یہ جو کھلی کھلی تھی عداوتیں مجھے راس تھیں
یہ جو زہر خند سلام تھے مجھے کھا گئے

Thursday - 9:45pm

"What the hell are you doing here?" She hissed, her eyes narrowing as his widened fractionally at her tone but Hemayal already knew how good he was at composing himself and for the second time in a span of few minutes, she regretted opening her mouth before thinking.

No, she wouldn't show Ibrahim Yazdani the wrath and fury in her as yet, no. She has to choose her words with care, giving him the same indifferent attitude that she pulled out less than two weeks ago.

"I came to see you." He said, no hint of previous surprise anywhere in his tone.

God, he was good.

"May I ask why?" Hemayal replied as her eyes narrowed much more if it was even possible, the faint gleam of streetlights striking his face as she looked at him calmly, enunciating every single feature of his with aristocracy at it did.

God, he was a fine specimen.

"Yes, you can, actually but I don't think my answer will bring you much joy." He replied, serenity coming to settle on him as she saw his shoulders sag and frame leaning against her car ever so lightly.

"I don't doubt that," Hemayal snapped before she could control herself, somehow his easy attitude sprinkling fuel to the already scorching fire in her heart. "Have you been following me?"

Hemayal said, gazing at him disbelievingly and saw as a smile lifted his lips before a small chuckle left him, filling the faint darkness of the parking lot around them with warmth. To Hemayal, however, it only added embarrassment and anger.

He was laughing at her?

"I know I'm pretty obsessed with you right now but even I wouldn't do that, Hemayal." Ibrahim replied, the chuckle reduced to a grin as he regarded her with renowned interest, pronouncing her name with such ease and leisure that it sounded strange to her ears.

I know I'm pretty obsessed with you...

His words replayed in her mind and sent impulses running to her heart, brining all those parts of it that had died in the process of loving him slowly back to life and she gulped. She had spent a good few years of life wanting to hear him say these words and now that he did...

NO.

She quickly shook her mind of all the rubbish, ridding it until nothing remained behind but hollow agony and memories of endless sufferings. He is just playing with your head, Hemayal reminded herself with renowned determination, refusing to be a woman who could be brought down by mere words.

"But I can't be too sure now, can I? After all, I got a taste of your obsession single handedly." Hemayal replied instead, choosing her words with care this time and watched with sheer ecstasy as that annoying smile slipped from his face and he straightened slightly in his place.

"I-I didn't follow you here. I came with a friend a little while after you and Danyal came." Ibrahim replied, looking slightly uncomfortable after her taunting words and Hemayal only shrugged her shoulders.

"That's good to hear." She only replied with a cool glare in his direction before turning slightly and opening the car door, a clear indication that she was done with the conversation but before she could even take a step forward, a hand pushed the door and it closed with a harsh sound.

"We need to talk." Ibrahim said solemnly, all traces of humor and ease gone from his voice as he regarded her with desperation and hurt.

"Honestly, Mr. Yazdani, I'm done with people telling me that," Hemayal punctured her tone with as much calmness as she possibly could but the cracks were evident as she felt her temper flaring. "And while we're on that topic, think a hundred times before you send your brother to me next time to justify your actions and act as your lawyer."

"Don't call me that." In return to her outburst, Ibrahim replied with four simple words uttered calmly, looking at her with set jaw and Hemayal visibly sagged under his eyes before clenching her teeth and narrowing him up with her eyes.

"I'll call you whatever I want to." Hemayal replied, straightening her shoulders once again and looking at him squarely in the eye.

"Hemayal," Ibrahim began, uttering her name with such softness that a part of her heart melted but an even larger hated him this very moment so she chose not to focus on the former one for now. "We need to talk, please."

"No." Hemayal replied without so much as a second thought, setting her jaw in a hard line as she glared at him.

The crowd in the parking lot has visibly thinned by now, only the two of them standing by her car as the restaurant lights far away threw faint luminosity in their direction. If they weren't standing so close, Hemayal would have missed the way his eyes closed momentarily, as if asking heavens for patience before a sigh escaped past his lips and he looked at her directly in the eye.

"We will never be able to solve this if we don't talk." Ibrahim replied, reasoning with her now but what he didn't know was the fact that Hemayal left all her sane judgments behind her when Dadu dropped dead.

"Does it ever occur to you that I don't want to solve it?" Hemayal said, voice rising, eyes widening. "Does it ever occur to you Mr. Yazdani that maybe I don't want to see your face ever again, that I don't want you anywhere near me? Why do you keep showing up in front of me? I think I was pretty clear the last time we talked that I don't want anything to do with you. Which part of it didn't you understand?"

Hemayal took a deep breath after she had finished, cursing herself once again for not holding the thread of calmness but she was far too annoyed and hurt right now to care. When she wanted this man to be in her life, he was nowhere to be seen and now that she wanted him gone, he was always showing up one way or another.

What sick game was life playing with her?

"Why don't you want to solve it? Don't you want an end to this...whatever situation we have?" Ibrahim asked, confusion and tiredness in his voice now and Hemayal sighed.

"What I really want is for you to stay as much away from me as one humanly can. Is that possible?" Hemayal replied, eyebrows furrowing as the contagious tiredness in his voice now seemed to pass onto her.

"No." Ibrahim shook his head and Hemayal couldn't resist the slight roll of her eyes as she took a step back in annoyance.

"Well, restraining order isn't that hard to get." Hemayal replied with a straight face and saw as a muscle in his face twitched in amusement.

"You'll take a restraining order against me?" If anything, he seemed amused for some unknown reason that only fueled her anger.

"If I have to, yes. I won't hesitate for even a second." Hemayal replied, voice stern at his behavior and that obnoxious smirk that lifted one corner of his lips.

"Really?" He still sounded genuinely amused and Hemayal threw a dirty glare in his direction before taking a step forward, watching with sheer delight as the smile vanished from his face when she stopped mere inches away from him, so close that he could practically witness the loathe swirling in her eyes.

"Really." Hemayal hissed with clenched teeth and placed her hand on the door handle again, attempting for the second time to remove herself immediately from the situation but this time, too, he was quick; his eyes, however, still trained on her.

"It never occurred to me." Ibrahim sighed before taking a step back, putting the woman at a decent distance who seemed to be throwing daggers at her, if the fire in her eyes made any statement.

"What?" Hemayal asked with an eye roll, an act she knew he would find offensive but honestly, that was her sole intention at the moment.

"That you wouldn't want to solve this issue," he began, voice small as he looked at her with placid eyes. "When we met last time, I knew you were hurting so I didn't push much on the topic. I just hoped that once you're a little fine, we'll talk about it and get it out of our way. That's why I didn't approach you or anything after that. Well, until now. It never occurred to me that you didn't even want to solve this thing."

Ibrahim finished with a dejected sigh, eyes searching hers for any sign of emotion other than sheer detestation and abhorrence but pressed his lips when he found none. Hemayal, however, had mastered the art of bottling her emotions up till now - hiding her true feelings from Ibrahim didn't prove to be much of a feat for her.

"Well, you were royally mistaken then, weren't you?" Hemayal shrugged her shoulders, aiming and succeeding at looking indifferent. "And about that thing of giving me time to figure stuff out, well, thank you for being so considerate. But had you been such when I was begging you that night, we wouldn't even be here at this moment. So pardon me, Mr. Yazdani, but you don't hold the cards anymore."

Hemayal punctured her words with venom and calm at the same time, watching as Ibrahim's shoulders sagged under the weight of her words. After she had finished, he looked hurt while pressing his lips so hard, some color left his face. However, it didn't take him much longer to recover himself but before she could muster any words, Hemayal moved her hand towards the car done yet again on which his hand still casually rested.

This time, however, Ibrahim didn't hinder her actions and stepped back, and Hemayal had no idea what to feel - relieved that he was finally letting her go or hurt that he was finally letting her go.

Sighing, she shook her head and opened the door and after a final glance in his direction, slipped behind the wheels of her civic.

Just as she was closing the door, however, a hand grabbed the edge again and a groan left Hemayal's lips as she raised her head to look at him, eyes narrowed in annoyance now, asking the questions with a frown on her head.

"It's quite late, you shouldn't go alone." He said with straight face, concern still cracking through it however, and Hemayal regarded him with caution, trying to decipher the intention behind his words but couldn't seem to pinpoint one.

"I'll manage, I'm used to it." Hemayal replied, voice not holding the previous sass and taunt and Ibrahim noticed this quite vividly for the emotionless expressions on his face transformed into one of concern as he bent slightly.

"You shouldn't be." He replied forcefully.

"Well, I am and you holding me up like this is going to make me more late than I already am." She replied with a straight face and saw as Ibrahim nodded his head before leaning back, hand leaving the edge of her door.

"Alright, I get it. But I still insist that you don't go home alone. It's a long drive from here." Ibrahim replied as he crossed his arms across his chest and Hemayal pondered for the hundredth time that God must have made this man on a fine Sunday morning - his features were elite; even the smallest of actions, like crossing arms, added colors to this already art of a man.

"I'll manage." Hemayal replied with a sigh, trying to bring her mind out of the gutter it had fallen in, attempting to look unfazed as she tore her eyes from his frame.

"Come with me, I'll-" Ibrahim had yet to finish his sentence when Hemayal cut him off.

"No, thanks. I'll rather not reach home altogether than take that offer." She muttered with a frown, her previous attitude surfacing as she cast him a side glare.

"Fine, then. Do whatever you want," Ibrahim replied, much to her relief and stepped back from her car and Hemayal wondered if she had pushed some buttons but shrugged to herself as her brain chanted that he deserved every second of it. "Goodbye, Hemayal."

Hemayal didn't even bother replying to him as she closed the door harshly, throwing one final glance in his direction who still looked at her with pressed lips and a frown marring his handsome features before she pressed on the accelerator.

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Friday - 8:01am

"Hemayal, you're going somewhere?" Hadeed Lala's voice emerged from behind and Hemayal stilled before turning around slightly in her place, one hand still grasping the handle of her suitcase.

"Yeah, Karachi. I told you about it, didn't I?" Hemayal replied with a question of her own, head thrown sideways as she regarded her brother with a distant frown.

"Oh, yeah. For the conference over the weekend. It escaped my mind, sorry," Hadeed Lala replied, nodding his head as he came to stand in front of her, regarding her cautiously. "Shouldn't you already be there by now? Your flight is at nine."

"It's a domestic flight. Half an hour earlier would be fine." Hemayal shrugged her shoulders in response before answering and something in her tone and attitude made Hemayal's brother narrow his eyes - in concern and confusion.

"Hami, you okay?" He asked, placing his hand on her forehead, as if checking for temperature.

"Yes, Lala, I'm fine." Hemayal tried to smile as she gently removed her brother's hand from her forehead.

In all honesty, however, she wasn't.

In the morning, Hemayal had woken up with a light frown on her face, the incidents of the past day coming to her as soon as the first ray of sun collided with her eyes. Ever since that, she had failed to rid her mind of unnecessary thoughts that came as an added bonus. Too many possibilities rushed through her brain and after well over an hour of them, she was safely losing her mind at the moment.

Ibrahim Yazdani being there could not be a coincidence, her irrational thoughts reminded her. The man was there for a purpose and now that he saw Hemayal with Danyal, he must have guessed that she was up to something. The possibility of him ignoring this would work out in her favor but she doubted that he would. From what she knew, he was a smart man and it would take him a mere second to guess her game.

She could just hope he wouldn't.

"Are you? You look flushed...and weak." Lala questioned, the frown and concern in his eyes only multiplying.

"Yeah, it's just the weather." Hemayal replied, shaking her head and smiled brightly as if to prove a point but it was her brother she was talking to - he could see straight through her fake smile without as much as a struggle.

"I don't think it-" Hadeed Lala shook his head, not buying the explanations she offered but Hemayal was quick to silence him mid-sentence.

"I'm getting late, Lala. I'll talk to you about my health in detail when I get back. Right now, I really need to leave," Hemayal spoke quickly, wanting an out of this house as soon as possible so she could gather the tornado that had hit her mind. "Besides, I have to talk to Baba before I head out and I need energy for that. So yeah, I'll talk to you when I get back."

Hemayal quickly stepped forward, throwing an arm around her brother's neck in a farewell hug who only tightened his hold when she moved to take a step back. Planting a small kiss at the top of her head, Hadeed Lala patted her back before letting his small sister go.

"Take care, okay?" He said, worry still lacing his tone and Hemayal smiled, genuinely this time.

"I will. You too. Say goodbye to Anisha Bhabhi from my side, okay? She was in a hurry when she left this morning for work." Hemayal said as she took a step back, dragging her bag along with her.

"Will do," Lala smiled before extending his hand to get a hold of her suitcase. "I'll get your bag. You can go to talk to Baba."

"Thanks." Hemayal muttered before turning around and going straight for the living room, hoping to find her father without much effort and gladly she did.

Shahriyar Khakwani was sitting by the fire as he sipped his coffee, eyes staring ahead at the wood cracking in the fireplace while being narrowed, his thoughts drifted somewhere else. Hemayal's sneakers didn't make much noise as she entered the room so she had to cough slightly to gain her father's attention whose head snapped towards her at the sudden noise.

"You called me?" Hemayal asked cautiously as she walked deeper into the room, tucking the lose strands of hair behind her ear which had evaded the high bun she made in the morning.

"Yeah, yeah. Come sit." He said, voice trailing off which was a clear alibi that he mind was still reeling somewhere else.

Hemayal occupied the seat opposite to him, looking at him with slightly pressed lips as she waited for him to begin. Ever since last Sunday when his father had warmed up to her just a little, showing signs of emotions she didn't know he possessed, she had gone to extreme lengths to ignore him as much as possible.

Hemayal Khakwani didn't trust herself when her father was the subject so she had chosen to not dwell much on his sudden change in attitude, even it was just for a matter of few minutes. She still didn't trust her father, didn't know what intentions he bore in his heart so ignoring him was the only and probably the best option she had.

And up till now, she had succeeded.

"I wanted to talk to you about the man who kidnapped you," just as he finished, a small groan left Hemayal's lips as she shook her head, obviously not wanting to talk about it yet again and her father noticed it too well for he hardened his stare and Hemayal immediately straightened in her place. "Just hear me out, okay?"

Hemayal found herself nodding mechanically, such was the effect her father had on her when he chose to be stern with her which, by the looks of it, happened a little too often. It was a vicious circle of her promising to brace herself the next time and her resolve crumbling whenever Shahriyar Khakwani fixated his hard glare on his daughter.

"What about him?" Hemayal asked, keeping her voice and emotions in control.

"We found him."

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as promised, a quick update. what do you think of it?

till next time,
salam!