DhoomBros: Be With You Forever

Chapter 4 - Small world, or meant to be?

Hello everyone! I am overwhelmed by the response! *big bear hug* I would love to hear from more of you though... Let me know what you think about a) the story itself, and b) my style of writing. Criticism is welcome! But don't be vicious :)

Let's see if you guys can guess which way this train is heading... Saara-Shehry or, Saara-Hussain? Please note I do not own the characters except for Saara. And also, any information presented here about the characters (except for Saara) is just my imagination and not to be taken as real.

Saara made her way back to her apartment that night having taken out the trash. Who was she kidding. Taking out the trash was an excuse. Any time away from the environment within her home was like treasure for Saara. At this point in her life, it took every will in her body to look on the bright side of life and think about a future that in some way or the other, could possibly get better. Her new neighbours were definitely a start, Saara thought to herself. Hussain and Shehryaar. Oops, Shehry. She smiled to herself thinking she had finally started taking a step towards putting the past behind her and starting fresh, getting to know new people. Hopefully Shehry and Hussain turned out to be the nice people they appeared to be.

As Saara dragged her feet towards the door, a tiny fear began creeping inside of her at the thought of stepping through that door again. She just hoped he hadn't locked it again. Him, yes. Her father.

Saara slowly turned the nob and breathed a sigh of relief as she felt the door push through smoothly, which meant it had been left open indeed.

"What took you so long?" Her father demanded, only after having put two steps into their home.

"Woh, dad, I wasn't familiar with the area downstairs..." Saara replied, continuing towards her father who was seated in the living room.

"It's been two weeks since we've moved here, and you're telling me you still don't know your way around this building," her father sarcastically replied.

"Sorry, dad," Saara softly replied.

"Go to your room," he simply said, sending Saara off to her bedroom.

Saara lay her head on the pillow and reminded herself to look on the bright side. "It will get better," she whispered. "It will get better."

She continued to reassure herself with that sentence, while thinking of the day ahead of her tomorrow, and the things she had to get done.

***

The next day, Saara's alarm clock woke her up at 6:30 am. She had to get to class for 8:30. Having recently moved to the area, she was only just getting used to the bus routes and schedules, which meant she would probably get to class earlier than necessary, but that would stay only until she became a little bit more familiar with how long the commute was, and how often the buses came.

By the time she had showered, dressed, had breakfast and made it downstairs, the sun had already risen making it a bright and sunny day today. Saara took in the environment and smiled to herself. She loved it when it was bright and sunny like today. She quickly took a look at her watch and noted it was 7:13 am. The bus was scheduled to arrive at 7:17 am, and would take her to the train station (apparently a 15 minute trip), and then the subway from there would take 20 minutes to get to her campus.

She popped on her earphones and waited for the bus to arrive when she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder, shaking her from her thoughts.

"Oh my God, you scared me," Saara breathed, turning around to see her new neighbour. Shehry.

"Sorry," he said with a goofy, apologetic smile.

"It's okay," Saara smiled, "where are you off to this early?"

"Class at 8," Shehry replied looking at his watch, "and you?"

"Same, but class at 8:30..." Saara said smiling, with a small shrug.

He looked at her a little odd. "Aren't you a bit early for an 8:30 class?" Shehry said with a hint of tease.

"Don't laugh!" Saara said slightly embarrassed, "I don't know the bus routes and all yet, so gotta get used to the timings first..." she trailed off.

"I'm just kidding. Besides, where you headed?" Shehry asked, as their attention was pulled away momentarily as the bus arrived at their stop and they both got in. Saara moved to the back of the bus and noticed Shehry following in her footsteps. She took a window seat and her eyes followed Shehry as he sat down right next to her, putting his bag in his lap.

"I hope you don't mind me sitting here?" Shehry asked with a strange look on his face.

Saara chuckled and slapped his arm playfully, earning a laugh out of Shehry as well.

"Haan, toh mera sawaal. Where are you studying?" Shehry continued.

"At the University of New York," Saara replied.

"No way...!" Shehry said, with a bit of a shocked expression on his face.

"Don't tell me...-" Saara began. "Main bhi wahaan padta hoon!" Shehry exclaimed. The two expressed their surprise over the fact that they both attended the same university.

"Small world, or was it meant to be?" Shehry asked with a to-die-for smile on his face. Saara looked at him with a smile thinking about his question while she felt an inward relief that she knew at least one other person in the area who went to the same university as her.

The two were pulled out of their thoughts as the bus driver shouted last stop, indicating this was the train station Shehry and Saara needed to get off at. The remainder of the ride to school was spent in just talking about random things about each other. Shehry told Saara about his little sister Maha, and how his brother and him moved to New York to pursue their studies while their family stayed back in Texas. Saara opened up a bit to Shehry and told him more about her family as well.

Saara's life was nothing less than a Bollywood soap-opera. As sad as it sounded, hers was a family that was once happy and lively. Back in Toronto, she lived with her parents and a younger brother. One night, despite her father insisting against it, Saara's mother took her and her brother out for dinner, given that Saara's father was working afternoon shifts and therefore not home. A snowy night and the roads already terrible enough, it was just a disaster waiting to happen. Saara had repeatedly told her mom not to take them and that they could always reschedule for another day, but her mother had promised Saara a night out and wouldn't budge. Their vehicle got into an accident on the highway and unfortunately, Saara's mother and brother didn't make it.

Shehry felt awful hearing about what had happened to Saara. It was a huge burden to carry, and she was brave enough to get through it without showing a hint of it on her face.

"And that's my sob story," Saara sighed after having shared the most important thing in her life with this guy she had met only two days ago. She didn't know why, but somehow it just felt right to share it with him.

"I'm sorry," Shehry softly said, as they both sat in the subway.

"It's okay," Saara quietly said, focusing her eyes on her hands that rested in her lap. "It will get better," she added.

"Yes. Yes it will," Shehry replied, placing his hands on top of hers in a comforting manner. Saara looked up to Shehry who gave her a reassuring smile, feeling the burden in her heart lessen.

"Tell me more about Maha," Saara said with a smile on her face again. Shehry chuckled to himself, shaking his head ever so slightly.

"Maha..." he began.