Short Serene Tales [A Collection Of Desi Short Stories]

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Her scream muffled under his strong grip, her eyes filled with unshed tears, her heart thudded painfully in her chest as she tried to break free of his iron like grip. He sighed softly, leaving her waist and gripped both of her wrists with his one hand in front of her.

"Ssshhh! I promise I won't do anything, Gul e Nayab. I'm only here to talk. Calm down and I will let you go if you promise to not scream. I want you to trust me please, I didn't intend to see you like this but I had to talk face to face." His voice came out in a rugged whisper, she was still breathing heavily like she just ran a marathon or something. She slowly stopped struggling in his hold and nodded her head hesitantly.

"Okay, thank you. I'm letting go now." He gently let off of her wrists before softly massaging the red marks left by his hands and then finally removed his hand from her mouth.

She like a fish out of water quickly pushed him away from her and moved to a corner, her back pressed against the wall and her arms around herself. She was trying to maintain a good distance between, her eyes anxiously searched for an item she could use for her defense, but there was none except for her navy blue shalwar kameez that hung by the hook on the door.

Ahmed nodded his head dejectedly seeing right through her, he searched in his pockets for something and took out a pocket knife. Gul e Nayab's breathing came out in short pants looking at the sharp object in his hand. Was this the end of her? She was frozen in her place, unable to even move a muscle. But what Ahmed did was hold out the knife in his palm for her to take.

"Take it, I understand you don't trust me at the moment. If this gives you some sense of security then alright. You can take it." Gul e Nayab looked at him with a baited breath and took a hold of the knife with her trembling hands and tightly gripped at it pointing the sharp edge at his direction if he dared do something she would stab him.

"Pehle toh mein maafi mangna chahun ga, I'm sorry mujhe isterha nahin aana chahiye tha. I'm really and utterly sorry for what you had to witness right now, I did not intend to see you or scare you like this and once again I'm sorry for that. You weren't answering to any of my texts or calls either." His perfect eyebrows were raised and hands in the air as he talked, his perfectly gelled hair slightly out of place and his denim jacket opened from the front. After Haider took her phone for the night and the dream she had, she couldn't find the courage to answer to any of his phone calls or texts.

"A-aap mera peecha kr rhe hain?" Gul e Nayab questioned for the first time and cursed at her voice for stuttering.

"Nahin, mein yaha apni behn aur usski beti ke saath aya hun and then I saw you so I deciding to have a word with you. Face to face." He patiently explained himself and thanked his lucky stars and Gul e Nayab for at least giving him a chance to explain before she screamed and got him beaten to a pulp for harassing a girl.

"Aap university mein mujhse baat kr skte thay, yahan mujhe follow kyun kiya?" This time her voice came out strong but only she knew what she was feeling from the inside. Her grip on the knife was so tight that her knuckles turned white as she waited for his response.

"Mein tumhe apni behn se milwana chahta tha, takay mein officially tumhare ghar proposal le kr aa sakun." Ahmed spoke with his hands in the air like he was surrendering himself to the police.

Her cheeks tinted a red shade, his words having an impact somewhere in her chest, Gul e Nayab cleared her throat. Damn! She still had to feel agitated and offended, not feeling butterflies or whatever. She startled and almost a scream left her mouth when she heard knocking at the door.

"Apni choohay jaisi shakal dekh dekh kr sheesha na todd dena, bahir aa jao ghar bhi jana hai. Ammi aur mein counter pr hon ge dress ke saath aa jana. Chudail kahin ki jaldi kr." Her whole face turned beet root red, Ahmed bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from laughing at her face.