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1596 Words
Haya recalled his every gesture and movements over and over again.
She wondered, if it was too burdensome for him to smile, even a bit!
She could smile and laugh all day without a problem, why couldn't he...She giggled at her stupidity.
If not, why couldn't he smile or laugh; she was sure her parents had never mistreated him.
He had spent most of his childhood and later adulthood, in hostels of the schools and universities where her father sent him, but he always used to come home during vacations.
And that used to be the happiest time of the year for her.
When she was younger, and the intricacies of her puberty didn't hit her, she used to follow him all day around.
But unfortunately, she grew up, and her mother no longer allowed her to be near him or any other male.
Even though Zafar had grown up in their household, her mother never allowed her near him.
He was a Na-Mehram after all.
Whenever he came home during his vacations, she used to find excuses for talking to him, but he was the same as a kid as well, dry and silent.
But that didn't deter her anyways. She used to find a way or another. If not anything else, she would just hide somewhere and look at him.
Once she heard from her mother that Zafar has always topped his university in mathematics.
In hopes that maybe her father would ask her to take a few lessons from Zafar, she failed in mathematics.
But all her hopes went in vain when she got a decent bashing from her mother, on 'tarnishing ' the family name and to make things worse, a bald older man was employed as her tutor.
How could her failing in a subject, tarnish the whole family's name? She was unable to understand.
Her mother's logics were out of this world, and she had no intentions of taking after her or her logics!
Anyways, that torture continued till the next semester, when she scored decent marks and was finally relieved of it.
That plan backfired very severely. She vowed never to fail again. It was simply not worth the suffering.
But Zafar was a true genius; her father's companies had profited many folds under his supervision and leadership.
That was one of the reasons apart from his rugged, manly features which stole her heart away from a very tender age.
Every time she looked at him, her heart skipped many beats.
Why God has made him so attractive!! She often wondered.
Her helpless and hopeless state was somehow hidden from her family, except for her younger sister, Noor, who had warned her countless times against her falling for him, but when has heart ever listened to the minds!
Noor was afraid that her beautiful sister would only get hurt at the end, by that emotionless man.
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Zafar had planted some of his trusted men among the opposition as his spies.
Personally, He had never believed in using foul means to achieve his goals, but he was well aware of the wickedness their opposition was capable of.
So instead of waiting to be compromised due to his mentor's honest and trusting nature. He decided to use his means to know if anything evil was being planned out by them so that he could counter it in time.
Recently, he was invited by the opposition leader, for dinner. Although sceptical, Zafar eventually decided to go and meet him.
What he liked most about the older man was his straightforwardness. Without wasting much time, he came straight to the point.
But Zafar could feel the very palpable raw malice which he held for his mentor.
He offered infinite money and fame to Zafar, in order to change sides and join them instead.
Although it was quite evident that he would turn it down, his last statement didn't sit well with him.
'Zafar, do the best of what you are capable of, but you would never be able to make him the President, it's my promise to you', he boasted.
Zafar turned and looked carefully at the ageing man, he was aware that they had some personal grudges, but to boast of such a thing, when the numbers clearly showed otherwise, had him unsettled.
Zafar could identify the daggers which his smile held, and he returned it in a similar fashion.
Later that night, he contacted his men and asked them to tighten their watch over him; as he was definitely up to something.
He felt anxious thinking about what they could be planning to be so sure of victory.
Suddenly a thought came across, and he asked his spy to plant a microphone in his room secretly.
What could have been better than having himself say that out loud?
Within a few days, he found out that a substantial number of their party members were being blackmailed by the opposition, to withdraw their support. The opposition party had worked hard on finding their weak spots or anything else compromising their public image.
After a long time, Zafar was happy to come across such a worthy opponent, who had meticulously planned all this. It reflected their dedication and hard work; it wasn't an easy job tracking each member and following them long enough to get their secrets out.
He was genuinely impressed by the mastermind and also the executioners.
He gave a sinister smile and planned to have them taste their own medicine.
Immediately he called his assistant, Jafry, and asked him to hire 12 private investigators. Jafry was surprised, but he knew better than to ask him for the details.
There were 12 loyal members in the opposition, Zafar planned to take them down all.
He wanted to strip the leader from everything he had.
The opposition had blackmailed quite a substantial number of people from his party, and that number could easily tilt the results in opposition's favour.
So apart from attacking them with their strategy, he also planned to help the party members in getting rid of the dubious pieces of evidence against them.
Zafar and Jafry decided to make another team, especially for finding the videos tapes, with which they were threatened and destroying them.
'It would cost a lot of money Zafar. Why don't you ask Mr Gul for the funds ', Jafry suggested.
' No, just open my safe and use whatever amount you need', Zafar knew Mr Gul was already short on funds, due to the ongoing campaign and promotions.
'As you wish', Jafry was aware of the affection Zafar had for Mr Gul. He could go to any lengths for Mr Gul.
After arranging the money, Zafar put Jafry dedicated to this particular task while he followed up with the investigators.
There were still three weeks to go, and a lot of work was unfinished. Zafar knew he was running against the clock, but he had to, he must try. He couldn't let Mr Gul fall.
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Haya was in her final year of graduation, and her sister was two years younger. They used to go the university together, and while returning, they were picked up by their family driver.
One day while they waited for the driver at the gate, Zafar crossed them. He was leaving for the office.
Haya couldn't stop herself and called out to him,
' Zafar !' Even Noor's repeated pinching couldn't deter her.
He stopped in his tracks and searched for that musical voice's source.
It was Mr Gul's daughters, standing at the front gate they were waiting for someone.
'Yes ?' He asked them, not sure which one called out.
Haya cleared her throat and said,' Our driver hasn't arrived yet, and there is this critical class we cannot miss. If it's not very troublesome for you, can you drop us please?', she batted her eyelashes at him and wished if she could have put some more makeup today.
Although Zafar needed to reach somewhere urgently as the investigators were finally able to collect some evidence against few of the opposition members, he didn't want to refuse the girls.
He quickly calculated the travelling time from their school; it would delay him by around half n hour. Well not too significant, he thought and decided to help them.
'OK, please hop in ', he told them and sat on the driver's seat. He had seen their school once; it was on the opposite side of his office.
Both girls sat in his car; Haya couldn't believe her good luck that day. Throughout the journey, she couldn't stop grinning and blushing. Noor just rolled her eyes at her hilarious expressions!
Not before long, they realised, he was headed to their school.
SCHOOL! They were in college for god sake.
'Zafar, it's the wrong way. You are taking us to school', Noor had to intervene, as she had no hopes from Haya to do that.
'Aren't you in school ?', he asked, surprised.
'Well, Haya is in the final year of graduation, and I have just started university', Noor said with a frown. His words already flustered haya.
Do we look like school goers! She wondered.
'Oh! ', Zafar didn't realise they had grown up so fast. He turned the vehicle and drove quickly towards the only university the city had.
While dropping them, he mentioned to remind the driver to pick them up in the evening, and he drove away.
Haya couldn't stop blushing the whole day, and Noor couldn't stop cringing seeing her sister like that.
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- Writer
