Nayab, a brilliant and meticulous MBBS student, possesses a mind built for calculations and precision. Her dreams are set on excelling in her medical career, leaving no room for frivolities or romantic distractions. Meanwhile, Danish, a vivacious an...
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The sunlight peeked through the voile fabric curtains and fell on Nayab’s face. It disturbed her sleep, so she tried to block it with her hands. But it was of no use. So she gave up a few minutes later and woke up with a frown. With her eyes open now, she realized she was in her living room. She remembered she had fallen asleep on Danish’s shoulder, and the thought was enough to make her smile.
She sat up and looked around to see if he was still here. And then her eyes fell on the note resting on the table.
Hey darling, I didn’t have the heart to wake you up while leaving. Hope you have a great day ahead. Call me when you get free from work.
Nayab was crimson as she read the cute, little note he had left for her. She admired his thoughtfulness, and his beautiful, cursive handwriting at the same time.
She had to leave for the hospital in forty-five minutes, so she tucked the note safely inside her closet and went to shower. She wore a loose kurta with palazzo, ate oats for breakfast and left home. While going to the parking lot, where her newly serviced car was standing, she texted Danish. ‘The note woke me up with a smile. Thanks. I have a 24 hour shift today, will get free by tomorrow morning and would desperately need to sleep. Let’s plan something for tomorrow night.’
She got in her car, connected her phone to the car bluetooth and called her mother.
“Driving to the hospital. I have a 24 hour today.” Nayab informed her.
Gulshan frowned. “I thought you were working yesterday night since you didn’t call me.”
Nayab forgot to call her mother because she was with Danish. “Yeah, I was hanging out with a friend.”
“Huh! That’s a first.” Gulshan smirked. “Is that friend Rohail?”
Nayab was about to ask who Rohail is but she remembered just in time that she was on a date with him two nights ago. “No, why would I be with him?”
“I don’t know..maybe because you liked each other.”
“But I don’t.”
Gulshan’s voice suddenly got sad. “You don’t?”
“Ah, I mean, he wasn’t bad. He was just not someone I could see myself with.” Nayab tried to reason.
Gulshan was tempted to ask why, but she didn’t. She trusted her daughter and if Nayab said she didn’t see a future with someone, then that was it. Her decision would be respected without any questions.
“Okay.” Gulshan said, “Can I look for some other guy?”
“No,” Nayab subtly smiled thinking about Danish. “No more guys.”
“Okay,” Gulshan agreed again. “Not until you’re ready.”
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Nayab didn’t get the time to check her phone until late evening. It had several useless notifications, along with a couple of texts from Simran and Danish’s. She opened Simran’s first. She had sent her a picture of her barely visible baby bump. It was followed by another message that read, ‘I woke up with this! Isn’t it crazy that I have a BABY inside me?’ Nayab chuckled and replied with a big, red, thumping heart.
The next was Danish’s text. He had replied to her message with, ‘Even though it sucks that I can’t see you tonight, I am so proud of you for working so hard. Can’t wait for tomorrow. What do you have in mind?’
She started typing immediately. ‘Come home and let’s make pizza.’
He saw her text instantly and replied with, ‘It’s a date then.’
She laughed. ‘Don’t flatter yourself, Mr Vaziri.’
‘It is a date, Ms Haider.’
She shook her head at his adamant behavior. It was futile arguing with him because she knew she’d lose. So she changed the topic. ‘What are you doing?’
He sent a picture of what looked like an engagement ceremony where the bride was making the groom wear a ring and all the relatives were cheering around. ‘Working ;)’ He said.
‘Lucky you! Eat some extra bites of the delicious food for me, will you? Gotta go now, see ya!’ She replied and went offline.
After the engagement ceremony ended, Danish sat down to eat dinner with all his team members. He could have eaten before when the groom’s father asked him to join them at the family table, but he liked eating with his own people. He ate one for extra naan on behalf of Nayab, and also had an extra bowl of brownie with ice cream since he remembered how much she loved this particular dessert.
After wrapping up all the work, the entire team drove back to the guest house that Danish had booked for all of them to stay.
Despite mustering enough courage to return to Mumbai, he found himself unable to set foot in his childhood home where he once lived with his parents. The mere thought of facing the memories that were bound to flood his mind upon entering the familiar abode sent shivers down his spine. The pain and longing he felt for his loved ones were still too raw, and he wasn't sure if he'd ever be ready to confront them. As a result, he opted to stay with his entire team in the guest house.
After changing when he got under the sheets, he picked up his phone and opened YouTube to look for recipes of making pizza from scratch. He wanted to impress his girl tomorrow with his cooking skills and needed as much knowledge as he could accumulate in one night.
After an hour and half and almost twenty five videos later, he knew how to make veg and chicken pizzas, with and without yeast, and with and without oven.
He decided to call it a night, but before sleeping, he texted Nayab, ‘I am off to bed, darling. I think you’ll find this text in the morning, so have a good one.’
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It took so long to update cause I was admitted in the hospital. I just got back home yesterday. The medicines are still on, I also have weakness. But I will be fine soon, InshaAllah.
You read the chapter till then and tell me how you liked it. Also, sorry about the aesthetics. They've not been great lately.
