Khaani: Mera Dushman Mera Ishq

The timing isn't right

"Kya baat hai?",Ali asked confused.

"Ali, woh US wapas jaa rahi hai", Hadi replied, his breathing uneven. "Usne footage ke baare mein kuch bataya?", he asked eagerly. Hadi shook his head. Ali could see at this moment, he couldn't care less about that footage all he could think about was Khaani leaving. Yeh sahi nahi hai, Ali thought, Iska infatuation isse ek din le doobega.
Ali sighed and said,"Hadi, main teri pareshaani samaj sakta hu, lekin abhi Hume iss footage ka pata lagana bohot zaruri hai. Pata nahi uss shaks ke paas humara aur konsa konsa footage hoga."
Hadi groaned and replied, "Ali, abhi mere liye uss footage se zyada zaroori Khaani ko rokna hai".He started pacing to and fro in an agitated manner for a few minutes, until, "Main ab aur der nahi kar sakta, mujhe Khaani se apne dil ki baat karni hi hogi. Abhi. Iss hi waqt.". Hadi was about leave when Ali caught him by his elbow, stopping him.

"Ali, chhor na yaar!", Hadi shouted. "Nahi", Ali responded firmly, "Tu ab bewakufi kar raha hai. Tujhe kya lagta hai? Tu Khan Mansion jayega, Khaani ko bulayega, apne dil ki baat karega aur woh maan jayegi?! Itna aasaan hai yeh?".

"Toh tu hi bata mein kya karu?!", Hadi snapped,"freeing his elbow, "Main usse aise jane nahi de sakta!"

"Hadi, tu kyu nahi samajhta? The timing isn't right. Khaani tujse nafrat karti hai. Usse lagta hai ke abhi uske saath jo ho raha hai woh teri wajah se ho raha hai. Aise situation mein, do you think woh teri feelings ko samjhegi bhi?" Ali tried to reason with him. Hadi stared at Ali, reflecting on this words

The next day at Khan Mansion

"Bibiji, yeh aapke liye aaya hai", Yasmin, the Khan family domestic help said. Khaani was sitting on the bed, sketching on her notepad. She looked up to see Yasmin holding a bouquet of white roses and a box. Zaroor Sarim ne bheja hoga, she thought smiling. She leaned forward and opened the box to find six cupcakes of different flavours. Written on each cupcake was the message, "Stay strong, K". Khaani frowned, this didn't sound like Sarim. She opened the card stuck on the bouquet. The card read:

Jab bhi tumhe lage ki tum akeli ho...aur poori duniya tumhare khilaaf hai, bas itna yaad rakhna ke iss duniya ek aisa shaks bhi hai jo humesha tumhare saath khara rahega, chahe ho bhi jo jaaye - K

Khaani read the message again and again, trying to figure out the handwriting. Did she see it before? Who, other than Sarim or Anjum, could have sent this to her? Her father was still angry with her. If it was Nayeema aunty or the girls, why would they send it in such a secretive manner? Was it really a stranger? A fan? Ever since, she started campaigning for Sarim, she has been getting DMs from admirers (and hate mails after the picture incident). But nobody had sent her gifts like this. Who was it and what did they want?

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Hadi and Ali were drinking in their flat. Due to the issue with Hadi's viral footage, both friends had decided to ban all visitors from their flat. On the work front, Mir Shah had quickly gone into damage control mode, asking Hadi to lay low for some time while the news died down. This seemed to be particularly difficult now, as their rivals kept raking this issue in every rally and press meeting. Hadi, for his part, was concerned about this but it was not on top on the list of his priorities. With time, he felt, this news would die its natural death with a new sensation. Just like how his own scandal replaced Khaani's viral pictures and now people hardly talk about it.

Hadi lovingly caressed his right wrist, which had the letter 'K' inked on it. Smiling, he said, "Ali, tujhe kya lagta hai? Usse woh flowers aur cupcakes pasand aaya hoga?". Without looking away from his phone, Ali chuckled and replied, "I should hope so, after all aisa pehli baar hua hai ke Mir Hadi ne khud kisi ladki ke liye flowers aur cupcakes pasand kiya hai. Abhi tak toh mujhe iss baat par yakeen karna mushkil hai...".

Hadi chuckled and said, "I know right! Yeh pyaar bhi kya kya nahi kara deti insaan se...Ali...Ali? Tu sun raha hai main kya keh raha hu?".

But Ali wasn't listening. He was staring intently at his phone with a frown. Ever since he saw Hadi's video footage, there was something about the footage that did not sit right with him. And now, thanks to his Facebook notification, he finally understood what was wrong with that video. "How could I have missed it?", Ali muttered to himself.

"Kya baat hai, aisa kya dekh liya tune?", Hadi asked curiously.

Ali didn't reply and stayed immersed in his phone. A few minutes later he said, "Maan na parega dost, kya khatarnak ladki chuni hai tune pyaar karne ke liye. Agar yeh kisi din politics mein aa gayi to Mir Shah ko bhi peechhe chhor degi."

Irritated, Hadi said, "Jo bolna hai saaf saaf bol."

"Tere video ki timing galat hai.", Ali explained, "Woh Balochistan floods ke time ki video hai hi nahi. Woh video bas ek saal purani hai. In fact aaj se thik ek saal pehle ki video hai yeh.". Ali shoved his phone at Hadi's face.

Underneath the highlights, 'One year ago', was a picture of Hadi and Ali with Karim and few more of their friends, taken in this very room. Hadi furrowed his brows, glancing at Ali who nodded encouragingly. "Karim ne apne car rally wali jacket pehni hai, jo last year aaj ke din huyi thi", Ali explained, taking his phone and coming to theinfamous video. He fast-forwarded and then paused it, "Tu yaha corner mein dekh", Ali said, pointing his finger on the screen, "Karim nazar nahi aa raha magar uski jacket wahi hai - car rally wali. Yeh video literally ek saal pehle shoot huyi thi!"

"Iska matlab",Hadi said, realisation dawning on him, "Yeh video Balochistan floods ke ek saal baad ki hai. Toh Khaani ne jhoota caption diya "

Ali replied, "Log to waise bhi yeh footage dekh ke naraaz hote, uske upar usne Balochistan floods ko picture mein laakar logo ke gusse ko aur hawa di. Isse Sarim ki popularity mein improvement bhi aayi, Khaani ki trolling band ho gayi aur kisiko uspe ya uski party pe shak bhi nahi hua!"

Hadi chuckled and replied, "Wakayi, bilkul apne takkar ki biwi mili hai mujhe. "