The Addiction of Love

II

Seher peeked through the curtains and watched Ahad work on his laptop while sitting in the back lawn. After the dinner, everyone had gone to bed, except for Ahad, and the three troublemakers. Seher didn't want to study MBA, so the twins had convinced her to speak to Ahad about it and tell him about her love for sketching.

With a nervous expression, she turned back to look at the twins. "I can't do this."

"You have to." Sahil said.

"Why? Why can't you both go and talk to him first and I will follow you?" Seher whined like a baby.

"Because, kiddo, we were trying to protect you from MBA when it happened. So it's your fault." Shahid explained.

"This is so not fair." Seher cried in anguish.

"Listen, either you talk to Ahad bhai and convince him, or you spend your next two years studying for a degree you have no interest in." Shahid said.

Seher knew it was true. If she didn't speak up today, she would have to study her ass off for a course she didn't want to do. So gaining every ounce of confidence and strength she had in her, she sighed loudly and padded towards the lawn.

Ahad was going through his presentation when he sensed presence in front of him. He looked up and found his youngest cousin standing in front of him, fidgeting with the end of her sweatshirt. Behind her trailed Shahid and Sahil.

He raised his eyebrow and waited for her to speak.

"Umm, Ahad bhai," She softly said, "I wanted to say something."

He hummed in response. His rough voice made her more nervous than she already was. Ahad was the most strict person of the family, and the youngsters, especially Seher, feared him more than their parents.

"I don't have all day." Ahad spoke when Seher didn't say anything for a few minutes.

Sahil lightly nudged his cousin sister, and Seher immediately blurted out, "I don't want to pursue MBA."

Ahad frowned. "Why?"

"Umm," She fumbled, "I actually want to do something in sketching." She said so low that if it wasn't for the eerie silence of the night, Ahad wouldn't have heard it.

"What?" It came as a total shock to Ahad. "Sketching? Since when did you gain interest in art?"

"Ahad bhai, she had been doing that for almost six years now. And she's really good at it." Sahil spoke up.

Ahad listened to his cousin and thought for a while before asking, "Seher, are you sure about it?"

She slowly brought her eyes up to look at him and nodded.

"Okay, I'll talk to Jalal chachu tomorrow." He said, referring to Seher's father.

A bright smile appeared on her face. She couldn't believe that Ahad had agreed, and that too this easily. "Thank you so much, bhai." She chirped.

He nodded at her and went back to working on his laptop.

Sahil and Shahid shared a look, and Sahil gestured at his twin to speak up.

"Ahad bhai," Shahid cleared his throat, "I was thinking that we both also just finished our university.."

"So?" Ahad asked.

"So," Sahil lightly chuckled, "how about taking a few months off before joining the office."

Ahad glared at him.

"No," Sahil immediately said, "I mean, it was just a passing thought. You don't have to agree obviously."

"Yeah," Shahid humorlessly chuckled, "I was telling this idiot to stop thinking rubbish. What is the need for taking a few months off?"

"You both are joining the office from next month." Ahad said and dismissed them.

The three of them rushed back inside. As soon as they were out of Ahad's gaze, Sahil hit Shahid. "You were supposed to take my side."

"Looking at Ahad bhai's expression, I just couldn't." Shahid defended himself.

Seher got in the middle of them. "Stop fighting and be grateful that he gave you a month to join work. It is obviously better than a week."

"Our last month of freedom!" Sahil sighed.

"We need to enjoy it to the fullest." Shahid piped in.

Confirming their pizza party plan for tomorrow, they all went to sleep.

______________

The next morning, before leaving for the office, Ahad went to Jalal to talk to him about Seher's career. Jalal was just as shocked to learn that his daughter wanted to pursue sketching, but when Ahad assured him that he'd personally look into the matter and make sure she gets the best guidance, Jalal agreed.

At the breakfast table, Ahad also announced it, informing everyone and making Seher really happy.

After finishing his meal, he and Zafar bid goodbye to everyone and walked out of the villa.

"Ahad bhai," Seher called just as he was about to sit in his car.

He paused and looked at her.

She stood in front of him. "Thank you."

"For what?" He asked.

"For agreeing to let me follow my passion and convincing everyone."

"You don't have to thank me for anything." He said and entered the car.

She watched the car zoom off before skipping back inside the villa in happiness.

And her happiness doubled when her mother told her that her only phupho, Jabira, was arriving in two days with her cousin sister, Mahnoor.

Jabira was the youngest child of Benazir, and was married to Haider Qadir. They were settled in Bangalore. Jabira and Haider had two children, the elder one was Rizwan, who was married to Safeena. And the younger one was Mahnoor.

"I am calling Liya aapi and informing her." Seher said and pulled out her phone in excitement to give the good news to Aaliya. She was the younger sister of Ahad and had gotten married to Sameer Siddiqui a few years ago. She lived in the same city and visited the villa every once in a while.

After talking to Aaliya for almost an hour, Seher hung up the phone. She then spent some time finishing the sketch she had started yesterday. By the time lunch hour began, the twins had ordered their favorite pizzas. The three of them devoured the cheesy deliciousness with garlic bread and coke and watched their favorite TV show.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

Introducing Mahnoor in the next chapter. You're gonna love her.

So,

Srk or Salman or Aamir or Saif (Don't wanna offend anyone here. You can even say Taimoor if you want!)

Mine is SHAH RUKH KHAN! So much that I used to say I'll marry him when I grow up.