♡

Naaz had never felt so weird doing her makeup before.

She was quite proud of her makeup skills actually; a ton of people have praised the speed at which she could do a perfect contour. Naaz was the official makeup artist for all the women in her family during every function. She has, after all, learned from the best of the best- Aunt Maryam, a diva of her generation, a true fashionista in the soul and one day, Naaz will become just like her.

But why, oh why, was it that the man sitting next to her looked at her as if she was performing some sort of witchcraft?

This morning, Aunt Zainaab was more than adamant to send Naaz off to university with her new fiance stating how it will foster familiarity between them. As if both of them hadn't practically known each other their whole lives. As if Naaz and Shehryrar can go on a half-hour drive without having to push each other's buttons.

Foster familiarity, my pedicured feet!

Her over-enthusiastic Aunt had done the exact same thing to Saaba and Adaan during the initial days of their engagement. Naaz had laughed at her back then with the rest of their cousins. If she knew that one day the gun will be pointed towards her, she would have never made fun of Saaba that much.

It was humiliating when all of them continued to watch them get into the car from the balcony. At this point, her situation was worse than a zoo attraction. Anytime she and Shehryar were in the same room, the teasing would be non-stop until even her granite fiance looked embarrassed.

She almost felt bad for him when he was forced to sit through her aunts fawning over him and her cousins' asking the most mortifying questions. Almost.

At present however, Shehryar was ticking her off by glancing at her weirdly from time to time, while she tries to conceal the bags under her eyes with makeup. Naaz cannot tell if he was actually curious or just wanted to start a fight. It was getting on her nerves.

"If you are that curious about how to use color correctors, you can search for some tutorials on YouTube." She gritted out through her teeth.

He looked startled for a moment. Only for a second. And then his stone-like visage was back into its perfect neutral form. As if he hadn't shown any surprise at all.

Sometimes she felt that Shehryar was like a beautiful statue. Looked like everything but felt like nothing. He was- how should she put it?- he was like Galatae, a perfect sculpture; breathtaking and lovely but only a stone at the end. With no Goddess to give it life, Naaz hoped she would fair better than Pygmalion.

"I wasn't curious about you or your crayons." He looked ahead as his veiny hands moved around masterfully on the wheel, the car took a turn. Naaz forced herself not to ogle at them. Men who roll up their shirt sleeves know exactly what they are doing. Well, except for Shehryar maybe. He probably had some serious reasoning like keeping his body at optimum relaxation to focus on work.

"They are color correctors, silly!" Naaz explained in the most condescending voice she could manage. "You should try them too."

"I do not need your "Colour Correctors." Imitating her, he pronounced each word carefully like a kindergarten teacher explaining things to a class of five-year-olds. She wanted to push him out of the car. But doing so will kill her too.

"You are right. You need a personality corrector. Unfortunately, makeup brands are yet to produce them." She gave him a beaming smile. Just as the saying goes- Kill them with kindness. Or in her case, spite disguised as Kindness. It was all the same to her. "I will be sure to inform you as soon as they get launched!"

There. Isn't she generous?

She was like Mother Teresa, if Mother Teresa was young and had colorful outfit.

"Very funny," He said with a face that had no trace of a smile whatsoever.

"People do say I am hilarious." She smiled like a Cheshire cat, finally getting a win over him after a long time. Inside her mind, Naaz laughed like an evil Disney villain.

"Whoever says that, was probably selling something illegal." His hands shifted towards the gears in between their seats.

Do not look at his hands like a creep, Naaz!

"My friends say that!" She glared at him. He just can't let her win, can he?

"Ah! Friends!" He excalimed sracastically. "That explains it."

"I performed a stand-up routine once, in my orientation week." Her friend actually wrote the jokes for but who cares?

Freshmen needed to perform and she literally doesn't have any other talent, so a comedy skit was the only thing manageable for her. It honestly went better than she expected; people actually laughed at her animated performance, and she got quite a few compliments.

"Were the audience laughing at the jokes or you?" His eyes were still focused on the road as the car turned towards her campus.

"I even got compliments from my professors. And you know, Azaan Ansaari even used one of my jokes on stage!" She always bragged about it whenever she got the chance, which was kind of pathetic if she thinks about it. She needed to achieve something more significant in her life, didn't she?

'And who would that be? A famous comedian?" The car entered the campus and moved towards her faculty. She could see people gawking at Shehryar's car. And him too, apparently. Some girls were even taking pictures.

Bhul jao, behen, apna standard ucha karo!

'What do you even know about comedians?" She looked at him incredulously. "The last time you cracked a joke was when Bell bottoms were still in fashion!"

"I know quite a few comedians, just not this one. Must not be very famous." He raised his eyebrow at me. "And I heard bell bottoms are trendy now."

"First of all, hearing you say the word "Trendy" gives me shivers, don't ever do that again. It feels like the time I heard Maleekah Begum use the word 'Swag." Now that was a terrifying incident, Naaz could never unhear it. "And Ajaan Ansaari is not a comedian, he is the lead singer of "Khwaab." It's our University band."

Ajaan Ansaari was hands down the most popular boy in their University. Despite being famous around here, he was the most down-to-earth and helpful person Naaz knew. He was involved in charities, clubs, libraries, and anything one can think of. Once, during her first week of university, he had helped her when some seniors were harassing her. Since then, they were on friendly terms.

He was the man Adaab was in love with!

"A university band? Really?" Shehryar scoffed. "Of course, It's called Khwaab. Heights of creativity." He rolled her eyes at her.

"Your definition of creativity is wearing a beige shirt instead of the usual white." Naaz leaned over the gears towards him to inspect his shirt. "What is this? Off white? A bold choice!"

Glaring at her, he used his free hand to push her face backward. It almost covered her whole face. Naaz laughed as she saw her makeup leave marks on his palm. He frowned down at his palm in utter disgust which just caused her to laugh more.

"I am wearing white." He tried to take a tissue to wipe his pam, all while keeping his eyes on the road. Naaz sighed. Why can't he just ask for help?

"Madad mangenge tou maut paregi aapko?" She caught his hands and snatched the tissue away. His body gave a shocked jolt when she started to clean his palm off. Every few seconds, she could feel his eyes roam over her. Just like that day.

Naaz looked up as soon as she was done only to meet his eyes; full of something that gave her goosebumps. She was unfamiliar with this new feeling. Her brain refused to help her sort it out. It was scary, like navigating through a jungle of emotions.

Suddenly he leaned down; close to her; their noses almost touching. Naaz felt his breath fan on her lips; hot and rhythmic. She felt hypnotized by his eyes, dark and soulful. Blood rushed to her cheeks; her mind frantically tried to make sense of his actions.

"You missed a spot here, Dilnaaz."

Huh?

His voice broke her out of her reverie. She looked down at his larger palm clutched onto her smaller ones. There was a smudge left in between his fingers. Still reeling from what happened, she cleaned it off with shaky hands.

What just happened?

He cleared his throat, startling her out of her thoughts. "Do people not come to University to study anymore? Or is it just bands and stand-up performances?" He was back to being his usual douchy self. It unsettled Naaz and made her feel like an idiot.

Was she overthinking? Perhaps reading too much into something that was probably a reflex on his part?

That must be it. Saba always says Naaz was great at making up absurd scenarios.

"We do study. But unlike some fossils-" she looked pointedly towards him, "-we know how to enjoy our lives too." This earned her a glare from the most boring man on planet Earth.

"So this singer?" He said singer as if he doesn't even consider it a real profession. "He just happened to compliment you on a comedy skit?' Her lovely fiance sounded skeptical with his eyes narrowed in a glare.

Was he doubting her sense of humor? Him? The person who slowly murders jokes and fun during his lunch break? Whose definition of free time was answering his emails? Who thought the color light blue was too risky?

"Yes, why do you sound so suspicious?"

"Because you are the least funny person I know."

"The only people you know outside of our families are old businessmen whose sense of humor consists of making fun of their wives and cursing politicians." She rolled her eyes in annoyance, maybe that why he was so boring. "Why else would he compliment me?"

"Obviously because he was trying to hit on you. You are as clueless as ever." He rolled his eyes, shaking his head as if he was disappointed in her.

What?

She wasn't clueless!

"No, he wasn't!" She threw her hand up in exasperation. Naaz didn't believe a single word of Shehryar's outlandish claims. "Why would he try to flirt with me?"

"Kyuki tum hou hi itni haseen, Dilnaaz!"

Silence.

Absolute silence reigned inside the car.

Her heart hammered inside her heart like it was trying to escape; her mind was a mess. Naaz desperately tried to make sense of his words. Had he just admitted to thinking of her as pretty?

She wanted to say something; had too many questions. But her words were stuck inside, refusing to come out ad spare her the tornent.

Why would he say that? Did he truly think that she was beautiful? Was she thinking too much about a stupid compliment? Why was he being like this today?

Naaz had heard people call her pretty before. But never from Shehryar. All he ever did was called her clothes bright in different ways.

It was just a compliment. It wasn't that big deal.

Then why did it feel so?

Shehryar's hands clutched the wheel as if he was trying to strangle the life of it. The car moved fast like a bullet. Before she could process what she just heard and come up with a suitable response, they were in front of her faculty building.

"We are here." His voice was emotionless as ever, nonchalant as if he hasn't just said the most outrageous thing. "Chalo niklou meri gaadi se."

Naaz got out silently, not wanting to say anything that will make the situation weirder. She wasn't even sure how to react.

Before he could start the car, she stuck her head inside through the window. "Accha, suniye." He head snapped towards her, surprise written all over his face. She still wasn't sure what to call him.

"Kaho, Dilnaaz."

"Thank you for that day."

Shehryar's eyes widened, he probably never expected thanks from her of all people. She hadn't either. But the truth remains that he defended Naaz in front of all those vultures of high society. And for that, she will be forever grateful.

"Farz hei mera." He cleared his throat, tilting his head slightly to the side. "Hone waala shohar hu tumhara."

'Accha tou, shouhaar-e-naamdaar ka farz tha!" She tried her best to stop the grin that forced itself onto her face. Naaz didn't want him to know how her heart soared at his simple words.

"Ji." He looked forwards and ignited the engine. She got her head out and stood next to the car. She doesn't know why she wished for this to go on forever, why she wanted to see just how many emotions she could get out of him.

"Dilnaaz?"

"Ji, kahiye, shohar-e-naamdaar." He narrowed his eyes at her teasing.

"I will come to pick you up. Call me, okay?"

"Ji, Shou-" He drove off before she could finish. Naaz chuckled as she watched his car disappear into the crowded campus.

In the end, Galatea always becomes human. 

♡

SO HOW DO YOU LIKE THIS CHAPTER? TELL ME IN THE COMMENTS AND MAKE SURE TO VOTE IF YOU LIKE THE CHAPTER.