Naina (Al-Ameen Family #4)

Emergency Stop

Continued straight from the last chapter. Enjoy :) 

ARMAAN

I looked up from my phone, taking the water bottle gratefully from the hotel attendant. I was waiting for Nikhil- my teammate- for almost 15 minutes now but he was taking his sweet time coming down to the lobby.

A young fan walked up to me asking for a selfie and I obliged. While I was smiling at the camera, my eyes focused on the elevator in front of us. A woman walked out, covered head to toe but her eyes caught my attention. They were so familiar.

They reminded me of Naina's.

I looked away quickly, smiled at the fan and called Nikhil, telling him to hurry up.

That woman's eyes bothered me all day. They were just so identical to Naina's I couldn't forget about it.

"Has something happened at your hotel?" I asked Nikhil as we were exiting the restaurant.

"No, why do you ask?"

"Oh nothing, just saw some commotion earlier," I lied.

"Maybe there's another celebrity staying there," he offered.

"Another? Who's the first?" I mocked.

"You know what, I'll spare your face this time. I know how much your mom needs you to look your best so she can find you a wife at this wedding," he threw back, effectively silencing me.

If only my mom knew my face wasn't the thing holding me back.

Nikhil called me to work out with him early the next morning. I woke up before fajr, prayed, and then met him at the hotel gym. Yusuf bhai would be coming by later so I could catch a ride home with him. Instead of taking a car, I just took the metro. It was nice to be able to move around freely while the city was still mostly asleep.

At 6:15am, there were only 6 people in the expansive gym: Nikhil, myself, Nikhil's manager, and a woman- working out in a full abaya and niqaab- beside two other guys. The things you got to see in Dubai.

Nikhil had some Diljit Dosanjh songs playing obnoxiously loudly but I didn't bother telling him to turn anything off. That's the thing about fame- you only need an ounce of it to forget social cues.

I walked over to the weights, sitting on the bench facing the mirror. I was still lankier than I wanted to be but without going on some extreme diets, I would just not gain it. And I'd rather stay lanky than eat 16 eggs a day.

"Bro, I got a date tonight, you want me to set you up with her friend?" Nikhil walked over, checking out his biceps in the mirror.

I snorted, setting down the dumbbell and walked over to my water bottle. "You can keep both, but thank you."

There's a small bang from the other side of the room and we both turned. The woman in the abaya was stepping off her treadmill and it seemed she had dropped her water bottle on the floor.

She looked up, meeting my eyes. It was that same lady.

Nikhil ignored her, continuing his rambling, but I was still staring at the door the lady left through.

"Yo I gotta go," I grabbed my phone, bottle and t-shirt, and rushed towards the door.

"Um, bye?" I could hear Nikhil yell behind me but I didn't pay him any heed.

I rushed down the hallway, not sure where the lady went. I heard the elevator rumbling, so I ran towards that.

I don't exactly know what I was doing here but I just needed to...I don't know.