chapter 7

Athar's POV

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I was doing my work peacefully in my office, but my phone's ringtone broke my concentration. I sighed and looked at the caller, it was from dadi. I smiled and quickly closed the file

"Hello gorgeous" I answered

"Kahan ho (where are you?)" Dadi said over the line, her voice sounded panicked

"I'm at the office. Is everything ok?" I asked getting worried

"Come home as fast as you can" she said, I straightened in my chair

"Dadi! You are scaring me. Is all ok at home?" Fear ran in my body

"Athar! I said come right now" she insisted. My mind blanked, I couldn't think straight

"Ok ok I'm coming. Just take care, I'll be there soon" I got up from my chair and ran towards the car as fast as I could.

All the possible scenarios were flooding in my head, I was scared. Oh god please keep my family safe.

I sat in the car and began driving, once the car came to life I called Izhaan, his phone was unreachable, I tried again but again I couldn't reach him

Then I tried calling Hayat, but she didn't answer. I was too scared to call anybody else. So, I pressed my foot on the accelerator and drove as quick as possible.

When I reached home I didn't even park the car, I just left it in the driveway, i tossed the key to the security guard, he understood that he had to park my car for me.

I ran inside the house

"Dadi" I screamed, my heartbeat was fast, my insides were churning, an unknown fear was eating me.

"Maa. Hayat" I called

I was at the entrance when I saw hayat came running towards me, she had a big smile on her face.

"Dadiii. Athar Bhai is here" she said giggling

"Hayat! Where is dadi? Are you ok? Is everyone ok at home?" I asked

"Aap chaliye mere saath batati hun (you come with me, I will explain)" she held my hand and dragged me to the hall.

I found dadi and maa sitting on the couch, I was about to march towards them but stopped when I noticed some presence, I frowned in confusion

"Oh Athar beta! Thank god you are here. Come sit with us" maa patted to the spot next to her, I was confused as hell but I still walked towards her nevertheless, I dropped on the couch

"This is my son, Athar" mummy introduced me to the people sitting infront of us, I nodded my head slightly with the weakest smile possible

"And Athar beta, this is Gauhar and her family" dadi said as if I know them

"Hi! Please to meet you" Gauhar batted her eyelashes at me, it made me so awkward, doesn't this girl realise that she was here with her whole family that she was openly flirting with me

"Dadi! What is happening? Why am I here? Why did you call me so urgently? And who are these people?" I whispered to dadi

"They are here for your marriage" she answered

"What? Marriage?" I stood up screaming, dadi and maa let out an embarrassed chuckle to the guests

"Is everything fine?" An old lady sitting infront of us asked

"Yes yes everything is ok" dadi nodded, "sit" daddy whisper yelled at me

I was just so angry at the moment, without a word, I left from there. I heard dadi and maa calling me, but I paid no heed to it and came to my room.

So this was the reason I was summoned in such a hurry! I was pacing in my room feeling angry. This is just too much.

The door of my room slammed open and an angry looking dadi and maa entered the room

"What kind of a behaviour that was?" Maa asked angrily, I just kept looking at her in pure silence

"You embarrassed us infront of our guests! I didn't expect this from you." Dadi shook her head

"Does anyone of you have any idea how I drove myself here, do you know how hard it is to drive with shaky hands? It's unbelievable that you can't see how wrong it was of you to call me like this for something so stupid." I let out a little frustration

"So if I had told you that we are calling you to meet a suitor for marriage, would you have come?" Dadi asked

"Absolutely no! But that doesn't mean that you scare me so much, just to have me here" I said not really believing that they are not getting my point

My heart was racing in my chest, I took a glass of water and sat on the edge of the bed, I took a sip and tried my best to calm myself. Dadi and maa sat on my either side

"Athar! My child we just want to see your bride, we want to see you settling down, you are turning twenty eight" maa said, putting her arm over my shoulder

"Oh god. You are talking as if I'm turning eighty not twenty eight." I shook my head in disbelief

"With this attitude you will definitely turn eighty and still not get married. What is your issue?" Dadi was angry now

"I just don't see the need of settling down"

"Nonsense!" Maa said

"We really liked Gauhar, we are fixing another meeting with her, and this time you will behave nicely" maa gave an order to me

"I'm not going to meet anyone" I said with finality

"Why? Why don't you want to meet any suitor?" Dadi asked, I stayed silent

"You will have to meet her" maa said

"I can't maa"

"Athar! is there any girl in your life?" Dadi asked,

"Yes! I am in love with someone" I spoke finally

The door opened and Hayat fell, she got up and squealed, she ran towards us

"Really? You love someone?" She asked

"You were eavesdropping?" I asked

"Who is the girl?

"What is her name?"

"Why did you never tell us about her?"

"Where does she live?"

"What does she do?"

"Where did you meet her?

"Do we know her?"

"When are you bringing her home"

Both maa and dadi bombarded me with questions, they both were holding my face and turning towards them as they were asking questions

"Bhai! I want to meet her" hayat said, standing near me, she shook my knees

"We also want to meet her, bring her home right now" dadi tapped on my shoulder.

All the three ladies were crowding me.

"Relax everyone!" I got up and moved out of their clutches

"How can we relax? You just delivered such a big bomb on us. I want to know her name" maa demanded

"I will tell when the time is right" I said

"We have always been so supportive, whoever the girl is, we already love her, because you chose her, then why all this hiding?" Dadi asked

"I will bring her here, when she is ready to meet you all. Give her a little time and please stop looking for a suitor now"

"Obviously! Why would we keep looking now?" Maa asked

"Bhai! Atleast tell her name" hayat pleaded

"Soon" I said leaving no room for any more questions. "Now I am going back to the office, I have very important work" I said and before they could ask me anymore question, I left immediately.

******

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Reem's pov

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It was a pleasant Saturday evening, Ayesha and I were binge watching on netflix. I missed having time like these when we both just lay in bed, watch movies and stuff our mouths with pizza.

When I got a call from Jasmine, I let it ring, I didn't feel like answering the call. I was having too much fun with Ayesha

"Who is calling? Why are you not answering?" Ayesha asked

"It's jasmine. I don't feel like talking to her"

Ayesha looked at the time. Then she switched off the television.

"What?" I asked

"Let's go out. I want to meet your friends" she said

"Ok! Let's go" I jumped off the bed.

I called jasmine and told her to get ready, I would be picking her up in an hour, then I called Misha and told her the same

We both left and i drove to Jasmine's house first.

"Where are we going?" Ayesha asked

"We are going to pick up jasmine first, then we will pick Misha, then we will go to the mall"

"Pick up? Why?"

"I always pick them up, they dont have cars, whenever they want to go anywhere, I offer them a ride" I shrugged

"Why? They can take a cab."

"It costs money"

"And petrol is free for you?"

"Oh come on Gabbar. You know I can afford it"

"I don't care you can afford it or not, you are just not driving them anywhere after today" she yelled

"Ok ok I get it. Now calm down"

"Good" she mumbled, I shook my head.

Soon I was in the driveway of jasmine, I messaged her and in another five minutes, she came out

Ayesha was so tired of waiting for her by now.

"Finally" Ayesha said when she saw jasmine walking towards us. It was a little dark by now

Jasmine came and opened the door of the passenger seat, she was taken aback when she found Ayesha sitting there

"Hi" Ayesha waved at her showing fake excitement

"Jazz! This is Ayesha. And Ayesha, this is Jasmine" I introduced them as nicely as possible, but both the girls were throwing daggers at each other

"Are you going to sit or not?" Ayesha asked, annoyance was so evident in her voice

"I have motion sickness, I can't sit at the back. Would you mind shifting at the back?" Jasmine asked

"Yeah! I would mind it" Ayesha said and closed the door. The look on Jasmine's face was priceless, I didn't know whether to empathise with her or laugh

"Bitch" Ayesha said

It took Jasmine a few minutes to process that Ayesha has flat out rejected her request.

After what felt like ages, she opened the door and settled at the back. I put the gear in reverse and pulled out the car. We headed to Misha's house

She was already standing outside of her house, so the moment I stopped she hopped in. I introduced her also to Ayesha

Both the girls were really quite. We reached the mall, I parked my car in the parking lot and together we walked towards the mall entry.

"I don't like them" Ayesha whispered in my ear.

"Give them a chance. They aren't that bad" I replied

"That bad? at least you agreed they are bad" I chuckled

"What's the plan guys?" I asked looking at the girls

"Let's buy some make up, I dropped my favourite shiseido foundation mistakenly, the bottle broke" Misha pouted

"I also want to buy some perfume, I heard chanel launched  a new line" jasmine spoke

"Ok let's go to Sephora" I said and we made way towards it

"Seriously Reem? Are you really gonna make me waste my weekend in shopping?" Ayesha made a sour face

"It won't take long, don't worry" I assured her, but it didn't stop her from groaning

We reached Sephora, Misha and Jasmine disappeared as soon as we entered. Ayesha was getting bored to death, I tried to get her interested by showing some make up, but she just kept scrunching her nose.

After almost an hour, Misha and Jasmine returned, they both had a basket in their hands which were overflowing with the products.

"I will have to keep them back" Jasmine pouted

"Me too" Misha also said

"Why what happened?" I asked

"My card declined" "I forgot my wallet at home" they both said simultaneously

"That's it? Don't worry I will pay for you both" I said

"What?" Ayesha's head snapped in my direction, I glared at her

"You don't have to Reem" Misha said

"Yeah! You REALLY don't have to" Ayesha spoke

"I will pay you back" Jasmine said

"Don't be silly" I said

"No Reem. We owe you a lot. And we would return your money soon" Misha said

We all walked towards the billing counter.

"Tu kyu degi paise? (Why will you pay for them?)" Ayesha asked me

"It's fine, it's hardly anything" I dismissed the topic

Even after her constant nagging I still paid for them, both the girls were jumping in joy, while Ayesha kept glaring at me

"Let's have a coffee" Jasmine said

"Yeah! I will have a sandwich also. I'm feeling very hungry" Misha added

"You girls go ahead, we'll join in a minute" Ayesha announced then dragged me in a corner.

"What the hell was that?" She asked

"It's ok! It was not much"

"It doesn't matter how much it was, how can they make you pay? They were lying about forgetting wallet and card not working"

I knew this! I have always known it that they only care about my money, and honestly it doesn't matter to me.

"It's not a big deal. Now let's go back" I said

"It is a big deal and i don't want to go back to them" she was visibly upset now

"Gabbar! Don't be upset" I said in a sweet voice

"My mood is spoilt now" she crossed her hands at her chest.

I was continuously trying to convince her, but she was in a really foul mood

My phone rang, I took it out of my pocket, I smiled when Zuhan calling displayed on my phone's screen

"Hello" I answered

"Di! Why have you not come today? We have been waiting for you since morning" I could picture him sticking his bottom lip out

"I'm so sorry sweetheart! I made you wait for me" I said in a cooing voice, Ayesha looked at me with wide eyes, "Don't worry I am coming now and I have got a little treat for you as well"

"Really? Come soon!" He said and hung up. Ayesha looked so surprised

"Who were you talking to? And why am I not aware of your sweetheart?" She looked at me accusingly

"Let's go to meet him" I said.

She was continuously asking me questions, but I kept ignoring her questions. We came to the car and left.

She understood where we were going when I stopped at the bakery to get pastries, muffins, cookies, puffs etc. She looked excited now

"So finally I will meet zuhan today" she smiled widely

"Yeah! He is so adorable" I said

"I can't wait" she spoke

Our happiness disturbed when my phone rang, it was a call from Misha

Damn! I totally forgot about them. I was about to answer when Ayesha spoke

"Don't answer it"

Her mood has just lightened I didn't want to spoil it, so i did what she wanted me to.

We reached the orphanage quickly, as soon as my car came in view all the children came running calling my name, this feeling was a pure bliss

"Ready?" I asked, Ayesha nodded

We both got down the car, all the kids were jumping in excitement of seeing me. Ayesha took all the packages

"Di" zuhan came and hugged me

"Hey darling" I sat on my knees and hugged him.

Nandini, Sana, Noreen, Maaz, Adhiraj and the rest came and jumped on me. We all were laughing loudly

"That's enough! Di ko andar to aane do kam se kam (let her come inside at least)" Sheena aunty said to the kids

"It's fine" I smiled at her

"Where is our treat?" Zuhan asked and all the kids started shouting in chorus

"We want treat. We want treat" I laughed, I looked at Ayesha and motioned her to come, she came and spoke

"Who wants treat?" She asked, all the kids looked little frightened of her, but can't blame them they take a lot of time to warm up with someone

"Don't be scared kids, this is our friend" I said

Ayesha introduced herself to kids, they were little reserved in the beginning, but Ayesha worked her charm quickly on them and in no time they gelled with her.

We spent a lot of time there, we had dinner together and after that Ayesha and I read them bed time Stories and tucked them to bed.

"Oh my god! These kids are adorable. I'm in love with them" Ayesha said when we sat in the car

"I know right. They are the purest thing in the world"

Soon we reached home, I parked my car, but we both were still sitting inside it, none of us wanted to get down

"I don't want to go home as yet" she said

"I have an idea" I said, then we both quickly got off the car and took my bike key.

I sat on it and started riding, I stopped in front of Ayesha.

"Up for some race?" I asked

"Hell yeah" she replied and climbed the bike, she sat behind me and i took us to where the bike races held.

A proper track was made, mostly on Saturday nights youngster come here for some thrill. I discovered this place two years ago, since then i come here every once in a while.

I gave my name for the next race, and returned to the spot where Ayesha was.

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Ayesha's POV

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This place was full of life, people were hooting for their favourite one. I saw the first race happening it was so lit.

I felt so sad at the moment that I can't ride a bike, I will have to learn and then come here for a race.

"What are you thinking?" Reem asked

"I love this place. You have to teach me how to ride a bike, I will also participate in the race then" I said in excitement, she laughed

"Definitely, it would be so much fun" she replied

Before I know it our names were announced and it was our turn to flow with the wind now. Our opponent was some guy, I was a little concern, what if we lose the race, but Reem assured me that we will win.

The track looked smooth, but it was quite bouncy and rocky. As the bike came to life we were talking with wind, I held Reem tightly for my dear life, our opponent was some psycho, he tried hitting us many times, but Reem rode like a pro.

I screamed loudly in excitement when we won the race, the whole crowd was chanting Reem's name

"That was awesome! Let's do that again" I said, she giggled

"Ok" Reem said

"It was such a child's race" our opponent said, standing next to us

"I'm Zaid" he introduced himself

"What a pity Mr zaid! You could not even win a child's race" Reem said, I laughed

"I let you win. I didn't want you to cry over a defeat" he said

"And now you are crying over a defeat, and we all saw how much you "let us win" Mister" I said

"Let's go for another round. I'll make you eat the dust again" Reem narrowed her eyes at him

"Confidence is good, but what you have here is called over confidence" he said

"Let's go then. Let the race decide the differentiation between confidence and over confidence" I said arrogantly

"Ok. Done. But not a bike race" he folded his arms at his chest

"Then what?" Reem asked

"A car race" he shrugged, we both looked at each other then we laughed

"If you are really that determined to lose again, then we are in" I said

"Let's go the car race place then" he said and sat on his bike, we both followed him

We reached the place, I maybe wrong but it looked quite shady to me.

"This place gives me negative vibes" I spoke in Reem's ear

"Don't worry we'll be fine" she said

It was past midnight now and we both were at some secluded part of Delhi, I was a bit scared.

But we both openly challenged that dumbass, so turning back was not an option right now

"Scared girls?" zaid asked as soon as we stopped

"Not at all" Reem and I said in unison

"Good! Take that car" he said pointing at the car

"Fine" I shrugged

He threw the key towards us, I caught it with one hand. Since I am better at driving, we decided that I would drive and Reem will sit with me.

We got in the car, both the cars took their position, suddenly there was a commotion, people were running and we saw a police car.

"What is happening?" I asked

"I don't know, let's find out" she said, we both got down. While everyone was running away, we went straight to the police

"What happened?" Reem asked

"You will get to know once you are in jail" the police man replied

"Are you out of your mind? why would we go to the jail?" I asked

"You should have thought about it before coming to an illegal race" he said

"Illegal?" We both screamed.

****

The car which were being used for the race were stolen cars. People bet here on the winners, they overspeed and risk their lives

There was nothing normal about this race. I was freaking out, what if dad finds out, or worse, what if baba get to know about it.

Reem sat looking so calm and composed, I glared at her

"Why you don't look scared?" I asked her

"Because I'm not" she shrugged

"Reem! How can you not be scared, we are about to get arrested. Nobody is going to save us."

"We are not getting arrested, there is nothing money can't buy"

"Oh shut up Reem. Money will not always save us"

"Believe me, it will always save us, my dear Gabbar"

I opened my mouth to shout at her, but then I saw fear on her face. She was looking behind me.

"Shit" she mumbled

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