands my situation "It's okay, you have a big company to handle so people like you tend to forget things" I move forward from my comfortable position to smack his arm "shutup, my legs are just down your face " I point out the fact to which he chuckles and moves to the other leg.
"Stand up and see if it's okay now" I quickly drop my legs on the ground to stand up, a happy grin forms on my lips when I see them correctly and perfectly seated above my ankle.
"Tie the knot properly then it won't slide down" Ziyan give me some new information and without thinking twice I pull my t-shirt up but did not find any knot.
"Goodness Ziah" he mutters under his breaths and holds my hand to drop it down so the t-shirt falls down and I look at him confused "where is the knot?"
"Your wearing it upside down Ziah" I look at him with wide eyes at this information "really?" A loud laugh leaves my lips followed by Naim who is giggling cutely.
"These pants are so plain that I can't even figure out which should be in the front which should be the back" I take a seat for no reason slapping Ziyan's back while giggling.
"Here" I move my hands to the front so he could fold them like he did to the pants and without any protest he does.
"Be ready after dropping Naim to school I'll be picking you up" he tells me still folding the sleeves up till my elbow.
"Okay boss!" I give him a bright grin feeling happy happy today.
"Yes, and at sharp 10:30 you will be in my office, so I can check what you have done for the presentation" a gasp leaves my lips hearing him, and the happy happy feeling I was feeling was soon crushed by this witch of a man.
God I hate him! The real hate which no one can changeâyes that one!
"But I did not even start doing it" I whine feeling sick already. "For the first time in your life you will be in office early and you will have more than 90 minutes to write down your thoughts" jerk. Arrogant fish. Smelly tomato. Rotten potato.
"Do I still have the offer of taking a day off Boss?" I rest my face on my palm asking him so cutely with my best innocent face, and my eyes lits up when he smiles moving forward, elbowing the table and resting his face on his palm just like I am doing but with a very beautiful smile on his face and before I could admire and compliment two three words on his smile he opens his bitter mouth.
"Nope" he tells me which makes aunty Naim and the Maid who is serving laugh at how he is mocking.
"I hate you" I mutter pushing him away but he chuckles adorably.
Your angry Ziah for godsake! You should not be admiring his smile! And on top of that he is your cousin stupid girl!!
"Have your breakfast now" he pushes the plate asking me to eat.
*****