Chapter 5

In college, Liyana sat with Ayaan in the campus hall, chatting.

“That lecturer must be funny for that,” Liyana laughed.

“If you say he is funny, then he is,” Ayaan smiled. “Can you tell me about yourself?” he asked, staring into her beautiful eyes.

“What more do you want to know about me? You already know my name, right?” she said, staring back into his eyes.

“I want to know more if you don’t mind.”

“Hmm! Well, it happened that my name is the only special gift I got so far. Liyana Shah, isn’t that awesome?” she stated cheerfully and they both laughed. “To get serious, ahem, I’m the first and last child of my parents. That’s somehow cool and bitter though,” she chuckled. “My favorite color is pink. I like other light colors too, but pink is my favorite. Uh, my father is a Muslim Pakistani while my mother is an Indian Punjabi. I’m stuck between parents of different religions. My father works as a personal driver to one Mr Asad Khawaja. It doesn’t matter though. As long as I am studying, it’s superb,” she introduced while Ayaan listened. “How can I forget? I’m also a foodie! I love eating lots of tasty delicacies like biryani, it’s also my mother’s favorite, so I love eating it. I love eating other dishes like haleem, nihari, gulabi chai, mango lassi, dhooti patti, mutton korma, and karahi, etc., I also enjoy tasting desserts like shahi tuckray, gulab jamun, balo shahi, besan ke laddoo, jalebi, and sheer korma. I know how to make sheer korma, it’s a rich creamy pudding cooked with vermicelli, nuts, dry dates, and milk. Oh, my God, I love everything eatable, yet I loathe cooking sometimes. I would rather stay dawn to dusk with my books than cooking,” Liyana narrated cheerfully. Ayaan chuckled, looking away.

“It’s not bad, but I love cooking, one of my hobbies,” Ayaan said, facing her again. “You are a lucky lady, your parents are there for you. As for me, I never got to spend a moment with either of my parents. My father died when my mother was pregnant with me. My mother died upon giving birth to me. My maternal grandmother had to take the responsibility of raising me. Sometimes I would blame myself for the death of my parents, but the will of Allah has to prevail,” Ayaan narrated sadly without noticing Liyana was down to tears. He quickly turned his face to her when he heard her sniff. “Hey, why are you crying, Liya?” he asked.

“Your story is so pathetic, Ayaan. I’m sorry for adding to your wound,” she said emotionally and Ayaan wiped away her tears.

“Don’t cry, okay? I prefer you smiling,” he commented, fondling her jaw and she smiled. “Let’s visit café Aylanto Restaurant tomorrow. Are you coming?” he said.

“First to be there. I can’t wait!” she exclaimed and they both laughed.

Their visit to the café Aylanto Restaurant was remarkable. Liyana wouldn’t stop talking funnily and Ayaan couldn’t help but laugh wholeheartedly. The friendship between Ayaan and Liyana grew deeply. Liyana’s childishness and bright attitude attracted Ayaan even more. Her beauty seems to radiate with each passing day. The friendship and love they now share were mightier than the hatred she pulled out at first. Ayaan related his newly transformed relationship with Liyana to his grandma. The grandma requested to meet Liyana in person and Ayaan brought her home. The grandma gave them her blessings. Liyana’s visit to the grandma’s place was a wonder. The grandma’s tales almost made Liyana forgot she had to go home. A few more times, Liyana would visit the grandma even without notifying Ayaan. She would spend time helping the grandma with her embroidery and listening to her folktales. Great stories of true lovers ever heard in Pakistan.

One day on campus, Ayaan was busy with his phone in his department when Liyana came along.

“Ayaan?” she called and he glanced at her. “I want you to follow me down somewhere,” she requested, standing by his side.

“Hmm! Where is that?” he asked, focusing on his phone and typing letters into it.

“I want to go see one of the lecturers, Mr Smith, the white American,” she specified.

“Give me some minutes.”

“There is no minute, Ayaan, he will be out soon.”

“Then go on without me, I got to finish this first,” he declared. She frowned at him. He wasn’t even glancing at her anymore.

“Really? But I want you to go with me. Come on,” she begged, but Ayaan said nothing afterward. She stood for a while, staring at him with a fast-beating heart. She dashed out.

Liyana headed to Mr Smith’s office alone. She knocked at the door and heard the husky voice of Mr Smith, permitting her to come inside. She entered, closing the door gently behind her. Mr Smith was a middle-aged burly man. He always wears a flirtatious look toward the female students.

“Good day, sir,” she greeted and he permitted her to sit.

“You are extremely glowing today, Liyana,” Mr Smith said.

“Thank you, sir,” she appreciated. Mr Smith relaxed on the swivel chair, staring lustfully at her. “Um, sir, why did you summon me?”

“Well, I’m afraid you did so badly on my test,” he said.

“Huh? Is that possible?” she asked, jerking up and Mr Smith smiled, standing up too.

“It could be possible if you fail my request, don’t you think so?” he said, moving closer to her. Liyana took a step back, he continued walking to her till they were against the wall.

“You are making me uncomfortable, sir,” she cried out. “What do you want?” she queried, trying hard not to make eye contact with him.

“I want you, sweetheart. Just a night and you are good to go with all A’s,” he lustfully stated, tracing his finger down her bare neck, and Liyana pushed him hard away, he almost hit the desk.

“You are so shameless, Mr Smith. To hell with you,” she rebuked cheesed off. “If you dare fail me, I will curse your generation. Silly man,” she added and stormed out.

“She’s got some guts,” Mr Smith remarked, walking back to his seat with a wicked smile instinct on his face.

As Liyana was rushing out, she bumped into Sofia. “Hey, Liyana, what happened?” Sofia queried, holding Liyana on the shoulders to stop her. She couldn’t say a word, only tears trickled down her cheeks. “Don’t cry, Liyana, talk to me,” said Sofia in a pacifying voice.

Liyana led Sofia to the canteen where they ordered chilled strawberry juice. Liyana explained her incident with Mr Smith to Sofia.

“What? Has he gone nuts?” Sofia exclaimed.

“To top it all, he said he will fail me in his subject if I fail to honor his request,” Liyana stated dewy-eyed.

“This is serious. We have to tell Ayaan so, we can think of what to do,” Sofia suggested.

“Leave Ayaan out of this, Sofia. It’s my problem and I will think of a way to solve it. As for Ayaan, he dares not talk to me.”

“What did he do?”

“Never mind, let’s go home,” Liyana said, standing up. Her look impulsively tells something was wrong. They left the canteen. As they set to leave by the roadside, Ayaan came along, rushing down to them.

“Hey, Liya, I have been looking for you,” he said. “Hi, Sofia.”

“Hi, Ayaan,” Sofia responded.

Liyana cast an indifferent look at him. “Let’s go, Sofia,” Liyana said, holding Sofia’s hand.

“Hey, aren’t you going to talk to me?” Ayaan asked, blocking their way.

“Why should I, huh?” she glared at him. “You know something? Don’t talk to me ever.”

“I’m sorry, Liya, I was honestly busy with what I was doing. If I hadn’t finished the cover letter I was composing and submitted it right away, the ramification would have been worse. I’m sorry, okay?” he explained.

“Oh, really? And I suppose the cover letter means more than my dignity to you, right?” she said. Confusion settled on Ayaan’s face.

“What do you mean?” he queried. Just then, a bus stopped before them and the ladies boarded, leaving Ayaan in his state of confusion.

At the Khawaja’s mansion, Rayan was seated in the gazebo with a bottle and glass of whiskey on the table. He was staring into space.

“Is she that important,” he thought in silence. “Should I be thinking of the young girl? What kind of special attribution does she possess? Her display of courage and interjection has got me wondering, no one ever dares what she did and goes scot-free. To think that I allowed her to walk out makes…” The thought of Rayan was interrupted by the arrival of one of his men, Dave.

“Greetings, boss,” Dave greeted.

“What do you have for me?” Rayan queried and sipped his drink.

“I was able to get info about her, boss,” Dave said.

“Sit!” Rayan permitted and Dave sat down opposite him.

“Here are the pics I took of her,” Dave stated, handing the envelope he was holding to Rayan. The envelope contained pictures of Liyana when she was standing at the gate to her home, hailing a rickshaw to take her to college.

“She’s an angel,” Rayan smiled to himself. “What other info were you able to fish out?”

“Her name is Liyana Shah, boss. She studies at Haleem Ibn Khan College of Education. Her father is the personal driver of your father,” Dave narrated.

“What?!” Rayan exclaimed, quickly sitting up. “She is the daughter of Hamdaan Shah?”

“Exactly, boss,” Dave affirmed and Rayan smirked.

“Now this will work in my favor.”

“How do you mean, boss?” Dave asked but Rayan said nothing afterward.

Author’s note 🥀🥀🥀

Oh, God, what has Liyana gotten herself into? I know this question will come up. Well, when fate wants to play a fishy game with you, you will end up putting your right foot into the wrong event. Hmm. I hope she escapes Rayan, the villain. What? Yeah, I know it’s my story, but I give room to what my characters want to do sometime 🧐🧐🧐. Let’s hope for the best 🥺. See you in the next chapter.