Virtuoso

Chapter 6

With Anis and Alisha gone on their honeymoon, the house was thrown into a silence that was getting to my head. Since Anis had come back from Germany and he had started courting Alisha, our house had been in constant uproar and now the silence wasn't something I was used to anymore. Mom and dad were also rarely home and I felt like I was living in a shrine. Staying at home was putting me in a bad mood already so I decided to grab my laptop and visit my second home, i.e. my favourite coffee shop.

Grabbing my laptop, charger, phone and car keys, I made my way towards the coffee shop. Maybe once there, I would be able to work on the side project I had been trying to work on. The car's stereo system blazed with the song, Candy Shop. Ten minutes later, I had parked in the parking lot and was making my way towards the coffee shop when I stopped.

It was him, AGAIN. The person my brother hated and the person I was trying my hardest to avoid.

He stood with his legs braced apart, his hands on his waist and his eyes watching me as I made my way towards him. Clad in a royal blue t-shirt and matching blue jeans, his hair had the windblown style that guys these days were crazy about. He held his shades in his left hand as he waited for me to approach him.

"Hashim!" I breathed his name.

"Maira! We meet again!" he said with a secretive smile on his handsome face.

"Indeed, we do." I said with a tilt of my head which brought a smile to his face. He moved aside to let me step forward.

"I was beginning to think that you'd dropped from the surface of the earth. I hadn't heard from you since the wedding, which was almost a month back." He said, conversationally.

I grimaced inside. I had other reasons of not contacting him but how to explain them to him? It was impossible.

"That hasn't happened yet. I'm still waiting for the sparks from the meteor shower to hit this planet and kill us." I retorted and gave him a sweet smile. He laughed loudly at my quip and I smiled despite trying not to smile.

"Well! While we are waiting for some meteor to hit this planet and kill us, would it be too much if I offer to buy you coffee this evening?" he asked, his chocolate brown eyes looking into mine. At that moment, I didn't feel like declining his offer. There was sincerity etched on every pore of his face and after all, one coffee didn't hurt you at all now.

I nodded.

"Thank God! I was beginning to think that you were going to give me an angry set down at the way you watched me while you made up your mind if you wanted to have coffee with me or not." He said, once we were seated at a nearby table.

"Actually, I was trying to decide who my brother would kill first in case he sees us together." I said with a calm that I didn't feel. I was sure who he was going to kill first. My turn would come later when we were home, I was sure about that.

My family, who prided itself on being open-minded and modern, was the total opposite. While mom and dad were truly open-minded, my brother was totally a different story. He used his fists before his brains.

"So, who is going to die first?" Hashim asked with a jovial smile on his face. I looked at him with a don't-you-know look and he burst out laughing.

"I know. I know. I have felt his fists countless times that I've stopped counting but thank you for the reminder, Maira. I'll keep that in mind."

"Pleasure is all mine!" I said as I took a sip of my hazelnut latte. I watched him from over the rim of my coffee cup. Whatever he wore, whether it was tradition shalwar kurta or jeans and sweatshirt, it became him. He was unnaturally broad-shouldered, unlike other guys I had met. There was an unmistakable aura of confidence, power and virility that drew me towards him whenever I met him. I wanted to uncover all his secrets, one by one.

"Take a picture, it will last long." He said, bringing me back from my thoughts and I coughed. He had noticed me watching him. How embarrassing.

"I wasn't watching you." I scoffed and took another sip of my latte to clear my throat. He gave me a knowing smile and I rolled my eyes at him.

"Dauntlessness is a folly," I said with a mock smile, "especially in scenarios such as these." I pointed between us.

"And why do you say that, miss philosopher?" he asked, leaning forward. I moved back unconsciously.

"Because I, somehow, know just what passed behind that thick skin of yours." His smile broke out on his face as he heard me.

"You are a handful, aren't you?" his voice depicted pleasure as well as another emotion that I could only define as pride.

"You are not the first person to say that." I said with sadness. "Anis thinks the same about me."

"Well, at least, we agree on one instance at least." He said with such derision that it made me laugh out loud at his humor.

"You're funny." I said in between my giggles.

"Wait.." he drew closer towards me. "Don't ever tell that to any of my business partners, they will never believe you." He whispered closer to my face.

"Why not?" I followed suit and whispered in the same way.

"To say it loosely, they think I'm a pain in their ass." He said which threw me into another fits of giggle. He was extremely funny and that was the reason, more than an hour had passed and I didn't know how time had passed this quickly.

As the sun set and darkness surrounded us, it was time to leave. We both stood up from our places.

"I think I should leave. It's getting late for me." I said.

"Indeed it's getting late. Just one last thing before you leave Maira, I think I have a vague idea of why you stepped back from our budding friendship but don't worry about Anis, he will get over it." I stared at him with my mouth open. How did he know that?

I nodded.

"So, is it too much to expect that we shall meet again?" He asked as I gathered my things to leave.

I laughed.

"Don't worry. I'll throw a text your way now and then." I said in parting and then came to my car.

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