Hikayat ✔

Chap. 3

Ps. This chapter continues from where the prologue ended.

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Cantonment Board
Lahore.

3:00 pm

*Peeeeenp!!
.................

The distant sound of a horn screaming resounded in his ears but he was barely paying attention.

The encounter with Vania from the morning left him mentally drained and completely frustrated simultaneously.

Even though he hated the girl with a passion, he hated himself more for still feeling a tinge of worry for her. That phone call and her panicked voice still echoed in his head.

He hated himself after finding out that  however little, a part of him still cared about her! After everything she did, after everything he suffered because of her! He hated himself for still having a part of his heart yearning for another glimpse of her, however little, He hated that it was still there! Three years, and he still harbored those feelings!

A knock on the window of the driver's side startled Harris disrupting the painful train of thoughts.

He raised his head from the steering wheel to look up at the security guard in uniform motioning him to slide down his glass.

'Can't a guy get a break?'

He squinted up at his face from the window, the harsh sun rays burning his weary eyes.

"Ki kerya nu Sir! Inna loud horn bajan de ho saaray monhaley nu kaan phardh dita! Aye ki tareeka hai ji?" He yelled irritatedly.

(What are you doing Sir! The whole neighbourhood's gone deaf due to your loud horn!)

The loudness and the language both added to Harris's frustration and he rubbed his temple with a forefinger.

Punjabi sounded like a foreign language to his Urdu-speaking brain, especially when spoken with such a strong desi dialect and he realized he'd probably have to hear it everywhere he went.

Damn he missed Karachi already.. Why the hell did he come here in the first place??!

The only reason he came to Lahore was to escape her but now that, that plan failed, he wished he could run back home.

If only it was that easy.

Harris got that the guard was annoyed by his horn though and cleared his throat before he replied.

"Sorry sir, ghalti se ho gaya.. mera dihaan nhi tha.. Actually yeh samney waley ghar main hi jana hai mujhe." He gestured with his hand to the house in front of him speaking as calmly as he could manage hoping the guard understood Urdu.

(Sorry sir, It was a mistake, I need to go into that house infront.)

"Major Afiq Sahab de ghar aye?" The Guard asked uncertainly.

(Major Afiq's house?)

Harris squinted catching Major Afiq's name and translated for himself what the guard was asking.

"Ji" he nodded.

"Mehman O' tusi onu daa?"

(Are you his guest)

Harris only got the Mehman (guest) part and guessing the rest of the meaning again hoping to be right.

"Ji, Karachi se.." He said wondering if the guard would ease up on the Punjabi hearing that.