CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER 19 : Lanterns of Change

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"Do you like it?" Fawad asked her as he noticed Safia taking bites of spicy noodles and she gave him a nod.

"Yes , I love spicy things" Safia told him . Despite hating every second with him , she decided to just focus on the good thing—food .

"What else do you like?" Fawad asked her and she started carrying on her list of favourite foods .

"What do you like?" She asked , to not make him feel like he was excluded from the conversations. She don't want him to certainly take any other major step in anger.

"I don't have a preference for anything" Fawad told her while taking a bite from her bowl of noodles , and Safia slapped his hand , making him retreat .

Her eyes widened when she realised what she did . She have a habit of slapping hands whenever someone touches her food without her permission. And she slapped Fawad Siddiqui-

"I—"she started to apologize , but got cut in the middle. Fawad laughed at that . She gasped as she stared at him, realising that the man just laughed.

"It's all yours" He said.

"Give me one bowl of that too" Fawad told the lady and passed her the money . The old lady quickly poured the food in the bowl and gave it to him.

'Geesh I am embarrassing' Safia thought to herself .

Fawad took the bowl in his hands as they both started talking , and eating it . She changed that topic quickly and Fawad didn't pressed on it either.

"So-what's your favourite colour?" Safia asked him randomly.

"As said before . I don't have a preference for anything " Fawad simply repeated himself.

"But if you have to chose one colour what will be that?" She asked while taking a bite from the food.

"Which colour do you like?" Fawad asked her a question instead of answering her question.

"Perhaps sky blue" Safia answered.

"Now it's your turn to answer" Safia told him.

"Sky blue" Fawad answered.

"You would choose sky blue as well? Great choice Mr Siddiqui" Safia told him while taking another bite of the food.

She kept talking about one topic or two , to keep him entertained, so that he can forget about the things which happened early in the morning. By this time , the sky's shiny colours were replaced with a warm hue of pink and orange.

"It's late-"Safia told him , looking at the sky.

"Are you going?" Fawad asked her with slight disappointed in his heart. He didn't wanted her to go . Atleast not now . He enjoyed spending every second in her presence.

"Yes . Today is light festival too right? So I have to go and get ready for it too" Safia scratched her nape.

"Are you going with someone to the light festival?" He asked her .

"Yes , perhaps few of my friends " Safia told him.

"Oh-okay. Hope you have erm a great time" Fawad tried to sound sweet.

"Thank you so much" Safia said and walked away .

~~~

"So how was your time there?" Ismail asked Safia as she was applying kajal over her eyes.

"At first , it was horrible and later it became a bit less horrible . He seemed like a normal human today . Talking sweetly , hearing my opinion and all that" Safia told him.

"Maybe he likes you" Ismail told her and Safia couldn't help laughing.

"Of course, out of all the girls in this world , who have those pretty eyes , he will fall for my eyes which looks like pandas" Safia joked .

"People say love is blind for a particular reason" Ismail told her.

"Such a beautiful line , but please let it be in those books only " Safia told him and applied a lipbalm on her lips.

"Ofcourse Miss Anti-romantic" Ismail told her and got up from the bed.

"The light festival is starting soon . Let's go" Ismail grabbed her wrist and pulled her outside .

They both ran towards the area where hundreds of villagers had made flying lanterns.

Safia saw Seth sitting near a rock too , holding a lantern waiting for the time to come , so that they all can release it at the same time.

"Let's go there" Safia suggested to Ismail pointing towards Seth who was sitting alone.

"Sure. Go there , I will be coming with our lanterns" Ismail told her and ran towards the other area where the head of the village who arranged this festival was giving away lanterns.

Safia walked towards Seth with a smile .

"Assalamualaikum" she greeted and Seth turned around with a smile.

"Walekum assalam. It's such a wonderful surprise to see you here" Seth told her.

"Likewise. So did you enjoyed our village?" She asked him.

"Yes , the village is beautiful . I might as well buy a plot here , so that I can spend my elderly days here" Seth joked.

"Really ? In that case I will give you the grains from my field. You can cook those" Safia told him.

"I hope those will be free " Seth teased her.

"You are such a rich buisnessman yet you want things in free . That's so unfair" Safia told him.

"Yes , but having thing for free doesn't hurt right?" He told her.

"I can't argue . Even I love free goodies " Safia giggled .

"Seth" A deep voice called from behind , almost startling them. It was Rudhra and Safia's whole mood was ruined seeing the face of that man .

"Rudhra you should start drinking some helium to relax this deep voice of yours. You almost startled me" Seth said.

"Here , you asked for this" Rudhra passed him a stone wrapped in a plastic wrapper, without bothering to answer Seth's words and went away but not before giving a weird look to Safia.

"Is he always like this?" Safia asked him.

"Not always. But yes 99% of the time. So leave it . See Ismail is here" Safia turned her head towards the side , after hearing his words only to see Ismail appear with two lamps .

~~~

Rudhra's pov

I stared at them from far away , as I saw Safia's half brother returning with lanterns as they all flew it together in the sky sharing a good laugh with each other .

I sat on the side of the area , under an empty hut , knowing that there would be no one at this time . I wanted to spend some time alone.

A part of me felt bad for Fawad. In my whole life , I have never seen him happy about any single thing or any person . He always resembled some robot programmed for work. But since Safia appeared in his life , he have changed. He is making rash decisions , chosing stuffs as per his own will and what not .

But what is making me sad is how I can see her lack of interest in Fawad , and her genuine interest in Seth . She could have spent this time with Fawad , instead of Seth , making it the best day for him .

I stayed there trying to figure things out and thinking of ways I can warn Seth to stay away from her.

~~~

Author's pov

Augustus was standing on the side , where the villagers were admiring the views of the beautiful lanterns flowing in the sky . He stared at Zeheb whose eyes lit up as the reflection of the orange lights fall onto her perfectly black orbs.

He couldn't just keep his eyes off her.

"Zeheb" He called her and she hummed while still looking at them . Her father was resting in caravan after a full day of adventures with them both.

"Do you ever plan to give Islam another try?" He asked her , she stared at him.

"Even if I give . I don't know where to start from again . I am lost" She confessed. The morning after Augustus asked her about her past believes , she couldn't bear herself to tell him that she still believes in everything, but is waiting for a miracle , perhaps just one good day where she feels alive , so that she can start praying again in hopes for a good life .

Because since the past years , all she has been feeling is numb . And since when did dead people offered prayers ?

But being with the man made her realise , that people aren't dead until they actually die . It's upto us to revive those feelings. To take the leap .

"Will you give me the opportunity to atleast show you the way?" He asked her .

"It will take a lot of time" She smiled .

"And my all time belongs to you" Augustus confessed.

"How can you say such a thing with so much certainity Mr Huestun" She asked and Augustus let out a shaky breath . Feeling nervoud and excited at the same time.

"Because I am certain about you" He told her while pulling out a ring from his pocket.

"I have never been this sure about anyone or anything in my entire life Zeheb . I am not that good with words , but it would mean the world to me , if you allow me to reside by your side the rest of my life" He told her and she looked at him .

"You don't know much about me. What if I am the wrong person?" Zeheb told him.

"I don't need to know Zeheb , because a wrong person will never feel this right" Augustus told her and she gave her hands in his palm . He slid the ring in her finger.

"Thank you so much , for making it the best day of my entire life" He thanked her .

'You don't know Augustus, how you invited the bad news to your life , by your own hands' Zeheb thought to herself, as she passed a smile to Augustus.

Despite it being a part of her plan, she couldn't help but feel slightly happy that she was getting a man like Augustus. Perhaps she could spare him after her revenge and continue her life as a married person with him .

To be continued....

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Sorry was about to update it yesterday only , but some work came 🤧 but there we go !!!