LOVE TRIALS

iii

Shahzaib Nisar had been walking towards the fountain in the centre of the famous square, his phone pressed to his ear as he talked to Maysa. It was the highlight of his days for a few days, now. He wanted to get to know her in his earnest.

"Wait- Wait," He interrupted Maysa, distracted by a corny pickup line, just on the tip of his tongue. He stopped short, his teeth clamped down on his lower lip to suppress a growing smile as he thought of his next words.

"What's happened?"He heard her sweet voice in his ear and began walking, again.

"I am lost," Laughter bubbled in his chest.

"Where? Where are you?"

"Can you give me the directions...to your heart?" Shahzaib chuckled having spoken but silence greeted his ears from the other end until it didn't.

"You're so silly," Maysa drawled, he heard the smile in her voice and her giggles.

"I aim to please," Shahzaib said but he halted again when he spotted his future brother in law, sitting on one of the chairs outside the cafe with a woman. "I think I see your brother."

"My brother?" Maysa sat up from where she had been lying on her stomach, phone tucked in the crook of her neck.

"Sufiyan," Maysa's lips thinned into a straight line when Shahzaib mentioned his name. Shahzaib was terribly mistaken, Maysa couldn't bring herself to correct him with the fears ruling her heart and mind.

He would never leave her, alone.

"Oh."

"He's with a woman."

"A woman?" A single eyebrow arched. That seemed to have caught Maysa's attention, she should have been ashamed.

"Yeah. Let's talk in a bit, I'll go greet him. I haven't seen him since the engagement. Is that okay with you?"

"He must be with his client, Shahzaib. You might interrupt the meeting," Maysa reasoned, jumping from the bed to dig a hole in the carpet.

Shahzaib hardly believed the woman was Sufiyan's client with a head full of golden hair, her skin pale in the sun afterall Sufiyan practised law within the country not abroad and she particularly wasn't a native.

"I will be quick. Allah Hafiz," Shahzaib said as he cut the call. He suspected the woman knew Sufiyan, he couldn't see clearly who she was with her back facing him but she'd been leaning forward in her chair, cradling her head in the palms of her hands. Sufiyan mirrored the woman, his arms folded on the table, conveying nothing but familiarity.

"Assalamualaikum," Sufiyan leaned back in his chair, clearly surprised when Shahzaib approached the table.

"Assalamualaikum, what are you doing here?" Sufiyan inquired with a small smile when he rose from the chair and allowed Shahzaib to pull him into a brotherly side hug.

"I was shopping for some things for mum. I hope I am not interrupting?" Shahzaib spoke, his eyes shifting between the woman and Sufiyan with curiosity as he pushed his sunglasses on his head.

Sufiyan shook his head, looking to dismiss any ideas running through Shahzaib's head, he was a creative man. Only a creative man would talk as much as he did.

"Yes. No, we were done. This is my friend, Elisa," The said woman didn't turn to look at Shahzaib when Sufiyan introduced her. Rude. If anything Shahzaib was worried, she had frozen on the spot. She barely moved.

"Hi, Elisa. It's nice to meet you. I am-" Shahzaib spoke, softly, taking a step closer to her when the woman turned to him, her vivid blue eyes arrested him, it was Shahzaib's turn to forego breathing.