chapter 10

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Athar's pov

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I left my office at 6 o'clock, my eyes went to Ayesha's cubicle the moment I exited. This girl is a total trouble, always bothering me no matter if she's there or not.

I was on my way home when my phone rang, I looked at the caller it was Hayat's call, now she will tell me to bring chocolate and a milkshake for her.

"Yes?" I asked

"Dadi is asking when are you coming?"

"Tell her I'm on my way"

"Ok bye"

Bye? What about her junk food?

"Hayat" I called her

"Yes Bhai?"

"No chocolate? Or a milkshake?" I asked

"You can get it made for yourself when you return. I am busy with gabbar"

"Gabbar?"

"Yeah, she is amazing."

Gabbar as in Reem's friend? That means...

"Reem has come?" I asked

"Yes now bye" she hung up

My mood instantly turned sour, I don't like Reem at all, but maybe it's a good thing, I will talk to her today.

I reached home, parked my car and made my way inside, my heart filled with instant warmth when I heard the laughter of my family.

I saw everyone enjoying the tea time, I went straight to them.

"Great! Athar Bhai is also here" hayat said, I smiled at her

Then maa called me for tea, how long it will take for her to remember that I don't drink tea. So I requested her to get coffee made for me.

Hayat grabbed my attention and told me to see who was in our house, I already knew, it was Reem.

Suddenly someone shouted and stood up, all of us looked at her, she looked familiar. I was just thinking that from where I know her, just then hayat turned her around and I found Ms Siddiqui there

What is she doing here?

***

All of us were sitting on the dining table, i got to know that Ms Siddiqui is Reem's friend. What happened to her breatho... Whatever.

She lied to me. I could tell she was nervous, she was even avoiding looking at me, but i kept throwing daggers at her.

"Buddy! Stop staring. It's rude" Izhaan whispered to me

"I'm not staring" I said

"Surely you are"

"I have to tell you something"

"Athar and Izhaan! What are you both whispering? It's against the table manners" dadi scolded us. We both mumbled an apology.

"Athar Bhai! Did you know Ayesha is also studying architecture. Why don't you help her?" Hayat said, i scoffed

"Why would I help her?"

"Because her boss is horrible" hayat spoke, I glared at Ms Siddiqui, she choked on her food and was coughing, Reem quickly passed her a glass of water.

"You must find out who her boss is and teach him some work ethics, the monster has made poor girls life miserable" dadi said, I looked at Ms Siddiqui and spoke

"Really?" She shook her head vigorously

"No dadi! He is not that bad, in fact he is amazing" she spoke

"That is your kindness talking beta! You are such a nice girl, still talking good about him. If I were you I would have beaten him to pulp" maa said, Ms Siddiqui looked freaked out now

"Maa! You don't even know him" I said controlling my anger

"Ayesha has told us enough about him, I wonder what kind of a family he belongs to. Such a bad upbringing they did" dadi said

"The name perfectly suits her Ayesha aapi, devil. He really sounds like one" hayat said

What nonsense she has told my family that they can't stop talking bad about me.

"I just over exaggerated, he is actually quite good, very focused, disciplined and dedicated to work"

"Really? If he was really that dedicated to work then why he tricked you into coming here" maa said

If looks could kill Ms Siddiqui would be six feet under the ground right now the way I was glaring at her.

She facepalmed herself and got up and literally ran out of the house, Reem went after her.

"What happened to her?" Hayat ran after them.

******

I narrowed my eyes at stupid looking person who was rolling on my bed, holding his stomach and laughing like a maniac.

"It's not funny Izhaan" I said in annoyance

"To .. me. It is" he said between his laugh, I rolled my eyes. I picked up a pillow and hit on his head repeatedly

"Maybe it will shut you up" I said, but when it didn't stop him I punched him in the stomach

"Ow" he said holding his tummy

"See now you stopped laughing" I smirked, but he started laughing again, "IZHAAN" I shouted

"Ok ok I'm not laughing now. But buddy, seriously? Ayesha works in your company?"

"Yes"

"Was she really the one who spoiled your precious car?"

"Yes Izhaan yes"

"Small world!" He was about to laugh again when I pinched his thigh

"Ow ow" he rubbed his thigh

"I don't know what you find so funny"

"Well! There are many things. Jese k dadi ko pata bhi nahi chala aur unhone apne Raja bete k mooh pe uski itni buraiya kar di (like how dadi didn't even realise it yet she said such mean things about her beloved son that was too on his face)"

"Shut up" I glared at him

"There's more, maa literally asked you to teach yourself some work ethics"

"Ayesha put me in a bad light, she sketched the wrong figure"

"No she didn't, you actually look like a "devil" he smiled mischievously

"Well that makes you a devil too, brother, because we look a lot like each other"

"I don't think she meant it by looks, what she meant wa..."

"To hell with what she meant. She is a dumb, stupid and annoying person. I saw her marksheet, I'm sure she cheated, there's no way she could get such good grades. She comes late everyday, she has no focus, I don't know why she even bothers about her degree"

"Well if she is so bad, why have you even got her here. There was no need for you to select her, and even if you did, why brought to Delhi? You could have left her to the Chandigarh branch"

"I wanted her near me" I said, izhaan's eyebrows raised

"Near?" He asked

"It's not what you think. That girl is full of arrogance, she thinks she is the queen of the world, she walks as if she owns the whole damn earth. I want to smash her pride and crush it against my boot."

"That's quite mean, buddy"

"Mean? Ayesha is the definition of that word"

"Why does she affect you so much? She is not that bad"

"That girl is a walking disaster, she annoys me to no end"

"Come on don't be so hard on her"

"You should have seen her face when she destroyed my car and still walked up to me looking so proud of herself. I want to rip out every single ounce of arrogance from her"

"You are mistaken about her, she looked pretty sensible and smart to me, she may be a little adventurous, but she can't be a careless person"

"Stop praising her, it's annoying. You have just met her, how can you be so sure about her"

"Demand of my profession" he shrugged

Just then the door slammed open and hayat entered.

"Bhai, I need some money for my art book" she said looking between me and Izhaan

"Which Bhai are you referring to?" Izhaan asked

"Both of you" she grinned

"Greedy" I taunted

"Athar bhai, why are you always so rude?" She put her hands at her hips

"You forget Athar, I will give you as much as you want, just answer my one question" Izhaan held her elbow and pulled her towards him

"As much as I want? Do you promise?" She asked, he nodded, "so ask anything you want" she sat next to him

"How did you like Ayesha?" He smirked at me, I rolled my eyes

"Gabbar? She is the sweetest, I love her already, you know I spent a lot of time with her, I showed her all of my sketches and she watched them so intently, she even has honest feedback. She told me clearly what she didn't like she didn't even sugar coat it. I loved her honesty, and she is so pre...." Hayat was speaking endlessly so I stopped her

"That's enough" I shouted, she frowned at me

"What happened? She asked

I don't know what is wrong with my siblings, why can't they stop praising her

"Don't pay attention to him. Tell me what you think of Ayesha's boss?" Izhaan asked, he was taking a pleasure out of the situation

"He seemed like a sadist to me from the way she was explaining. Can you believe it he made her make a coffee six times on her first day and rejected every single time" she spoke, izhaan's interest kindled, I facepalmed myself

She talked about that also? What a stupid girl!

"Really that's so cruel" Izhaan laughed sheepishly, I rolled my eyes

"But she is no less, you know what she did, she put two full teaspoons of chilly powder in his coffee and fed him" she said and both my brother and sister burst into laughing fits, I felt so angry

"ENOUGH!" I shouted, "have you no manners laughing at someone like this?" I scolded hayat

"Aap ko kya hua, aap to ese chid rahe hai jese aap hi ho Ayesha k boss (what's wrong with you? You are getting so irritated as if you are her boss)" she said, my face turned too serious, she stared at me in confusion for a few seconds, then she smirked

"No way! Are you her boss?" She looked at Izhaan for confirmation, he nodded. Their laughter became so loud, I shook my head in disbelief

"To be honest, when she was talking about her boss, I was actually picturing you" she said

"Devil" Izhaan spoke

"GET OUT" I got up, held their hands and pulled them up on their feet. I pushed both of them out of my room ignoring their evil laughs.

After throwing them out, I closed the door and locked it.

I will not forgive you for talking shit about me Ms Ayesha Siddiqui.

Devil?

"I will show you now, what a devil really is." I shouted in anger

"What the devil really is?" Izhaan and Hayat spoke together, I turned around and looked at the door, it was still locked.

"We are here" they are laughing voices chimed, I looked at the twin door and found them looking at me with goofy smiles on their faces, I rolled my eyes and walked towards them, then I locked that door also which connected my room with Izhaan's

When we were kids we used to feel so great about this door, we even named it "twin door" but now things have changed. Izhaan has become irritating.

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Ayesha's pov

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"Are you gonna tell me why we left so abruptly?" Reem asked me, for the hundredth time. I threw my phone on the bed and sat on the chair

"Ayesha! Tell me right now" she held my hand and demanded an answer

"Athar" I spoke

"Athar what?"

"He is Mr Khan"

"So?"she asked not to get what I was telling her

"REEM! He is Mr Athar Khan, my boss" I shouted, her eyes widened in realisation

"What! How? Why did you never tell me?" She asked, I rolled my eyes at her stupid question

"I didn't know it myself, how was I supposed to tell you?"

"So, when did you find out?" Another stupid question

"Pagal ho gayi hai kya (have you gone crazy?)" I said with growing irritation

"I'm just trying to understand what you are saying"

"Ugh! What do you don't understand, Reem? God! I feel so stupid about blabbering about him to his family, even though all of it was true, I didn't make up anything"

"Athar is your boss! As in he is Mr Khan, the owner of Khan Architects?" She asked, I groaned in annoyance

"Yes, dunderhead" I expected her to freak out like I did, but instead she guffawed, I narrowed my eyes at her

"Why are you laughing?"

"At the situation" she spoke. To be honest even I find it quite amusing, I also laughed

"Thodi to hai hasi ki baat (it is a little funny)" I laughed

"A little funny? It's hilarious. It must have been the reason why he was staring at you"

"Yeah, I totally avoided looking at him, but I could feel his gaze burning my skull. He will try to make my life even more difficult now"

"I'm sure you can handle him"

"Definitely! Why did you never tell me that izhaan's brother is an architect? I remember mentioning to you that I would be stuck with Mr Athar Khan for God knows how much time, even then you did not tell me. The company has a huge name!"

"I only knew about izhaan's father, he led the company, I had no idea about Athar"

"But are you sure he is izhaan's twin, I mean, he could be adopted" I wondered, she gave me "are you serious" look

"How is it possible that someone so rude, mean, arrogant and mannerless could be from such a sweet, loving, kind and generous family. He doesn't fit in." I pointed out

"Even Izhaan is nothing like his family" she scoffed

"Still he is the better brother. I don't understand how they are twins? Izhaan is strikingly handsome, and Mr Khan is so ugly." I scrunched my nose

"They look alike, they both are ugly" Reem shuddered

"No. I think Izh...." I was about to speak, but her death glare shut me up, "fine fine. Whatever you say"

"I don't know anything about Athar, but he sounds no better than Izhaan. Why are they so mean?"

"I know right, now when I think of it, I'm glad I told his family what a shithead he is"

"The sweet family thinks so highly of their sons. Dadi and maa were over the moon when they told me about Athar's girlfriend" she shook her head in disbelief, I found the news quite surprising

"What? He has a girlfriend?"

"Yeah! Can you believe it the ladies don't even know the name of the girl, still love her with all of their hearts, just because he has chosen her"

"Wow! She is so lucky, but so unlucky at the same time. How can someone like Mr Khan, I wonder how he talks with his girlfriend. "you have not seen my message I sent last night, now write 100 times, I will always see your message" poor girl" I said imitating Mr Khan's voice, both of us burst into laughter.

"Seriously poor girl. Anyways let's just forget it, to hell with the brothers. We have got a bigger problem to deal with" she said in all seriousness, I sat up straight paying all attention

"What?"

"I'm so hungry" she said rubbing her stomach.

"Hmm me too"

"Let's go out to eat"

"I feel lazy, let's just order something"

"Ghar pe bhi khana banta hai, kabhi to kha liya karo (we cook food at home also, try having it someday)" an angry voice said, without looking I knew who would it be

"Ok Rukhsana Aunty. As you say" I agreed immediately, I couldn't say no to her.

"Very nice. Madam's relatives are here for dinner, so the menu is quite exciting tonight" Rukhsana Aunty said

"What? Dad's wife's relatives are here?" Reem asked, aunty nodded her head. "I would rather starve then meet them"

"Beta, you said the same the last time and even before that, and even before that. I would send food with Rida, but madam doesn't like the staff going anywhere whenever there are guests" aunty said to Reem.

"I am not hungry anymore" she replied, she got up and disappeared in the washroom. Rukhsana Aunty sighed deeply

"Don't worry aunty, I will come to take food, I will not let her starve" I smiled widely at her, she nodded her head and left, I went after her.

I was walking down the stairs when my phone pinged, I took it out from my pocket and checked, it was a message from Rose.

She was asking me about my health.

My health? What's wrong with me? I wondered, but then i remembered I made an excuse of being sick at the office today.

Was it really today? It feels like it happened a long time ago. I was busy replying to her, I didn't realise when I missed a step, I was about to fall, I buried my face in my hands, I prepared myself to fall hard, but suddenly someone held me and instead of being on the floor, I was in someone's arms.

"Are you ok?" A gentle voice asked, I removed my hands from my face and I looked at the person, an unfamiliar face was in front of me, he was looking at me with concern

Woah! He was sooo handsome.

"Miss, are you ok?" He shook my shoulder. The trance I went in broke, and i returned to reality. I realised his arm was wrapped around my waist. Slowly I moved back putting a good amount of distance between us.

"Ummmm, yeahhh. I think I am" I said

"Are you sure?" He asked, I nodded.

"I am Sufiyan, you must be Ayesha" he said, my eyes grew in surprise

"How do you know my name?" I asked

"Avira Aunty told me about you, she is my phuppo (paternal aunt)"

"Oh" I just plainly replied

"You're really sure you are fine"

"Absolutely" I smiled

He looked at me with such intense eyes, as if he was trying to read my soul, it made me nervous, I better run off now.

"I have to go" I said and turned to leave

"It was nice meeting you" he said, I turned my face towards him, and nodded my head. I took a step when he spoke again. "I'll see you around"

"Bye" I said and marched off.

I saw a few people sitting on the dining table, so I sneaked into the kitchen, got what I had to and made my way back to the room. I turned around and found Sufiyan looking at me, when our eyes met, he winked at me, his small flirtatious act made me blush. I sped up and returned to Reem.

"What happened to you?" Reem asked when she saw me smiling to myself

"I saw a hottie downstairs" I informed Reem, she frowned

"Really? Who?"

"Some Sufiyan" I shrugged, she scrunched her nose

"Eww Sufiyan Afzal! That's the woman's nephew"

"Yeah he told me"

"He's a total loser, you know he teaches chemistry in a university"

"Wow! No wonder I felt chemistry between us" I wiggled my eyebrows

"Shut up" she rolled her eyes, I laughed.

"Chal ab sadna band kar aur khana kha (stop being grumpy and have food)" I said and put a tray in front of her, she made a face but then she dug in, both of us enjoyed the meal together.

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