Nisha stared at her watch, counting the seconds.

"25... 30." She scoffed, looking around to find people entering the area. 
"I already arrived at the fair. Why is that guy so late?" She groaned. Taking out her phone, she dialled Kabir's number and waited for a few rings.

'Sorry, the number you are calling is unavailable. Please try again later, thank you.' 

Her eyes slightly widened, "Where the heck is that douche?" 

She wiped her sweaty palms on her kurta, looking down. She felt nervous.

Was he ditching her?

"Never mind, I'll wait for five more minutes. After that, he can go to hell." She whispered to herself. A thought crossed her mind as she stared at the people entering. Most were couples and a few families. 
"Nobody's single in this place. Weird." She huffed, tapping her feet impatiently on the ground. 

She watched a dog pass by while looking at her and blinked twice.
"Did that dog... give me a side eye? Yah! Single people exist." She muttered to herself, glaring at her phone. 
Her attention was diverted when she heard a familiar voice, "Areh! Nisha?" 

She turned around to find one of her colleagues standing there.
"Ah, Nur?" Eyeing the male in front of her from head to toe, she heaved out a soft sigh. 
"What are you doing here?" He asked, running a hand through his raven hair. 

She made an awkward face, "I'm visiting the bookfair?" 

Who asked such an obvious question? She thought. 

He smiled warmly, "Well, same. You're alone?" 
"Do you see anyone around?" She asked, trying not to sound sarcastic but she was being so. Her mood was dull enough and these pointless questions were making her angrier. 
He made a thoughtful face, nodding, "Then should we go together? I'm alone too, it's a little... painful to be alone in here." 
She couldn't help but chuckle at the atrocity of life.

She found another dumbass like her.

"Sure. We can go, I guess." She said, glancing at her phone.

He was thirty minutes late. And she wasn't waiting anymore. That was her last straw. 

He backed away, letting her get inside first as she smiled a little. 

As they walked inside, entering a bookstore, she tried to appear cheerful but must've failed miserably because he kept asking her if she was okay. 
She was annoyed at Kabir but more than that, she was disappointed. She had high hopes for today. She wanted to show him around a few books and maybe, she'd like to bicker with him a bit as well. Or smile when he suddenly said a flirty line and bothered her.

She tried not to dwell on her thoughts too much, aware of the presence beside her.

"Do you like Zafar Iqbal's books?" He asked as she shrugged, "I've read a few. They're not bad." 
"How about Humayun Ahmed? His writings are quite famous amongst people for his humour." He spoke, going through a few books. She hummed, absent-mindedly tracing the wooden edges of the bookshelf. 

The book fair was crowded.

And Nisha was seeing why. The book fair in the country was so wide that going there meant running into at least ten celebrities in the span of a few hours. 
As if the whole country was confined into an area full of books, love and a bit of...

"Chor chor chor!" Someone screamed as their heads turned, noticing a few people running amidst the crowd. 
"What did they steal?" Nur asked a nearby man who sighed, "I guess it's a phone or something. Mohammapur isn't Mohammadpur if there isn't at least one news of stealing." 

A bit of chaos, as well. Yeah.

Nisha pressed her lips into a thin line, amused at the man's indifferent attitude. She wondered how Kabir would react if he was here.

He'd probably say something utterly devious that would make Nisha laugh her heart out in guilt. He was just like that, after all. He said stuff that wouldn't be acceptable but still found a way to make Nisha amused. 

"Nisha?" She was shaken out of her thoughts by Nur's voice. 
"Are you thinking about something good?" He asked as she frowned, "Huh?" 
"You were smiling while staring at the wall. I thought you thought about something really good." 

She looked away, swallowing a lump in her throat.
"I... I wasn't." 

They roamed around for a bit, laughing when they found a few people arguing. 
"I swear, arguing is serious but when they use their native dialect, it becomes hilarious to listen to," Nisha spoke, guilty of her own words but the humour overtook her conscience. 
"I wonder how you laugh at people arguing but I can't disagree with you," Nur spoke as they walked towards a food stall nearby. 
She stared at the burgers they were making, remembering how she and Kabir had shared a burger during their street food hunt. 

A soft frown appeared on her face when she realized how often she had been thinking of him. 

"Nisha?" Nur asked as she hummed, still flustered by her own thoughts. 
"Do you want a burger?" 
She nodded, glancing at her phone. It was six thirty p.m. Her eyes widened when she noticed a few missed calls from Kabir. 

She immediately backed away as Nur was ordering. 
"I'll be back." She said to him, walking to a secluded area and checking his text messages.

kabir_95: Nisha, where are you? 

kabir_95: Are you there? I'm really sorry for being late. I had an emergency at work. 

kabir_95: I'm waiting at the entrance until you text or call me back, okay? 

She stared at his texts, a soft huff escaping her lips. 
Her feet started moving and she found herself walking towards the entrance. She didn't intend to see him but every thought seemed to fumble in her brain.

The only thing she knew was that he was near. And she had to find him.

"I'll kill that douche for ditching me." She rolled her eyes and stomped outside, looking around until her eyes stopped on a familiar figure. 
Her frown dissipated as she stared at him. 

He had a black shirt. And his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. Somehow, he looked awfully handsome in that way.

Maybe it was due to his unearthly hands. 

"Kabir Zaid." She spoke, approaching him. His eyes which were constantly glancing at his phone raised to meet her gaze. 
His lips parted as he heaved out a sigh of relief. He kept the phone in his pocket and strode towards her. 
"How dare you ditch me? Your little piece of—" Her words were interrupted when he held her shoulders, gasping loudly. 

"What?" She scowled, earning a smile from him. 
He seemed relieved and that was confusing for Nisha. 

"Thank god you didn't go home." She blinked twice at his statement, "What? Do you want me to wait for you for hours? I stayed because I was busy enjoying myself without any bother. Thanks for not coming, glad you didn't. You didn't have to now, either. I'd be quite grateful if you didn't—"
He shushed her by placing his thumb on her lips.

She moved his hand from her lips.

He sighed, shaking his head, "I was so right about you." 
"What?" She scowled harder. He smiled a little, tilting his head at her. 

"I had a meeting with a business partner. I asked him to shift it to Sunday but he couldn't manage it so I fixed the time before meeting you. I thought it'd take only two hours and I could come here immediately but he came late due to his family issues and delayed the departure. The traffic made it worse. It'd usually take me thirty minutes to come but it took me an hour and thirty minutes. I'm sorry, I really am. I should've told you beforehand." 

She processed his paragraph for a few seconds before sighing. 
"Are you a superhero? Spider man? Do you want teleportation powers? Who can manage a business meeting within two hours and spawn to the book fair? Did you forget that our country has an abnormal amount of traffic? Living in the States surely drowned your leftover brain cells." She mocked, rolling her eyes as he sighed. 

Her frown deepened when he scanned her face with a soft smile. 

"Why are you smiling? Shameless." She scoffed. He leaned in closer, making her breath hitch. With a soft smile on his face, he whispered, "You look like an angry bird." 

She let out a huff, inhaling his scent. 

"Whatever. I have company now. I can't accompany you anymore." She spoke as he backed away.
"Company? Who is that?" 

His gaze shifted from her face to her background as a voice called, "Nisha!" 

"What is that?" He raised a brow as she backed away, moving out of his grip. Nur approached them and eyed Kabir, turning to Nisha who eyed him, "It's a person, not a thing for you to ask like that."
"Who is he?" He asked as Kabir frowned, mouthing, "That's my question." 
She pressed her lips, "Ah, Nur, this is my... friend, Kabir. And Kabir, this is Nur, my colleague." 

"Nur," Kabir muttered, disapproval evident on his face. She wanted to punch that look on his face cause of how embarrassed it made her. 
Nur glanced at Kabir, awkwardly looking at Nisha. 
She could only smile, "Uh, Nur—"
"Is he joining us?" Kabir asked as Nisha's lips parted. 

Nur frowned, "Wait, what?" 
"Are you joining me and Nisha?" She nudged Kabir's arms who seemed unbothered by his unfriendly attitude. 
"Technically, you'll be joining us. We've been inside together." Nisha whispered. Kabir blinked a few times, processing her words and looked at her.
"Well, I get it. I was late so you hung out with him. Thanks for accompanying her all this while. Let's go, Nisha." Kabir held her hands, making her gasp.

She tried to free her hand from his but failed. He smiled at her and looked at Nur who had a speechless look on his face. 
"Nisha, would you explain?" He asked as she sighed, looking down.
"Nur, I apologize. He's a little.... in the head." 

Nur glanced at Kabir and gave her a disapproving look, "I can see." 

Kabir didn't say anything, instead, he pulled her with him and said, "See you then, Mr Nur. Bye!" 
"Stop!" Nisha said as he looked at her, confused. 

She sighed, looking at Nur beside her.

———

"Am I interrupting anything?" Nur asked as the three were sitting on the stools, eating the food. 
Nisha shook her head, "Come on, you're not. He's just a little unfriendly with everyone at first. He's not that... annoying." 
Nur nodded, looking away. Suddenly, he got a call and excused himself. 

She faced Kabir, "Hey. What's wrong with you?" 
"What?" He asked, scanning her annoyed face. 
"You're being really mean to Nur. Why'd you behave like that with him?"
"When did I?" 
"You are being like that," She spoke, disappointed. 

He looked at his food, glancing at her a few times. 
"Are you... mad?" He asked. She didn't reply, earning a sigh from him.
"Okay, sorry. I won't be like that to him." 

She smiled a little seeing his guilty face and asked, "Are you a child? You act so strange." 
He looked at her, "You still seemed to have fun with him while I wasn't around." 

She scoffed, mentally cursing him. He had no idea about how much she thought of him, did he? 

"Oh, did you know? There was a case of stealing here. Someone stole something and ran into such chaos! Also, we saw two people arguing with native dialects. It was awfully hilarious." She chuckled as he smiled.

"Ah, I could've joined them. Why's my life so boring?" He sulked as she huffed, "As if you don't make a comedy out of everything."
"Are you saying I'm funny?" He asked, wiggling his brows at her as she gave him a disgusted look. 

Turning away her face from him, she suppressed a smile.

She hated his guts. Yet, she enjoyed it as well.

Nur approached them with a disappointed face as she asked, "Is everything okay?" 
He sighed, "My mother called. I think I got to go now. Enjoy yourselves." 
She made an 'o' face, "Ah... that's a regret..." 
Kabir got up and said, "Right, you should've been around. It's fine though. You should get going since your mother called." 

Nur smiled at him, "See you then. You too, Nisha." 
She smiled back at him as he walked off.

Kabir turned to Nisha and asked, "Stop smiling now. He left." 
"What's it to you if I smile?" She rolled her eyes. He pulled his tool near her and sat down, making sure they were sitting very close. 
"Why are you sitting so close to me? Move." She frowned but he remained unbothered. Once he was pleased with his position, he started eating again, "That place stinks. I'm sitting farther from the stinky place, not closer to you."
"That's the same thing." She blatantly stated.

They finished their food and got up as Kabir paid for it, calling Nisha to come with him.
"The book fair closes soon. What are we supposed to do?" 
He smiled, "This is exactly when you can do lots of things." 
She frowned but gasped as soon as he sneaked his hand with hers, pulling her with him.

"Kabir!" She called, gasping. Some people were staring at them but he didn't seem to care. He was running, holding her hands and so was she. 

Uncertainty rushed through her veins as her hands slowly wrapped around his, a grin forming on her face as they ran into a bookstall. 

And as angry as she was at him, she couldn't help admitting one fact.

She loved this.