CHAPTER 39

CHAPTER 39 : Crossroads of Past and Present

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The train soon halted. Safia looked at Fawad , with the eyes almost asking as if 'Is it our stop?' to which he gave a slight nod.

"Will call you later Tiru" Safia smiled and cut the call after receiving a similar reply from the other side.

"Let's go" Fawad told her.

"But wait , I don't have any dress and what about my cute bags?" She asked.

"They are at home , and safe . So relax . And I will buy you a few clothes here itself" Fawad told her , and she shook her head.

"No no ! Not at all ! I don't want anything " She requested.

"C'mon , I will buy a few clothes for myself too . This way we both can wear pairing dresses" He told her.

"But-"she jut her lips . As good as the idea sounded , she didn't wanted to waste his money.

"You are a billionaire, just use your money for something good . Donate it" Safia told him.

"I will do it too . But let's enjoy and make some memories too okay?" He told her and she gave a little nod.

"But let's buy it from the side shops !!" She excitedly told him.

Fawad gave a little nod and walked out of the platform uninterrupted by anyone . The city was getting slowly active, and the night lamps were switched off by now .

The people started to display the shirts and dresses on their shops and Fawad could almost swear that he haven't encountered more cringe shirts ever , but somehow , he saw a couple wearing the same shirt .

It was a deep blue shirt which the man was wearing with pants , and the girl beside him was wearing the shirt on , with a skirt and had a similar hijab wrapped around her head.

Safia stared at the girl with shock.

"Firdaus !!" She exclaimed.

"Firdaus? Who?" Fawad asked.

"The girl on the side , she's Firdaus" Safia whispered in disbelief.

"The girl from restaurant?"

"Yes , I still remember her deep blue eyes" Safia said.

"Stay on the side , I will deal with them" Fawad told her and Safia's eyes widened and she shook her head almost pulling him towards her own self.

"Don't do this please" she whispered with worry.

"Her husband or whoever the man is beside her , is very strong" Fawad looked at her with a small chuckle.

"Then you don't know me , my love" Fawad walked towards the man , who was caught off-guard by Fawad's presence , nonetheless the look on his face remained normal and he just chuckled.

"I didn't expect you to come for a one-on-one fight like this," the man chuckled, his grip on Firdaus firm. "But now that I am with Firdaus, I give you two options..."

He was well aware that Fawad and his team were working days and nights to find him , and he knew the reason as well.

Firdaus stared at Safia and then hid herself behind the tall man . Safia stared at him . He was almost around 6'3 , and well built. His skin was tan and he appeared American by his features, although Safia wasn't fully sure.

He had a cut across on his eyebrow.

"My uncle? As in my father's younger brother, the one who left the family?" Fawad asked, confusion knitting his brow.

"Yeah " The man said , and Fawad's mood for fighting quickly dropped.

"He decided to leave all the family affairs behind " the man informed, " but obviously after hearing that your father hasn't still mended his old ways , he sent his few men along with me to your wedding , to showcase that a rival is still alive and he shouldn't be free of worries" The information was too much to take for Fawad , but he could no longer trust his father with anything.

"Fine , then bring him here , in front of me with proof" Fawad told him as he no longer could trust any person without proof.

"Today is Friday , he must be busy in prayers and charity during the morning hours . You are here with your wife right ? Enjoy the place , I will meet you with him at night . At that place" He pointed towards a hotel which was still closed . The large building had a huge board of its name 'River Souls' .

"I still can't just leave you like this , atleast give me a proof" Fawad told him.

"Have her till then" The man pushed Firdaus in front of him , and the girl looked ashamed nonetheless at the value she had in front of her husband.

Just when she thought everything was normal , it turned out to be the complete opposite, but the next words coming out of her husband's mouth comforted her a bit.

"She's the most precious thing , I can handle to you and she's the guarentee I will definitely return " He said.

Fawad didn't felt like it would be fine to just keep the girl like this.

"Take her with you. The most expensive thing should be words , even in this illegal business. So keep your words " Fawad told him and he gave a little nod and grabbed Firdaus by her arm.

"Let's go" He told her and she gave a little nod and waved a little to them back thanking them.

Safia frowned at that.

"I hate it" she mumbled , after the couple disappeared out of her sight.

"You hate what?" Fawad inquired.

"The way he treats her , that day too he was misbehaving with her and today too he just put her like this, as if she was some thing to be kept , without even asking for her permission" Safia angrily said.

"She won't dare , as far as I know from the search, her family has killed his 2 siblings , and he married her as a revenge , so love isn't there at all . She's just paying back " Fawad informed.

"Still-her family killed , it's not her fault" Safia said.

"It's not like this in this line . It's more of a blood for blood . You take someone whome I love , I take someone you love . It doesn't matter" Fawad told her, and Safia could almost feel sorry for Fawad for being grown up in such an atmosphere, where humans were treated like mere objects .

"Leave all this , we are here for vacation right ? Tell me which shirt do you want to buy" Fawad took her near a shop saying this , where there was a hanger with the writing '2 pieces for ₹500' .

Fawad almost cringed at the lines , but frowned when he saw Safia smiling from ear to ear.

"All of them have such cute quotes. I am so confused" She exclaimed.

'Cute quotes ? And these?' Fawad thought to himself.

Shirt 1 "I'm the boss."

Shirt 2 "I'm the real boss."

Shirt 1: "King."

Shirt 2 : "Queen."

Shirt 1: "He stole my heart."

Shirt 2: "So, I'm stealing his last name."

Shirt 1: "Beauty."

Shirt 2: "Beast."

Shirt 1: "You're the peanut butter."

Shirt 2: "To my jelly."

Shirt 1: "Better half."

Shirt 2: "Other half."

Shirt 1: "Mr. Right."

Shirt 2: "Mrs. Always Right."

Shirt 1: "Soul."

Shirt 2:"Mate."

Fawad just stared at them , and stared at Safia , thinking was she really liking them all .

"Mr Siddiqui, which ones did you liked ? Tell me , I am so confused" she frowned .

"I-I don't know , boss and real boss one?" He asked , feeling like it was the least cringe and she smiled.

"Yes , it's the best one !!"

Fawad smiled seeing her be so cheerful about a shirt. Maybe he can wear one for her happiness too.

"Wait wait !! Let's wear it in this colour !!" She pointed towards a pink pair of shirts.

"You didn't liked it?" She asked staring at Fawad's face which looked uncertain.

"I loved it !!" Fawad lied.

"Then pack these !" Safia pulled out the clothes from the hanger and passed it to the man in front who just packed them with a smile.

They both held the clothes and Fawad went to check in a local hotel room .

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It was evening and they both were laying on their room . Fawad on couch and Safia on the bed .

"Soo what are the plans for today?" She asked him while tilting her head.

"In the evening, I will take you to my house" Fawad told her.

"If you have a house here , then why did you rent this room? We could simply go there" Safia asked him , while opening her phone. She started to play Subway surfers.

"I can't tell that for now . You will get to know about it in the evening only" Fawad told her making her raise an eyebrow , but her fingers kept playing the game .

Fawad chuckled at that.

"It's going to be something good only " He told her.

"If you are saying —I will trust your words"Safia told him and continued to play it.

Fawad got up from the couch and came towards the bed , sneaking at the game she has been playing with so much attention.

"Subway surfers?" He asked and she hummed.

"Have you ever played it?" She asked him and he shook his head.

"I don't remember playing it ever" he told her.

"So which game did you like to play?"Safia asked him while her eyes were still fixed on the phone .

"I don't know , maybe I used to play ice and water . It was with my friend Ismail and some other girl he used to always bring with himself"Fawad told her.

"Uh—Ismail ?"

"Yeah , I had a friend with the same name as your brother too , when I was young" Fawad told her , and Safia stopped for a second . She remembered Ismail mentioning one of his best friends in his childhood being someone with the name Fawad.

But they both couldn't be the same right ?

"So, why did you both stop being friends ? Because all I see around you are Rudhra, Augustus and Seth"Safia asked, "only answer if you are comfortable with telling me though" She added.

"If I am not comfortable with you , I don't know who I will ever be comfortable with" Fawad smiled and stared at her. Safia put her phone down and hugged him from the side again , and looked at him.

"Soo~you both fought or something? And tell me about everything. In detail. I want to hear about your life tooo. It's unfair you know so much about mine , yet I know so little about yours" Safia told him.

"If that's the case , just ask me whatever you want to know about me . I will tell it to you honestly, and now that the question is about Ismail. He wasn't the biggest chapter of my life , but surely remains an important one .

I was around 4 when dad had to move to Palamgarh, which is obviously the same village as yours for some work , after just crossing a forest , we had your village where I met my friend. He was drawing something on stick with wet mud "

F L A S H B A C K

Fawad was observing what the boy was doing . Ismail had a white topi over his head , busy in his own world .

Fawad slowly walked to notice what was going on , when he accidentally stepped over a twig , making a cracking sound .

Fawad looked horrified , noticing that the boy stopped and stared at him with normal face . For a moment, the little boy thought that the other was angry at his gesture .

But instead he just smiled and with the stick he made a smily face in the mud and walked towards Fawad.

'All the others are just monsters . The world is a dangerous place'

His father's words echoed in his mind and he backed off

Fawad hesitated, the sound of his own heartbeat loud in his ears as he watched Ismail draw another figure in the mud. The sun was setting, casting a golden glow over the small area . When Ismail handed him the stick, Fawad’s fear melted into curiosity and tentative joy.

Fawad took it with hesitance.

"Won't you draw something to?" He asked .

"Dr-draw?" Fawad asked back.

"Like this" Ismail smiled , and took the stick while dragging it across the mud to make a face .

"Like this" Fawad took the stick in his hand this time and drew the face , it was slightly messy with his hands continuously shaking and the lines being imperfect as it was his first try .

They both stared at the face and laughed together . The hesitance was now nowhere to be seen . They were just two children playing around in the mud for hours , until the evening came , and they left , but with the promise to meet each other again.

P R E S E N T

"After that , we keep meeting , until my father's ultimately decided to just cut off his neck in front of me . I don't know if he is still alive and doing fine , but for sure , he was the first ever person who taught me to have fun"

Safia smiled lightly hearing that , and at that point , she was sure that he and her brother Ismail were friends from childhood.

Because this was how Ismail described the first encounter too . He still remembers that mud place , where till this day Ismail drew a half smiley face , in hopes that one day his old friend come and completes the full one .

"Why didn't you try to meet him?" She asked.

"I don't know , I am scared , what if the eyes which held love for me , holds hatred and detest?" He asked.

"They don't"

"You can't be so sure Safia. Because of me he was about to be killed"

"It wasn't because of you , it was because of an old evil man , who decided that he will kill people to demonstrate his power . It was never you ! Always your father " Safia told him .

"Even if that is the case , why will he think that? Not everyone thinks so much" He told her , although he still blamed himself.

Safia could see how the shadows of past still haunted him .

"He doesn't . Leave it, tell me when is your birthday?" She asked him.

"My birthday?" He laughed lightly , at the sudden change of topic.

"Why are you asking me this so suddenly?" He asked.

"I am curious tell me" She said.

"On December 31" he said.

"Great ! Soo on the eve of New year, I promise , I will unite you with your best friend" she told him.

"You know him?" He asked and she smiled and gave a light nod.

"You know Ismail ?!" He asked excitedly.

"Yes,"

"But wait—I can't meet him" He said.

"Why ?" She asked.

"I already told you why"

"Okay , then don't, but just know that—he is still looking for you and his parents are too . They still adore you" She told him while folding her arms across her chest.

"No way ! really?" He asked, and his eyes almost appeared like a child who has found his lost toy. The same innocence shined in them , like those shine in the eyes of a child.

"Yes "

"Wait is he fine ? Who is he even? Your brother? No it can't be" He blabbered and Safia held his face in her palms to calm him down and connected her forehead with his , and he stopped . His lips felt silent and his heart beat echoed in his ears.

Their hearts were pounding against their chest, as their breaths fanned over each other's face.

"Calm down . I will reveal all of that in December 31 . Let me make this birthday really special for you" She whispered lovingly.

"You don't know , the moment you came in my life, I knew this birthday would be special with your presence , but—its something so far away from what I could ever imagine" he laughed a little and they both smiled.

"Well—you were about to say something to me in the train right?" Safia asked and Fawad wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her closer , making her smile wider.

"I was about to say that I —" before he could complete the phone again rang , and they both stared at each other with a laugh this time and Fawad pulled his arm away and Safia backed off.

After talking with someone on the phone , and replying in just "hmm" and "okay" , Fawad cut the phone and turned towards Safia.

"Get ready wifey , we are going to the mansion" He told her.

"Right now ?" She asked and he hummed.

"Okayy, what should I wear ?" She asked, "should I wear the couples t-shirt?"

"Sure , whatever you desire . Afterall the day belongs to you" Fawad planted a peck on her temple , and walked in the washroom to change into his own shirt.

To be continued...

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Because the last chapter seemed short , I have made this chapter longer 🌝 Hope y'all are enjoying it till now !!! ♥️