Ishq-e-Watan

Chapter 94- Butterflies in the Stomach

CHAPTER 94

BUTTERFLIES IN THE STOMACH

Monami stared outside the window. She had spent exactly 7 minutes squealing and jumping around the room the night before. Karan was her boyfriend. 7 minutes she had spent bouncing around. But Karan was her boyfriend. God, what was going to change now? She had a boyfriend. 5 months ago, she didn't even have friends. Now, she even had a boyfriend. She had sat down on the bed, staring at the floor with wide eyes.

And early morning, it was the storm named Monami that woke Sid up. "Sid", she whispered, yanking him up. He groaned, staring at her with bleary eyes. "Uth, kutte! Mujhe baat karni hai."

"Ek toh subah ke 5 baje utha rahi hai", he grumbled, getting out of bed. "Aur saath mein kutta bhi main hi hoon. Kya ho gaya?" He dragged his feet behind her, walking outside. "Ab kya bol diya uss Khadoos ne?"

"Tujhe kaise pata unke baare mein?"

He stared at her, before pointing to his forehead. "Idiot likha hai yahan par?"

She hit his arm. "He is my boyfriend now", she whispered.

A small smile spread on his face and she grinned back. The grin was wiped clean when he grabbed her neck, shaking her angrily. "Yeh bataane ke liye uthaaya hai? Do ghante baad kya break up ho jaata? Tu poori raat nahi soyi, na, Monu?"

"Bro, ek crisis hai."

"Ab kya crisis ho gaya? Abhi toh ek din bhi nahi hua, Monu."

"Woh mere boyfriend hain."

He stared at her. "Crisis kahan hain?"

"Sid, I have a boyfriend." He sighed. "What do I do? Do you think... Do you think he'll expect ki... ki main unke saath apne nightmares ki baat karoon ya... ya unhe sab bataun? I can't say some things out loud. Matlab, they are mine. What if he expects me to let him touch me just because he kissed my cheek-"

"Ask him." She paused, staring at him. "Ask him ki woh expect karte hain tujhse."

"Aise hi?"

He shrugged, nodding. "He's your boyfriend. You can ask him what he expects from you." She exhaled, nodding. "Ab main so jaun? Please?"

She glared at him, before pushing him towards the door. "Poora din bas sota raha kar tu. Gadha."

He stared at her in disbelief, shaking his head as he walked back in. "5 baj rahe hain. Good luck, Karan Sir", he muttered, falling back to his bed.

---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---

Nawaz peeked out from behind the curtains that drowned the room in darkness despite the light peeking out. "Koi nahi dikh raha hai", he said, letting the curtains fall back over the curtains.

Aisha exhaled, rubbing her face. "Unhe pata kaise chala?" She said. "Kaun gaddaar hai?" Her eyes swung around dangerously, red from the days she had spent crying. The Boss was dead. Her lover. And while Nawaz was sure it would take her no time to move on to another powerful leader, it must still have stung to left him to die. None of them have been back to see what those heartless soldiers had left of what was once their home, but he was told the Boss was dead. Shot dead on his chair in his cabin. Powerful to the end.

"Koi gaddaar nahi hai", a man said. He recognized him to be Aryan. He was younger than him but he was plain ruthless. Even Nawaz was scared of him. He laughed when he was killing people. It was a good thing he wasn't in any line to be in a position of power because he would make EFR nothing but a slaughterhouse filled with cruel butchers. Their mission, their talks, their goal, their vengeance would mean nothing. "Gaddaar yahan waapas laut kar nahi aayenge. Kyun, Nawaz? Sahi kaha, na, maine?" He leaned forward, watching him quietly.