Mujhe Pyaar Hua Tha

Ch. 12: Theatre at the Sushi Bar

Alizey's P.O.V.

I was starting to walk away when the restaurant doors opened, "Alizey!"

I whirled around.

"Where are you going? Where's your husband?"

"Sorry, Susie. I think I'm going to head ho-" just before I could finish, a figure from the corner of my eye rushed over to me and wrapped their arm around my waist, kissing my cheek.

"I'm so sorry I'm late, baby," Fawad apologized to me before extending his hand to Susie, "Nice to see you again."

I stared at him stunned. He was wearing semi-formal attire—a black dress shirt and charcoal trousers. His hair was also different. He had gotten a haircut accordingly to my suggestion; a clean fade on the sides and back of his head with the rest of his long hair tied up neatly. When I thought he couldn't get any more handsome, he'd proven me wrong.

Susie shook his hand with a flirty smile, "It's my pleasure. Come in."

Fawad laced our fingers. We followed Susie to a sushi bar where there were three chefs preparing rolls, nigiri, and sashimi to their liking. The bar was in the shape of a half rectangle. The group had left two empty seats for him and I at the corner, the perfect view for anyone to watch us, which they already were. All eyes were on us like a hawk as we made our way to the seats.

Susie sat down at the opposite corner, staring straight ahead at my husband, "Everyone, this is Fawad-?"

"Fawad Raza," he introduced himself with a polite nod and small smile.

Several of the guys cheered and greeted him before firing off questions, "Do you want a drink?," "Why don't you drink?," "What do you do?," "Where do you work?," "Where did you go to school?" And he answered honestly, garnering the same response as he had from Susie when he stated the name of the shop he works for, rendering the investment bankers and data analysts uninterested in my husband.

The attention shifted away from us when the sushi chef served another round.

Fawad rested his left arm around my waist. He leaned closer, speaking quietly, "I'm sorry, Alizey. I left work at 5 then went home and got ready so I could come here directly after Mr. Cooper's meeting. The meeting ran until 6:40. I was on my way here, but there was an accident on the freeway. It was bumper-to-bumper traffic. I wanted to call you, but my phone died," he slid out his phone from his pocket to show me how it wouldn't turn on, "I've been out all day, and I didn't realize it didn't have enough-"

"It's okay," my eyes softened when I saw the sincerity and guilt in his.

"It wasn't my intention to make you wait for so long. I purposely took off an hour early so this wouldn't happen, but the accident on the freeway pu-"

"It's fine," I offered a smile.

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me, Raza. When did you get a haircut?"

"In the morning."

"I like it."

"I wasn't too sure about it," he ran his hand over his hair.

My eyebrows pulled together as I asked softly, "Then why did you do it?"

"I thought you would like it," he stated, lifting the tuna nigiri to his mouth with chopsticks.

My cheeks flushed. What did that mean? Was he trying to impress me? "It looks nice," I murmured before eating.

Susie and two other girls at the other end of the bar were chatting quietly while observing us.