DREAM GIRL

CHAPTER- 6 THE LADIES WOULD LOVE IT

"Hey Farhan"

"What?" he exhales and tries to ignore his warm face.

Nourie pulls him up and drags him along to stand beside him. She points at the horizon. "Look over there." Farhan reluctantly tears his gaze away from Nourie's presence and follows her finger to the horizon. As he looks over, his breath catches in his throat as he sees something—something that he never thought existed... a creature that looked like a fish? No... a dolphin? But it was slithering like an eel? And big like a humongous whale?

He thought he was hallucinating. Did he smoke something unknowingly?

It was swimming straight towards them.

NO.. It was swimming straight towards him.

And fast.

As the creature approached, Farhan's heart raced with fear. He had never seen anything like it before, and its sheer size and unusual appearance left him speechless. His body felt warm, his head light, and his heart beating loudly in his throat as if wanting to jump out through his mouth as he realised the creature was getting closer by the second, its slithering movements in the water sending chills down his spine.

He panics and tries to step away, but finds Nourie holding on to his forearm tightly. "What are you doing? Let go! We need to get out of here!"

Her eyes darken, and an eerie smile slowly creeps up on her face. He can't believe that this was the carefree girl he was talking to a few moments ago. She steps closer and whispers, her breath hot on his ears, "Sorry, but this is how it is supposed to end."

His heart raced as he struggled against Nourie's grip, desperately trying to free himself from her clutches. The once familiar face now seemed distorted, almost otherworldly, as if possessed by some unseen force. Fear coursed through his veins as he realised the danger he was in, trapped between the approaching creature and Nourie, a plump girl who seemed like she never even graced a look at the gym, now held him in place with a bright smile on her face.

"Nourie, yeh kya bhadda mazaak hai?!" (Noorie, what kind of terrible joke is this?) He yelled at her, but to no avail. He looked at her, and then the fast-approaching sea creature...

... Wait, why can he see only red??

And then it all went black.

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He woke up with a gasp.

Sitting straight, he covers his wide eyes with his eyes and tries to get his breathing under control. Farhan takes in a few deep breaths, places a hand on his chest as if to hold his heart and force it to slow its beating down. He can feel a few drops of sweat gliding down his face and missing their way into his beard. He closes his eyes and tries to make sense of his surroundings. 

Car

He's in his car.

His head is hurting.

The vacuum in his ears clears up.

And he can hear a knock on the glass... a muffled sound.

Sadiq, his friend since high school, is standing outside. Farhan breathes in deeply, swallows, rubs his palms over his face to shake off that vivid dream, and lowers the glass to let Sadiq in. Sadiq's face comes into view, and he sarcastically asks, "Welcome back to the world of living, Docsaab."

Now let me tell you something about Sadiq. Sadiq Ilyas was a chill guy. At face value, you might think, Oh, this guy is so rude; does he not care about his friend? But he did, in his own aloof, snarky manner. He was the type to roast the hell out of you, but Farhan knew that when push came to shove, Sadiq was the man who always had his back.

Farhan stares at him blankly. The last vestiges of the dreams are still lingering in his mind. He tries to make sense of it all, but the pieces of the puzzle refuse to fit together. His mind gives up on him and refuses to cooperate when he tries to re-analyse the dream. What was happening there, and why did he feel so scared?

Sadiq snaps his fingers in front of his face. "Kiske khwaab mein ghum ho, majnu?" "In whose dreams are you lost, lover boy?) he asks with a smirk.

Farhan sighs deeply and gets out of the car. "It is nothing like that." He looks at his watch to check the time. 5 am. He raises an eyebrow. "Never knew you were an early riser.."

Sadiq scoffs, "Look at you changing the topic." He sees Farhan taking a cigarette out and tsks. "One of these days, either stress or those cigarettes will kill you."

"Who even wants to live long? Not me," Farhan retorts, lighting up the cigarette. "Life is too short to worry about living a long life." Sadiq shakes his head disapprovingly. "You say that now, but someday you'll regret it." Farhan takes a long drag and blows out a cloud of smoke. "Regret is for those who live in fear. I'd rather live on the edge, even if it means a shorter life."

"Yeah, yeah, big words for a guy who can't even face his parents." Sadiq taunts him. Farhan smirks and flicks the ashes off his cigarette. "You have never seen Ammi and Abbu fighting. Once you do, you'll understand."

"That is one thing that I refuse to witness." Sadiq laughs. He looks around. "Khair, I came to the mosque with Nana. He saw your car parked and told me to check if it was you or not. Come, let's go."

Farhan exhales another drag of smoke before responding, "Where? Your home?"

"Aur kahan? Mom made nahari, and you are hungry." cue for Farhan's stomach to rumble loudly. He embarrassedly looks at Sadiq, who can't help but control his laughter, and agrees to have breakfast at his place.

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"Your shirt is too tight for me."

"Good for you. The ladies would love it."

Farhan grimaces as Sadiq loudly laughs, walking out as his mother called him. He scrolls through his contacts on his phone, wondering if he could ask Sakina to bring a change of clothes for him, but he shuts that line of thought as he didn't want to involve her in his troubles. Farhan decides to keep on wearing the shirt he wore the night before.

Yes, he might get a few questioning stares from those who have a chronic disease of remembering others' outfits, but at least that would be bearable compared to wearing a shirt that is bursting at its seams.

His mind revisits the events that happened the night before. The storming out of his house. His parents angrily yelling at him. The marriage bomb that was dropped at him. Gosh, what an effing rollercoaster last night was-

"Mom wants you to have dinner with us. She's making biryani." Sadiq's interruption brings him back to the present moment. He was in no mood to face his parents again. With a slight nod, he responds, "Sure, I'd love to join you for dinner."

As they both walk out, walking down the dimly lit hallway, discussing about the latest football game and comparing their teams performance in the league, Farhan suddenly stills, feeling a pair of eyes on him. He turns, only to see a large vase of dried flowers, that Sadiq's mother had meticulously arranged. He shrugs and walks on but can't shake the feeling that someone is watching him. Every step he takes, he feels the weight of their gaze on his back. 

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A/N: Well that was short chapter but writer's block had me in a terrible clutch. Thankfully that phase is over. Updates will be every Saturday and Sunday, Inshaallah :)

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