Choosing Him

15

"Hey Fawad? Salam bro." Zayan said into the phone. He and Fawad had surprsingly become good friends now as Fawad would often come to drop Maya at his place.

"Wasalam Zayan. What's up?" When he picked up the phone.

"Are you free?"

"Yeah."

"Ok so you wanna meet up somewhere?"

"Yeah sure!"

"Right so there's a cricket match going on in the SA stadium. You wanna come along?"

"Really? Sure. When is it?"

"In twenty minutes."

"What? And you're telling me now!?"

"I just found out myself. Now get your ass to my house and then we will drive together. Or shall I come over? "

"No I'll be there in fifteen."

"Ok buddy. I'll be waiting then."

***

They went to the match and had a blast. Both were fans of cricket and their friendship just strengthened.

After the match they went out for dinner to a restaurant which also happened to be Areesha's favorite 'Royal Foods.'

"This is Areesha's favourite isn't it?" Fawad exclaimed when Zayan pulled his car in front of one.

"Yeah. How do you know?" He asked surprised. 

"Oh well came here and she told me." He replied the tip of his ears turning red.

"Did you now?" He said when he noticed that Fawad was slightly blushing.

"Yeah." he said feeling awkward. Zayan had a suspicion of Fawad's feelings the way he mentioned Areesha every now and then. 

"You know we're looking for a guy for Areesha." He said casually in an attempt to get out a reaction from him.

"What? Found anyone?"

"Yeah quite a few actually." He replied pretending to be non-chalant.

"So who are they?" Fawad said trying to cover his bitterness.

"A few of my friends who are interested." he replied shrugging.

"I see."

"Why, are you interested too?" He raised his eyebrow.

"What?! No!" Fawad said a little too quickly.

"So you aren't interested in getting married?" He said raising his eyebrow.

"Oh that. My mom is looking for a few girls but she hasn't found the perfect one."

"Have you?"

"What?"

"Found the perfect girl?"

"Umm... maybe."

"You aren't sure?"

"I am. But I don't know about the girl."

"How about I ask her then?"

"What?" and then as if his words registered in his brain."And how do you know the girl?" Fawad asked hoping he didn't know.

"Maybe because she's my sister?" He said hoping his suspicions were right. He would look good with Areesha.

"What? H-how do-" Fawad started feeling flustered.

"I am a lawyer bro. I am trained to notice little details." He smirked 

"So you aren't going to kill me or something?" Fawad asked surprised at his behavior.

"What? Why would you say that?"

"Nothing."

"Were you actually scared?!" Zayan asked laughing.

"Well... You were ready to kill me the first time you saw me with Areesha. So-"

"Dude come on. I was so worried then. I didn't even know that she was doing a job."

"Yeah, she never told me that she had a brother."

"Oh that was because we had a really serious misunderstanding and she thought that I left her or something."

"Really? Why would she think that?"

"Because I'm not her real brother." He revealed. 

"What? You aren't her brother?" Fawad asked quite shocked at the new revelation.

After that Zayan told Fawad about how he was her foster brother and that he was married in England so Areesha had cut all ties with him.

"I-I don't know what to say. You are a very strong person." Fawad said still trying to process this new information.

"Allah helped me through out everything."

Fawad was astonished at his strong faith. He had went through so much but he was still good.

After they had their dinner, Fawad dropped Zayan home and headed to his own.

Zayan's parting greeting was that he would talk to Areesha about it. Fawad just hoped that she said yes for him.

***

Areesha meanwhile was finally trying to move on from Aamir. It was hard, very hard, but her brother supported her. Her mother however was an entirely different case. Whenever she got the chance she would tell Areesha in between the words that she should go and patch up with Aamir. 

Areesha was too proud to do that especially when it wasn't even her fault. It wasn't even a misunderstanding; he had said in plain words that he liked rather loved another girl. He had even told her a name, Shazre if she remembered correctly. If he was saying that he loved another girl to spite her only, then he wouldn't have said that girl's name.

She was getting closer to Allah and now had a firm belief that Allah had something better in store for her.

Also her job was getting very hectic so she hardly had any time to ponder over these useless thoughts. Her boss was launching a new project so she was working over-time t attending meetings, making notes of them, sending emails, visiting other companies with her boss and etc. So all in all she had gotten extremely busy.

She had made tea for herself and Zayan. She hardly did housework but tea was an essential part of her life being the desi she was. So she had finally learned how to make it.  She added some sugar in each cup and took the tray to the balcony.

"Areesha what do you think about Fawad?" He asked her as they both sipped. Fawad had talked to him about this yesterday and he just hoped that she agreed.

"What about him?"

"Like anything? Is he a nice guy?"

"Yeah he is a decent guy. You are asking like you are considering him for marriage!" Areesha joked.

"Yeah I am actually. What do you think?"

"What? Zayan I never knew you were gay!" She joked

"You really need to filter your dirty mind.  So what do you say about him?"

"He's a nice guy I think. He would make any girl happy." She shrugged as she sipped her tea.

"I see." He nodded thoughtfully, as a small smile grazed his lips.

"Why are you asking me?" She asked curiously.

"To find out what you think." He shrugged.

"And why does that matter? Go ask the girl he is marrying."

"You're the girl he's marrying!" He said as he stared at her, waiting for her reaction.

"What?!" Areesha asked nearly spitting out the tea. "That was a sick joke."

"I am not joking. He really likes you. And I want your opinion before I tell Ammi."

"You know I'm not marrying anyone but Aamir."

"I thought you were done with him."

"I am not! I love him and only him." She said through gritted teeth.

"If you really loved him, you wouldn't be cursing him every now and then for leaving you. You would have been happy for his happiness even if it meant for you to suffer."

"Tell Fawad I'll marry him when hell freezes over." She replied and stomped away angrily.

***

How could he even suggest such a thing?  Areesha thought angrily. She loved Aamir only. She wasn't going to marry anyone else.

She was trying to forget him but she was still hadn't. She wasn't as crazy about him as before so that should be an improvement. But that didn't mean she was ready to marry anyone.

She wasn't going to get herself hurt. She knew what happened when you fell in love. Her mother and brother both were a perfect example in front of her.

Both were heartbroken when their spouses died. When everyone's going to die and you know that then whats the point of marrying anyone only to loose them.

She remembered her suicidal thoughts when Aamir had left her and she wasn't even married to him. It was very painful for her. She had managed to pick up herself and she wasn't going to let that happen again. 

She hated the idea of love. Love in her opinion just destroyed everything. She didn't believe in it anymore. 

How dare Fawad think about her that way? She was friendly with him only because he was Maya's brother too and they had met outside of office a few times. He didn't mock her about Aamir so she respected him a lot.

She should have maintained a strict worker-employ relationship.

***

Fawad called up Zayan to ask him if he had talked to her.

"So desperate huh?" he teased Fawad. He really didn't know how to break it to him that she had rejected him plainly but he was going to convince her. He wouldn't allow anyone to take his sister's happiness.

"She well she was very upset that what made you think like that but then she refused. But I will talk to her again so you don't worry."

"Oh. D-don't force her. The final decision should be hers."

 Only Allah knew how much it broke him to know that. He had sort of expected her to reject him but his hopes had been high. He didn't know where those feelings surfaced from all of a sudden. Maybe it really wasn't all of a sudden. 

He wanted to make her his. Respectfully. That's why he had went straight to her brother. How could he see that bastard of her ex-fiance break her? He had seen her before and after her broken engagement. There was a big difference in her. She always pretended to be happy but he wasn't fooled. He was trained to see through other people. He didn't know whether anyone else had ever noticed that deep sadness in her but her eyes expressed it all.

"No its not about you. She just doesn't believe in love anymore. She's been through a lot, but I know she will come around eventually."

"I hope so." He said in a small voice.

"Whatever happens at the end of the day is according to Allah's Will. So stop worrying and just pray to Him."

"Yeah you are right. That's what I'll do then!" With that he hung up and desperately prayed to Allah. She was the perfect girl in his opinion.

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