TANGLED -overprotective famous brothers and crazy life

Antiquates? What are they?

ok, this is a change from the normal story...one of her brothers was 'off the scene' recently, so this is dedicated to him!!!

hope you like it!!

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ARBAAZ’S POV

I walked into my room to find my wife and sister on the bed. Malaika was wide awake, with two empty pickle packs on the bed side table, and the third one in her hand. I chuckled and bent down to kiss her. She smelt pickle. It’s disturbing sometimes when room and wife both smell pickle and ice cream and soft drinks at the same time.

I saw Lee, who was sleeping peacefully. She looked so innocent when she slept. No wonder we happened to be so protective. It had been morning when we left, and its afternoon now. I was positive she crashed the moment she saw the bed. Time to wake her up.

“Sleeping beauty, up!” I slowly shook her, and she mumbled a little ‘ugh’ in sleep. She always hated being called ‘princess’ or ‘sleeping beauty.’ Or just anything related to girly things. I feel concerned now; the effects of living with guys have crossed its limits. She hates the things normal girls love. I hope if my baby is a girl, she loves pink.

Liz is hoping for a baby girl too, she says the boy girl ratio is unbalanced and needs repair. That and I guess she’d be relieved if we find someone else to buy all the pink stuff for.

“If you are not up in five seconds, I will make sure you have lots of pink stuff.”

“I’m up!” she shot, hitting my head in the process. We both rubbed our heads and burst out laughing.

“You are terrible.” She giggled as I carried her to her room and placed her directly in her closet. She looked at me confused, and I shrugged,

“Lunch date. Get ready.” And I walked out.

Yup, she definitely needs professional help. Normal girls can spend hours obsessing only over their makeup. The dress, shoes, hair, nails are a different story. A novel actually. But she? She was ready in flat ten minutes. Even in simple jeans and tops and a scarf, she managed to look stunning. She’d worn heels, considering how they kicked us out the last time for dress codes and stuff. And, that just added to the diva effect she had. That’s it. More security, I’m taking more security.

Newsflash, I’m protective of her.

She never realizes it, but she manages to attract attention. Not because she always wore barely there dresses. But because she had a charm to her. And yup, she was well known everywhere in the world, so that increases the chances of being ‘hit’ on. I felt like slapping all the guys. Flirting with an eleven year old? Seriously? And I’m not even exaggerating. It happens quite a lot.

“Good afternoon, Sir. Welcome to Zodiac.”

I always got her here. Our lunch dates in Mumbai cannot be anywhere but in Zodiac in Taj Mahal Hotel. I still didn’t figure out why though.

We sat down in a corner, from where we could see the entire scene outside. Gateway of India, as usual stood there with magnificence. Crowds were moving about, all in their own work.

“Yea, we haven’t spoken much; I doubt this is a date.” Liz said, looking through the menu.

“You know what you want. Why are you even looking through?” I asked her, trying to start a conversation.

“Yup, I do. But doing this makes me look grown up and mature.” She winked and I burst out laughing. And the whole place stared at us. The bodyguards shot us a ‘Don’t-attract-unnecessary-attention’ look. I looked back.

“Weirdo.”

“And you love me for being me?” she teased, but I had a feeling deep inside she actually meant that question.

“Yup, I do. A lot.”

She smiled and we ordered our usual pizza. In Mumbai, if there is any place where you get pizza as good as Pizza Hut and Dominos, then it’s here. Ofcourse, it’s a lot more money, but it’s safer. And the same junk food taste. In fast food centers we tend to cause a chaos. So, we have to come here if we wish to eat a pizza in peace.

“Sooo?” I asked her. She gave me a puzzled look.

“Oh God! It’s been months since we had a date. And months since you crashed on my bed. Actually, you crash on the guest room and couch more.”

“Yeah. I know.” she replied flatly. I didn’t even realize that until now. Normally, our family would have 1-2 dates each week. It was all gone. Or was only I missing? Was I neglecting everyone like Sohail pointed out today morning unintentionally? Did I distance myself unknowingly?

“When was your last date?” I asked her.

“Officially, with Sohail in LA a few days ago. And unofficially with Salman just three days ago. Secret-privilege date.” She almost smiled. Secret privilege date was something we had invented. Whenever anyone wants to share a secret with anybody else, they go on a date. And the date is not discussed further by anyone.

“Do you…did you think I was being negligent?”  I asked, fearing the worst. What if she says yes? Even worse, what if she lies because she doesn’t want to hurt me?

“Nope. A lil busy that’s it.” she shrugged. She meant it. I knew because she acted weird when she tried to lie. Or hide. Or basically

Before we could talk any further, our pizza was served and we dug into it.

Thanks to Salman and Lizzie, I have now learnt to ignore all the table manners while eating a pizza. At home everyone eats randomly, but outside in a posh, luxurious place, I preferred using forks and spoons. Yes, also for pizzas. Salman and Lizzie found it was no fun, and ate the pizza with hands, no matter how many stares and frowns they earned. They are the free souls of the family I guess.

So now, after years of seeing them enjoy their pizza, I decided to join in too. Do hell with the antiquates.

“Glad you joined the club.” She giggled, and I chuckled. The waiter stared at us with wide eyes. A new guy, huh? Everyone here is used to her and Salman being loud and stupid at times. No worries, he’ll get used to.

We spent the rest of our lunch eating and talking- a lot. We spoke about my new movie, Malaika and the baby, her gymnastics and friends. She was gonna go to train again today, and I could see she was excited about it. It was her passion, just like Salman’s was acting.

I paid, and she argued continuously about why she never gets to pay. She was pampered, yes, but we couldn’t help it. She was the only girl, only baby in the family. Now, we were gonna have another baby soon. But I promised myself that I wouldn’t let the fact that I was gonna be a father come between us two. She’d be treated the same way she was before.

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ok,, how do you think it was?? let me know!!! :)