Zara's POV

"Where are you taking me to?" I turn towards Armaan in confusion.

"You'll get to know in few minutes, " he replies in a monotonous tone.

I look at him with a scowl. I know he won't tell me unless he himself wants, even if I ask him thousands of times. I turn my gaze to the outside. I blankly stare at him when he stops the car, gets out of the car, and strolls towards my side. He opens the door and pulls out his hand towards me. I hesitate for a moment before laying my hand in his bigger one.

I come out of the car while my eyes roam around. The coffee shop which is on our right is the only building here. Has he brought me here?

"Where we are going?" I ask him.

"You were sick so I thought to bring you here and have coffee with you. It will be good for your flu as well, " he replies while smiling.

"What so big in this that you were hiding it from me?" I shrug my shoulders.

"There is something else as well which I wanted to keep as a surprise, " He slowly tugs my hair behind.

"What?"

I narrow my eyes when his hand reaches his pants pocket and he takes out a box from inside. He takes my hand softly in his hand and with the other one, he flips open the box. My mouth gets open in awe when I spot a bulky gold ring in his hand. He slides the ring in my finger.

"That's my Mom's ring and she wanted to give it to her daughter in law," he explains.

I touch the ring with my fingers. How beautiful it is! It's so big with a small stone placed on top of the lump of the gold. But for what I am happier is that I have got something which belongs to Armaan's mother. I still have a longing to meet her and get to know what type of person she was.

"Thanks for this," I show him a smile.

He doesn't say anything but his smile grows deeper while caressing the back of my hand.

My gaze flows from Armaan's face to the scenery behind me. I get stiffen beholding a maroon car settling some distance away from where we are. What shocked me more is the girl sitting on the front seat; why does she look familiar? I jog ahead to get a closer view of her but soon the car turns back and within a blink of an eye, it has gone.

I just get a single abrupt glance of that girl, still, her features are feeling so familiar to me. The same long black hair which is almost encircling her small face; the same arched eyes; the same straight and pointed nose; The same plump lips above which a small black mole is present.

My eyes gape open in astonishment when I take her picture in my mind and it does match with who I have been imagining her as.

Zainab; Shaiq's cousin and best friend. What is she doing here?

"What happens, Zara?"

I come out of my thoughts when Armaan taps my shoulder. I divert my eyes from the now empty nook where the car was laying and look at Armaan.

I shake my head in denial while giving him a smile. Why I am so stunned seeing Zainab here. She can come here like I do. It's not that peculiar. Perhaps I am overthinking. But who was with her on the driving seat? Everything happens so quickly that I haven't even got to see the other person.

"Are you okay? You aren't feeling cold, right?" He asks in a concerned voice.

My smile grows wider seeing his panicked face. He cares for me too much.

"No, I am fine, Armaan," I tell him.

"Then let's go inside. Shall we?" He offers me his hand once again.

I nod cheerfully while giving my hand in his hand.

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Zainab's POV

"It would have been the end of us if she would have seen her. Oh God," I exclaim in a breathy voice.

As soon as Zara's eyes fall on us, Shaiq has quickly backed the car and take it to the road of the opposite side.

"But Zainab, it wouldn't have caused this much harm," Shaiq states while hitting his fingers on the steering wheel which is causing a rhythm to echos throughout the hushed environment of the car.

"What are you saying?" I narrow my eyes at him.

Shaiq finally stops slamming his finger and turns towards me, "because Zara doesn't know about you and Armaan."

"How come?" I ask in confusion.

What the heck is he saying?

"How straightforward and to the point guy  Armaan is, I don't think he has been advertising your name in front of Zara as his girlfriend. I am sure,  Zara has no idea about it," he explains.

I slowly nod my head as my mind slowly digest what he is saying. Shaiq does have a point here. How much I know Armaan and his monotonous nature, I think what Shaiq saying is right.

I turn my face to the other side when Zara and Armaan enter the coffee shop.

"So I think someone is desperately calling me," I smirk while pulling my hand towards the car's lock of my side.

"Absolutely Zaini," he chuckles.

"Oh please, don't call me by this name, Shaiq," I point my index finger at him as I glare at him.

This doesn't do anything to him instead his chuckle grows into laughs. I hit his arm while showing him eyes.

"This name suits you, Zainab, " he again asserts while his laughs are still there.

"Shaiq!" I shout as I look at him with a scowl.

But my stern face turns into a softer one seeing the bright smile on his face. How cute he is looking with this grin. Shaiq bites his lower lip to stifle the laugh which makes him look cuter. I can feel my lips spreading into a smile just seeing him.

This is when it hits me. What am I thinking? In fact, what is happening to me these days? It is not like I am seeing Shaiq smiling for the first time but why does it feel different now? Why his smile has caused happiness to fill my heart and that particular happiness express as a smile on my lips.

I divert my gaze away from him abruptly. He is my best friend; how can I think like that for him?

I twist the lock and the door gets open with a thud sound. I plop me both legs out of the car, on the ground. I am about to get up before something comes in my mind and I turn back towards Shaiq.

"You know what we have to do, right?" I ask him.

He nods his head, "of course."

I show him a smile before finally getting out of the car.

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I lift up the hoodie which I am wearing and put its cap on my head so that it's almost covering my forehead till my eyebrows. I move the coller of the high-neck till my neck; it reaches up to my lower lip. I take out the black goggles from my hoodie's pocket and plop it on my eyes. I smirk remembering what I am going to do now.

I look here and there and begin to head towards the coffee shop's entrance gate. Due to the hoodie almost covering the view in front of me and me lowering my eyes, I am having difficulty walking. Before I can even reach there, a strong hand grabs my wrist and pulls me. I gasp when that person drags me with him. What is this? Am I being getting kidnapped? I try to lift up the hoodie to see who the heck is doing this but all in vain as my back hits a wall.

As soon as my head slides against the wall, my hair in a loose bun disheveled and fall down all around my back and shoulders. The person lifts up the hoodie from my eyes and it drops on the back of my neck.

My jaw drops seeing Shaiq standing in front of me, his one hand is still on my wrist and the other one on my waist. Why has he brings me here?

"What are you..."

"Shh, Armaan." He puts his index finger on his lips while mouthing the words.

My breath hitches when I decipher his lips movements and I hurridly look at my other side to find Armaan strolling here and there, with a phone on his ear.

Oh, God!

I lick my lips as I let out a deep exhale. again, we have got saved by inches. I pull down the high neck from my neck when I feel suffocation.

It's night time but still, the light from the coffee shop is illuminating the whole area. I roam my eyes at the nook where we are standing right now. It's dark compare to its surrounding. I lift up my eyes to stare at Shaiq. He is standing really closer to me that I can even smell his usual cologne. His arms are placed on both sides of my figure on the wall.

He locks his eyes on me when he spots my gaze on him. He raises his hand towards my face and slowly tugs my hair behind my ear. My breath gets trapped in my throat when his warm fingers touch my cheeks. His hands move from my face to my neck and he pulls my hair away from here. I gasp on the contact of his fingers on my bare sensitive skin. His hands reach my shoulder slowly shoving my hair on my back. What is happening to me? Why his touch his melting me?

I again look at him to find him already staring at me. The expression on his face is so dazed and straight. His black irises are glowing due to the light directly falling on them. He first gazes into my eyes and then his stare flows from my eyes to my nose and then to my lips. This causes me to look at his slightly tinted pink lips.

I soon come back to reality when the horn of a car echoes. I abruptly look away from Shaiq. What was that? Why I was so urged to peek at his lips. This is so embarrassing! How can I do this? Why these days, I am getting perverted thoughts just by seeing Shaiq?

My eyes go to the spot where Armaan was standing. It's empty as he is no more here. He probably has left. Why I haven't fixed my attention on him? If he has gone back to Zara, then I'll be in trouble. I let out a sigh of relief seeing Armaan standing a little ahead of where he was before. Thank God!

I peek at Shaiq with my side-eyes. Whatever I am feeling with his presence is so ridiculous. He is still looking at me. I take my hair in my hand and fold them again in a bun. I again lift up both my hoodie and high neck so they can cover my face.

"Shaiq, I am leaving, " I mumble as I take a step forward.

Before I can even walk, Shaiq again grabs my arm and pulls me towards himself. I look at him with wide eyes when he lifts up my high-neck more so that it is covering my lower lip now. During this process, his thumb brushes against my lip, sending shivers down my spine.

"Now it's perfect, " he smiles while stroking my cheeks.

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Zara's POV

I stare at Armaan then his ringing phone blankly. We have just entered the coffee shop and now he is getting calls. He looks at me with an apologetic expression, before looking back at his phone's screen.

"It's an important call from my office, Zara. I'll be back in a few minutes. You wait here till then, okay?" He gently rubs the side of my face with his hand.

I nod as I give him a smile. I stare at Armaan's back as he hastily walks out of the coffee shop. Now, what should I do? I look here and there in order to look for an empty table. I smile seeing a table on the far corner near the window. I make my way towards it. I abruptly stop discerning a girly figure in front of me but that doesn't help as she ultimately gets bumped into me and the hot, steamy coffee in her hand falls on my hand.

I gasp when the hot liquid makes contact with my skin. Due to the intensity of the pain, my eyes get watery. I blow on my burnt hand.

"Oh, I am really sorry. I haven't seen you in the way. I am really really sorry."

On hearing a feminine voice, I look at the figure standing in front of me. Her face is almost covered with the hoodie she is wearing.

"Do you need any help?" She asks.

"No thank you," I mumble as I rush in an order to search for the washroom.

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I quickly pull my red, swollen hand under the tap and a stream of water nuzzles out of it, the other moment. I shut my eyes tightly when the cold water whacks against my now crusty skin.

People these days don't even use the eyeballs they have given.

I shake my head sideways in frustration as I cover my hand in my dupatta. The cold water has certainly given me a soothing sensation.  Armaan must have come now. He is maybe looking for me.

I quickly dry my hand and run out of the washroom. My eyes rotate in the whole cafe in search of Armaan but I can't see him. Why is he still not back? Its been a while since he has gone. I jog towards the exit and come out. But outside as well, he is nowhere to be seen. Where has he gone? My eyes go towards the spot where he has parked the car. Seeing it empty, cause goosebumps to form on my body.

Has he left me here? Alone? No, it can't be. Why will he do this? I can tear filling in my eyes as I recklessly take out my phone from inside of my handbag and dialed Armaan's number. This just adds more to my panic as he isn't picking up my call.

What will I do now?

                  
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Zainab's POV

"No, thank you."

I smirk when Zara mumbles this and runs somewhere behind me. I turn around and look at her back. Poor her!

I pull down both the hoodie and the high neck so now my face is no more covered. My smirk grows wider seeing Armaan strolling towards my direction, looking here and there. He must be looking for his wife. He has two cups of coffee in his hand.

Perfect timing, Zainab!

I stare at the still remaining cup of coffee in my hand and tightly clutch it in my palm. I delicately walk towards Armaan and bumps into him. One of the cups in his hand spills on my hand.

Oh God, this is really so hot.

"Ouch....don't you have eyes or you don't know how to use them?..stupid, idiot," I yell at the top of my lungs.

The tears which are coming out of my eyes are due to the actual pain.

"Zainab, you?" I hear Armaan's panicked voice.

"Oh, Armaan. It was you. I have blurted don't know what rubbish," I assert while jerking my hand up and down.

"I am so sorry, Zainab. This is literally really painful. I take you to the hospital," he offers.

"No Armaan. It's okay. I am fine," I show him a smile.

A smug look appears on my face when I finally give up on his persuades for taking me to the doctor. I walk out of the coffee shop with him. Seeing Shaiq still standing at the same place as before, I tell him with the movement of my eyes that everything has happened as we have wanted. I give Armaan a nervous smile when he opens the door of his car for me. I show some hesitation before finally getting inside his car.

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Zara's POV

Tears start cascading down my cheeks when after so many attempts, Armaan still isn't picking up my calls. Why he has done this to me? If he really has to go somewhere, he should have told me or at least receive my calls.

My eyes are continuously going out in a hope that he may have come or he is there for the real start but I haven't seen him. But every time my stare comes back full of disappointment. At this point, I am anesthetized to the prickling pain in my hand as the only fear I have right now is that I am alone here. What will I do now? I am not even familiar with the routes of here.

I helplessly stare out once again but my heart sinks when I find no Armaan. I take a deep sigh before lazily striding towards the same table which I have chosen when I first get there. There are not a lot of customers here anymore.

I sit on the chair and drop my face in both hands. Despite trying so hard to stop crying, my tears can't help but escape. My eyes are still fixed on the outside but the only difference is that the view has turned misty in front of me due to tears invading my eyes. What if Armaan has got into any trouble?

"Ma'am, may we have your order?"

I come out of my thoughts when a waiter comes to me. I shake my head in denial.

Armaan please come back. Why are you doing this to me?

"Zara."

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Salam guys!

These are literally 3K words. Oh, God.😶

Who do you think has come to Zara in the end?

Okay, I have seen many of you aren't liking the revenge part but it's important. And you will get to know this importance for the further development and relationship of these four, once this book will end.

👉The 2nd last chapter of this book is tomorrow and it will be a bomb so don't forget to read it.👈

Lastly, if you like this chapter, don't forget to vote and comment.