The Addiction of Love

III

The weekend went by with Inaya lying on her bed, thinking only about Murtaza. Razia found her behavior strange and asked her a few times if everything was okay. Inaya just dismissed her saying that she had had a very stressful week and wanted to rest as much as possible. She hadn't told Razia about the visit that Murtaza had paid her because she didn't want her mother to stress.

Monday came in a lot quicker than Inaya had expected. It took a lot of effort for her to get out of bed and go to the office. She just wanted to hide herself in her room and keep herself away from him. But she couldn't do that.

Getting busy with work did help her get distracted and for a few hours, she forgot all about him and his threats. During lunch break, she went down the building, where a really cute cafe was located. Their grilled cheese sandwiches were Inaya's favorite.

She ordered her lunch and paid for it. A few minutes later, a waiter served her her sandwich and the cold coffee. Just as she was about to bite into that delicious food, her phone pinged.

Air left her lungs when she read the name that popped up onto her screen. It was a text from Murtaza.

I've gotten a job in Dubai. Have to shift there next month, which means we've to get married in a month. After all, you'll be coming with me;)

Murtaza

_____________

Zain had an outdoor meeting with a client on Monday. The meeting took longer than anticipated, and it was almost 1pm by the time Zain, and his assistant, Aditya, left for the office.

Since both of them had not had lunch, Zain suggested that they go to the cafe on the ground floor of their office building and grab a quick bite before heading up to the office.

Zain gave a two thousand rupees note to Aditya and sent him to the counter to order lunch for them, while he himself went to find a table to sit. While looking for a table, his eyes fell on Inaya. She was seated at a corner table, a plate of food was kept in front of her while she was staring at the phone in her hand.

Luckily a table was empty just beside hers. Zain smirked and made his way towards that table.

"Hello, there!" He spoke loudly, trying to get her attention.

His voice seemed to have broken her trance and she snapped her head towards his direction. For a second, she was scared that it was Murtaza but when Zain's face came in front of her, she sighed in relief. It was probably the first time in her life that she was glad to see Zain.

"I don't understand why your boss hasn't fired you yet! Never in the past one year have I seen you working. All I see you doing is hanging around in the cafe." He spoke to her, trying to infuriate her. He didn't know why he loved getting on her nerves. Maybe it was because her nose and cheeks got all red in anger and she was a sight to behold. Or maybe it was because that was the only way he could have her attention.

He looked at her expectantly and waited for her to get back at him, but to his utter surprise, she didn't say anything. Zain frowned at her lack of responsiveness.

Inaya's mind was already too disturbed and she didn't have any strength left in her to deal with Zain. So she just kept quiet and kept toying with her sandwich.

Aditya came to the table after ordering and took a seat in front of Zain. He saw Inaya too and mentally prepared himself to be stuck in yet another fight between her and his boss.

"Tell me, do you have a discount going on in this cafe on your name yet? Given the fact that you give this cafe so much business, I think it is their duty to give you discounts, right?" Zain tried again to get her to talk to him.

Inaya sighed tiredly and looked at him with helpless eyes. "Mir, not today. Please."

She had always called him with his middle name, Mir. She didn't know why, but it had been like this since always.

"Why? Are you tired today? What got you tired, eating food?" Zain chuckled.

"Damn it, Zain Mir Siddiqui. Can't you just leave me alone?" She banged on the table and stood up. All the frustration, anger and fear bottled up inside her bursted out and she ended up screaming at Zain.

The whole cafe stopped eating and looked at Inaya. Aditya also stared wide-eyed at Inaya. Zain, himself, was shocked. Yes, they did fight every time, but they never used to scream at each other like this. He just stared at Inaya. Her eyes had rage burning in them, which soon changed into weakness and tears filled up in them. She lowered her eyes to hide them from everyone. Grabbing her phone and wallet, she rushed out of the cafe. But Zain had noticed a tear leave her left eye just before she ran out.

He kept staring at her back until she got out of sight, and then he looked back at her table. The untouched food sat on it. He had noticed her enough in the past to know that she was a big foodie. She never said no to food, especially not her favorite grilled cheese sandwich.

Something was not right! He just knew it. It was not some casual frustration or stress. It was much more deep and serious than that. He closed his fists tightly as her tear-stricken face flashed in front of his eyes. It was like someone had pierced a knife in his heart.

It was true that he loved troubling her, making her angry. But no, he couldn't see her sad and in pain. Only he had the right to trouble her. Nothing else and no one else.

Every other trouble would have to face Zain Mir Siddiqui before reaching Inaya Khan.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

Someone get me a Zain!