Kaif"You literally went for a coffee last night? Without me?" Zoya frowns as we munch the breakfast, sitting in the restaurant under the resort."I thought you must be sleepy", I mumble. There was no plan to go outside last night. But I couldn't help it. I believed Nikhat would be on the balcony again like that night. I wanted to watch her. The voids of seven months weren't easy to fill. My eyes craved to watch her. And I knew I would find her. I did. She was again on the balcony and time she didn't hide. In fact, she looked back at me and smiled. I don't know why it felt like she was actually happy to see me. Even though her connection with Irtaza freaked me out, I realised how wrong I'm going with this. Just because she is finally comfortable with people around her, doesn't mean there is something. I should be happy that she's not the same timid and silent Nikhat anymore. "You met her?" Zoya's question brings me back to the moment as I cleared my throat. I don't think there's
Kaif"I can't believe we're kicked out like this", Nikhat shrugs, following me through the lobby."I'm never thrown out like this from any meeting", I groan. "As if I was", she grumbles. "What do you wanna say?"I halt and turn around to her, drawing my eyebrows together. "Ah. You don't know?" I ask."No", she rolls her eyes as if she has done nothing. I can't believe this."The thing is we're kicked out because of you", I point at her. Her mouth falls open at me as if she didn't really think she was the reason."Really, Kaif?""Yeah. Really?" I force a smile and walk away. I can hear her fast footsteps towards me. "I didn't do anything alone, okay? We laughed together. We chatted together", she groans."And who started the conversation?" I turn around as she seals her mouth, halting abruptly, so she doesn't bump into me. "And what about you listening to songs? Who wears earbuds in such an important meeting?" She groans, gritting her teeth at me.And it unexpectedly makes me smil
Kaif"I'll never understand the logic behind brown parents forcing their children into marriage", I crack up, trying to lighten the situation."Are you still fighting with your ammi?" She laughs back."Still", I let out a deep sigh and this time, my phone rings. I take my phone out of my pocket and look at the screen with a chuckle."It's ammi""I'll excuse you", she giggles and looks over at the woods again as I pick up the call."Assalamualaikum, ammi", I beam."Walekum Assalam. How's it going over there? How are you?""I'm fine, ammi. How're you?""How would I be in this empty house without you? Only if you got me a daughter-in-law, I wouldn't need to be alone right now", she says.My mother!She has some superpowers to link everything with my marriage."Ammi!" I gasp, stretching the sound. "Okay. Okay. I'm not talking about this anymore. How's your seminar going?""It's going good", I tell her. "Zoya was telling me that she has to force you to have meals?" Ammi groans.This Zoy
KaifAmmi's silence confuses me. I don't know what she's thinking about me being with Nikhat. She must be stunned to even talk. I didn't want to tell her that I'm with Nikhat. However, I just wanted her to leave the idea of talking to that girl. Now, I'm feeling like I could do something else instead of telling her. She's gonna keep nagging me the entire time when I'll be here in Bangalore. Such a mess. I let out a deep sigh waiting for her answer and not looking at Nikhat even once. I don't know what she's even thinking. "Ammi!" I call her out as she stammers as if she was numb until now."Yeah. I'm here", she mutters."What happened?""I was thinking if you're lying to me so that I don't want to talk to her again?" Her voice is suspicious. I laugh. "No. Ammi, I'm serious", I whisper and look at Nikhat. "She's here, Ammi. She's next to me"Ammi doesn't speak anything for a while again. I guess she has dropped the idea of talking to Nikhat. That's better. I wouldn't want her to say
KaifOur eyes meet. I pause. And her smile vanishes.Shit! Shit!Shit!Don't walk away, please.Not again. What misery! I can't even express my feelings because of this fear. It's so hard to keep things inside. As my heart is almost sinking, I find her slightly smiling.But she says nothing. "You know I love the cool side of yours. Be like that", she says with that smile. At least, she loves something about me. Not me, of course. I smile lightly. "And please don't worry. A restriction order is issued against him. He's not gonna bother me anymore", she says. "At least, you did it. You should have done that a long time ago", I tell her."No. I didn't do that. Mr Kaiser did it for me", she says.I pause for a whole second and realise what she just said. "You mean Irtaza?" I mutter with a slight twist in my chest. "Yes. Him. I can't afford to hire a lawyer and get this all done. Well, I can afford it if I save a lot, but I didn't have the courage to do that all. Thankfully, he did
Zoya Reena aunty is getting on my nerves for not telling her about Nikhat being her. I was so stupid to hide that from her for that dumbhead Kaif. Imagine lying to save your friend and they end up doing the opposite to ruin all your efforts. I wish I could kick his ass off. Never in my life have I ever thought to be in such a mess, especially getting pissed between mother and son."No. You'll have to tell me why you hid it from me", she groans. "I thought you were more loyal to me than him, Zoya""Oh!" I mumble, gulping down. Even my husband isn't worried about my loyalty. Where am I trapped? I groan to myself and roll my eyes. "What OH?" She gasps and breathes heavily. "Okay. Okay. I'm sorry. I was just- worried about him"I can feel the disappointment in her voice. And I can relate. "You know he has become really sensitive. And I don't even know if Nikhat has any feelings for him. At this moment, I'm not even around him. I'm scared that he'll be hurt again by any of Nikhat's word
Nikhat"I'm really sorry, Mia", I tell Mia as she packs up her stuff. "I didn't know my parents would show up like this. Otherwise—""It's okay", she chuckles. "It's my problem that I can't stay around new people. This lodge room is big enough. And I have told Irtaza to arrange a place for me"I mildly smile at her gesture. I was even left stunned when Abbu and Ruzina showed up here. I can sense there must be some reason but I don't really wanna be too mean to ask that. They might be here only to visit me. I think that could be a good reason. The last time I talked to abbu wasn't pretty good.Just then, Mia's phone rings and she picks up."Yeah. It's Ushna Ilyas", Mia says. "Yes. I'm confirming the lease. Thank you"She cuts the call and smiles at me. "Told you. Irtaza managed it within just twenty minutes. He's faster than any bullet train""But it's too late, Mia. How will you go alone?" I ask, looking out of the window."Don't worry. I—"Mia gets interrupted by the doorbell."I kn
Nikhat"It's done", I say, finding Mia and Irtaza talking near the window.Both of them squirm abruptly with my presence and pass me a smile. I think they were having some private conversation. "Please, join", I smile and walk to the living room. I'm surprised that Ruzina isn't bothering Irtaza with her rants. Abbu must have handled her. However, she's staring at Irtaza for a long time. The silence is also kinda awkward."So, where's Mia's apartment?" I ask, breaking the silence."Here itself. I have booked another lodge until your parents are here", Irtaza says. "I see!" I mutter. We finish the coffee quietly and they get up to take leave. I walk with Mia to the exit, following Irtaza. "Take care, Nick", Mia shares a side hug."You too", I smile.Mia walks towards the car. Since the area is big enough, her apartment can be too far to walk. As Mia gets inside the car, Irtaza turns to me. "Thanks for the coffee", Irtaza says."You're welcome", I hesitate. "And I'm sorry you might