Oh! My Darling Teacher

Ep#8

Hira's POV:

'Text me as soon as you reach your destination.'

I email Muhammad Shah before covering my head and pinning up the dupatta.

I may deny what Saba said about Muhammad Shah being the famous actor Zulqarnain but there is a small conscious part of me who believes that it might be possible. But still...

I slid my phone in bad and enter the living room. As soon as Saba saw me ready she also gets up.

"Baba we are going." I said peeking inside his room.

"Okay! Come before Maghrib." He instructed as always.

"Of course. Allah Hafiz." I said.

"Allah Hafiz Uncle." Said Saba.

"Allah Hafiz beta (child). Say my Salam to your parents." Baba answered.

"Sure." She nodded, opening her umbrella.

"Oye! Put that back." I hate when she uses her fancy umbrella on a hot summer day. But according to her fancy umbrellas are for summer they cannot be used in rain.

"Shut up and walk quickly. I don't want to miss the bus." She settled her bag on the shoulder again.

Luckily we got the bus earlier than expected and now we are sitting side by side on a long way to the exhibition centre.

"Yar! Sometimes I think you shouldn't have taken the education field. Your M.Ed degree is a total waste now." She said out of nowhere.

"I know yar! But you know I love teaching."

"But you knew from the start that- Ullu ka Pattha." My eyes go wide and my head snapped towards her when she let out a curse instead of completing the sentence.

She was frowning and I follow her gaze to the man who is sitting on the first seat of the gent's compartment. I cringe and look away. He looks like a dirty drunkard. No wonder Saba mumbled such words. The way he was looking at her I want to get up and poke my fingers into his eyes. But I couldn't do that so I try to calm Saba down.

"Just ignore that idiot." I said petting her arm.

"I want to kill him instead of ignoring him." She gritted her teeth.

"Leave it na yar." I somehow manage to divert her mind but soon we were disturbed by a girl shouting. We both look back to the source of the voice and find a young girl accusing the same man of touching her inappropriate way. He argues back that he didn't and she is lying.

The next moment without any hesitation the girl slaps him on the face with full force. Everyone froze in their places in shock, even the man who got hit. After a moment when everyone broke out from trance, an old lady pulled the girl from her spot and a few gentlemen stepped toward the man, who starts yelling that the girl is mentally retarded as she was accusing him of something he didn't do. Before the girl could reply Saba speaks up.

"He is lying I saw him touching her."

"Oye!" I quickly grab her arm but she elbows me. Means I should remain silent. The drunkard man glares her. But before things get too far a middle-aged man with few others forced that drunkard to sit on the last seat while the girl sits on her own. When everything settled down I glare at Saba.

"What? He deserves that." She shrugged.

"Yes, he does." I sigh before saying, "Well I have to admit. It was a nice shot." I wink at her and we both chuckle.

~

'Sorry yar I was busy. Just read your email. My flight was fine as I am here in one piece and all good :)'

I receive his mail at night.

'Means you didn't die. Pity, I lost this chance of eating delicious Biryani... Oh! But no worries you will be coming home by plane too. Right? ;) And call me if you get time.'

After replying to him I put my phone on the table and start making dinner with Saba. Her brother was picking her up from my home but he got some urgent work to handle, so he called her to that he will come after dinner and there is obviously no way that she or I will have any problem with that.

"Was it your hero?" She asked looking at my phone.

"My hero?"

"Zulqarnain Shah." She batted her eyes dramatically.

"It was him and he is not my hero. Pass the onion now." I said irritatingly.

"Okay. Between you know he is a very cute guy." She responded, giving me an onion.

I open my mouth to answer him but my phone rang before I could answer her. She quickly turns and picks my phone, a grin instantly formed on Saba's face when she saw the caller ID. She waves the phone in front of my face with a smug face.

It was Muhammad Shah or Zulqarnain. I ask him to call me when he is free but it looks like he was already planning to call. Saba gives me the phone, whispering 'ask him about shooting'. Giving her an annoyed look I take the phone.

"Hello Assalam o Allaikum."

'Wallaikum Assalam. Miss me?' He says in his usually friendly tone but sometimes it sounds like a flirtatious tone rather than friendly.

"Not at all. Why would I miss you?"

'Because you are drowning in my charismatic personality that you can't even think anything except me.' He says quite dramatically.

"Oh my! Finally, you have realized my silent feelings. You don't know how happy it made me. Yes, it is true. I am really drowned in your charismatic personality. So now I make a decision to buy airbags." I said in a dramatic tone and Saba looked at me like I have lost my mind.

'Airbag?'

"Yes, it will prevent me from drowning. I don't know swimming." I stated and receive a chuckle from him.

Such conversations are normal between us and it's our little competition. The one who laughs first or cannot make any quick answer is the loser. It has no proper schedule, one can start whenever he/she wants and the other has to play along if one started.

'How are you?'

"Alhamdulillah and you? Besides I am astonished that they have an internet facility on Bermuda Triangle."

'Seriously yar, there is no winning from you.'

"Then don't pick fight." I smiled triumphantly.

'Sorry, it will never happen.'

"I know, so how was your flight?"

'Good.'

"And shooting?"

'Yar I didn't have any shooting today. It will start tomorrow evening.' He unconsciously opened his secret and didn't even notice.

"I see, that's good."

Stupid man!

'... yeah.' He sounds unsure, 'Um... Hira?'

"Hm?"

'What did you ask just now?'

"How was your fieldwork? Why?" I lied.

'Ah, no-nothing. I am tired yar. Can we talk later?' All of a sudden his voice freshness is gone.

"Yeah, sure. Allah Hafiz."

'Allah Hafiz.' I ended the call and put my phone on the table again.

"Oye! What was that?"

"What was what?" I asked coming back to the kitchen.

"The way you were talking to him."

"Oh, that... he is always like that." I shrugged.

"Hm, that was new. I never saw you talking to a guy so friendly. Between what did he answer about the shooting question?"

"He unconsciously spills out his secret."

"Ahaa. So he really is Zulqarnain. See I told you before. A woman's sixth sense never goes wrong." She held up her chin in the air and I just shake my head helplessly.

~

Ahmar's POV:

"Oye!...oye, oye, oye. EASY YAR." Faiq screamed.

"I haven't touched you yet." I glared at him, "Zaid held his face yar." I told Zaid who was standing beside me with an annoyed expression.

"Oye! No. Zaid please bro don't." Without caring about his pleads, he walked behind him and roughly holds his head still so I can treat his wound. Zaid was pissed, not because Faiq got beaten by our senior boys but because he didn't fill us in about the problem.

Faiq's injuries were not serious that is why we are sitting here treating the few scratches he has, instead of paying them back but it doesn't mean they will get away from it. Our seniors are the true example of delinquents while we are just labelled as delinquents because we are moody, don't like to waste our energies on studies and people saw us fighting and in the dictionary of our college principal boys fight means delinquency. But right now we have to deal with his girly screaming and torn clothes or else things will get problematic if our families know about it.

I don't know why people avoid using their brains once if boys don't fight then who will?

"Ssss, Oye." He hissed again.

"Chup ker (Shut up)." Barked Zaid.

I sigh loudly and get back to wiping blood from his face.

"Why did you start the fight anyway?" Tahir finally spoke, who was sitting on the corner this whole time.

This apartment is our hideout. We often spend our time here, especially after a fight but we never stayed overnight. This fully furnished apartment is owned by Zaid's father.

"They were bothering Sana." He said looking at me.

"So? What does it have to do with you?" I c****d an eyebrow.

"What do you mean what does it has to do with me? You guys like each other right?"

"Huh?" Zaid and Tahir say in unison and my hand stopped in mid-air.

"Did they hit your head too hard Faiq?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You misunderstood it. Just because we talk and go hang out sometimes doesn't mean I like her."

"WHAT?" He screamed at my face.

"You should use your brain yar. Take a closer look at her, she is like a Barbie Doll in a fancy wrapping and dolls are for playing, not for love."

"But the rumours are spread all over the college." He argued.

"And idiots like you believe in rumours." On Zaid's comment turned his face to him.

"Girls like Sana can be a great time pass but nothing else and I hate such immature, self-centred, giggling girls with no self-respect."

"Means I was beaten up for nothing?" He asked staring into space and the rest just shrugged.

~

Zulqarnain POV:

I let out a deep breath after sitting in a cab. No one knows about my arrival and because it's three twenty in the morning, so I take a cab to go home instead of calling our driver. Most of the shooting crew stayed there for sightseeing but I prefer to come back home with a few members who were coming.

I thought of giving Ami a surprise but I instantly forgot about it when our gatekeeper told me that Ami left with the driver an hour ago.

"Did she tell me where she going?" I asked our gatekeeper.

"No, she was in a rush."

"Hm! You can go now." I dismissed him and call Ami. I hope everything is fine.

"Hello Assalam o Allaikum Ami."

"Zulqarnain? Are yo-?"

"Yes Ami, I just arrived home. Where are you now? What happened?"

"I am in hospital with Hira." She paused for a moment and a frown formed on my face.

"Beta (child/son), her father is no more."

"What?" I ask in disbelief.

"Her father died about half an hour ago and Hira is unconscious. I am in hospital emergency with her." I froze as soon as I heard those words and barely manage to murmur.

'Inna lillahi wa inallah-e-raji'oon'

"I don't know what happened to her father because when I reached here she was unconscious and her neighbours are looking after all the hospital formalities." I heard what Ami said but my mind is stuck on Hira. She is left alone.

"I am coming." I said striding towards my room to get my car keys. "Which hospital she's in?"

"You don't have to come. We have already informed her relatives, they will be here soon."

"Ami, no matter what happens don't leave Hira with her relatives please okay? And I am coming. Are you in the same hospital where her father goes for treatment?"

"Yes."

"Okay." I said and ended the call.

I didn't know much about Hira's relatives but I am sure there are tensions between them. Hira is a stubborn girl but she is not a fool who lives alone away from her relatives with her ill father. I don't want to leave her alone with them until she is fully conscious.

What am I saying, even if she became conscious her mind probably won't work right. I cannot believe this happened. I talk to her three days ago and she told me her father was fine, then how...?

Is life this fragile???

I combed my hair with my fingers and speed up the car. I don't know what I can do for her but I will not leave her alone.

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*Inna lillahi wa inallah-e-raji'oon: The phrase is recited by Muslims when a person experiences a tragedy in life, especially upon hearing the news that a person died.