Fated

Ch. 36

'Maya...Maya' Ramsha's sudden voice startled me and I woke up on edge suddenly.

'What happened?' I glared at her.

'He is outside' She excitedly said.

'What are you talking about, who is outside...look at the time, go back to bed' I tried to adjust my eyes as I checked the time on my phone, it was around 5:45 in the morning.

'He is here, he is outside the door' She squealed.

'You're crazy' I told her.

'No I am serious, he is talking to Papa...he wants to take you somewhere...' Ramsha continued and just then Papa entered the room and we both looked shyly at him as if we got caught cheating.

'Zain is at the door, he said he wants to take you out for a day' Papa said to me in a sleepy tone.

'Yes, but I had no idea he was going to come this early Papa' I told him straight away.

'Should I tell him to leave?' Papa watched me carefully; he already knew what I was going to say.

'Papa, can I go with him? I need to discuss some things with him' I said as I got up from the bed.

'I think if you don't go with him, he'll come inside to get you himself' Ramsha interrupted.

'If you don't want me to go then I won't' I looked at Papa for permission.

'Go ahead...look, you know what I am thinking right?' He stared at me and I knew. He wanted me to be responsible and stay safe. Even if we were engaged, we weren't married.

'Yes Papa' I shook my head.

'And tell him that he can't see you alone before Nikkah after today, tomorrow is your henna ceremony and your mother won't like it if he keeps on coming over to see you like this' He notified me before leaving my room. As soon as Papa left, I quickly got ready and went outside to see him.

'What do you think you're doing Zain?' I exclaimed as soon as I saw him. He was leaning against his car while it was still somewhat dark outside.

'You agreed to spend a day with me' He reminded me. I did but not this early.

'Did you not look at the time?' I eyed him.

'It's morning' He replied casually. Oh God, this man.

'Let's go' He smiled and open the car door for me.

'Where are we going?' I asked him when he started driving.

'Somewhere' He answered me in riddles and told me to go to sleep as the ride was going to be long but how was I suppose to sleep when he was so close to me so I stayed awake and looked at him from time to time and wondered how different he was when I first met him and how he was now. Did he change or I became used to his ways? I just knew that we both seemed different to me when I looked at us from outside.

Hours after driving to what seemed like nowhere, my eyes slowly started seeing connecting bleak mountains and moments after I saw a beautiful fort from my window. I couldn't help but stare at the historical beauty that was in front of my eyes.

'Zain, this is amazing...how did you...' I asked him.

'I am working on a reintroduction project in this area' He informed me.

'Here?' I glanced at him with surprise. Zain's company mostly worked with young entrepreneurs and this seemed more related to the tourism industry. I had no idea he was working on other projects outside his work as well.

'Yeah the project was waiting for a approval for a while but we finally got the permission from the council so we'll be working with organization that specializes in conservation development to bring more attention to this area to help attract more tourist and create more accommodations for current or new residents who might be interested' He explained to me. He continued to drive on the hilly roads to get to the fort. We finally reached the fort and started walking, I felt like I was in a completely different time. This place had an old-world charm, it was deserted right now but the beauty of it still remained magnificent.