Finally I got the courage to publish this chapter 🤞🤞

Do let me know your opinion on today's chapter. Hoping I have done justice to the plot.

Thanks for showering the love on my book  - the book has crossed 200 votes and 700 reads 

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Author's POV:

Everyone sat down in the living room after their late lunch session—the men on one side and the women on the other side.

"Bro, all these oldies are in their own talks. Let us sit somewhere else",  getting bored of the elder talks Sameer grabbed Adil's hand and sat on the other sofa, which faces towards stairs.

Danish also follows his brother-in-laws, "What happened? You guys came here," a crazy idea clicked in Sameer's mind.

 "Jiju, Bro is desperate to see his to-be wife so he grabbed me here to have her first look," Sameer mischievously put everything on Adil.

"When did I say it?" Adil gasped.

"No.....No...... Jiju... I... did... didn't... say...it," Adil strutted loudly, which made even elders along with Danish and Sameer laugh at him

"Ruksana, call Ayesha and tell her to bring Neha." Salma Dadi said to Ruksana, smiling towards Adil, who turned his face down embarrassingly and furious towards Sameer.

Everyone took their original seats, and Adil, not wanting to deal with any more embarrassment, was going to take a seat in the farthest corner of the room.

Ruksana called Adil "Beta, come here" and made him sit in the middle, grabbing everyone's attention.

"No... No Aunty. I will sit there."  Adil got up and took a seat next to Sameer, who was sitting on the diwan cot across Arshiya and Sumaiyya.

Neha entered the living area along with Ayesha and Afsha. 

Neha sat beside Arshiya, while Afsha took an armchair beside Danish, and Ayesha came and sat beside Salma Dadi in a chair.

When Arshiya called for Adil, Sameer and Adil turned to face her, and simultaneously Neha also faced upwards.

Three of them—Adil, Sameer from one side and Neha from the other side—got shocked to see each other reliving their pasts from five years.

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Call to the prayer, Asar (third prayer of the day) Adhan was called from the nearby mosque/masjid, making the trio bring back to the reality.

"Let us all go to the mosque first," Ali said as he got up, and other men also followed the suit making their way to the masjid.

"Neha, Ayesha, take Sumaiyya and Arshiya ji to the washroom for the ablution. Afsha beta, come to my room; it is downstairs only. " Salma Dadi got up and instructed the younger ones, to which they nodded their heads and proceeded as instructed.

After few minutes in masjid, Imam (the person who leads the prayer) recited the final salam (the last step of completion of namaz/salah where we turn our heads on the right and left shoulders saying our salams) and instructed for continuation of individual dua (the final act of namaz in which we raise hands to ask anything like forgiveness, mercy, favours, etc in front of Allah SWT).

He raised his hands for Dua, without his realisation, his hands started to shiver and tears started to roll down from his eyes, and he recited the verses and words of being grateful to Almighty for showering him with bountiful favours. 

Surrendering himself to Allah SWT and asking forgiveness and mercy for zillion times finally he got up.

Sitting on one of the bottom stairs of the mosque, he started to tie his show lace. Sameer came beside him and following the same act, there was unsettling silence between them; neither of them knew how to initiate the conversation.

"You are not telling her,"  finally Adil broke the silence and commanded, alarming Sameer.

"But, Why?"  Sameer was about to come back, but Adil quickly cut him off - "Because... I said so."

"And why do you think I will listen to you?" Sameer retorted.

"Neha is back in India but hasn't called any of us yet. On the other side, she has been missing her for the past four years.  If she got to know about Neha's arrival, she will surely meet her and rant about being MIA," Sameer continued.

"Exactly this is the reason I am telling you not to tell her. She will be happy to meet Neha, but she will also be disappointed that despite Neha being in India for nearly eight months, she has neither her nor us." Adil made Sameer understand the situation.

Sameer at last gave in, and the two of them stood by the masjid entrance, waiting for the elders to arrive.

"Bro, I am starting to doubt our law skills," Sameer buzzed, making Adil confused.

Adil raised an eyebrow facing Sameer to elaborate further about the statement.

"We already knew to-be Bhabhi's name is 'Neha' but still we were unable to figure out—'Neha' is 'our Nehu'."

Realisation hit him that indeed Sameer was right; he never thought Neha Ali would be his Neha.

The same Neha, to whom he was attracted even though it was not love at first but surely there was something magnetic towards her which made him want to be near her,
The same Neha, whose likes and dislikes he could list out even in his deep sleep,
The same Neha, whose almond-shaped brown eyes are still imprinted in his deep corner of his brain,
The same Neha, his sister, Saniya constantly teases and is currently upset because he accepted the marriage proposal without arguing,
The same Neha, whom he thought to gift the diamond-studded bracelet while proposing to her for marriage,
The same Neha, whom he dreamt of a day before yesterday.

As he closed his eyes, the face of a girl with a blue shirt and black pants wearing a grey hijab was finally revealed, and he was shocked to see it was the same Neha, his love of life whom he had been waiting for four long years.

Flashback begins :

(5 years ago - Mumbai)

It was a bright sunny day, and everyone in the city was bustling around to reach their destination on time.

Adil dressed in a grey t-shirt, layered over a black checkered shirt and black shaded jeans, got out of the auto in front of an apartment along with a bag of  a black suitcase.

(Adil's outfit)

"Bhaiya, How much?" he asked the rickshaw driver.

He glanced at the metre box of the auto and replied, "220 rupees"

Nodding, he opened his wallet but was shocked to have only 500 rupees notes. Having no option, he took one note and forwarded it to the driver

"Bhaiya, I don't have change " the driver replied disappointedly

"Arey Bhaiya, how come you don't have it? Please check once again", Adil retorted.

"You are the first customer, how will I have change? Please do ask here and there and bring the change. I have to look for other customers also," the auto driver bluntly stated him to look out for the change.

"Bhaiya I don't know anyone here, can you bring the change?" Adil softly requested the driver.

Being an introvert, he found it difficult to request a change from others, especially in the morning when everyone is rushing to get somewhere that to when he is new in the city.

Yes it was the first time Adil visited Mumbai and he was going to stay with Sameer in his flat.

As Adil's flight was delayed, Sameer left the keys with the watchman and went to the office, where no one he knew was there.

On the other side, Neha dressed in bright red kurti, blue jeans, and a blue hijab and embroidered jhuttis dashed out of the lift and hurriedly came out of the apartment as she was getting late to go to the office.

She was grateful to see an auto outside the building gate and hurried over to get there before anyone else could.

"Bhaiya, Will you go to Andheri?" She asked hesitantly.

"I do not have change, please try to understand it is my ride time, arrange it fast." The driver's voice forced her to turn to the other side of the auto.

She saw Adil was trying to convince the driver for the remaining money.

She checked her handbag and found five hundred rupees notes, She took the money and handed it to Adil 

Adil glanced at the hand which was forwarded towards him—five 100 rupees notes were present, He turned aside to have a look of the person 

He was intrigued at her first glance; the hijab confirmed to him that she is a Muslim.

"Jazakallahu  khair" He took the money and replied.

Neha simply nodded, took the 500 rupee note, and put it back in her handbag.

Adil had also given the driver the required amount, and the driver was ready to go.

"Arey Bhaiya, wait." Neha shrieked and hurried to stop the auto, telling the driver where she wanted to go. She got in the auto.

As the auto drove away with Neha, Adil remained in the same spot and stared at the direction as someone had spellbound him, admitting that he was attracted to her.

With time, this attraction turned into a liking and he started to look out for the reasons to have a glance of her,  making him into a hopelessly romantic person.

The day he bought the bracelet was the same day Neha left from Mumbai to Hyderabad, shattering his expectations.

After a few months, he returned to Bangalore, and upon seeing the bracelet, he was immediately reminded of her—her talks, her annoyance, her irritation, and her smile.

Taking the bracelet from the bag, he placed it close to his heart.
"This bracelet is made for you and except you, no one will wear it until then I will keep this with me as your possession. 

You are my first love, holding a special place in my heart till my last breath. If you are in my destiny, I will wait for you for as long as you come into my life; if not, still I will be waiting for you, and the day I see you, I will gift this bracelet to you."

He kissed the bracelet and placed it in a velvet box, locking the drawer of the cupboard.

Flashback Ends

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At Neha's House

Neha and Afsha  were sitting in Salma Dadi's room while everyone was in the living room enjoying the evening tea.

"Thanks Neha, for the coverup; it means a lot for Saniya and us."  Yesterday night, Afsha called Neha and requested to tell everyone that 'Saniya is busy in boutique work due to last-minute changes'.

"It's okay Bhabhi but I didn't understand why you guys are hiding about her modelling career with Khalid Uncle." Neha though agreed but was curious about this mystery since yesterday was unable to keep it to herself so finally she asked Neha.

"Ahh, it is complicated, Neha. In short, Abbu hates modelling, so to hide it from him, Saniya works two jobs for Mamma's company: part-time interior designer and modelling. Abbu only knows that Saniya is an interior designer and that she came here to design your studio."  Afsha briefed out the situation.

Despite her confusion, Neha just nodded, understanding that it was their private matter and she should not get involved.

"By the way, what did you think about my brother?", Afsha asked mischievously

"Bhabhi........", Neha stuttered

Afsha put her hand on Neha, rubbing her thumb in a circular pattern to sooth her saying, "It's ok, I can understand; take your own time."

Getting relaxed Neha asked, "Bhabhi, who was the other person beside AAAdil" but stuttered while mentioning the name of him, which was not missed by Afsha.

Smiling at her,  Afsha answered, "Oh, he is Sameer, Adil's bestfriend and colleague."

"You know they both are very close and even today Adil has actually wore Sameer's outfit", Afsha continued smiling, fastening Neha's heartbeat.

"Oh, is he married?"  Neha asked, trying to sound as casual as she could.

"Hahaha Sameer and marriage that too before Adil, both of the friends believe and say that ' we should enjoy the bachelor life before we get laid off'"Afsha laughed, mimicking the lines in Adil and Sameer's style.

"You know what, Sameer even said that first he will welcome his Bhabhi and later his Bhabhi should grandly welcome his wife." Afsha squeezed Neha's hands while remembering his antiques.

"So someone is ..." Sumaiyya entered the room, pausing Neha from asking anything more.

Seeing Sumiayya, Neha stood up from the bed and smiled at Sumaiyya, "Have a seat Beta; I just came here to call Afsha. We are about to leave."

Cupping Neha's cheeks and kissing her forehead. "I would be really happy to have you as my daughter," Sumaiyya said caressing her. Not understanding how to respond; Neha shyly casted her gaze down. 

Seeing her condition, Afsha got up and gave a side hug; "As promised, I am sharing Adil's number with you. You guys can talk and clear your misunderstandings, and next time I hope you will not stutter Adil's name while mentioning," Afsha said, before giving her a wink that made her cheeks blush.

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Neha's POV:

As soon as they left, telling everyone that I was tired and wanted to rest, I hurried to my room and closed the door behind me. 

Sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall next to the room door, I tried to analyse today's events and slowly my mind drifted to the past, recalling all the memories. Tears began to fall, and I was too tired to wipe them up.

I can see the sky outside through the window in front of me; the sun had already set and the sky was beginning to engulf the darkness, mirroring my inner turmoil. I dropped to my knees and wrapped my arms around myself, allowing my tears to flow.

After having my little crying session. I got up and moved towards the closet—bending down, I opened the lowest shelf and took out the shoulder bag present inside. 

As I opened the zip of the bag, my irritation started to grow up by looking at all those things present inside. Frustratingly,  I took out a few photographs and threw it angrily, scattering around my room.

Those photos were of the three of us—me, Sana and Sameer, happily enjoying the time near the beach.

Seeing those happy faces in the pictures, my heart began to bleed, and my brain began to blame me for falling in love with someone who is in love with my own friend, Sana. 

What kind of person, am I?

When I saw him today, the person I vowed to never see in my life again for my own better was infront of me, making my heart recall all those burried feelings. Sameer—my first, one-sided love.

The harsh reality, I was running away to calm my heart has itself come to my doorstep as a friend of the person whom I was about to meet for the marriage.  I broke down again.

No, no, I can not cry for him again. Neha, you made a promise to yourself four years ago that you wont cry over him. Remembering my self promise, I gathered myself and my inner turmoil.

After a few minutes of self talk, I got up to collect the photographs to keep them back; a few of them were scattered near the bed so I turned in that direction and moved towards the bed. 

As I took out the photographs and turned it over to have a look, another wave of realisation hit me.

Four people—mine, Sana, Sameer, and Adil—mocking and teasing faces were on display, giving another reality checkup that there are still more intertwined threads in this tangled web to appear.

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Bonus part from the Author:

Both of the looks of Neha in Adil's dream👇👇👇👇

Funfact: If you guys observed or not but let me be clear.

Both of the looks as shown in Adil's dream were the same as when Adil sees her for the first time

First look - when Adil sees Neha in Mumbai
Second look - when Adil sees Neha in Hyderabad ( though this was from far when she was hugging his family)

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