Whispers Of The Heart

Chapter 4

Raaste anjaane hai, manzilen bekhabar hai,
Kabhi hum bhatak jate hai, toh kabhi humsafar mukar jate hai.

"Are you even listening to what I am saying?" Ashar burst out.

Usually, he was a very calm and composed guy, but his one cousin had the marvellous talent of getting on his nerves, or, to be precise, getting on anyone's nerves.

Arham was casually sitting on his bike, parked in front of a tea stall, and smoking cigarettes.

"Ye le, tu chai pee," he said nonchalantly, forwarding the glass of tea to Ashar.
(Take this, you have tea.)

Ashar's mouth hung open, his eyes widening to an almost comical extent. "Are you serious? I'm talking about something serious, and you are just chilling with your cigarettes."

Arham looked up with a straight face and put his hands on Ashar's shoulders. "You should also chill. Why are you getting so hyped up?"

"Why am I getting hyped up? Noor is continuously calling and messaging me. You have conveniently blocked her and moved on with your other girls."

For the past half an hour, Ashar had been lecturing Arham on his playboy attitude and his habit of leaving girls after he 'so-called' gets bored with them.

"Then you also block her." Arham winked at his cousin and continued to inhale the smoke.

Ashar slapped his forehead. He had tried 'n' number of times to make Arham understand how to mend his habits, but what's Arham if he ever listens to anyone else?

"Do you even have any emotions?" he sighed.

"No" was Arham's plain answer.

Ashar slowed down his voice and continued, "How will you feel if you start loving a girl and she leaves you?"

Arham looked at him, then started laughing.
"And why do you think I'll ever fall in love? Don't you know me? Girls fall for me; I don't fall for girls."

________

Dinayah sat in the library nervously, twirling her pen between her fingers. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead, mirroring the unease churning within her. The library, like her mind, was quite empty, with only two other students scattered across its expanse.

Her thoughts were in disarray, filled with chaos about the imminent upheaval her life would face in fifteen days. The elders had fixed the marriage date, and it was supposed to take place in fifteen days. Despite her relentless efforts to postpone the marriage, her father refused to listen to anything that she said.

Anticipation hung heavy in the air as she waited for Ayush. He had found out the details about Hammad. She had called him to the library so that she could talk to him in private.

As Ayush entered the library, Dinayah straightened herself, wiping away beads of anxiety before placing her hands firmly on the table. Ayush came forward and took his seat across from her, a weighty sigh escaping him.

"What's the news?" Dinayah inquired urgently, her anticipation tinged with tension.

He sighed again, and the words fell hesitantly out of his mouth, "It's not exactly good news."

Dinayah's complexion paled, and anxiety etched lines of worry on her face. "What... what happened?"

After the meeting with Ayush, she straight away left for home without attending her further classes.

Getting out of the auto, she started walking towards her home. Ayush's stark words kept replaying in her mind, each syllable etching a deeper furrow of concern on her brow.