CHAPTER 16
HAYAT POV:
The days have been going fast, like it's just morning, one minute, and in another moment, it's night already, and today, it's Sunday. I came here after informing my Chacha Chachi about the last meeting with Ahad and how he wanted me to come here today, too. They were cool about everything.
I wanted to wear something Pakistani today, but I didn't have many Pakistani clothes in my wardrobe, so I wore black cargo jeans with a white hoodie on top. With open hair, I applied lip balm and went to my car to get to our spot.
It was 7 pm when I checked my phone two stops back, and since I'm damn hungry too, I decided to take some burgers with me for them too. I ordered a pick-up of burgers. On my way, I picked them up and drove to the Do Darya at full speed, parking my car at my now usual place. I took the paper bags and got down.
"Here comes my beautiful sister-in-law," Ashar's loud voice hit my ear as I saw him running towards me, nah… he hid behind me. I was confused, so I turned towards him when he nudged his chin for me to look at the front.
Here comes my to-be husband, drizzling his charm everywhere, wearing black jeans, a black t-shirt, and a black leather jacket on top, with handsomeness as a cherry on top...
After greeting each other, I pointed towards the man behind me, and then at him, asking, "What was happening here? Why did he come and hide behind me?"
"I asked him for his bike for today's race, and he was teasing me as I told him about you coming to cheer me up," he said, scratching the back of his head… embarrassed?
I tried to hide my smile and nod my head, "So Ashar will not race tonight?"
I looked towards both of them when Ashar replied, "I'll be your passenger princess today, Miss Hayat." I nodded my head and passed each of them the bags.
"I was hungry and went to get a burger for myself, and thought to get both of you some to eat too." They nodded their heads, and soon we came to my car to sit and eat together.
After eating in pure silence, Ashar spoke, "Now get out, bhai, I need my passenger seat, and you, bhai, do not forget to wear the safety jacket. I'll add you and Miss Hayat to the conference call."
I looked at Ashar, shocked; we hadn't talked on a call till now. What would I do while on a call? "Wear your AirPods, guys." Ashar interrupted my chain of thoughts while connecting all of us in an audio call.
"I do not have AirPods," I replied in a little meek voice, yet continued, "Oh, I got headphones in my car, but my phone isn't charged," being all sad, I looked at them for help.
Ashar smiled, "No problem, you can wear one of mine while we are on call." I nodded my head, and Ahad finally got out of the car and walked towards the guys while Ashar came to the front seat.
"I talked to my mate about you learning drifting and freestyle, and he agreed to teach you about it more professionally," he buckled up the seat belt as he spoke.
"Can you join me whenever he gives lessons, please? I'll not feel comfortable around someone new," I requested, hoping he would say yes to me.
"Oh, my crazy woman, you didn't need to say it. I would have joined you unannounced, too. I won't let my sis-in-law go with any stranger when I can join too," he said, giving me a smug smile. I shook my head and started my car to follow Ahad and his gang tonight.
"There will be heavy traffic on the upcoming road, bhai cut," Ashar was saying things like he's reporting to an undercover officer, which was funny.
He was teasing Ahad with his type of reporting style, and everyone around us knew that bikers do care about others' safety as much as their own. Ahad was leading the group, so obviously, he knew about the heavy traffic, yet Ashar would tease him while sitting beside me.
"Noted, cut," I heard Ahad as I started to look for him in the crowd, and since he was at the front, and as we were following all of them from behind, I couldn't see him... it was too hard for me to look for Ahad in the crowd… which started to make me sad.
"Miss Hayat is looking for you in the crowd, bhai. Please appear in front of her," I heard Ashar say. I glared at him and wished I could smack his head right now… he is embarrassing me right in front of my man. I'll take my revenge soon, my boy. Don't you worry.
I looked at the front and focused on my driving when I saw a biker raising his right hand and waving it in the air, and just at the moment, I heard Ahad through the ear piece, "My lady, I hope you can see my hand waving in the air for you, now if you had spot me, please cheer for me too," his soothing yet teasing voice did something to my heart, that I never felt before... the feeling was warm and full of sparks.
"Oh bhai, my sis-to-be is blushing," Ashar teased, like a little boy does.
"I want to throw you out of this car for being a radio between us, you manic," I finally said, annoyed because he was embarrassing me.
"Wildcat, calm down, you have only one brother-in-law," I heard Ahad from the other side, joining Ashar in his teasing game, too.
"I hate you both," huffing, I whispered.
While hearing both of them laugh, I smiled and shook my head.
The race went amazingly. It was 11 pm. When we finally reached Do Darya.
"It was so fun to see you ride while sitting with my dear buddy, enjoying it for the first time, bhai, please request this crazy woman to join us the next time too," Ashar said and walked away to meet his mates.
"Enjoyed??" He asked.
"Yes, a lot," I replied while looking here and there, not knowing what to say at the moment.
"I got the books for you. Wait, I'll get them from my car for you." I nodded as he walked to his car.
I thought about how I was going to read the books when he came back, and I saw all 6 books that I spoke about to him in the text right in front of me.
I extended my hand to take them when he shook his head and spoke politely, "Tell me where I should put them for you in the car?" I opened the front door for him, he put the books down, and looked at me.
"It's already 11 pm. If you want to go home, you can, or you can stay here with me and Ashar," he suggested, and I thought about how considerable he was. He did not order me around, but he asked me about what I wanted to do... it warmed my heart a little more than before.
"I'm a little tired, so I'll go home. I need to go to the university tomorrow too to get my admission done," I whispered, stealing glances. It's hard for me to look directly into his eyes. I felt like my heart would explode from the emotions I felt in that moment.
"Okay then, shabakhair," his polite good night sure had me instantly reply the same, turning around, I moved towards my car. Just as I was about to open the car door, I heard Ahad from behind, once again. (Translation: good night.)
"I will join you for drifting after you learn it for sure. I didn't feel like saying it in chat, since it can lead to misunderstanding, so..." He trailed off. I smiled, nodding my head, understanding him. After the final goodbye, we parted ways.
Finally, the day came to an end, and I was sitting on my bed with Peer-e-Kamil. I opened the book and tried reading...
Half an hour into it, I huffed and put the book down. Why didn't I take Urdu literature classes attentively? Why didn't I learn about it? Ahh, I was seriously frustrated... my reading speed was slow, much slower than a sloth, it took me half an hour to read two pages… so embarrassing!
In frustration, I picked up the juice can near me. When my phone vibrated, indicating someone had texted me, I saw who it was. I clicked open the text messages when I saw five voice messages that were 30 minutes long.
"You said you are not very good with Urdu, and you wanted to read the novels too, so I figured out something for you. I'll send you an audio recording of every chapter daily so you can listen to it while trying to focus on the novel, or if you want, you can just listen to my voice notes." I read the message, and a really big smile broke out on my lips.
"And yeah, sorry for not asking beforehand, but I just sent you voice notes of Peer-e-Kamil, since I like this one the most. Hopefully, you won't mind it, or if you want, you can tell me any other book name, and I'll send their voice notes to you, too."
I was too touched by his efforts. He's putting so much effort just because I told him once that I want to read an Urdu novel.
"I'll go with Peer-e-Kamil, and I definitely love this idea of yours, thank you." I just love it… really.
Giggling to myself, I plugged my headphones into my phone and started listening to his voice notes while trying to focus on the book, too.