chapter 4

It was late in the night when almost everyone in the house was asleep. Zoya was in the kitchen making herself a late night snack like always. She was either sleep deprived soul or a lazy ass panda. Tonight her brain had decided to not let her sleep because of her pending assignments. She made herself coffee and Nutella sandwiches and Einstein a fruit bowl.

This was an unsaid ritual between them since they both were late night snackers. He doesn't say it but she knows his sleep deprived ass gets hungry in the middle of the night, her Tayi Ammi handed her this duty when she noticed that both of them were basically night owls.

Zahan was working on his laptop reading through emails and presentations when his door was knocked and opened without permission.

"Your hunger demiser, your highness." Zoya whispered grandly, placing the bowl in front of him bowing down to put it on the coffee table. Zahan rolled his eyes at her dramaticness.

"There's a thing called manners Zoya. When you knock, you wait for permission to be granted" he said, not moving his eyes from his laptop.

"I.. know but I don't care" she said plopping down next to him. She had brought her iPad with her and had decided to take some help from the genius since at this hour he's her only hope.

"You've done the job now, leave" he said, getting up from his place and going to his bedside table to get the other file. He turned around to find her standing right behind him startling him.

"What?" He said seeing her stretched palm. She closed her eyes and flexed her fingers in a give gesture with a sly smile on her face.

"My salary for getting the job done" she said looking at him smugly. She had a crane neck up to look at him properly. If she was the tallest amongst the girl then he was tallest amongst the guys with his gigantic height.

The little light in the room made a halo around him contrasting well with his gray joggers and a matching t-shirt. He palmed her face covering most of it and pushed her back making her stumble back and hitting his back as revenge. He glared at her while she did the same.

"Leave me alone. Unlike you I have work to do" he said walking to his previous seat.

"So do I," she said, crossing her arms over her chest and poking her tongue out. He ignored her and started going through his file waiting to hear the door shutting but when he didn't, he looked up to see her sitting across from him working on her iPad.

"You-" he was about to say something but was cut off by Zoya.

"Um... Yeah I'll leave just give me your opinion real quick" she said taking her iPad and standing behind the couch he was sitting on. She handed him the iPad forcefully making him place his file down and grab the iPad. Zahan couldn't understand what she was trying to do and kept on looking at her moving behind him. She leaned on the headrest of the couch.

"Wh-" he turned his head to his right to protest but a strong scent of Jasmine clogged his voice in his throat. She had leaned down and was now face level to him. Her eyes fixed on the screen of the iPad. She was saying something but for the first time Zahan felt as though he couldn't understand anything. He studied her side profile as she pointed something on the screen.

He leaned forward to take in more of the intoxicating scent of Jasmine, his eyes closed and he unconsciously leaned closer to her neck taking in the refreshing smell but at the moment she turned her face to the side, their noses brushed against each other, halting their movements.

His eyes opened, feeling her move. His world stopped meeting a pair of earthly green orbs. Hazel caged her pupil while green guarded the iris. Deep swirling pools of green guarded by thick lashes, his eyes traveled down to her dainty button nose, slight chubby cheeks, a perfect jaw, his gaze flickered to those delicate petal like lips, plum and soft looking, black threads of silk framing her face and the nerdy big round glasses covering more than half of her face.

"So, as I was saying, this is design number one and this is design number two. I like both of them but I can only add one in the portfolio, for the rest I took everyone's opinion and most of them liked the ones I liked so I added those now I would've asked baba but he's a sleep and you're the only one up. Einstein, come on tell me-" she kept on rambling for minutes but when she didn't get an answer she turned towards him. Her nose brushed against his making her breath hitch, his face was really close to her. She gazed at his face unknowingly, a proud straight nose, thick perfectly arched eyebrows, long and thick curly lashes fanning his cheeks, a sharp jaw covered with light stubble, rusty gray eyes that stared back at her with such intensity that she felt her palms getting sweaty. They looked like thick stormy gray clouds pooling around the blazing sun saving the people around from its fierce gaze. She chewed on her bottom lip in pure awkwardness.

He snapped out of his haze before his thoughts could wander off in the wrong direction. His gaze darkened when she bit her bottom lip making his eyes snap to hers. He felt something dark swirl inside him taking away his peace of mind.

"Uhm... Yeah so I was asking which one?" She cleared her throat and looked away, breaking the moment and looking away. She got up from her leaning position and just pointed to what she was saying.

"Wh- ohh.. yeah. I think the second one looks better. Your work is done now leave" he said hastily going through the designs. He cursed himself for getting affected by what happened earlier.

"Yeah. Umm.. thanks" she said, snatching the iPad and running out of the room. She leaned against the door after closing it.

"What the fuck was that?" Both of them whispered to themselves from each side of the door.

'fuck' he cursed slamming the file on the coffee table. He ran a hand through his hair and took deep breaths trying to calm his raging heart. His gaze fell on the untouched bowl of fruits, he covered them and resumed his work but his mind kept drifting off to what had happened earlier.

Zoya ran to her room. Ignoring all the tingling and butterflies she felt in her fingertips and stomach, she diverted her mind to her assignments and tried finalizing the portfolio without getting distracted.

************************************

The next morning Zoya wasn't home since she left early much to his relief, he left for his work; without thinking much about what had happened, they both carried on with their day to day life.

"Yaar we need a model and a sponsor" Zoya groaned sitting in the cafeteria. She banged her head on the table earning a few curious looks from people.

"Model ok. Why a sponsor?" Hadiya asked, sipping her apple juice.

"Well if you haven't realized we can't do a fantasizing photoshoot without beautiful gowns and none of us is rich enough to buy multiple gowns. Why don't you just say yes?" She said annoyed, they already had the location, just a little cleaning and clearing up was required that she'll do with Hadiya but they needed someone to model for them.

"No, I'm in no mood to get dressed. You can model. You have a model-like figure" Hadiya said as a matter of factly.

"Aur tasveeren kon lega. Mere Walid sahab?" She said sarcastically. Hadiya was incharge of videography and setup while Zoya couldn't trust anyone with the ideas she had.

(And who will click the picture, my father?)

"Uncle ko Leni aati hai tu le len I don't have any objection" Hadiya said shrugging her shoulders. Zoya looked at her with a bored expression.

(If he knows how to then why not)

Zoya swept her eyes around the cafeteria but stopped on a red head sitting all alone. The girl was beautiful with soft features, brown eyes and freckled cheeks. She was dressed in a brown sweater with jeans, her hair clipped back falling on her back in waves.

"Found her" Zoya chirped loudly making all eyes turn to her. She shrugged grinning sheepishly at the people who threw annoying glances at her.

"Come" she said, running off to the girl who was still lost in her thoughts. She dragged Hadiya with her who protested against the idea of leaving her food behind.

"Hi. My name is Zoya and this is Hadiya" she said, smiling widely at the startled girl. The red headed girl looked up from the table and smiled softly at the two girls who stood near her.

"Hi. I'm Ghazal" she said, taking Zoya's extended hand and shaking it.

"May we?" Zoya asked, gesturing towards the empty seats.

"Yeah sure" Ghazal removed her stuff from the chair and let the girls sit down.

"I'll go grab my food" Hadiya said and leisurely walking to their table to get her life, aka food.

"So. Ghazal. Are you new here?" Zoya asked, offering Ghazal some chips that she was eating.

"Yeah I actually transferred here few weeks prior" Ghazal said looking at them curiously.

"Oh. Which field?" Zoya asked, leaning on the table placing her chin in her palm.

"Commerce" Ghazal replied looking at them confused. No one tried to befriend her before and now these two girls were here asking her so many questions. The panic was clearly evident on Ghazal's face as Zoya chuckled nervously.

"Ohh yeah I'm sorry. I just keep on asking you questions. But I sort of need a favor and I wanted to ask if you could help us" Zoya said hesitantly. Ghazal looked in between confused. She nodded, gesturing Zoya to continue.

"So I believe you must've heard about the photography competition happening?" She asked to which Ghazal nodded.

"Yes but how can I help you with it?" Ghazal asked, leaning forward on the table.

"Um.. so I need a model. For my shoot. You see Hadiya here models for me but this time she's the videographer and we don't have a model" Zoya said, slumping her shoulders and pouting.

"So.....?" Ghazal asked not understanding what she was saying.

"Uh.. so I was sitting over there and I saw you. At first sight I knew you would be the perfect princess I want so I came here to ask you if you will model for me?" Zoya said hastily. She looked wide eyed at an equally wide eyed Ghazal.

"You want me to model for you?" Ghazal asked pointing her finger to Zoya then to herself. Zoya nodded, she looked at Hadiya who was busy stuffing her mouth with her fries, rolling her eyes as she looked at Ghazal expectantly.

"I mean you look really beautiful and literally the type of girl I'm looking for. Obviously if you don't mind. No forcing" she said. Hastily adding the last part since she felt as though she was forcing her.

"Um.. I would love to but I don't think I'm pretty enough" Ghazal said sadly. Her face contoured into a frown, making Zoya and Hadiya look at her as if she has grown two horns.

"Are you kidding me?" Hadiya asked. Her eyes bulged out of their sockets.

"Have you seen yourself?" Zoya asked. This was the least expected reason she had expected from her.

"But I tried to become a part of one of the teams. They said I'm not beautiful enough to think like that" she said sadly. She had tried to take part in Minahil's team but they just insulted her and bullied her about her finger red hair. It wasn't her fault she was born with them.

"Are you fucking kidding me? Look at you. This red hair, freckled cheekbones. Who doesn't want that? Don't think like that. The other team members must've been blind." Zoya said, hugging her.

"You're just saying to make me feel better," Ghazal said looking down.

"Listen babe. I speak what I see and think and I think you are beautiful and a rare beauty in Desi's. I mean at least I haven't seen a brown girl with pure ginger red hair, you're the first, don't downgrade yourself for mere stereotypical beauty standards." Hadiya said and Zoya nodded her head and started tickling her. Ghazal finally cracked a smile. The girls smiled at each other. Ghazal accepted their offer for her to model for them.

"Now the only thing left is the dresses," Zoya said, falling into deep thoughts. The three of them had gathered in a park nearby after university.

"Um... I know someone who can help us" Ghazal said. The girls grinned as they decided to visit the person tomorrow. They bid bye and left. Zoya and Hadiya on the bike and Ghazal with her driver.

"I really like Ghazal," Zoya said. Keeping her eyes on the road.

"Yeah me too," Hadiya said. They both looked like cartoon characters riding a bike with their helmets on. They listened to songs through their airpods. Swaying from side to side they danced while the ride home. They mumbled the lyrics and danced their way to Hadiya's home.

"You saw how Amira was literally throwing herself on sir Daniyal. I mean the poor guy looked so uncomfortable. I know the guy is young and handsome but still..." Hadiya reminisced the moment one of their classmates was getting on her teacher for some help, the fact was Hadiya liked Daniyal since the first day ever and seeing Amira get close to him made her angry. The scenery swished past them blurring into abstracts of blue and greens. White clouds raced with them to their destinations.

"It's sad that she does such stuff. I mean you can ask for help a little differently. And for you keep your jealousy at Bay love. He's our teacher." Zoya said, shaking her head. They sped past a few guys who caught up with them thinking they were in a race.

"Wanna come with us?" One of the creepy guys asked, winking at them. Zoya slowed down to let them go but they didn't. She sped away but they caught up this time real close.

"Come on babe we're just going for a party" he said smirking. He eyed Hadiya up and down, making her tighten her hold around Zoya.

"What type of a party?" Zoya asked, throwing a side look at him.

"Ohh you know dancing, drinks and he'll have loads of fun. It's a private party at the farmhouse nearby." he said, running his tongue over his lips.

"Lead the way then" Zoya said smilingly. They guys hooted and sped up front.

"Zee what are you doing?" Hadiya asked, panicked. Zoya just shook her head and told her to relax.

"Come on babe catch up" the guy in brown jacket hollered making Zoya speed up and catch up. The guys blew a kiss making her cringe inwardly.

"Hold on tight" Zoya whispered and sped faster saying in between cars on the freeway.

"Zee no. We shouldn't go" Hadiya panicked even more, seeing her friend's stupidity.

"Just wait love wait" she snickered. Catching the sight of a police van she slowed down near them.

"Sir you see that bike and car. There are guys in it going to a private party, with alcohol and stuff" she told them, making the officers rearrange and drive after them. The guys from before turned around as they neared a farmhouse. Zoya waved at them showing her middle finger and stopped a little back. The sirens of the police van filled the surroundings making the guys curse at them, the party was raided that instance and the drunken girls and guys were arrested.

"Thanks girls. These parties are increasing day by day" the police officer patted their heads. They nodded and drove back on the main road. She dropped Hadiya home and then went on her way.

Just when she entered the haveli premises she saw Zahan getting down from his car. She slowed down just behind him, he walked slowly without a thought in the world as she almost at paddle speed was behind him. She controlled the laughter and make her voice sound panicked

"GET OUT OF THE WAY EINSTEIN" She yelled from just behind him blowing the horn startling him. He ducked his head down and jumped to the other side with a horrified expression on his face. His gray eyes wide and hand on his chest.

Zahan was walking the distance of the long driveway when he was startled by the sound of someone yelling and a horn right behind him. He jumped at the side making the culprit laugh out loud. He looks at Zoya laughing her head off seeing his horrified expression, for a moment he felt as if he was in the middle of he road and not his house driveway. Saluting his way she raced in the garage and parked. His heart did a little flip but he ignored it. Be didn't look her way as they walked inside.

"Hello" She said normally. Her heartbeat quickened but she just ignored it making it the excitement for her shoot getting together.

He didn't look her way. He didn't want to reminisce every detail of her face and eyes, the thought itself was making his heart feel some type of way.

She yelled a loud Salam that echoed in the silent halls of the haveli.

"Can you not be quiet for once?" He asked, annoyed by the sudden loud noise. He was already having a headache and now her voice was making it even worse.

"I'm just announcing my presence" she shrugged off her bag and fell on the couch with her legs on the coffee table.

"What's the point?" He asked taking a seat at the couch across from hers.

"Well what's the point of staying silent also?" She asked, throwing her head back on her headrest and closing her eyes.

"You're really annoying," he groaned, rubbing his temples. She scoffed, staring at the ceiling, following the intricate patterns on the white ceiling.

"Why does me doing anything hurt you so much? What's your problem?" She asked, pulling her head up and glancing at him.

"You're my problem. Go away" he said, glancing at her. She looked at him for a long deadly minute and then rolled her eyes.

"You know what Einstein, you'll miss me one day. I'm your only friend, at least respect that." she said looking him dead in the eye.

"Yeah right. Who said you're my friend?" he said rolling his eyes and leaned his head back on the head rest of the couch. The headache increases by every passing minute.

"I did," she said, sitting straight on the couch ready to argue.

"Does that make a difference?" He said not looking at her.

"The fact is that my dear Einstein you're not denying it." She smirked seeing him pull his head up and peek at her.

"I'm not accepting it either," he said, going back to his previous position.

"Whatever" she said and ran up the stairs, tripping and falling half way through.

"Oww-" she winced, clutching her ankle. Zahan opened his eyes to see her sitting on the stairs holding her.

"HELP ME UP AT LEAST" she yelled seeing him watching her but not moving.

"No," he said calmly from his place. Zoya wanted to kick her legs like a spoiled child but her foot was at question.

"I hate you" she yelled, crawling up the remaining two stairs.

"Feelings are mutual, next time jump off the railing. Might as well just break the remaining bones in your body." he hollered from behind making her glare at him. Huffing she got up.

"You're mean." she called back and steadied herself clutching the railing.

"I know," he said back.

She huffed and hopped her way to her father's room. He hasn't been feeling well since the past few days, hence hasn't been leaving the house much.

"Baba!!" She whined plopping down next to him. He was sitting on his bed going through his wedding album when she entered inside after saying her Salam.

"I'm as good as I'll ever be, but what happened to you?" he said, closing the album and giving all of his attention to his daughter. He lifted her swollen ankle up and examined it.

"I was coming up here and fell on the stairs" she told him, earning a glare from Yasir.

"Haven't I told you not to run on the stairs" he said sternly making her grin sheepishly but immediately cry out as he pressed on her ankle.

"Owww it hurts." She said, hitting his hand away. He applied ointment on her swollen ankle and placed it on the bed in a more comfortable position. Zoya looked at her father with adoration in her eyes.

"You really loved Ammi right?" She asked softly, eyeing their wedding album.

"More than I think anyone ever could" Yasir whispered with a far away look in his eyes. His eyes moistened as Zoya cuddled near him. He hugged her close to his chest caressing her hair while he told her about her they met and how Yasir felt as if he couldn't think of anything else other than Maheen. Zoya listened attentively. She had heard this story multiple times but every time it makes her belief on soulmates stronger. After a while he told her about Qadir, who was a private investigator.

"Zoya I've asked Qadir to gather information about the mansion but will you please tell me why you want to know about this place?" He asked curiously. Zoya felt the similar anxiety in the pit of her stomach but chose to keep the topic pending for now. She thought she'll share it when she gets the hang of what's happening. Her nightmares had increased ever since. It's been twice since she came and slept in her Baba's room.

"Um... You know baba I'm going to be shooting there and I might need to get it cleaned and stuff so I should at least know who owns it right?" She said with uncertainty masking her features.

"Hmm.. since tomorrow you're busy. Qadir will take you to the site and tell you the details the next day or whenever he gets them" Yasir informed her. They both chatted about everything that they could, discussed some serious business issues.

The night fell upon the haveli like a thick cloak of darkness. Yasir had helped Zoya in her room and then came back to him.

"I don't know how long I'll be able to keep away from her Maheen. It feels as if the truth will choke itself out of me one day or another. I can't just keep her in the dark. Before I had you to keep me strong but now I don't want to be strong anymore" he cried in the darkness of his room clutching his wife's photo.

"I'm falling apart Maheen. I miss you" he whispered, letting himself fall in deep pits of slumber..........