History

"Is that a no or a yes?" I asked confused when Jeena literally just ran on us!

"Pretty sure not a no." That a**hole in the background coughed out. I hope there was blood with that cough.

"Ezzah?" It was Pamir who was trying to encourage Ezzah to answer my question that I directed to no one. I was still pissed at Ezzah but come to think of it the truth was finally out in the open.

From the peripheral view of my eye, I could see Ezzah casually shrugging. Is she that evil? Of course, she is that is why she did all this nonsense for a drama. How could she? I mean... Jeena just ran on me when I technically proposed her.

"She cares enough to give you a chance to talk to her brother, dumbo, what do you think?" Finally, Ezzah decided to give me a hint on what was going on in her best friend's mind. Pounding on her words, I realize that she does make some sense.

The question is, should I?

"Can we talk to him?" I quickly asked, and Ezzah raised an eyebrow at me while Pamir chuckled on my desperation. I mean, I get it I was trying to ignore her, and now I am asking for help.

"Guys! I am enjoying the free Netflix here but can you-you know... walk out of my office. I still work here." That dips*** has to speak. Can he not just faint?

"Sorry Abdullah and thank you." Ezzah politely spoke to him but that sick bas**** gave her a coy smirk that caused Pamir to step over his feet as he tried not to scream.

"Next time smile like that again at her, and I'll put your lips between a close door, and it's frame." Saying this Pamir slapped both sides of his upper arms, causing that idiot to yelp hopefully in what was a pain.

Ezzah just shook her head, but I saw the small grin that she was trying to hide. I do not find them stupid anymore as I did some time ago, when I first saw them in Pakistan together, in our extended family's wedding season. Now they sound much more sensible to me. I guess we have to live what others are living to understand their behaviour.

"Right, so can we talk to him, Jeena's brother, I mean- now?" I asked as we walked out of the room. Ezzah eyes me for a moment again as if observing for a sign of weakness. I felt like I was someone who was about to be recruited for the army.

"Fine." She said, rolling her eyes at me. As she walked away, Pamir slapped my back in a way telling me 'well done'. I exhaled out with a nod.

It was now or never.

I followed them to Ezzah's room. Her room was right beside Jeena's, and I was holding myself together from going in there and talking to her about everything that happened upstairs.

It was insane that we suddenly had to give each other space. We had known each other enough to solve problems together. Shaking my head in defeat, I entered Ezzah's office, after giving a last glance at her closed door.

"I am dialling his number. Probably its night time where he is but not late enough to take a call but let me tell you, he might be younger than her, but he is way more mature and protective over her. So, be ready for any sort of inspection, and you won't get any help from me." Ezzah said as she dialled his number and placed the phone on speaker.

It was ringing on the other side, and with each buzz, my heart hammered out of controlled.

"Salam Alayikum, Ezzah." Pamir and I exchange a look as we heard a very strong Turkish accent. I think Pamir never talked to him either or else he would not be making a bewildered face that showed similarity to mine.

"Walikum Ass Salam. Listen, I might have a piece of news that you might be interested in." We waited for an answer while there was constant shuffling on the other side.

"Is it important?" His American accent was much more prominent now when he spoke in English. Apparently, Jeena's brother seemed preoccupied, and maybe this was not a great time to talk to him. Ezzah had the same look of concern over her face with what she heard.

"If you are busy we could talk later. It was about Jeena and the favour you asked for." She said in a soft tone as if she was sad. Was Ezzah hoping that I and Jeena's brother could talk?

Was she in favour of this? Of course, she was that is why she manipulated me into confessing. How stupid can I be that doubted her?

"Oh? Sure, then go ahead by all means." Ezzah took a deep breath, glancing over at me once.

"It's about Rafan Ghamza. He is my cousin. He also knows Jeena. In fact, they are good friends. He likes her but when he asked Jeena to marry him, she kind of..." Ezzah paused, maybe for the right words, but he finished the sentence for her.

"Acted like Jeena?" I could hear the amusement in his voice that made me a little relax from my previous nervousness.

"Yeah." Ezzah chuckled, and Pamir with a smile moved towards her. Bending down to her seating form, he kissed the top of the head and looked over at the phone as his one hand lazily wrapped itself over her shoulder from one side.

"So, this cousin of yours. What does he do, and where does he live?" Ezzah glanced up at me but looked back down at the phone in her hand while I shifted over my other foot awkwardly not knowing what will be his preference over his future brother-in-law.

"He is an IT engineer by degree and an ethical hacker by profession. He mostly worked as a freelancer. He has also worked with Pamir over some project. He is currently opening a company, which will have its HQ in Karachi, Pakistan." There was silence again.

"He does not want to marry her because she is an American national right? I do not want to offend you Ezzah because he is your relative, but you know how selfish people could be these days." I should be offended by this but truth to be told I am not.

I understand he cares about his sister and it actually removes this thought out of my system that her brother just wants to get rid of her because all this time whenever I heard about him, I only heard that he wanted her to get married a.s.a.p and nothing else, which had caused me to believe or at least imagine that he wanted to wed her off, so his responsibility was done. I actually assumed too little about him. He was not a bad guy.

"No, that is not the reason, and I am not offended at all. That is your right, Murat." Ezzah assured him that everything was cool between them.

"Oh, great. I can meet him after I get back from Palestine." Excuse me? I am sure I was wide eyes because both Ezzah and Pamir snapped their heads at me.

"Wait, are you in Palestine?" Ezzah asked quickly.

"No, I am going to leave for Palestine tomorrow. I was actually packing right now." He informed.

"But why? Do not mind me asking though."Ezzah continued.

"I am a doctor if you are forgetting. They needed people over there, and I volunteered." Wow. One of the most dangerous places on earth, which was filled with mass destruction right now, he was going there, on his own will and choice. These both siblings were crazy and were worth the respect.

"I am proud of you Murat, but when will you be back?" Ezzah asked with her eyebrows knitting together, and I took a seat in interest.

"About that... I am not sure yet. They told us our batch will stay for two years, but it can be longer." Two years! I- we- this was bad. Ezzah and Pamir exchanged a look but glanced over at me, and I knew they could see how bad it seemed.

"Murat, by any chance can you talk to him, like right now?" Ezzah asked, and I hoped so much that he would say yes.

"Is he there?" He asked after a moment.

"Yes, right in front of me actually," Ezzah said, and I blinked at the phone in turbulence.

"Ahm... Okay, give the phone to him." That was it. I forgot how to breathe. What will I say to him? What if I say something stupid? What if he hates me?

Haroon must have jinxed me to suffer this moment. I will never laugh at anyone ever again in my life. Taking the phone with shaking hand, I glanced over at Ezzah who was pointing at the phone with her eyes. She was telling me in a way to 'deal with it'. Putting the speaker off, I placed the phone over my ear.

"Ass Salam Alaikum," I said with a hard gulp.

"Salam. Rafan, if I am not mistaking?' His voice was not scary from what it seemed it would be. Nodding my head as an answer, I shook my head that he could not see me on realization.

"Yes. How are you?" I asked, scratching my nose.

"I am good. So, you and my sister..." He trailed off.

"Yeah. She... I do not know what she thinks about me, but I can assure you, I love her." I said sincerely and waited for his reaction.

"Why?" That took me off guard. I blinked with confusion as to what should I say to him.

"Why do you love her?" He asked again when I did not answer him back.

"I do not know. You could say that Jeena's insanity makes me sane." I said, unknowingly a smile took its place over my face as Jeena's thought crossed my mind. I peeped up to see Ezzah and Pamir. They were staring directly at me with grins of their own.

"She is too free to be caged into a homey lifestyle, regardless of what she says. It will be hard. There would be places where she would be stubborn, and you might rethink over picking her over anyone else." It was the first time a brother must be not threatening a person that could possibly marry his sister but scaring him off about the future possibility of how life would be.

"I told her something today. I want her to take a risk with me, and I am willing to take the same risk with her. I am not planning to cage her, nor am I planning to turn her into a different person. She is the part that I lack in myself, which is why I want her to be with me." I do not know from where did I got the confidence, but the thought of her not being in my life and someone else trying to talk me out of marrying her made me frantic. Crazy enough to shut all the negative thoughts out.

"Can you give Ezzah the phone back?" He very politely asked.

"Sure. Allah Hafiz." I replied and said my adieu, which he responded as well.

Ezzah had the phone to her ear, but after a moment she started to pace back and forth. Pamir tried to ease her off by rubbing her back when she stood at a corner, still listening to Murat on the other line. For some reason, she was not saying anything except yes and no. My patience was on the line at the time.

"Okay. We'll talk later. Allah Hafiz and Murat be safe out there." Cutting the call, she gawked at me as she placed her hands over her waist.

"Smooth as fudge." Did I do something wrong? Because her face was neutral.

"I cannot believe he actually got approved over a phone call," Ezzah said, looking at Pamir but pointing her hand at me. My eyes were wide. Did he say yes to me? Was I really approved?

"Wait! Is he okay with me marrying his sister?" I asked, standing up.

"Apparently but he wants to be sure with what Jeena wants. If she says yes, he is good." Ezzah shrugged with a grin. I looked up at the ceiling and huffed out, smiling at the fact that we won't have any issue about her family or her for that matter, hopefully.

Standing in the dusty ground of his life, Rafan could see his life had turned into a broken castle of sand and remains. She was right in front of him but was she his? The tear that had slipped out from her eye when he touched her face, was it painful or had he lost that right completely?

'Has she given it to someone else without his fault?' This thought made him swallow in fear.

Leaning away, Rafan observed his hand. He could still feel the hair on his neck standing, with just a minor touch. It was exactly like the first time he touched her. The feeling of numbness and the odd vibes around him whenever he was present in her presence. He glanced up to see what expression she held to know, if she felt the same way.

'Did she feel it again what they always had?' He thought.

And she did. Rafan could not see it, but she did feel it again. Jeena was only unfortunate not to physically relive it, but she always knew in her memories how it felt, how it felt when he was near and his touch, the warmth.

"Rafan." His name still sounded soft and cherished when she called it. The tone might be drifting, but the emotions were still there. The same respect and love, they were still there, but what she had done could not make him believe in the past again. It could not let him have a small amount of hope in reconciliation towards the future.

Putting everything aside, Rafan took out a folded paper from the inner pocket of his coat. Placing it on the table, he pushed-slide it forward in her direction, which caused a frown to appear on her face. She glanced back at his in question, but he only gestured towards the papers with his hand instead.

"I do not understand?" She said going through the paper after she took them.

"You owe me money and a lot of it, Jeena. Enough to make you bankrupt. The house that you are living in, it's my property. I do not know what agreement you had with your previous lender, and frankly, I do not care. What I care about is how will you pay me back, or you can just leave the house on your own, I will be fine with that too." The way Rafan said it, it felt like he was neutral as if he was not angry or upset, not at all but he was.

On the other hand, Jeena felt the ground was pulled from underneath her feet. She kept on rereading the words on the contract that had her house deed on it. All the money she ever saved went into buying that house back that her parents had sold. An unfortunate circumstance and it was out of her possession.

'Rafan could not be this cruel to me?' She looked over at him in dismay, but he only smirked sadistically.

'The dread in your eyes might remind me of the laughter that has disappeared,'

"I understand that money is a lot to pay off, but I am not here for a long time. So, if you could tell me what should we do with the property, we can probably reach an agreement." He clasped his hand over the table. His casualty was eating her alive.

'How could he act as if they never shared history?'

'But the promises you broke, I won't dismiss them.'

"Why are you doing this?" Living without Rafan had brought a lot of change in her, but she was still direct, and Rafan could see a tiny spark of that when he glanced in her eyes at the exact moment it flashed by.

'Your mischief that once made me smile will never sway me again,'

"Because I can?" Long gone was the casualty that was bugging Jeena. He had a wicked smirk over his face, and she knew at that moment, this was not a coincidence.

'He was doing this purposely!' The thought crossed her mind.

'Your own mistakes will lead you back to me,'

"I am leaving. I do not have time for your jokes, Rafan." She stood up as she swung her bag over her shoulder when Rafan's words stopped her midway.

'And that is when I will not forgive you,'

"I won't do that if I were you. I can throw you out in a second or take you to court for this irresponsible behaviour of yours." There was not any hesitation in his tone. It was as if he had already decided over what his plan B would be.

'You will stay, but I will make you pray that you could leave yet you never will.'

Jeena turned around, and Rafan arched an eyebrow at her as if challenging her. Giving her a slight shrug, he looked out of the window taking a sip from his glass.

Chapter 12

How are you people and how was it?

It might seem slow but we are getting there, just hold the light.

Allah Allah, Jeena can be a handful.

How was the phone call? What do you think about Murat?

So, Rafan threatening Jeena, what are your thoughts on it?

Is her reaction justified?

I think that is all for today, until next time

And people of Karachi stay strong, this government of Sindh cannot break us and I hope you all are safe.

ALLAH HAFIZ.

P.S: The next chapter will be on 9th or 10th September.