Your Average Girl.

Her Teenage Love story.

As he occupied himself with playing with her hair, she gave up trying to resist his overtures. Who was she to deny him his many pleasures while she was at his mercy? Ready to answer to his every beck and call. She did not wish to anger him because his fury was far beyond anything she could ever handle. If he were to turn violent, he would subject her to depths of hell she wasn't even aware existed.

While most referred to him as an inanimate object, with no feelings or life, Minaal knew better. She had heard the sailors tale and knew how offended he got when lesser mortals referred to him as 'it'. The sea was not someone you should look to cross as you sailed across its vast reaches. At least that was what Minaal believed. To her, the sea was alive and beautiful. He knew everything and everyone who dared trudge upon it. He controlled the salty sea breeze that made her hair dance and the waves that crashed onto the hull of the yacht. While she admired the sea, she looked beyond, towards the shore, to observe a city so far away yet so ingrained into her that she could never really leave it behind. No matter where she went. With its blinding lights, overbearing traffic and over population, Karachi could be over whelming. But from the middle of the ocean, at such a distance, without all the noises cancelling it out, it seemed like heaven. No, it felt better than heaven. It felt like home.

She was awed at the scene she found herself in, wind blowing through her hair, the sound of waves crashing, a magnanimous city in her view as she stood against the railings, the serenity of it all overwhelmed her. What would make the scene perfect was if she climbed over the railings and shouted 'I'M KING OF THE WORLD!!!' in total Titanic-esque style. What a way to commemorate her graduation. To mix chaos with order. Isn't that the very contrast which elevates all entities to greatness?

"Hey!" A familiar voice interrupted her chain of thought. The voice belonged to a friend of hers, Hadi. Someone she had despised when Dow first started. Initially, it was only because of their mutual friends and love for cards that they even sporadically hung out. But eventually, she had warmed up to him, so much so that he had become a part of a select group of people that she was comfortable around.

"Want a smoke? Mint hai." He said as he offered her a pack of cigarette.

"I don't know....." she hesitated. "What the hell. Not like it's my first time."

As she took out one, light it up and took a deep drag. It'd been a long time since she'd had a cigarette. It burned her throat but she held out. The scene that enveloped her was something she could not have fathomed at the start of the day. Smoking a cigarette, on a cruise, as the sun set on the horizon. Hadi had already disappeared from her side. No doubt to flirt with a girl who was already engaged. It might well be the last time he could. There were reasons she despised him so strongly in the beginning. She had just decided to ignore these kinks in him.

"If you're gonna smoke, atleast let me do it with you." Rafia said as she appeared at her side. "Sure. Here you go. Don't finish it, okay." She gave her the cigarette. She watched as Rafia took a deep drag and then let the smoke out, hand on her side, looking out to the horizon, as if smoking was second nature to her.

"Hawww. Ye kya behudgi lagayi hui hai tum dono ne" Haya called out to them in mock shock. The rest of her friends had arrived too. "Ye lou yar tum bhi peelo aaj" Minaal now held the cigarette out to Haya.
"Han yar Haya. Try it outt. Kuch nhi hoga yar", Rafia backed her up. Together, they managed to convince the four of them to have atleast one drag from the cigarette.

"Ye hain mustaqbil ke doctors. Masha Allah!" Shoaib announced his arrival to their fore.

"Tum bhi peelo aaj. Grow a pair" Minaal taunted him in good spirit.