...

Dahlia Ahmad got up early the next morning... which for her standards were any hour before noon.

She picked up her battered copy of Little Woman and tip-toed out of the room on which her friend and sister were still sound asleep. Dahlia walked out to the Fayyad's backyard. It was a sunny day and the humidity was higher than she had felt in a while. The heat was seeming unbearable since the moment she stepped out of Layla's air-conditioned room, but the slight breeze blowing by slightly soothed her skin.

Her eyes landed on a tall figure across the lawn, in front the garage that was connected to the driveway in the front of the house. Dahlia saw his face as a blur because of not wearing glasses, but she immediately knew who it was. She had come across Kaveh enough times to recognize his physique.

He was washing his car. He was moving with his pants up to his knees and a hose pipe in his hands, the gushing water directed towards the garage, only the hood of his blue car visible to her. There were damp patches in his clothes.

Dahlia neared one of the white couches arranged around the swimming pool and shifted it so that she wouldn't be facing him directly. She sat down under the shade of the trees dotting their garden, relaxing her back.

She opened her book. Within seconds, that skin-tingling sensation returned. She didn't have to look up to know he was staring at her again.

Dahlia turned and shifted her weight to her left shoulder to completely face away from him.

The Ahmad sisters had decided last night that they were going to return home the first thing after waking up, and return to the Fayyad mansion at night again as needed. But Yasmine Aunty insisted they stay the day and eat iftaar with the Fayyads. By now, the woman was already cooking up enough food to feed a family of elephants. So the sisters were stuck in this house.

As she read her book, Kaveh took his time. He got through at least three buckets of water and changed his sponges quite a few time.

It was high afternoon when Dahlia felt like it was getting too hot for her to remain outside. She could feel the heat seeping under her hijab.

She got up and stretched. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Kaveh still lingering near his car. She didn't understand what was taking him so long. This had to be the longest car wash she had ever witnessed.

Dahlia walked back to the house and lingered near the kitchen for a while.

"You didn't have to go through all the trouble, aunty," she said, sighting Layla's mother.

"Don't be silly!" Yasmine cried. "I love having you girls around. Snooping on your gossip is my daily dose of entertainment."

Dahlia chuckled at her words and shuffled near the door for a few minutes longer. She exchanged small talk with the older woman and then started towards Layla's room.

Kaveh Fayyad was now hovering over their living room table, going through some magazines.

She strode towards their staircase, without sparing him a glance. He peered at her through his lashes as she walked by.

Dahlia and Lily spent the majority of her day in Layla's room. Every time Dahlia stepped out of the room to take a walk or to socialize with the rest of the family members, he was always there.

She went to Azar's room to play with the kid. Kaveh casually walked across the hall, just outside her door.

And every time Dahlia went out to the balcony across Layla's room to stretch her legs, Kaveh was on his mini library, reading something or the other.

Also, that tingling sensation followed her along with his presence.

"I didn't know he was a lurker," Dahlia grumbled under her breath to Lily. "He's always lurking in the background!"

"Well, it's his house." Lily shrugged. "He has a right to be wherever he wants to be. To him, probably you are the lurker."

At that, Dahlia was annoyed.

She realized the weekends were a wrong choice to spend at the Fayyad household (not that she had much of a choice) because Kaveh apparently didn't understand the concept of giving his guests personal space.

To that Lily snarked, "Dels, you do realize we are the ones invading his personal space, right?"

"Goodness gracious, woman," Dahlia huffed. "Whose side you are on?"

"I didn't realize there were different sides to begin with."

Dahlia was mad for the rest of the day.

The Fayyad house was one of her favourite places in the world and talking to Layla her escape, but the presence of that cold man made it extremely unpleasant to be there.

It made her dislike him even more, even though she knew Lily would say her feelings were irrational, that didn't mean she was going to stop disliking him anytime soon.

Kaveh Fayyad, on the other hand, couldn't figure out why his guests were always fleeing at his sight. One guest, in particular.

He was seated on a sofa in their informal living room upstairs, spending the afternoon of his weekend studying near his bookshelf - as usual.

The three girls came out of the room during Asr' azaan. Lily and Layla were laughing silently at how Dahlia missed a step and almost fell down a few moments ago.

"Haha, we all had a good laugh. Can we forget it now?" she said with irate and then halted in her tracks.

Dahlia stiffened when she saw him. She recovered quickly and removed her gaze from him. She walked past him and briskly sauntered to the attached balcony.

Lily Ahmad smiled at him in greeting when passing him, and he returned the gesture. The girls stopped under open air, quietly talking among themselves.

He looked at her briefly, and saw that Dahlia was staring at their front lawn. They stood there for a few minutes and then went back to the room, and didn't come out of it for the rest of the day.

It was a few hours before Maghrib when Kaveh caught Layla for a chat.

"How are your friends doing?" he asked, not removing his eyes from the book he was reading.

"They're fine?" Layla said, raising a brow at his mocking tone.

"They barely left your room all day," he said, finally facing her.

"You know the sisters wear hijab, they would feel uncomfortable having to wear it all day because of you and Dad."

"But shouldn't guests fraternize with their hosts at least for the sake of being cordial?"

"Why on earth would my friends want to hang out with anyone but me?" She shot her brother a ridiculed look.

Salman Bashir's eyes swept over the street.

It was mostly quiet and serene, with only a few pedestrians walking by. His eyes found his friends near the lake snaking around the pristine residential area, and walked towards them.

His two friends were standing near a street vendor making spicy puffed rice. Raad waved a hand at him.

"We were passing by so just decided to meet you on the way," he said, as Salman neared them.

"I wasn't doing much, anyway," Salman shrugged.

He was in office when his friends called and took a small break to say hello to them.

The three guys huddled near the street vendor. Fardin fished out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lit it using a lighter from the man selling chutney.

"At least have respect for the ones who are fasting," Raad cried at him.

Fardin rolled his eyes. He looked at Salman. "You're fasting too?"

"Of course."

"I need to save you from Ibrahim before he turns you into a saint," he snorted and put a distance between him and the other two boys to finish his smoke.

A slight wind blew and swayed their hair along with the lake water. A rickshaw bell rang as the three wheeler crossed the road.

"When is Professor Osmani coming?" Salman turned to his cousin when they were alone, his eyes glowing with mischief when he used the word Professor.

"Bhaia will be here by next week," Raad answered.

"Are your parents still thinking of introducing him to that Farrah girl?" he queried, dialing his tone to neutral.

Raad shrugged casually. "I don't know."

"I don't understand why you guys are considering her. I mean Rashid Bhaia is brilliant. He is a freaking PhD holder." Salman waved his hand exaggeratedly attempting to keep his expression nonchalant. "And she used to fail all her classes in high school."

"Really?" Raad asked, eyes blinking with surprise. "Always thought she was a good student."

"Oh, no. I used to tutor her sometimes. Horrible student." Salman widened his eyes, shaking his head dramatically. "She even had to take an extra year to graduate Uni."

"That is concerning," Raad responded with disinterest. A thought suddenly occurred to him, and he cranked up his neck to meet Salman's gaze, the look in his eyes curious. "Are you sure you're okay with this?"

The question took him by surprise. The smile in Salman's face turned stiff. He still tried to maintain a casual demeanor. "Why wouldn't I be?" he asked.

"I don't know." Raad shrugged. "It's Farrah and you," he said. "You guys have history."

"We all have history with her," Salman replied, shrugging. "We grew up together."

"It's not the same and you know it, Salman," he said, shooting a look that held meaning Salman wasn't ready to comprehend.

"Geez." He rolled his eyes, the playfulness now being forced. "Now don't make me a thing with Fat Farrah."

"All I'm saying is just let everyone know if you aren't okay with this, and do it before it's too late."

A few feet away from them Fardin threw the last bit lit cigarette and snubbed it with the bottom of his shoe. He walked towards the two guys and joined them again, unaware of the tension in the air.