Irtaza"Mr Kaiser, it'll be fine", Nikhat slides her hand out of my grip, hesitating as I come back to reality. I immediately pull my hand back. I wonder why I lose control over myself in such situations. I just hope she doesn't get me wrong for all the things that have been happening in the last few days."Please be careful", I scoff at her and she shakes her head, keeping her gaze away. I don't know for how long I'm gonna hide my feelings from her. I badly wanna confess it and propose to her for marriage but it seems to be next to impossible if she never shows a bit of interest In me."Hey guys", Zoya shows up and looks down at Nikhat. "What happened? Are you alright?""Yeah. I'm fine", she smiles."I'm getting shocks over shocks", Zoya laughs. "I didn't know you'll be here in Irtaza's company"Nikhat passes a nervous smile and I don't know why she looks a bit nervous in front of Zoya. Maybe, she doesn't wanna encounter her former boss. That's awkward for any employee."Anyway, I
KaifShe holds my arm softly when the flashes of Irtaza holding her crash into my sanity. I feel an unusual burn and gulp down. However, I realise she had hurt her hand. "How's your arm?" She freezes for a second and mumbles."It's fine. How do you know?""The accident yesterday. I was in the cab. I saw you holding your arm that moment. And today you hissed so loudly", I tell her.She looks utterly shocked as if it's because of our repeated encounter unknowingly. "Oh! I'm fine", her lips twitch into a smile. "Now get up and call Zoya. Ask her where she's having her lunch. Join her"I don't know why I can't argue with her. She's so damn irresistible. Shaking my head, I take out my phone and dial Zoya's number. It rings.At the same moment, Nikhat's phone rings and she picks up."Yes, Mr Kaiser"My heart chills again as I keep gawking at her."Yeah. I'm coming. Stay in the coffee shop"Coffee!They may be close enough to hang out. Otherwise, Nikhat isn't fond of hanging out with anyon
Nikhat"Abbu, I told you I'm not getting married anymore. Please leave me in my situation", I tell abbu over the call and it's not the first time I'm repeating.I have been repeating this ever since I started them again. It's been one and a half years of my divorce and I don't think I'm ready to take a risk again. It's hard to trust relationships. It's hard to trust someone that they will stick to us, they will be loyal to us. No matter how hard we try to be better for a person and hold them, they'll eventually leave. There can be no excuse for replacing. I got replaced and that would be the biggest stain on my life forever. "Nikhat, you're not getting it, my child. You're so young. You still have a long life to spend ahead", he says, his voice concerned."I was young, abbu", I sarcastically laugh. "I was also young back then. I was only twenty-four. I wish you assumed me young enough back then and not hurried the procedure"I hear him sighing. It's not like I'm deliberately makin
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
Nikhat"He's the photocopy of Abrar", Mrs. Ali says, holding the newborn. After eight months of our marriage, Zoya delivered a cute baby boy. He's a premature baby, indeed but still out of all danger by the grace of God. "Just pray that he gets the same tactics as me. I can't handle two short-tempered creatures", Abrar laughs."Wait! You just wait. Let me get a bit healthier", Zoya shoots him a glare. "You can scream only. What else can you do?" Abrar rolls his eyes."You—"And they continue.I take the newborn in my arms, giggling at him lovingly."First and foremost rule, Mrs. Wife", Kaif whispers near me. "No future planning after this"He's always so scared!"I know right? Stop worrying!" I scowl at him. So many things changed over time but he didn't. At first, he was scared to love someone and get married. Now, he's scared of having a baby. I don't mind it though. It's just a matter of time. I'm happy the way I am.I was promoted to the company with my salary getting doubled.
Nikhat"Are you hungry already?" Kaif asks from behind.I drift my eyes outside and look at him from near the window with a smile. He is munching a subway burger with a tight-lipped smile on his face. "Wouldn't it be better if you had gotten something for me instead of just asking?" I shrug, jumping behind and sitting at the edge of the window."Hey, careful", his eyes widen. "You're gonna fall""I'm used to it", I giggle. "This is not the first time I'm sitting at your window"He chuckles, walking toward me. "Yeah, but definitely you never hoped onto it wearing a lehenga", he scoffs as I stare down at him. He stops just an inch away from me and spirals his left arm around my waist. I shudder with the abrupt contact and lack of distance between us. My heart starts thudding against my chest and my body vibrates when he tightens his grip around me. It's been a year since we were engaged but never before has he touched me this way. I didn't want him to. But if he wanted, I wouldn't ev
Author's POVRuzina goes completely shocked but it doesn't take her much time to understand what is exactly happening. "How wouldn't I come, Mrs Ruzina?" Irtaza chuckles. "After all, the alliance maker should be there?" Zoya presses her lips tightly so she doesn't burst into laughter by watching Ruzina's stunned face. On the other hand, Nikhat gets confused with Irtaza's words."Alliance maker?" She exclaims."We can discuss that later", Zoya jumps into the conversation. "Let the guests in, Nikhat""I'm sorry", she smiles and makes a way for them to get in. As others follow Ridwan and Nikhat inside, Ruzina keeps standing there and gazing at Irtaza."You look stunned, Mrs Ruzina", Zoya rolls her eyes. "Ah, well, let me introduce myself. Zoya Zafar, Irtaza's business partner and your would-be son-in-law's friend"Ruzina curls up her face and doesn't even smile at any of them. Zoya crosses her arms and takes a step toward her, raising her eyebrows."What did you think Mrs Ruzina? Onl
NikhatI have been waiting for the evening the entire day and finally, the moment arrived. Kaif has indeed replied to me with a message which said, "it's fine"The text didn't sound genuine to me at all. Especially when he sent only two words in the reply to my entire paragraph. Couldn't he realise the urgency in that message? I don't know if I'm overthinking. He's not bound to send me a paragraph just because I did. "Nikhat, shall we leave?" Mia asks. "No. I have some work left", I lie. I don't have any pending work. Besides, Irtaza already told us that he doesn't need the whole team today. I should have left. "I thought you were done", Mia roll her eyes."No. I—" I stammer. "I'm yet to complete a few""Okay, then. Goodnight", grabbing her stuff, Mia walks towards the exit. I get back to my desk and look for some work to do. "Nikhat!" Irtaza's voice hits my ear as I look up, finding him walking out of his cabin which is straight in front of me. "You didn't leave yet"I don't kn
NikhatI don't know how to react to this crap. I can only see how hard Irtaza is trying to pass a smile. I know that wasn't expected. And why did he even need to come here just because Ruzina called him? He could have turned her down. He has plenty of work to do. I force a smile and walk toward them. "That was not necessary. Was it?" I mumble, glaring at Ruzina. How can she still smile like that?"I just thought to—" Ruzina strives to say as I walk up to her."Thought to what?" "This is so embarrassing. Why did you do this? He's my boss", I exclaim, whispering near her face.I can't say if she deliberately did that. Why would she anyway?"But he said—" she mutters. "That's called courtesy which he said. And we'll not do that. That's our courtesy", I shoot her a glare. Ruzina frowns at me as if she still can't digest that I'm arguing with her. As I should. I should have done that a long time ago. And now she literally crossed the limits by embarrassing me. What will Irtaza think a
"Okay. What about that?" I ask."Irtaza came there to meet them. They spend an afternoon together", he says and his reactions harden."Okay, so?" I ask even though I have already sensed what it meant. This is something different from any boss and employee relationship. I'm not judging though and I'm not even sure if there's another reason. I bet Kaif also doesn't know the exact reason. He's just assuming. "So? Zoya, can't you understand what that means", he scoffs at me. "That means Nikhat is having a lot of guests. What else?" I roll my eyes. "Stop it, yaar. You—``''why can't you see what I'm seeing?" He yells out of nowhere. "Because I'm not as intelligent as you. Explain to me", I scowl at him. "You can't get, Zoya? Really? Don't you know what it means? In this society, when a guy meets a girl's parents? That guy who likes her. They literally had a meeting, a conversation. Don't you know what it seriously means?" He speaks out of frustration."So!" I mumble.."So!""Yeah. So,
KaifI walk faster. As fast as I could. Through the dark alley. My head literally stops working when I put the pieces of the puzzle of that incident. I don't know why I'm getting so pissed and irritated. He just came to meet.He just came to meet. I kept ranting this to myself until I reached the resort. I feel my breathing getting ten times faster than before. I can hear my groans as I grab the grills of the gate and fum heavily. My body has heated up and I'm unable to calm down anyway. Everything was going so fine. So damn fine. Until she talked about Irtaza being there. I lost it and I didn't want to show how pissed I was, nor could I behave normally. I'm already hiding enough and this will go beyond. Anticipation builds me rapidly, no matter how much I try to console myself. "Sir, I need to close the gate", the security guard says. I glare at him for no reason and storm into the resort, walking as fast as I can.I reach my room and twist the knob. Opening it a bit, I slam the
Nikhat"Nikhat!" He whispers my name but I don't look up. I feel him holding my hand tightly and I hold the edge of the bench. Then I sense him decreasing the gap between us. He uncovers my face, lifting my hair from my cheek and tucking them behind my ear. I can feel him staring at me which makes me blush harder. "Look at me", he leans down to my ear and whispers. I squirm with his warm breath fanning my skin. As I don't respond to his words, he lifts his hand to me and slides two of his fingers across my jaw, slowly nudging my face towards him. I finally look up at him. Our eyes meet. He smiles, peering at me as if he's scanning each detail of my face. I had never been so comfortable with anyone's gaze the way I'm with him. It seems to be pure and peaceful. Most importantly, I love it. He locks his hand with mine and gets closer to my face. Enough closer which forces me to drop my gaze in shyness. "Why do you always steal your gaze from me?" He whispers. "I want you to look
NikhatIt's been a while since I've sat here in the dark alley with Kaif. It's so strange that I have never explored this alley in the last six months but today I did. With him. I'm also a bit concerned about Ruzina and Abbu being in the lodge. They might be wondering where I have been. I'm sure Ruzina is gonna make a fuss about it to abbu as she has always been doing about me. I remember those days when I couldn't be a single minute late to return from school and Ruzina used to complain to abbu, saying I had been disappearing for hours. I can't forget those dreadful days and somewhere I used to believe Ruzina is acting like all the typical mothers as she had made me believe all mothers are like that. I used to think she was strict and wanted the best for me. As I grew up, I realised it wasn't a normal thing. But then, it was too late. Abbu wouldn't believe me if I said anything against her. He used to think I had gone reckless. I never complained for years. Then why at that moment