Chaahe bhi to bhool na paaye
Man mast magan
Man mast magan
Bas tera naam dohraayee

"Hey! No, stop Mahrukh!", Inaya whisper yelled trying to match Mahrukh's pace.

"Stop it already Mahrukh!", she mumbled angrily. She could feel several eyes on them which made her uncomfortable but Mahrukh proved deaf ear to her words as she ran a bit faster dodging people through the hallway.

"Mahrukh!"

"C'mon Senorita move faster, we're gonna miss the-SHIT!", she heard Mahrukh gasp as she took a sharp turn towards left and stopped abruptly in her tracks causing Inaya to bump into her slightly.

"uh-What happened now?", Inaya managed to throw out the words as she put her hand on her forehead creating space between them.

"Phone!"

"What phone?", Inaya asked frowning as Mahrukh turned to slap her forehead with a click of her tongue.

"I forgot my phone in the car!"

"Lo ji, why can't you keep it in your bag?"

"I don't know! Abhi I need to submit the assignment, ye pakro chabi and bring my phone-"
(Take the keys and bring my phone-)

"Me? No, you're coming along-"

"There's no time for this Inaya! jao jaldi! I'll be near the library-"

"We can ger it after you submit the assignment?"

"Did you forget jab tum apna bag canteen bhool gayi thi aur mai, MAIN! akele gayi thi usko dhoondne!", Mahrukh exclaimed causing Inaya to roll her eyes.
(Did you forget the time when you forget your bag in the canteen and I, I! went to find it, alone!)

"Tum aur tumhare ehsan-"
"I'm already late! jao tum abhi", before Inaya could complete, Mahrukh shouted thrusting the keys in her hands, and disappeared into the hallway in seconds.
(You and your-)
(I'm already late! go now quickly.)

'I guess this is how we're gonna burn calories now?', Inaya huffed looking at the keys in her hand.

_______________

"Did she not park the car here?", Inaya wondered looking around the parking lot.

"Or there?", she walked towards the end lane when she didn't find the car anywhere.

"Oh han", she murmured pointing towards the car as she finally found it.

"When did it get so cold", she hummed grabbing Mahrukh's phone from the car but stopped seeing her notebook on the front seat.

'She forgot her notebook too? wow', she chuckled softly picking up the notebook and locked the car behind.

She had just turned to walk back when a girl rushing towards the campus slightly nudged her, causing the notebook to slip from her hands.

"oh-"
"I'm sorry", the girl whispered hastily and Inaya just nodded saying it was alright.

She bent down to pick up the notebook but her hand froze as she heard a very familiar voice booming in the almost empty parking lot,
"It's going to be a good experience anyway"
"Okay, I'll be there, Allah hafiz."

She looked towards the source and her mouth hung open seeing the most unexpected person in the most unexpected situation.

'Asfandyar?', she blinked as he tucked the phone in his pants taking slow steps towards her direction.

"oh shit!", Inaya stood up abruptly just to dodge the encounter but closed her eyes in embarrassment as she bumped into him mistakenly. In nervousness, she had turned towards his direction instead of the opposite.

"I..I'm so..sorry", she mumbled flinching back almost instantly. Her heartbeat pulsating with each passing second. What just happened?

She slightly raised her lashes to look at him but tucked her head back finding him staring at her already.
"I..I'm sorry, I-"
"It's okay", she stopped as his deep voice interrupted her blabbering, the faint scent of his cologne making her mind jumble up.

_______________

"Jee Abu, I met him yesterday."
"No, I'll be joining the office from tomorrow too, I only have three classes to take in a week.", Asfandyar stated fixing the collar of his jacket.
(Abu-father.)

"How could I not? You'd promised Mr. Hussain.", he said opening the door of his Land Cruiser and stepped out locking the car behind.

"It's going to be good experience anyway", he looked up towards the sky. The weather had gotten a bit chilly.
"Okay, I'll be there"
"Jee, Allah hafiz", he cut the call and tucked the phone in his pants.

He had just taken a few steps when out of nowhere a girl bumped into him causing his steps to halt. In instinct, his hands found their way around her shoulders, but before he could balance her, she jumped back hastily making him frown.

"I..I'm so..sorry", Asfandyar's eyes flickered to the little figure as soon as he heard the sweet voice hit his ears.  It was her. The girl from that day who had caused his mind to wander for a second. The little girl with hazel eyes. Rafay's sister.

"I..I'm sorry, I-"

"It's okay", he spoke putting a full stop to her stuttering. He kept gaping at her as she stole a glance his way, probably thinking of something to speak but then just turned around cautiously and bent to pick a notebook from the ground. His eyes went to the delicate bracelet on her right wrist, contrasting flawlessly with her pearl white skin.

'Was she a student here?', he thought examining the girl in blue with curiosity. Why was he even peeping at her? Asfandyar looked around brushing the tip of their nose with his forefinger. He was just about to say something when her melodious voice caused him to look at her once again,

"I..I..sorry", Inaya flickered before rushing towards the campus, her heart beating like hell.

Whereas, Asfandyar stood still at the same spot until her silhouette disappeared among the cars.

_______________

"Finally! Did you get it?", Mahrukh exclaimed as she saw Inaya walking towards her.

"Mahrukh, I saw him", Inaya mumbled softly, the frosty eyes crumbling her thoughts.

"Saw him? who?", Mahrukh inquired pulling her to the side.

"Did you see Zain?", she added before Inaya could reply. Zain was their classmate, he had been trying to pursue Inaya for a while now.

"No, not him, I haven't seen him in ages, I..I saw A..Asfandyar", Inaya spoke nodding her head.

"Asfandyar? That Asfandyar? yaha? University me?", Mahrukh asked in a surprised tone.

"Han, I..I saw him in the parking lot"
"qasme?"
"Seriously, It was him", Inaya confirmed glancing around once.

"Ohmygawd, don't tell me ke he's gonna be a student here?!", Mahrukh exclaimed putting her hand on her mouth, acting surprised.

"No! That can't be, he..he came back after completing his Masters", Inaya cleared tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Phir?"
"I don't know"

"Maybe he's here to meet someone? kher tell me what was he wearing? pyara lag raha tha, haina?", Mahrukh winked making Inaya hit her shoulder.
(Tell me what was he wearing? He was looking good right?)

"Iska matlab pyare nahi lag rahe the?", she laughed earning another slap from Inaya who had turned slightly crimson by her words.
(This means he wasn't looking good?)

______________

"Kia hai yarrr, why's the semester break too short, abhi to mujhe feel ana shuru bhi nahi hua tha ke University reopen ho gayi", Inaya chuckled softly hearing Rimsha whine.
(What is this yarr, why's the semester break too short, the feeling didn't even start and the Universities reopened.)

Rimsha was a heavy sleeper. Rimsha and sleep had an extremely toxic relationship. Sleep just couldn't let go of Rimsha and Inaya was well aware of that.

"I was having such a beautiful sleep and Mahrukh ke call ne sab kharab kar diya!"
(I was having such a beautiful sleep and Mahrukh's call destroyed everything.)

"chal be, ek to maine tumhe time pe jaga diya aur dekho kesi baatein kari."
(Chal be, I woke you up at time and you're complaining to me.)

"Meherbano bohot! but I didn't even ask you to do it! mere se zyada to tumhe meri parhai ki fikar hai."
(Thank you so much! but I didn't even ask you to do it, you seem to be more concerned about my studies than I am.)

"Abhi tum log larne nahi lag jana please, class ka time ho gaya, Professor aate hi honge", Inaya interrupted the chatterboxes by pointing at the wall clock in their classroom.
(Don't start to fight now, please, It's class time, the professor must be here soon.)

"Which subjects class is this?", Mahrukh asked sinking back in her seat, after she had showed her tongue to Rimsha.

"It's Strategic Financial Management."

"Don't tell me ke Professor Haris is going to take this course as well", they turned as Rimsha gasped loudly. Professor Haris was an extremely strict teacher who had given them a real hard time last semester. Especially to Rimsha.

"No, he's-"

"Asalum-u-Alaikum Everyone!", before Inaya could complete her sentence, a loud and deep voice interrupted, causing her mouth to hung open, the second time in an hour.

'No way this was possible', she twirled abruptly towards the source of the sound, and her hand grew cold seeing the man in ebony.

There stood Asfandyar, with hands in his pockets and a sober expression on his face. His cold aura and dark, deep-set eyes causing her breath to hitch for a second.

'This was a dream, yes It was!',  she took a deep breath glancing beside her and gulped watching Mahrukh and Rimsha equally shocked.
She took her lower lip in her teeth as Rimsha turned to look at her with a sly grin plastered across her face.

Uh-oh! This wasn't a dream.

______________

"I'm Asfandyar Alam Baig, the visiting faculty for your course, Strategic Financial Management"
"I hope we can get along well", Asfandyar spoke placing one hand on the rostrum, his eyes taking a glance at the students.

For a second he felt his eyes had seen wrong as they raked over the girl in the corner, the strange girl in blue. Rafay's sister. Why was he having so many coincidences today? He thought moving his eyes away from her.

"I'll be in the University three days every week, you'll receive a mail including your course outline as well as office hours", he informed in his professional monotone. This was to be done as quick as possible. He had to visit the office too.

"For today, shall we-"

"Hello Mates!", Asfandyar stopped as he saw a boy entering the class, clad in pants and leather jacket, hair messy with the bag slump over his shoulder in a carefree manner. A single look could tell that he was a problem maker.

"Oh Hey Zain! Long time no see!", a few students greeted, forgetting the presence of a certain someone in the class. A certain someone, whose presence was impossible to ignore.

"Do I need to remind that your Professor is standing in front of you all?", Asfandyar spoke with authority, pressuring each word as If giving a warning.

"Oops! Sorry man-", Zain chuckled inaudibly looking at Asfandyar but he cut off in between, looking dead into his eyes, a grim look on his face.

"Mr. Alam"

"Hm-Sorry Mr. Alam", Zain stood still for a moment looking into his eyes with arrogance then apologized for formality in a curt tone.

"I won't tolerate tardiness in my course, I hope you all understand. If not, then I advise you guys to do that soon", Asfandyar replied with the same expression on his face.

"Clear?"
"Yes, Mr. Alam", the class replied in a sync.

_______________

"Mahrukh?! do you see what I see?", Rimsha whispered in Mahruk's ear, her eyes on the two hunks before her eyes.
"Yes! Freakin yes!", Mahrukh exclaimed with excitement.

"Inaya?! Girl you won a lottery!", Rimsha whisper yelled nudging Inaya's shoulder who was lost in her thoughts.

"Did we just got lucky? Two handsome-", before Mahrukh could complete her sentence, Rimsha stopped stating the fact,
"Wait! One before Inaya and the other who Inaya's behind. What do we get?"

"Damn! Who?", Mahrukh sighed eyeing the men before them. Guess it was Inaya who got lucky after all.

"Let the mature be for Inaya, we're happy with the babyface", Mahrukh pouted pointing towards Zain.

__________

"Rimsha? Zain's coming over here", Inaya whispered holding Rimshas shoulder. She blinked as she saw him smiling at her and waving his hand. She could not do this again, she groaned clicking her tongue.

"Hey girls! How are you guys?", Zain chirped sitting across them, his eyes on Inaya causing her to shuffle uncomfortably at her place. Zain wasn't a bad guy, he had never crossed his limits, yet, he cringed Inaya a lot.

"We're fine Alhamdulilah", Mahrukh answered politely for everyone.

"Aur app Inaya?", he asked peering intensely at Inaya.
Inaya blinked her eyes glancing at Rimsha who consoled applying pressure on her hand, telling her that It was fine.
(And you Inaya?)

"I-uh, Alhamdulilah", she murmured and Zain's lips turned up slightly at her shy nature.
"Shukar", he said under his breath, his eye still on her.

"Attention everybody!", Inaya looked up in the front as Asfandyar called after he had displayed the slides on projector.

"Eyes. On. Me", she gulped as he ordered in a dead tone. For a second she thought he had said that looking towards Zain but brushed away the thought as he started the lecture.

She was probably going to fail this course. She huffed trying her best to ignore his presence.
May Allah help her.

_______________

"Mama!"
"Ma..ma? K..ka..ha ha..hain aa..aap", the little girl cried rubbing her injured knee.
She hitched looking at her broken bicycle. She had fallen from her bicycle and forgotten her way back home. It was her first time riding the bicycle outside of her house. She had come out without notifying anyone at her home and now regretted doing that.

"B..Ba..ba", she coughed cleaning her tears with the back of her tiny hands. She had been sitting at the footpath holding her knee for almost fifteen minutes. It was getting dark now.

"Hey?", a loud voice caused her to look ahead. A boy in his teens was standing beside her broken bicycle.

His eyes twinkling with curiosity for the little girl crying by the side of the road. He noticed her eyes had swollen badly, lips wobbling as she tried to stop her hiccups. Her floral sundress and two ponytails making her look more cute. She looked around a seven-year-old.

"What happened little girl? Why are you crying?", he asked politely as he noticed the bleeding on her knee.

"I..I a..am lo..sh..t", she answered rubbing her nose when she saw him sitting in front of her and took out a clean handkerchief from his pants pocket.

"Do you know the directions to your house?"

"N..no"

"It's okay, I'll take you to your home, don't cry?", he spoke wrapping the handkerchief around her injured knee but panicked as her cries grew louder.

"Hey? You are a big girl! Why are you crying? Don't cry, Hey?"

"Ba..ba..I..Ba..ba", she stuttered hiding her face in her hands.

"I'll take you to your Baba, don't cry?", he tried once again politely. He felt uneasy with her state. He sighed looking around but the roads were empty. He didn't even know who she was? How was he going to find her house?

"Do you want to eat a chocolate?", he asked removing her tiny hands covering her face. Relief passed through his nerves as she nodded her head in a yes.

"Okay! I'll take you to buy chocolate but you won't cry? You are a big girl na? I'll take you back home then?"

"I..I am a bi..g and st..rong girl", she nodded showing her tiny fist to him. His felt his heart swell at the cute kid before him. He had never talked to kids before, in fact, kids liked to stay away from him because of his cold behavior.

"Very good then, come, let's go", he stood up forwarding his hand to her. He looked at her with amusement as she first cleaned her teary face with the back of her hands, then cleaned her hands with her dress, straightened up ponytails, and then finally put her hand in his.

"Yo..u ar..re a goo..good persh..on na? Y..ou wi..ll take me to Ba..ba?", he lightly chuckled as she looked at him with a serious expression on her adorable face. She seemed to be a sensible kid.

"Yes, I'll take you to your house, to your Baba", he assured picking her up in his arms, since she had injured her leg.

"What's your name little girl?", he started the conversation to divert her mind as he walked towards the nearest market. He might get a clue from the shop owner of who she was.

"P..pari"

"Pari?"

"Hun..P..ari"

"You have a beautiful name Pari"

"Th..thanko..Wh..what's y..your n..nam..name?"

"Asfandyar"

"A..aph..Aphand..aar?"

"No. It's As.Fand.Yar", Asfandyar corrected her.

"A..aph..Apand..er? it..na muh..kil hai", she sniffed causing Asfandyar to stop in his tracks as her face started to get wet with her tears.
(It's so difficult.)

"Hey? hey? Acha don't cry, Pari?"

"Pari? you said you were a strong girl?", he said wiping her face with his hand but she kept crying.

"gh..ghar ja..ja..jaana"
(I want to go home.)

"Ja rahen hain, ye dekho abhi ham bas chocolate lenge yaha se, then I'll take you to your house han?", Asfandyar spoke increasing his pace to reach the shop, all the way rubbing her back. His light stroll had turned out to be something adventurous.
(We are going, look here, we'll just buy chocolate from here, then I'll take you to your house, okay?)

"INAYA baji?!"

"Inaya baji? uth jayen!", Inaya opened her eyes instantly as she felt someone nudging her shoulder. She looked around and found her maid taking a breath of relief.
(Inaya baji? get up!)

"Kiya hua Inaya baji? Aaj ap nashte ke liye late hon gayin? Bare sahab apko neche bula rahe hain", Inaya rubbed her forehead closing her eyes once again.
(What happened Inaya baji? You didn't come for breakfast, Bare Sahaab is calling you.)

"Baba ko bolo mai aa rahi hoon", she said turning around and huffed placing a hand over her heart.
(Tell baba that I'm coming.)

There was still a day before his next lecture!

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Hello and Asalam-u-Alaikum Sweethearts!

How are you guys? I hope you're all well.

Happy New year Sweethearts! I hope this year turns out to be better for all of you🤍. Thank you so much everyone for the love and wait.

P.S.For those who aren't following me, please read the message on my message boad. Tysm.
The story is officially on hold.
<(＿　＿)>

Stay happy Stay safe and Keep Smiling!🧡🧡

I dedicate this chapter to my pretty eyes churail! <bas ye karne ka dil kiya to kar diya
（づ￣3￣)づ ❤～>