" I saw her yesterday. At Loharchawl."
Huzair was confused. "Who?"
Imran answered, " Zeeshaan Bhai's little sister."
"Why would you tell me that?"
"Cause you keep looking at her."
"What? I do not!", Huzair retorted angrily. "Besides, how did you know it was her anyways? She doesn't show her face.", Huzair asked suspiciously. "Zeeshaan Bhai was there too."
"So why did you have to mention them to me now?"
Imran was someone who liked to tease Huzair. "Who knows?"
Huzair was exasperated.
Imran had fun watching his changing expressions. Making people uncomfortable was one of his hobbies. Huzair had fun when he was on the same side, but when it came to him being targeted by Imran's mischief, it was anything but fun.
But Imran's comment had made him ponder. Did he really look at that girl so much that even his friend noticed? She was decent, but he didn't even know how she really looked. It wasn't as if he was having any intentions towards her either.
She just drew his attention for no apparent reason. It was like being drawn to an uninteresting, invisible space on a wall filled with colourful flowers and paintings. She was invisible to others. But for some reason, his eyes would follow her whenever he came across her.
Imran was incredibly amused watching Huzair's pensivness. They never had much contact with girls and always kept their distance. But his friend was always looking her way even without himself noticing. He knew the appropriate distance to be kept between genders and lowered his gaze when in presence of a girl.
"Ah, shahyad Allah-ta'ala ne yeh iske kismat mein likha hain!"(1), he sighed romantically. There might be something to look forward to in a few years . It was a gut feeling.
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"Ugh! That's disgusting when you do that! You antique piece.", Huzair said as he shuddered.
Imran and he had ordered soft drinks. They were in little plastic bottles. Imran was furiously shaking his fizzy drink. Then he opened the cap just a tiny bit to let the fizz out without spilling the drink. He did this for a few more times till all the bubbles had been let out.
Huzair blanched at how weird it looked. "That just defeats the purpose of a fizzy drink."
Imran simply took a big gulp of the un-fizzed drink. "What? I like mine flat. The feeling of the fizz going up your nose is awful."
Huzair decided to not look at him anymore. His drink suddenly looked extremely unappetizing.
While Huzair was slowly sipping his drink, Imran felt like it was about time for his next mischief. "Huzair, I think I see her! LOOK! Over there!"
"Who?", Huzair felt a strange fuzziness in his chest. He was surprised. He turned and looked in the direction his friend was pointing. All he saw was an old lady wearing a Burqah leaning on her walking stick taking slow and steady steps. He felt disappointed for some reason. He felt surprised and irritated. What was that odd fuzziness? Was it the fizzy drink?
"Who are you talking about?" He snapped at Imran.
"Whom did you think I was talking about?", Imran shot back clearly enjoying this. Huzair's expressions were clear as day to him who was used to reading expressions.
Huzair was flabbergasted. Whom was he thinking about? Why was he so flustered?
Imran had to hold in his laughter and his face had a small concealed grin. Oh, boy. This was definitely going to be fun.
Name:Imran Mustafa Shaikh.
Profession: Mischief maker.
Skills: Making people uncomfortable.
Face reading. Low-key beguiling. Drawing.
New objective from Author: Become the ultimate wingman.
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Glossary:-
(1) Ah! Shahyad Allah taala ne yeh iske kismat mein likha hain! :- "Ah! Maybe Allah has written this in his fate!"
Kismat----> destiny. Likha----> written (past perfect tense?)