THIS BOOK CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T READ "HER BLIND HUSBAND".

"I had run from my past for way too long. It was now high time for me to come to terms with it no matter how much it broke me!"- Hisham Hosseini.

SOMEWHERE IN A MEN'S WASHROOM ROOM...

Imagine sugar.

Imagine spice.

Then add a whole lot of extravagant drama.

That is how one could at least try to describe Imran Fareed- Hisham's high school best friend.

He was an almost exact replica of Hisham behaviour wise at least and Khaleel tried his very best to control the urge of continuously banging his head against the wall as he painfully listened to Imran continuously go on and on about the most delirious of things.

"If I am not the one turning heads when we walk out through this door then I don't know who is," said Imran as he checked himself out in the washroom's mirror for something like the hundredth time.

"That is IF we do LEAVE this washroom sometime TODAY hopefully but from the looks of it I highly doubt it," Khaleel replied impatiently.

"What? You want to stay? Like I mean we could but Khaleel come on, it's a washroom..."

"Can we just LEAVE already?"

"Okay! Let me just fix my tie. Do you mind helping me..."?

"I DO!"

Imran smiled to himself completely amused with how easy it was to get Khaleel cutely riled up. It had not even been twenty-four hours since they had met but he had already grown to have much respect and immense liking towards him.

Unfortunately for Khaleel, he had also been able to easily figure out that Khaleel was a man who wore his heart on his sleeve and therefore there was absolutely nothing that could stop him from irritating him just a little bit more or rather to be a bit more precise, every few seconds.

"If I didn't know for a fact that you LIKE me, I would almost have assumed that you are being a peanut butter and JELLY sandwich?"

"I not jealous of you!" huffed Khaleel as he angrily shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Are you sure?"

"One thousand percent!"

"Okay, whatever helps you sleep at night," said Imran and laughed when Khaleel immediately replied with...

"It only helps when you shut up!"

Khaleel raked his hand through his hair a couple of times extremely frustrated with how uncertain things were.

At least for him!

All he had gotten to know from Yasir was that Hisham was in The United States, working as a waiter in a restaurant in whose washroom they were currently in or rather to be a bit more accurate, in whose washroom Imran was busily checking himself out for the past half an hour.

The only other thing that Yasir had thought of generously adding was that he was he was to fly out to meet Imran who would tell him the rest of the solid plan when he got there.

Imran Fareed.

Hisham's overly unbearable act alike.

"So, what's the plan?" asked Khaleel not being able to control himself anymore and instantly rolled his eyes when Imran replied with...

"What plan?"

"Hisham's plan!"

"What? Hisham also has a plan? Why didn't anyone bother telling me?"

"Okay Bro, I'm out," said Khaleel, beginning to walk out the door literally having had enough.

Imran let out a genuine whole hearted laugh as he swiftly held on to Khaleel's arm thus preventing him from leaving and said...

"Relax Bro, I've just been messing with you the entire time."

He then remained silent for a mere few seconds, shoved his hands into his pockets, cleared his throat, locked his eyes which held so much excitement with Khaleel's and said with the most serious tone he could pull off...

"The plan is simple. Very very simple. All we have to do is walk up to Hisham, tap him on the shoulder and well umm, you can hug him if you want to. That's totally fine by me. I mean I think I can allow that and then...we literally start crying our hearts out pleading for him to come back home for our sake and the idea is to not stop crying until he agrees."

"Really!?" asked Khaleel not believing his ears.

"NO!"

"Though that would have been totally cute," Imran quickly added.

Imran's facial expression then suddenly changed to an extremely serious one and Khaleel too straightened up a bit because it was almost as if Imran meant nothing but business.

He reached to the inside of one of his suit's pockets and pulled out a medium sized envelope, took out a few documents from it which he silently handed over to Khaleel to read.

To say that Khaleel's mouth literally hung open as he keenly perused through the documents would be a complete understatement. He continuously raked his hand through his hair not at all believing what he was looking at.

"SHUT... THE... FRONT... DOOR!" he finally exclaimed.

"I know right?"

"Oh my God. These are so fake yet original! If that's a thing."

"It's apparently going to be from today," said Imran, enjoying every second of Khaleel's reaction.

"We are so going to get caught!"

"Well the second option is to kidnap him!"

"Ummm," said Khaleel unsure of the kidnapping part.

"I thought so and no we aren't going to get caught. These are of course very much original documents while at the same time as you said, they are fake. I know that, you know that and Yasir knows that. The cops won't even if they tried to."

They then exchanged knowing glances, nodding their heads simultaneously in approval while inwardly they were both having their own evil kind of laugh.

"What I don't understand though is if all is was perfectly thought through then why did you guys need me? You could have easily pulled this off on your own," said Khaleel confusedly.

"I am so glad that we are finally having this conversation. So you Bro, are only here to make all of this look pretty. You know, blue eyes, navy blue suit. If the cops don't fall for our plan, then I am rest assured that they will definitely fall for you, pretty boy."

"Get lost already," said Khaleel with a laugh and Imran too let out a chuckle as he checked his watch and almost as if he had been waiting for that particular time, he gave himself one last look in the mirror and then headed out, Khaleel quietly following him.

He expertly made his way through the many tables almost as if he knew the place inside out and got them a table in a far corner, away from the eyes of most of the other diners and more specifically the other waiters.

"Wait, why the hell are we sitting?" asked Khaleel confusedly thinking that they were going to spring into action almost immediately.

Something of course which he would have done had he been alone.

"We are going to eat," Imran replied coolly as he began looking through each and every page of the menu.

"What? How dumb are you..."

"Be nice to me Khaleel. You might one day want to marry one of my sisters."

"You have sisters?"

"Yes, I have sisters in Islam," Imran replied and smiled when he heard Khaleel burst out into laughter.

He politely signalled to one of the waiters, asked him how he was doing and Khaleel's mouth literally hung open for the second time that afternoon as he listened to Imran place his order.

"Hmmmm okay, so a double cheese burger, two large fries, cream and pesto pasta, six kebabs, twelve chicken nuggets, chicken fried rice and a diet Coke please. Khaleel would you like to order anything?"

"Some fresh breath of air would be good," said Khaleel as he sank into his seat.

Imran chuckled to himself as he handed the menu back to the waiter who then began walking away only for Imran to quickly but in the politest way, call him back when he heard Khaleel say...

"You cannot eat all that Imran. You are acting as if your soulmate is carbs."

"Ummm, can you please read aloud what I ordered?" asked Imran and as the waiter began going through the order once again, Khaleel further sank into his seat because he could feel a burn coming and it actually did.

"See? I don't remember ordering a glass of your opinion so..."

Khaleel laughed not knowing what to say and deep down he could now clearly see as to why Imran and Hisham had been best friends.

They were nothing but perfect for each other and in all honesty, rest in peace to all the poor souls that actually went to school with them.

They then spent the next hour or so talking amicably at least, about different things with Imran generously sharing his much elaborate meal with Khaleel.

"So what's your profession?" asked Khaleel after they successfully finished their meal.

"Everything and everything."

"What?!"

"I am a handyman."

"Oh."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No, not all. It's just that...," said Khaleel his eyes drifting to Imran's expensive suit and let out a breath he didn't know he was holding when Imran said...

"It's a very old suit from a friend's wedding. I was the best man."

Khaleel quietly nodded his head realising that the man who currently sat opposite him was not all that he seemed to be. He had layers. Layers that might be hiding something or maybe not. He needed some unravelling but all in all, he was for sure...

A man with his own different story!

"So, are you ready to go get you your brother?" Imran asked clearing his throat to ease the awkward silence that had suddenly prevailed on their table.

"Ready as I'll ever be!"

He once again signalled for the waiter and as Khaleel cleared their bill, Imran asked in the most guarded way...

"Just a random question but is there a Hisham Hosseini that works here? He is an old friend of mine. Thought I should say hi!"

"No Sir!"

Khaleel immediately sent Imran an alarmed look but then heaved a huge sigh of relief when the waiter said...

"We do have a Hisham Fareed though. He works on the second floor of this restaurant."

"Ah! GOT YOU! Sorry I mean, thank you," said Imran and as soon as the waiter left he exclaimed...

"REALLY? Hisham Fareed? Like he couldn't even come up with another name? Like I know my surname is cool but sheesh, what an absolute fail. I give him zero points on originality. Where in the fish sticks is the manager?"

It wasn't long before the two stood in front of the manager in his office who carefully studied the "confidential" documents that they had handed over to him to read. It took even less time for him to get convinced with what he read and Imran made a literally throwing up face when they the manager immediately called for...

Hisham Fareed!

The wait for Hisham to get there was somewhat indescribable. I was like all the past four years where flashing right across Khaleel's eyes. He could remember the pain, the tears, the many unanswered questions.

Everything.

Just everything.

His heart clenched when he heard a gentle knock on the door and he tightly shut his eyes, holding on to his breath when he heard the one voice that they had been yearning to hear for the past four years.

The voice that literally used to light up each and every person's heart.

The voice of...

Hisham Hosseini.

"Sir, you called for me?" he asked, closing the door behind him, Khaleel and Imran's backs towards him.

"Yes Hisham. These gentlemen here seem to have an official complaint against you."

"Against me?"

"Yes, against you Hisham. How in the world of flying unicorns did you dare steal my surname? I am going to file a lawsuit against you," said Imran as both him and Khaleel turned to face him and for the next few seconds there was a literal standstill.

Hisham's eyes drifted from those of his best friend to his brother's and Khaleel could have sworn that he saw tears stain his eyes which he quickly blinked away.

"What complaint?" he asked his voice trembling due to too many suppressed emotions but before he could get an answer there were two loud knocks on the door and two cops walked in much to Imran and Khaleel's delight.

Their plan was working perfectly.

So far!

"Sorry but I had to call the cops. It's better if they are the ones to look into this matter," said the manager.

"But of course. We would also love for everything to be done the "legal" way," said Imran and Khaleel couldn't help but laugh to himself.

The legal way? Yeah sure!

Hisham held the papers which the manager handed him with trembling hands and within a few seconds of reading through them he said...

"These are absolutely fake!"

"Oh, looks whose talking," exclaimed Imran and Khaleel couldn't help but stifle another laugh.

Imran was one overly dramatic person and it was almost as if he had been waiting for this moment to showcase his very much worth applauding acting skills.

"First of all, this man's name is not even Hisham Fareed. His real name is Hisham Hosseini and here are copies of his birth certificate, his school certificates and here are some old pictures," said Imran as he slowly handed everything to the cops one by one.

"Secondly, this man has stolen from our company...."

"I have not stolen anything. I would never..." began Hisham only to be quickly cut off by Imran.

"You have stolen many things Hisham. You have stolen things that have made it difficult for people to live without for the past for years. You have also stolen my surname. Don't think that I will let you go off so easily."

"Sir, these documents are fake. First of all, there should be a company's logo here and there seems to be no watermark as well," pleaded Hisham only to be cut off this time by Khaleel.

"Oh wow. You seem to have much knowledge about our company. See? He was working there before he stole stuff and ran away..."

Hisham let out an exasperated sigh and as Imran explained things to the cops even more dramatically he couldn't help but remain silent not all believing that this was happening.

"And even his work permit is fake considering his name in NOT Hisham FAREED!" Imran finally cried out having given the entire situation his very best.

The two cops then thoroughly went through all the papers again while whispering amongst themselves as Imran and Khaleel shared knowing glances.

The ball had been in their court and from the look of things, it looked like they had actually scored!

The cops then turned to Hisham who had been standing standing silently, having basically given up and said...

"Sorry sir but you have to come with us and from the looks of it..."

You will have to get deported!

***

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UNTIL NEXT TIME,

ASALAM ALEIKUM.