Truly Madly Deeply

Chapter 13

I slowly turned my head towards Humayun who strode towards us. He looked angry and I was paralyzed by horror to even answer him. He looked at me and then at Ibraheem with a cold expression. I was pretty sure my brother had never seen me talking to a man, who was not a cousin, in seventeen years of my life and I am pretty sure he never wanted to see one either, not at this point at least. He took a step forward and stood between me and Ibraheem making sure to shield me from him as he continued to glare icily at Ibraheem who seemed completely calm and rather, I noticed sparks of amusement in his eyes. His eyes settled on me for a few seconds before shifting back to Humayun's.

The two of them were almost the same height but Ibraheem was an inch or two taller but their built was exactly the same.

"Gee, who are you and why are you talking to my sister?" Humayun tone was venomous, it stung even though it wasn't directed at me. I knew I was bound to get a lecture, no, more like a scolding after this that is if I survive this in the first place.

The next thing that came out of Ibraheem's mouth shocked me. I had been looking at my feet tentatively but ended up snapping my head right at him when he started to speak. What in the world was he saying? I am pretty sure Humayun was thinking the same thing.

Ibraheem had started speaking fluent Sindhi (the common language of Karachi and Sindh) to converse with Humayun and I am pretty sure my brother could not comprehend a single word. When Ibraheem noticed the look of confusion evident on Humayun's face, he smiled and then shifted to speaking Urdu which was the mother tongue of our country so all of us knew it.

"Dost, Apko Sindhi samajh nahi ati kya? (Friend, do you not understand Sindhi?)" Humayun shook his head so Ibraheem nodded his head and then continued. "I am not from around here as you can see so I was asking the kid behind you for directions since I am lost." Ibraheem explained and Humayun looked suspicious as he studied Ibraheem's face for any signs of dishonesty but then eventually nodded realizing he was telling the truth.

I was shocked for two things.

One, How did my brother believe him? But if I was in his place I would probably end up believing him too after listening to that amazing act and fluent Sindhi accent.

Two, Had Ibraheem seriously called me a kid?

"Well, next time you ask for directions, ask one of the security men roaming around, they would knew better. Let's go sis." Although Humayun had believed him but his hostile behavior hadn't altered at all. He turned around coldly as he started to walk away and I followed him immediately. I turned to look at Ibraheem who stood rooted to his spot as he gave me a proud smile and winked in my direction causing me to snap my head back in the direction of my brother.

"Misha, you really shouldn't listen to strangers like that. They never really have good intentions." Humayun explained, he still sounded upset but not at much as before. "I thought he was bothering you."

HE WAS BOTHERING ME but there is no way I am going to voice my thoughts not unless I wanted a death wish. I still couldn't believe Ibraheem had saved me from my own brother but I wasn't going to thank him because he was the one who had put me in this situation in the first place.

"Okay, bhai." I mumbled, the good mood from before had dissipated quickly and I knew shopping was over for today. I quietly followed him to the parking lot where I sat in the passenger seat. Humayun sat in the driving seat and then suddenly halted. I looked up at him questioningly fearing a sudden outburst but instead he smiled at me.

"I forgot to get KFC. I will go get it from the food court so you wait in the car, alright? Lock the car from inside." I nodded as he got out of the car after turning on the air conditioner. He rushed back to the door while I waited. I put on a song as I started humming. I remembered all that happened today and it honestly felt like a dream to me. I had actually met Ibraheem despite trying my best to avoid him. Maybe it was fate after all.

I was tapping my fingers on the dashboard and swaying my head left and right to the tune. After a while, I decided to change the music so I fished out my phone and started going through my playlist. I played a song and was about to start moving to the beat until I looked up and saw the familiar figure of Ibraheem sitting a little distance from me in his car. I almost stopped immediately on noticing him smirking at me. How long has he been sitting there? I swallowed my spit as I turned down the volume and stared at him while he stared back. All he did was gaze at me intensely, his smirk had disappeared and his mouth was closed in a fine line. Minutes went by and he stared at me as I stared back. There wasn't a hint of mischief on his face so I really couldn't tell what he was thinking to be honest.

After a while of staring at me, he gave me a smirk and left. I let go of a breath I didn't know I was holding as I eased into the seat. That was one of the weirdest interactions I have had with someone.

What was that all about? After another few minutes, Humayun came back with a brown bag full of KFC and put it in the back seat. His sour mood from before had completely disappeared as he put on an upbeat Punjabi song and started singing along to it.

"Let's go home, little one."

Author's Note:

Hey and Salam everyone! 

Hope y'all are doing great. I am finally back so I will be providing regular updates or at least try too. I have also decided to write the next chapter on Ibraheem's POV so look forward to that  as well. Peace \\//