Like Chalk And Cheese [Completed]

Donuts?

Amir came to tell me that Agha Hasan wanted me down in the living area, so I left the bed and trudged out of the room, closing the door behind me.

He wasn't there though. I looked around, wondering if he might just walk out his own room, and then started towards the kitchen. I had only taken a step when I heard him behind  me.

"I'm here."

I turned and found him walking away from the main door. Clasping my hands over my belly, I kept standing there on the spot, waiting for him to start talking, all the while finding in myself what was needed to utter out an apology.

"Sit." He jerked his chin in the direction of the couch.

I did as told and once I settled down, he perched himself down on the edge of the centre table. My eyes trailed down to our legs, if I was to scoot an inch forward, our knees would definitely touch.

"I'm sorry." He began.

My eyes snapped up to him just as my stomach did a somersault.

"I was a little too harsh on you. But let's put it behind us now, and move forward. Tel-"

"I'm sorry too." I interrupted, staring down at my hands as I stole glances at his that were resting on his legs. Was it my imagination or a sweet understanding was in fact really developing here? Whatever it was, I liked how he made me sit down to clear things out, as if we were some life-long partners — which I know we were, but we'd rather not speak about it.

"Apology accepted.  No-"

"Yours too." I said, and thought that I sounded sheepish so really shouldn't have said that.

But he smiled, however faintly so, so I guess it was a pass. It also meant that he was no longer mad,  because I didn't think I needed another angry person on my neck.

"Thank you. Bu-"

"Thank you too." And now I thought I should really shut up. I might very well be pissing him off once again.

"My pleasure, Warda." He said. His face was a vacant mask, so I couldn't tell if his patience was running thin. "Is there anything else you want to say?"

I shook my head, finding it uncomfortable to look at him this up close.

"What did the girls tell you that made you so upset?"

Did he care? My gaze flicked up to him for just a brief moment before going back down to the hands in my laps.  "Mama Jaan grieves for me a lot, and Baba Jaan doesn't care at all. And everybody else in the house behaved as if I never existed." Thinking about it all over again brought tears to my eyes. Wondering if I should tell him about Mohib too, I carried on, my voice turning wet. "I feel so worthless and alone. I don't know what to do."

Agha Hasan was quiet when I stopped, and it made me think that I had somehow irritated him with my pathetic sob story. He had only asked me what the girls had to tell, not how I felt after that. I caught a timid glance at him and instead of annoyed, found him regarding me with a weird intensity. For a second I thought he seemed lost but then he immediately recovered and averted his gaze. Could he possibly be seeing himself in me? But in his case he truly was at the fault, while in mine I was completely innocent. Or wasn't he?
After the ridiculously fake tale by Aunt Maida, I was beginning to have doubts about the issue regarding the property too.

"Tell me, do you like donuts better or ice-cream?"

The question took me by surprise, so I responded after a pause. "Um, I—uh," to be honest I couldn't choose, "both?"

"Great. Let's catch both of them then." He said with a lazy smile, making my cheeks flame for no apparent reason. I thought it was unfair how good looking he was. "Come on, get up." He rose to his feet and added facing the kitchen. "Amir, get me the keys, please."

In a few seconds Amir had appeared with keys in his hand that he immediately handed over to Agha Hasan.

"Don't cook anything for dinner, we'll eat out." He said to Amir and then turned to me. "Come on."

As I followed Agha Hasan with a smile playing on my lips, I took his appearance in - black pants with a white button down and a brown jacket on top, hair once again combed to a side. Was this man really caring for me enough to take me out just so I could cheer up?

---

He first took me to Dunkin' Donuts, where I quite unabashedly filled myself with five different flavours of them, choosing the best ones took me almost half an hour. A sheepishly apologetic smile was all that I could offer him for giving me his precious time, and also his money for that matter. His idea of going out was an instant mood lift, and  the moments that we stayed out swept away all the current worries and distress that I had building in my mind and heart.

I felt pampered. I was exploiting his unexpected attention - enjoying it like a woman in love relishing in her partner's protective instinct.  Even though, which was bizarre enough in itself, mine was far far away from such a situation.

My eyes almost popped out when I realised that our next stop was a cinema. He got me a ticket for some Hollywood family-drama, and even though he bought one for himself too, a few minutes in he walked out taking a call that was buzzing him for quite some time now. Not that I minded, but what piqued my curiosity though was the fact that he didn't come back during the entire one and a half hour duration of the film. I did wonder for a brief moment what got him, but then the movie was quite exciting. It had Bradley Cooper in it for one,, and Zach Effron too.

He took me to Baskin Robbins after that, and God the ice-creams there were so fancy I literally stuffed my face with the huge classic sundae with a brownie base. I did feel a little guilty and embarrassed throwing his money off like that - you have to believe me I had never asked for a single rupee from the girls all my life, for the pocket money Baba Jaan gave me was always more than enough for me -  but the alluring desserts had me entrapped on a single glance. Depending on someone else other than Baba Jaan was disconcerting to me, but I had to manage it for God knows long now. I had no way out of this.

Once back home, I climbed out of the car and followed him back to the house. Agha Hasan was quiet, and his silence was making me awkward.

“Thank you for tonight. I thoroughly enjoyed it.” I said, breaking the silence.The light swish of the night breeze wind was the only sound in the air.

He gave me a soft smile as we walked through the lawn on the cobbled path. “Feeling better?”

“Totally.” I grinned back.

“Good.”

Being the gentleman that he was, he pushed open the main door, and gestured to me to enter. Without exchanging any other word, we went to our separate rooms and  locked ourselves in it. Sleep caught me only when the thoughts settled away, like the waves that slither away from the shore.

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A/n: Check those donuts out, Gawd!!!