A Yellow Rose

Chapter 3.

Zeehan's POV-

"Oh, before I forget. Here, I got this for you." Aisha said.

A smile made its way on to Ayushi's face the minute her eyes landed on a beautiful yellow rose.

"Thank you, Aisha!"

I learned that although Aisha is two years elder to her, she still calls Aisha by her name. Seems like she's used to it since childhood.

"What's your obsession with only a single yellow rose?" Armaan asked her.

She smiled at him before saying, "It's just that I think a single yellow rose is more gorgeous than a bunch of them."

"Weirdo." I commented, which made her chuckle.

"Guys, the food is ready! You want me to keep it on the dining table or on the table of the living room?" Aunty asked from the kitchen.

Ayushi stood up from her seat and walked towards the kitchen while saying, "I think the living room is fine, seeing that all of us are already settled in there."

While aunty brought the lasagna tray into the living room, Ayushi followed her with plates and a bottle of coke.

Aisha had already kept the glasses ready on the table.

"Seems like I came down at the right time." Uncle said, joining us on the couch.

"How come you guys never mentioned about Ayushi to us?" Reyhan asked uncle and aunty.

"Maybe because her topic never came up." Uncle said, shrugging his shoulders.

"The real question is how come you guys never noticed her in the photographs hung up on the wall?" Aunty chuckled.

"Maybe because we never really paid attention to them." I stated, shrugging my shoulders this time.

"But I must say Reva aunty, you've got a beautiful daughter." Reyhan said, looking at Ayushi, who shook her head while smiling.

"Beautiful daughters." Aisha corrected him.

"Yeah yeah, you too." He chuckled.

"And excuse me? No flirting with my little sister." She continued, pointing her index finger at the three of us.

"Like I would." I said, with a blank face.

"Oh ofcourse!" Ayushi commented.

We spent the next one hour eating the delicious lasagna aunty made, talking and just having fun.

When we were done, the boys and I helped aunty clean up the table, before I walked out into their garden for a quick smoke.

I stood there, smoking and looking at the beautiful sunset, all by myself. But obviously Ayushi Shah cannot leave me alone and in peace.

"Hi, Mr. Ideal crush." She said, while standing next to me.

I sighed.

"Honestly now, what's your problem?" I asked her, calmly, not sounding too rude.

"Well, just wanted to give you some company. It sucks to be all alone by yourself, you know." She shrugged.

I looked at her and blew the next smoke right on her face.

When the smoke vanished, I could clearly see her face. She stood right in her place, with her eyes shut, but a smile on her face.

She opened her eyes and looked at me, still smiling, before turning her attention towards the sunset.

"You know, smoking kills-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I don't usually smoke, it's just sometimes. Don't lecture me about it again, because I'm in no mood to listen to that crap." I told her.

"Ever thought of quitting?" She asked me.

"Nope."

"Why is that so?"

"Because I never felt the need to quit."

"Isn't living a reason good enough to quit?"

"And why do you care?"

"My bestfriend used to smoke too and he died because of lung cancer." She stated.

I looked at her. Her face was blank while she looked ahead at the sunset. She turned her attention towards me, studying my face and taking in my shocked expression.

All of a sudden, she started laughing.

What?

I looked at her, confused, and waited for her to speak up.

"Oh god, look at your face." She said, laughing more.

"Huh?" I asked, still so confused.

"I'm kidding. My bestfriend did not die. Neither does he smoke." She said, still laughing.

I stood there, looking dumbfounded as ever.

"You think that's funny?" I questioned.

"Was worth your expression though." She said, now smiling at me.

I rolled my eyes at her before saying, "Do not play that sick joke on anyone. Ever."

"Okay." She said, surrendering her hands, still smiling.

"Why do you always smile?" I asked her.

"Because I'm a happy soul!" She said, grinning like a kid.

I smiled at her, a genuine one this time, before shaking my head.

"Did I annoy you much back at the store?" She questioned, which caused me to laugh.

"I was so close to ripping your head off. Like a random chick just walks up to me and starts lecturing me about how smoking isn't good for me, with a constant annoying smile on her face."

"Well, if you look at my face properly, you would realise that my smile isn't annoying." She said.

I looked at her again, and said, "Nah, it's still annoying."

She rolled her eyes, but obviously, had a smile on her face.

I threw the cigarette down and crushed it with my foot.

"Also, I'm not that bad of a person, you know. I mean, sometimes I can get annoying, but I'm a really good person." She said.

I looked at her again.

"Oh, and cute too." She added, grinning. A chuckle escaped my mouth.

"Mint?" She asked, bringing her palm front, which had two mint strips sitting on it.

"Which flavour?" I asked her, picking one strip up.

She winked at me before walking inside as peppermint flavour exploded in my mouth.