—  S A W E R A  —

Sitting in your favourite car, on your favourite seat, near your favourite window, a beautiful weather, wearing your favourite clothes and your favourite perfume and eating your favourite flavour of popcorn... Goals right?

Nope. My favourite Shahrukh Khan is flirting with Mahira Khan.

I turned my iPad off.

That spoilt my mood.

I looked up to see my father clinged to his phone, talking to his clients.

I looked at the road to see spectacular views of a mountain scenery.

Wow, I wonder how far his mansion is.

~~~

The car stopped in front of an enormously huge mansion... Bigger and more fancy than ours.

We got out of the car and walked inside, guided by one of the security guards. Mr. and Mrs. Ali Khan were out in the living room, ready to greet us.

We climbed down the built in straight stairs and sat down in the conversation pit, more like a sunken living room. Right in the front was a bifurcated stairway. Their house is quite elegant and quite warm, compared to the cold outside.

They all kept talking. Urgh, they had a daughter, right? Where is she? Where is Azaan? Where is his brother? I'm getting bored already.

Moreover papa is here, and behaving like a human being is hard for me.

I saw their daughter and daughter-in-law coming down, they greeted us and hugged me. "Mere saath baitth jaao please, main bore ho rahi hoon." I whispered in the daughter's ear.

She smiled and hugged mama before sitting down next to me.

She looked at mama. "Abbhi abbhi office se aayi hoon, namaaz parrhne mein dair ho gayi thi-"

"-Nahin nahin, koyi baat nahin, balke yeh toh achhi baat hai, MashaAllah."

"Naam-waam hai yaa main tummhain 'apni' bulaa sakti hoon?" I asked.

Her smile got awkward. "Maine yeh pick-up line Twitter pe parrhi thhi, first of all yeh line achhi nahin hai, second, main straight hoon." She laughed.

"Ouch, that hurt me. Apni, kitne saal ki ho tum?" I asked.

"Palwasha naam hai mera aur larkiyon se unnh ki umar nahin poochhte."

She... Is... Weird. Weirder than her brother.

"Mazaak kar rahi hoon." She added. "17 saal ki hoon."

I awkwardly laughed. Oh my God, save me, get me out of here.

Azaan and his brother came down. Ow shit, he looks hotter in salwar kameez.

I wish I were wearing a matching salwar kameez and a dupatta and my dupatta would could get stuck in his watch.

"Eh, your brother is hot, huh?" I passed a comment to Palwasha, forgetting awkwardness.

"Wanna marry him?" She asked making me even more awkward.

God, get. Me. Out. Of. Here.

"I was just saying, he's an oldie." He looked like a firm nice guy but maybe in his early 30s.

"He's 27." She corrected me.

"I know, he's near his 30s, but that's old." I said, later regretting, maybe I shouldn't have said that.

"Your brother is old." She uncompromisingly stated.

I looked at my brother. "He's 31, gurl." I was born real late. Maybe I was a mistake.

Our parents talked a bit and we went to the dining table.

I realised that Palwasha isn't that bad, maybe she is bad at socializing but... well... She's a nice girl.

We sat next to each other on the dining table and she continued talking. "And that 'chhaiyya chhaiyya' is my favourite-"

"-I died when I saw Shahrukh dancing like that." I cut her. "The song was nice too, I'm a shower singer, I sing everyday and keeping aside the fact that I was born with a beautiful voice, I believe my singing is getting better and better every passing d-"

Azaan who was sitting in front of Palwasha, choked on his cup of coffee.

"What?" I asked. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No, nothing." He let out in a low voice.

I rolled my eyes and flipped my hair aside.

"So..." I thought of continuing the conversation with Palwasha. "Hey Palwasha, you know I work in your office?"

"Yeah, bhai told me about you." She said.

"Bhai who?" I asked.

"Lmao, your boss." She pointed towards Azaan with her eyes.

Oh.

He was listening to papa and conversing with him. Wow, that's a hard and big deal. Carrying a conversation with my father for more than 10 seconds is hard.

"Your brother is a weird man, he was about to fire me today." I talked to Palwasha, looking at him and guessing for how long he could carry the conversation.

"Duh, if you enter like a normal intern then he'd obviously fire you." She said.

I got confused. "Human beings are so weird. You just said that he would fire me for entering like a normal intern, um... do you want me to enter dancing? Because I tried that in another company and those humans fired me for that."

She laughed.

Okay I was wrong, she's not a nice girl. She doesn't know how to socialise and she's not a nice girl.

I turned to the other side as my brother nudged me. "Did you hear what they said?" He asked.

I shook my head.

"Do you know what they are talking about?" He asked.

I shook my head again.

"They've been planning of merging businesses and you're getting married to Azaan, in 2 months." He informed me.

My mind blocked up for a second. I might get an epilepsy attack after all this information.

WHAAAAAATT!?

"No, what? Repeat that." I told him and he repeated the whole sentence.

This...

Sudden anger took over all my other emotions and I felt like breaking everything placed on the dining table but I stopped myself.

"Come to the side I need to talk to you." I told my brother and got up.

He got up excusing himself and came to a corner.

Tears fell out of my eyes before I spoke, I lowered my head and cried while explaining him my thoughts. He's the only one who understands me. "This is not fair. Papa decided my future by deciding my studies, I didn't say anything. He knew I sucked in this field still I tried my best without saying a word. I didn't even protest when he humiliated me in front of everyone after getting to know that I cheated in the final exams. He even fired me saying that he can't take cheaters in his company... Everything was okay but... This is too much man, I can't let him decide my life."

"Eh, don't cry-"

"-Yeah don't cry, that's all you can say. I know I was a mistake and I'm a burden and he wants to throw me out of his house but this is not a way." I cried more.

He hugged me. "Sssh, he doesn't hate you. He-"

"-Then why did he not get you married to Palwasha? Why me!? You're so old, you should have been married by now but he didn't say anything to you. He's just using me, for his business." I protested.

"At least you can get out of here. Me getting married doesn't change anything, I'll live in that jail forever, at least you're getting out of that so called 'house'." He consoled me.

Wait. I pulled out of the hug. He's telling the truth. Oh my God. 21 years of jail for having done no crime... I'm getting out of thaf jail now. Oh my God Oh my God Oh my God.

I hugged him tightly before laughing and wiping my tears. "Oh my God, can I not get married in two weeks? Instead of two months?"

"Desperate huh?" He smirked teasing me.

I sat on the table again and talked to Palwasha.

"Abbh toh bhaabi bann'ne waali ho..." She teased me.

"Haan yaar, sasural dikhaana baad mein." I said starting to eat.

Oh my God, I rotted 21 years in a jail, guiltless, and I'm finally getting bailed... Gotta thank my lawyer, Azaan.

I looked at him.

He was eating but caught me staring at him and furrowed his eyebrows.

I sent him a flying kiss.

He chuckled with his eyebrows still furrowed.

God, my happiness has no heights but thank you. Thank you so so so so so much.

21 years man, that's a lot! Finally getting freedom aghhh. Can I get married right now? I want to cry out of happiness.

"Taareekh kyaa hai? Shaadi ki? Aur rukhsati ki?" I asked my brother.

"Shut up Sawera," he squinted his eyes, "abbhi sirf baat huyi hai, despo."

I looked around while eating. This is my real house, wow.

The jail was beautiful but I never felt this free. Getting this freedom all of a sudden is... I might do something crazy.

I finished eating. "Palwasha, mujhe mera sasural toh dikhaao."

"You're not shy at all, huh?" She raised her eyebrows, smirking. I shook my head. "Not even nervous?"

"Naah, your brother is hot, though he is quite old, but... Well, I'll accept him." Duh, I'll do anything to get out of that jail.

She got up and signalled me with her eyes to come.

We went upstairs to her room. "This is my room-"

"-MashaAllah, but who the eff keeps so many books?" I cut her. Her bedroom looked like mine, but mine doesn't have two floors, she has a staircase in her room and the second floor is full of books.

"I like reading." She smiled.

"Ew, you're boring." I climbed up the stairs, uh... wait, I turned my neck around. "I'm sorry, I meant that I don't like books."

Okay, she got upset. Ew, Star Plus is right, nanads aren't a good thing.

Her sister-in-law knocked on the door. "Main aa jaaon?"

Palwasha was about to talk when I interrupted.

"Haan haan, apna hi ghar samjho." I laughed climbing up the stairs, she has tons of books and books make me dizzy, I quickly ran down.

"Bhaabi!" I acted hyper and hugged her before whispering in her ear." Bhaabi, yeh Palwasha paagal hai, mujjhe mera kamra dekhhna tha yeh mujjhe apne kamre mein le aayi."

She laughed. "Palwasha, kyaa tum bhi apna kamre dikhaane mein lagg gayi, isse Azaan ka kamra dikhaao naa."

"Azaan ka? Palwasha, mujjhe Azaan ka nahin apna kamra dekkhna hai. Uss ka kamra abbh meri property hai, keh do uss se." I walked out of her room, my arm intertwined with bhaabi's.

Bhaabi showed me my room and left. Um... She left me alone? Where's Az-

"-Bhoo!-"

"-AAARRRH" I screamed and heard him laughing. "Asshole."

"Umm... Sorry?" He is so damn old, he has an effing deep voice. I'm getting married to an oldie.

"You're not my boss here, shut up." I walked inside.

"So what if I'm not your boss? That doesn't allow you to forget your manners... Oh well, that reminds me that you don't know what manners are-"

"-Eh, what did I do to you? Huh? Abbhi takk toh tummhain yeh bhi nahin pataa ke mujjhe papa ne fire kyun kiya tha." I rolled my eyes.

Ew. His room's colours are white for the walls and floor, black for the furniture, grey for some decorative designs on the wall, brown for the wooden doors and blue for the rugs, blankets and curtains. The library is white... Does he not have any closet?

"Educated people don't eat chewing gum in the office-"

"-You know I studied in a public school? Like what rich businessman puts their kids in a public school?" I asked.

"Your father...?" His sense of humour sucks.

"Ha. Ha. Ha. Do you not have any closet? Where do I keep my clothes?"

"Mind walking up the stairs, Sawera?" Wow what the heck, I liked my name more when he said it. The stairs were beside the TV which was in front of the bed, beside the door. I could see a mini passage and a door at the end of it.

I walked to the stairs. "You know there are chances of me falling in love with you but for that... You'll have to accept someone in dowry."

"You have pets?-"

"-I wish BUT NO YAAR, IT'S A HUMAN BEING, HOW DARE YOU?" I stopped in the middle of the stairs.

"Sorry...? Your brother?-"

"-Oh my God, shut up already. He's my love, my life, my real significant other, don't make him my effing brother." I rolled my eyes and walked to the end of the mini ramp, then stopped in front of that door.

"Who? I'm not going to accept anyo-"

I gasped out loud just as I opened the door. "Oh my my... This..." I walked in the walk-in closet, it was all wooden and had an amazing lighting.

"Sawera who?" He asked.

"Oh my God, this closet is so beautiful!" I exclaimed walking in and opening a drawer. The closet was quite big and had an island in the middle.

He took my hand in his and turned me around. "Sawera, who?"

"Who what? I said I like your clos-"

"-Who's your love, life and all that shit?" He asked.

"Shahrukh Khan yaar... Don't worry, he'll be okay with you. Usse buraa lagga toh bhi shaadi toh main tum hi se karoon gi." I turned around and looked around the closet doors, I walked to the empty closets and thought how I'd arrange it. "Harr waqt aur larkiyon se flirt karta rehta hai, main kuchh kehti hoon? Bas aik dafaa kahaa thaa, Mahira ki baar, ke kisi Pakistani se flirt karna hai toh mujjh hi se kar lo, lekin besharam ne aik dafaa bhi lehaaz nahin kiya. Film ka trailer release hone pe main poori raat royi thi, lekin ehsaas naam ki koyi cheez hai hi nahin. Tum fiqr naa karo, zamaana kharaab hai lekin main seedhi saadhi larki hoon, khush raho ge mere saath."

I turned around to see no one.

I got out of the closet and saw him reading a book. So much hate. I climbed down the stairs and jumped on the bed.

"This is my bed now." I closed my eyes.

"You clearly don't read books, do you?" He asked.

"I'll cut that library into pieces, actually, I'll sell those books and buy some decoration pieces." I exclaimed.

"Okay, we're not getting married-"

"-Naraaz kyun ho rahe ho bhai, mazaak kar rahi hoon." I quickly claimed, though I wasn't actually joking. "But who the eff reads books?"

"Did you just call me 'bhai'? Ugh, you really called me 'bro' in the office." He closed his book and looked up at me.

"Does that upset you? Doesn't matter. Even if it does, that's the way I talk, get used to it. Why don't you wear glasses? You read books, how's your eyesight still okay? I mean most people wear glasses and guys look cute in glasses, you'd actually look younger you know? It's a nice tip, try to ruin your eyesight. You'll look hotter than you already are, do you go to gym? Why don't you have a gym in your room? Looks like you go to gym everyday. I like your muscles, what's your favourite protein shake flavour? Eh, do you mind to tell me your weight? You shouldn't actually, 'larkiyon se unnh ki umar nahin poochhte aur larkon se unnh ki salary' I know that, lekin wazan toh kisi se bhi poochh sakte hain. Height toh tumhaari achhi hai, dikkhne mein bhi achhe ho, wazan bhi sahi lagg rahaa hai, lekin nerd aur burrhe ho, woh glasses waali tip rehne do, aur nerd lago ge. Pyaare ho, tummhain toh koyi bhi larki mil jaae gi. Wait... This isn't a no okay? Haan koyi bhi mil jaae gi lekin mere jaise nahin, aur agar mere jaisi mil bhi gayi toh bhi tummhain nahin rehne doon gi uss ke saath, tum shaadi mere saath hi karo ge achha? Mujjh jaisi maasoom si larki milna thora naa-mumkin hai, tummhain ddhoonddne mein dass saal aur guzar jaaen ge aur tum mazeed burrhe ho jaao ge. Harr taraf se nuksaan hai, agar maine naa keh diya toh. Tum books parrhne waalon ko khaamoshi pasand hai na? Mujjh se khaamosh larki tummhain dunya mein kaheen nahin mile gi. Haan abbh yeh alag baat hai ke tum kisi gungi larki ke-"

"-Sawera, neeche chalo main aa rahaa hoon." He told me.

Will I have to do the internship if I marry him? I mean he can make a fake certificate... Shaadi ke baad blackmail karoon gi.

Lekin shaadi toh 2 mahine baad hai!? Tab takk toh 2/3 internship khatam bhi ho jaae gi, iss ka kyaa faaeda?

"Sawera, neeche chalo, main aa rahaa hoon." He repeated.

I got out of my thoughts and looked at him. "Haan." I walked out.

I'm lost. Where did I come in his room from?

I went back inside. "Ab kyaa huaa hai?" He asked.

"Neeche kaise jaate hain? Humaare ghar mein sraight stairs hain, aise ghoom ghoom ke yahaan wahaan se guzar ke neeche jaana mujjhe nahin aata, iss bhul bhulaiya mein main gumm ho gayi toh... wait. Yahaan gumm ho gayi toh main yahaan hi rahoon gi, main shaadi takk yahaan hi gumm ho loon? Ghar nahin jaana mujjhe." I got out and tried to disappear but ended up in the living room, I went upstairs and tried to find other ways to get lost in here.

"Sawera! Kyaa kar rahi ho? Neeche chalo." Azaan came and took my downstairs.

I frowned walking downstairs, I don't want to go home. They were laughing while talking to each other, I sat down next to my brother. Ab toh sab khush haun ge hi, main joh jaa rahi hoon.

His mom came to me with a gulaab jaamun in her hand. "Sawera tum 2 hafte mein humaare ghar ki bahu bann'ne waali ho, mitthaai toh khaao."

I ate the whole gulaab jaamun but choked on it after hearing the whole sentence.

Palwasha quickly gave me water and I drank the whole glass. "2 hafte?" Itni jaldi hai innhein mujjh se jaan chhurrwaane ki?

"Tummhain koyi masla hai toh hum date multawi kar sakte hain, beta." Is papa acting of being so sweet? He has been strict with me since the day he got to know that I cheated on my final exam.

"Nahin nahin, ttheek hai." I managed not to act like a desperate.

"Rukhsati ki date multawi kar sakte hain Sawera-"

"-Aap ko do hafte sahi lagg rahe hain toh ttheek hai papa, maine kabbhi aap ko naa kahaa hai?" Oh my God I'm so good at acting. Can I get a pass to America's Got Talent?

He smiled and they started talking about the preparations.