IZTIRAAR

Chapter 2

WALI BHAI VAPIS AAGYE HN.
WALI BHAI VAPIS AAGYE HN.
WALI BHAI VAPIS AAGYE HN.
The same words repeated in her head as she contemplated whether to breathe or not.
the rest of the family ran outside while she was still standing there with flower plate in her hands.
"Why is he back?" she asked in her head.
Ameena tugged her hand," come larki. don't you wanna see you husband?"
she teased her as she pushed her along with her to their main lawn.
A tall man in clad black, sleek hair dimpled smile, one that resembled hers.
The air in her lungs stopped for a moment.
Rightnow, she resembled a ghost looking for air.
She blinked her eyes fast as if doing so she would wake up from this nightmare.

Could someone tell that she loved him once.
He hugged everyone one by one.
The entire family in tears.
He must be the tallest man in the family just a few centimetes taller than Hashim.
He bent down to dadi's wheelchair.
"Main aagya dadi." he said in his deep voice. The voice that sent shivers down Insia's spine.
Dadi was cryimg and kissing Wali.
He then stood up and hugged his mom who was equally a crying mess like dadi.
As he walked closer to where she was standing, Insia felt her chest constricted.
He hugged Ameena and patted her hair .
Insia was invisibly gasping for air at this moment.
This time, his eyes finally matched with her.
Time stopped.
Her heart stopped.
Neither she blinked, nor he did.
He was in a daze but his expression masked it.
After what seemed like an eternity, a voice screamed
"BHAI!!!!!"
I owe my life to whoever that was, she thought.
Haris ran out of the mansion and hugged his brother.

"Tum kahan the," Ameena asked him.
"Vo me bathroom gya tha." he replied at which everyone laughed.

Insia finally realized she wasnt breathing and started taking big breathes.

" Ufff, full on kdrama wale sparks the" Ameena whispered into Insia's ear as everyone went into the mansion.
" Shutup Ameena. I almost died."
replied Insia in her weak voice.

As everyone went inside her gaze fell on Hania who was glaring at her.
" Iss ko kia h?" Ameena sked as her eyes fell in the same direction.

Zakariya baji was so happy that she almost jumped and hugged Wali.

"Badtameez, kahan the itne saalon se. kitni baar mne tumhari minnaten keen ke meri shaadi pr aajao but tum ne kaha nhe aaskta. Kahin Insia ne  to nhe manaya?" she asked him teasingly.
He laighed in his hearty voice and replied," Madam, ap ki shaadi kese miss kr sakta tha." He glanced towards Insia who was talking to Ameena and looking towards him but as soon as their eyes met, hers went shooting in the other direction.

After all the commotion Wali went to his room to get ready. Apparently, Hashim knew everything so he prepared his clothes before hand.
Insia who was so overwhelmed by the entire thing had also went upto her room thst unfortunately was right next to Wali's in the long corridor.

She was practising breathing and smiling trying not to show the anxious look on her face.

She stood in front of the mirror. Thats when she realized that all those times she told herself thst she wouldn't care even if he came back was all a lie. His mere presence made it difficult for her to breathe.
Imagine spending your entire life with the arrogant boy who had now morphed into this gorgeous man.
The thought was enough to bring chills down her spine.
After calming down, she twisted her door knob to go out but at that very moment Wali also walked out of his door.
They both looked at each other for a nano second before Insia reflexively went back inside and shut her door leaving him to question what just happened.

This made Wali smile a little

After closing the damn door, Insia realized she must have looked like a fool and cringed at her stupidity.
She slowly opened her door again to see him still standing there.

She cleard her throat and walked ahead of him as if she didnt just shut her door at his face.

She wanted to sprint but a deep voice clearly addressing her made her halt.
"Kesi ho, Insia?"
There you go, her heart stopped again.
She musterd up her voice and replied, "Theek." while looking at him making sure that indifference lined her face.

Then she took a run for it and fastly walked down the stairs.

He was in a white shalwal kameez like th rest of the men in the family.

Tai ma read some surahs to protect him from evil eye and fortunately Insia didnt see him for the rest of the function, but his presence lingered which made it difficult for her to even look at food contrary to the actual foodie Insia.

At night, it was her duty to get Taya abu  his tea in the study and she would often  borrow some books from his library.
Today too, after the function was over, she made tea for her taya abu and walked towards his study.
Without realizing that there was someone else in the room, she knocked.
Her taya abu's voice from across the door affirmed her and she opened the door.
"Taya abu ap ki chai lai-" she cut her sentence midway when se saw Wali sitting inside with him.
Wali's eyes fell on hers.

"Apki chai." she said again but in a lower voice this time.

"Arre beta kia zaroorat thi. Aj tum thaki hui hogi." her taya abu replied.

She smiled, her dimples slightly visible.
She then looked at Wali as if asking if he wants tea as well.
Wali didnt get the sign so taya abu said, "Wali, do you want tea?"
" Nhe dad, I prefer coffee." he replied.
" Lekin you're missing out on Sia's amazing chai."
"I'll pass."
Insia took this as a sign and said,            " Shabba kher Taya abu."
"Betho beta."
"Nhe,ap log bethen. Mene Namaz prhni h. Allah hafiz."
And without sparing Wali a single glace, she walked out of the room and stomped back to her room.

"Aya bara angrez. Chai nhe peeta."
she grumbled under her breath.

Like always, Insia stayed up till late at night till she had practically started hallucinating.
She got up and removed her contacts.
She tried to look for her glasses but couldn't see them at all. The headache was already killing her.
So she got up and went down looking like a havoc.
Hair in a updo, hands and clothes covered in paint.
She couldn't see a thing because of her poor eyesight.

As she walked down the stairs, a figure was already sitting at the kitchen mini table. She couldn't tell who it was because of her eyesight.

So she assumed it must be Haris as he's the only one who would be up at like 2 am at night.

"Oye,dara dia h mujhe. Ullu so jao . Aaj to apni bechari girlfriend ki jaan chordo jis ki shikayat by the way me tai ko lga doongi agr tum mujhe kal studio na le kr gye."
On the other side, the alleged Haris started choking on whatever he was drinking.

Insia started laughing and walked towards the pot on the stove only to find it empty.
"Haris ke bache, tum ne meri chai pee li. "
"Since when did you start drinking tea."  she accused him
She went towards the cabinnet to get some tea leaves.
"Bhai, tumhare bahi jaan ko to coffee pasand he. Aya bara angrez. To tum kab se meri beechari miskeen si chai peene lge."
She opened the cabinnet to find her black specs in it.
"Oh! there you are." she said to no one in particular.
She put the glasses on .
"Now I can see." she said happily.
She turned on her ankles to see why Haris was so quiet only to find WALI sitting there dumbfounded.