2.🍪🍪
"I still forget, we're not even friends,
I still wake up, with things to tell you!"
Now, it was 12:30 O'clock in afternoon.
Zohaib, Mifa's younger brother was back from college. He entered 'Dream Home', sniffing the sweet fragrance in the air and tried to recognise it.
"Umm.... Rose Meringue!
After such a Long time, Aapi!"
He successfully recognised it a and licked his lips as the smell increased his appetite.
"Yes! You will get to try it soon. Go and freshen up first.... You've to go to deliver it to Lily Aunty in evening, can't trust Bhai with these."
Mifa smiled at her younger brother, who poked his tongue out at his elder brother, Shoaib, who scrunched his nose in irritation.
1 minute was left for cookies to be baked completely as Mifa watched them circling inside the oven, with her body tensed, her forehead sweating, her fingers fisted and her mind anxious. Her mind circled around him, just like the cookies in the hot oven.
She didn't even know how he looked now. Last time when she saw him, he had grown beard, and he looked so tall. She remembered, she was unable to recognise his voice even, that much it was changed, thanks to puberty.
She didn't know what was the exact reason, being older than him by few months or because of geans, she was taller than him all through out their childhood and she had teased him enough for that same reason. She knew well, she was taller than most of the normal girls and even taller than many men as well but, last time when she saw him, he was approximately 3-4 inches taller than her, which had given her shock.
Once, when she got her hands on her aunt's phone, she had checked her phone's gallery for his photos. She found barely, four or five pictures and those were old as well. Still, she sent those on her WhatsApp secretly and then deleted the proof like a professional thief. Though, in her mind she was scared, what if he found out.
She even saved his number secretly but it was of no use, she knew. Because, neither she had guts to call or text him nor he would have her number saved which would have given her opportunity to see his profile picture at least.
Though, she desperately wished, Afham also had stolen her number from his mother's phone.
Once when Mifa's mother, Afeera called her sister, she picked it up late and told that the phone was with Afham. Thus, Mifa knew, he uses her phone sometimes, which made her obviously thrilled and nervous at the same time.
Did he ever check her profile picture? Did he ever check her status? Did he also save her photos in his phone, how she did? Did he also had her number saved, with a symbol of heart, like she had done? Mifa used to wonder many times since then.
Alas!...She would never get to know about these details.
Such undistinguished and anonymous was her Love!
Beep. Beep. Beep.
The oven beeped three times as it stopped circulating and told her that the cookies were ready.
She pulled a pair of purple oven mittens which had white roses printed on them, on her soft creamy palms and took out the Baking Tray containing the cookies, from oven.
The sweet aroma of freshly baked Rose Meringue Cookies spread in whole house and all the members gathered around Mifa, including her father too, who came back from work just then. They always did this whenever she bakes something.
"Hands up!" Mifa said, like a police inspector of old hindi movie and swatted Shoaib's hands away before he could touch the cookies.
"Cookies are hot and your hands aren't clean. Go wash them first." Shoaib made faces once again at his little sister who mostly behaves like his elder sister or a strict teacher.
"My hands are clean, Aapi!" Zohaib declared proudly about his qualification to touch the Cookies, making everyone laugh at his innocence.
"Yes, but I need to click the pictures first. Then you can try." Mifa told to her younger brother rather sweetly which got Shoaib's eyebrows raised at the partiality.
Mifa kept the Baking Tray on kitchen counter, decorated the background for a perfect picture and clicked a photo like a professional photographer.
She then posted the picture on her Bakery's social media account, @ loveatfirstbite.
Dream~
Ting ting!
The door bell rang taking all of their attention.
"It must be Afham!" Mifa's mother told her father who was surprised to know about this sudden visit from a relative who has supposedly forgotten them since years.
Both her brothers and father went to receive him.
Mifa kept the cookies aside to get cold as she tried to control her heart which was jumping in her chest.
This small part of human body, which was as big as their fists in size, called 'Heart', was a wild creation of God. It occasionally gets out of control in spontaneous overflow of emotions and that's presumably why, God caged it in 'Ribcage'.
Mifa realised at that very moment that, if it wasn't her ribcage holding it, her heart would have popped out of her mouth already.
The need to wet her dried lips increased and she licked them with her tongue, making them shine for a while.
She heard footsteps and happy voices coming nearer each second, through the portico, to the end of corridor.
They would soon reach in the veranda, from corridor and she was standing in the kitchen. Anyone standing in the veranda, wound be able to get whole view of kitchen, means;
He would see her.
She gulped hard. She needed some pixie dust immediately to vanish from there, within a second. Sadly, it wasn't a Disney movie, which could fulfill her washes. It was life, which loved to test her patience level. Often.
She heard her family talking, asking about his well being and all the other common queries which could take place at the moment.
And then, she heard his voice for the first time that day. He replied, in that baritone. That deep and heavy voice which had power to make her nervous and weak from so far, even without coming across each other.
She wiped her sweaty palms in her apron. Another unfamiliar voice made her frown and wonder, who was with him.
"He's my friend Utkarsh." Afham introduced his friend.
"Hello, Uncle and Aunty. I thought I would get bored alone there so came along with him. Hope you didn't mind." Utkarsh who looked rather talkative guy, unlike Afham, said smilingly.
"What's there to mind. You took right decision." Mifa's mother assured him and led them inside, to the dining table set in the veranda, in front of The kitchen.
Hearing that, Mifa turned her back to that side and kept her palm on her poor heart to control it.
By now, her father had asked them to take seats and all sat on the chairs around the dining table, indulging in small talks.
Mifa, who by now had controlled herself a bit, took deep breath and realised her state. She tried to open her apron but the knot got stucked. She struggled to open it and felt more nervous. Ohh God!! Why did it had to stuck now? Was he watching her clumsy self? She hoped, he wasn't.
She threw the apron in a corner in frustration after taking it off somehow. Next she adjusted her hair a bit. She took another deep breathe, as if trying to store oxygen inside her lungs for when she won't be able to breathe anymore.
She turned around slowly and looked at her mother first, safest person to look at, for now. Next she slided her pupils from her mother to her elder brother, sitting beside her.
Next, her eyes fell on the chair which was her and he was sitting there. Her breathe hitched in her throat and she immediately needed more oxygen for breathe, the oxygen previously stored ran out of stock.
She stared at his face which was half covered in beard, his cheeks which were chubbear now and his pure black curly hair were visible, as her father's profile didn't let her see anymore.
Seeing him after so long, she once again realised, how handsome he was. His sharp nose, just like a parrot's beak. His tall frame, even while sitting he looked taller than everyone present there. His wheatish skin and beard, around that face, which gave him the manly look. No, not beard, she'd call it a mane now, mane of a lion it seemed. His charcoal black hair, felt so soft from this far too. She wanted to run her fingers through his black grass like hair.
He was so hot, she could even bake cookies on him! The soul of a baker in her, won't allow her to give example of something else.
Afham's face was turned to one side, listening to conversation and she too turned her face to that side to see who was there. His friend, Utkarsh was sitting there, talking with them.
So he didn't see her!
She came out of the kitchen after adjusting her baby pink stole, having smell of her freshly baked cookies.
"Hello!" Utkarsh greeted her as soon as he saw her, which made Afham to raise his eyes up and look at her with his dark brown pupils, standing behind Zohaib's chair.
"Hi!" She smiled at him and her eyes shifted to Afham.
Their eyes locked for a nano second where she wasn't able to recognise anything, as always, before he looked back at her father and talked to him.
Rude! Mifa wanted to call him that, loudly but she didn't. Couldn't he greet her? If not greetings, then at least a smile would have done.
But what was she expecting. Had he ever done that before, in last few years? Never. She blinked her eyes many times to stop them from welling up. Their relation was not of greetings and formal words before too. These weren't needed back when they were younger and now, it was too awkward to do those, she was aware. So, she shouldn't blame him completely, but her crazy heart won't understand logics.
"Mifa, bring the tea and snacks for them!" Her ever smiling mother grabbed her attention before Mifa would have lost herself in another long session of overthinking.
"Okay!" she went back in kitchen and arranged snacks in a tray. She also kept pan of tea on stove, a bit hard which made noise. But not a lot. She had to control otherwise she would have kept it harder, after all she was angry. No, she was furious.
So much overthinking, so many emotions and so many wishes from her side and nothing from his side.
Why did she had to fall for him, out of seven billion other people on this earth!?
She brought tray of snacks, handed it to Zohaib, asking him to pass it ahead and vanished back inside kitchen, without even sparing a look at him.
Who was she showing her anger to? Did he even care? No, he didn't. So she should get a hold on her emotions. Mifa Pacified her innocent heart and poured the tea in kettle.
Once again she came out of kitchen, handed another Tray of kettle and cups, to Zohaib, asked him to put it in center of the table aand again vanished. This time, she went inside the adjacent room, which was her parents' room and closed the door.
She won't come out now, until he's here. She had decided.
~~~~
It was getting so lengthy, so why I thought to divide it.
Have cookies, until I update the third part.
Bunny!𓃹
11.06.2022
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