Hand in Marriage (ON HOLD)

Are You Serious?

Chapter Twelve.

"Ow. Why is my ear.. popping?" I asked as I raised my eyes to meet Ashar's. He also had his right ear covered by his hand.

"The air pressure. Speed. Something to do with that." He made a vague gesture with his left hand.

"The same thing happened when we took off. Azlan felt it too. Luckily he's sleeping now otherwise he would've created a storm in the plane by his screaming." I chuckled and soon Ashar joined in.

"This happens to me every time I travel by air. One of the things I hate about airplanes."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have now arrived at our destination, Dubai international airport." After hearing the most awaited words for the past few hours, I took a deep breath and tuned out the lady.

I reached around Azlan's sleeping body and grabbed my bag. I nudged Aria awake as I quickly picked up our belongings and put them inside the bag.

Aria picked up Azia, Ashar picked up Azlan and I picked mine and Azia's bag.

After customs, we were walking towards the luggage area when Ashar phoned someone.

"Hello? Yallah. Yeah we just landed, man. We'll be out in 20 minutes. Just picking up the luggage now. Yeah sure. No. Bring a van or another car. We're five people with luggage." Ashar glanced towards me. "No, mum didn't come. It's Alina." Ashar's voice dropped so low that was I almost unable to catch what he said. I looked at Aria but she was too busy fixing Azia's blanket.

Ashar shoved the phone in his pocket and started looking through the row of luggages ready to get picked up from the belt. Suddenly, he grabbed one and put it on the trolley, then another, and another, and one more, and the last one, along with one tiny one.

I walked over and put my two bags on one trolley as Ashar picked up Azlan and placed him on top of a suitcase. Then, we made our way out to whoever was meeting us with two cars or one van.

***

"We've been waiting for almost ten minutes. Why isn't your friend here yet?" Aria asked for what seemed like the fiftieth time.

Ashar ran a hand through his hair and pulled his phone out and dialed a number. "Yeah man, where are you? Oh. Oh okay. Yeah gate D. Okay. See you." He shoved the phone in his pocket and started pushing a trolley.

"He's here. Let's go."

Aria and I quickly grabbed whatever we had and followed Ashar out the gates towards a line of cars.

Ashar headed for one black sleek car and one white van where two men stood waiting. One was a in a driver's uniform and the other was a man with sunglasses, messy hair and a dominating vibe radiating in waves.

His structure and posture seemed oddly familiar. His hands where in his pant's pockets and his face was turned to face us. We were still about 50 meters away so I couldn't see him clearly.

I focused my eyes on the luggage I was pushing and continued walking until I saw two masculine arms come out and gently push me out of the way to grab the trolley. My eyes travelled across his hands, to his shoulders, to his jawline and finally to his eyes.

Something stopped.

Earth's rotation? No.

Time? No.

My heart? Yes.

My breath? Yes.

Those two eyes. Those two hazel eyes that stared back at me with such intensity that made me drop my gaze immediately. I took a step back and looked at the ground which suddenly had become very interesting.

After what seemed like a eternity, I heard someone clear their throat. It was Ashar. "Aren't you going to say hi to me? I'm seeing you after what two years!" Ashar laughed as he slapped Fawad's back.

"We're all seeing him after two years." Aria said. Her voice held no emotion at all which sort of scared me considering how much of a emotional person she is.

Fawad shifted under her gaze and looked at me. His eyes travelled from my face all the way down to my hands. Recognition spread across his face as he noticed his ring still on my finger. I saw a small linger around his lips but it quickly vanished when his eyes met mine again. I'm not sure what he saw but his posture slumped and a defeated look appeared across his face.

Ashar cleared his throat again and started pulling Fawad towards the car. Aria followed him and I followed Aria.

"Uhm. You both can sit in this car. There are car seats in the back for the kids. Ashar will drive this car. I'll come in the white van with the luggage." Fawad said as he opened the back door waiting for someone to get in.

Aria walked over and bundled up Azia in first. Ashar sat Azlan down next and left one seat empty. Aria got in the front seat and Ashar got in the drivers seat, leaving me standing alone with Fawad.

Fawad's hand was still on the handle, waiting for me to get in. I took slow small steps towards the car as I kept my gaze lowered, avoiding Fawad as much as I could and got in the car. He softly closed the door and stood there until Ashar started driving.