HER

29

"Hello Laila."

Laila looked at the person in front of her. Demon like eyes, so black and so evil stared into her eyes. Lips pulled into a smile, so wicked and so deadly smile. He tilted his head to the side, eyes still stuck on her. "Did you miss me?"

Words trapped in her thoughts and memories of that dreadful night seeped into her mind like a hissing snake, they never left. Her hands shook and she found her legs giving up. She felt terror crawling up her spine. "It's not real."

He stepped forward.

"It can't be."

He reached her.

"It has to be a dream."

His lips touched her ears.

"It all is real Laila." His voice seemed real, so real. 

She looked around herself. No one was there. No one was here again to save her. Stars glimmered down at them. Moon shined and winds whirled around them. It all felt so real. 

"Leave me alone."

"How can I?" He frowned at her. "How can I leave when I love you so much?"

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she felt his fingers brushing against her skin. "Fuck - you."

He laughed loudly, looking up at the sky. Birds hid inside trees at the sight of such a monster, winds flew away from them. He kept laughing wrapping his hands against her waist pulling her to his chest. "How can you marry him?"

She didn't say anything.

"I said how can you marry him Laila?"

"LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE."

She sat up breathing heavily. Beads of sweat dripped down her temple when she felt a pair of hands on her shoulder. Without even looking at face she jumped away from the person. "It's me Laila."

Looking at the face belonging to those hands she released a sigh of relief. The tentacles of fear seizing her loosened their grip around her and dissolved into air until it was nothing but a dusty nightmare. A nightmare which never left.

Faris pulled her to himself and ran his hand against her hair "It was just a nightmare." 

"Yet it never leaves me alone." Laila's tears soaked a patch of Faris shirt. "They are filthy monsters and come back again and again only to bring that night back."

"I am here." Faris could only say that. "I am here, no one is going to hurt you again."

But promises are made to be broken, who would tell that naive boy. Winds whined to each other as the couple embraced.

The silence ruling the room was cut off by Laila's voice again. "It never leaves." She took fabric of Faris' shirt in her hand. "It clings to me like a leech, always sucking, sucking, draining me weak until I am nothing but a bag of roughly eaten flesh and broken bones."

"You are none of that." Pulling himself away from her, Faris frowned down at the crying girl. "You are as human as everyone else Laila."

She didn't say anything, so he was the one to speak again. "You are that beautiful dream that haunted me even wide awake. The star that I admired the first time when my eyes fell on it."

Laila chuckled rubbing her eyes against his shirt. "It was brand new."

"Now, it's not."

"Thanks to you for that."

"You are welcome."

Silence ruled, now a peaceful one. "Now I know that you are alright. So get the hell up child, it's Sehri time. Today is our first Roza."

Irritation flashed on Laila's face before she covered it with small smile. Tired eyes took in the messed up state of boy in front of them, from messy hairs and shiny eyes down to floor covered apron to bare feet. She, for a moment, doubted that the boy owned billion worth companies. 

"Are you sure you are rich?"

Faris looked at her confused. "Because you look like a bagger to me right now." With that she got up and walked toward to bathroom to freshen up leaving the flushed boy behind herself.

"I was making Sehri for you two unappreciative brats."

Laila's laugh was heard before a loud thump of door closing. The boy with shiny eyes smiles, winds dances, stars hugged each other and the girl found little of her smile again.

***

She looked at the food in front of her, then at the boy beside her who only looked at her adoring a drool worthy smirk on his lips. Delicious smell of Parathas with yogurt and chai made her stomach grumble on the scene earning a chuckle from both men beside her.

Blush coated her cheeks as Faris served her first then took another serving for himself. Ansar too on the other hand fussed about her being weak and adding more yogurt on her plate. The desi breakfast normally would have been too heavy for a girl like her but in past few days Faris and Ansar had made her eat enough of that to get addicted to it now.

Cherry on the top it was today she found out that Faris could cook like a chef as their maids were not going to make Sehri and Iftari for them. Apparently it was ritual for them to make Sehri and Iftari themselves together.

One which Laila found too precious in such busy world of today.

"Eat fast beta. You haven't eaten even half of your Paratha." Ansar spoke looking down at her plate.

"You have to spend whole day without eating. Eat more and fast." She glared at Faris who only shrugged at her. "Hurry up."

At the moment Laila finally found the attention she always craved so much and the feeling of that was so beautiful, so blissful.

"I am." With that she started eating again with a heavy heart and they kept making her eat anything they could until the first call for prayer was heard. Laila let out a sigh of relief at the sound. 

Both men drank enough water and rushed to masjid for prayer. She gathered the dirty plates in sink and went back to her room. At first she just wanted to directly land on the bed again but Faris' face popped in her mind and she pushed her self to go to washroom and wet herself enough to look like she has prayed.

Girls and their problems.

And she went back to her bed falling into deep slumber. Into another world where no monsters awaited her this time. Long she laid there into light slumber falling deeper and deeper into darkness, a touch of something gentle was felt in her forehead before everything went completely blank.