In The Pursuit Of Love

The Two Musketeers

"Each moment contains a hundred messages from God. To every cry of 'Oh God', He answers a hundred times 'I am Here'. – Rumi

***********

"Zeeshan..?"

"Assalamualaikum Maamu. You are awake" he laughed nervously, raising his hand to rest against the wall, in order to hide her and took a small step back pushing into her making her gasp.

"Walaikumassalam. Where are you coming from?" he asked stretching his body, standing at the porch.

Please don't come any closer. Please don't come any closer.

"Dad sent me to bring jalebis for ammi" he replied, laughing again, to which his uncle looked at him weirdly. Zeeshan cleared his throat realizing that he was laughing way too much and looked away.

"Come on then, let's go inside. We have to go to the marriage hall for the remaining amount" he said and waited for him to move.

"Umm.. I-I'll just make a call and come" he stuttered and started scrolling through his phone aimlessly. He saw his uncle nodding and after asking him to make the call quick, he went inside, making him release the breath he was holding.

Without any further delay, without giving her any time to speak or even release her breath, he turned around, grabbed her hand and ran to the other side of the house and turned at the corner. He ignored her whisper yelling and dashed towards the back of the house and only stopped when he found that they would be safe.

They were panting hard, their throats parched and their hearts pounding. His due to the fear of getting caught by someone while hers because of what happened a few minutes earlier. Her mind replayed the scene of her hands touching his back and then her body flushed with his making her face heat up and she looked everywhere but him.

Astaghfirullah.

She continuously muttered under her breath and looked up upon his hearing his voice.

"Listen, I-I am really sorry for what happened back there. I was scared that he might see you" he scratched the back of his neck, while smiling awkwardly recalling the incident. She nodded.

"Okay, you wait here and I'll just come back in a few minutes. I have to put my plan in action. Don't move from here and just stand here" he motioned towards a small wall which had some space beside it to squeeze in.

Her eyes went wide and she panicked shaking her head, "No..what if someone comes. I-I.. What will I even say?"

"Nargis, calm down. No one will come here. And I just need five minutes" he gestured a five with his fingers and ran back inside, leaving her with pleading eyes. He didn't have time to waste and if he had stood there any more trying to explain to her, his uncle might have come outside to look for him.

She looked around, her hands shaking with nervousness, and realized that she was standing on grass, white boundary walls surrounding the house and a cycle standing at the corner. This side of the house gave her a cozy look and she pleaded her heart to relax for a little while. She looked down and slowly removed her shoes. A sense of tranquility washed through her being as her bare foot met the wet grass, and a small smile graced her lips as she started sauntering away, forgetting as to where she was.

He paced towards the kitchen amidst a few of his relatives as it was still early and only a few of them had woken up and asked the maid to give the jalebis to his mother, then ran towards his savior.

"Mehreen" he almost yelled at her sleeping form and pulled away the duvet covering her, "Wake up. SOS"

"Bhai please yaar, I slept late. Let me sleep" she whined and turned to her side.

"No. This is urgent" he grabbed her hands and pulled her up.

"I am sleepy" she cried not opening her eyes.

"I am not going to leave you, chidiya, unless and until you open your eyes and listen to me. I need your help" it was his time to cry now and she slowly opened her eyes.

"You sure this is not some prank" she said raising her eyebrows.

"Promise, its not"

She nodded asking him to go ahead and he took a deep breath.

"My friend is in a kind of a tight spot and needs a place to crash in. I'll tell you the details later, but please can you just say to everyone that your friend is coming for your wedding to stay"

She blinked and made a face hitting him with a pillow making him wince.

"Are you serious right now? I don't have any male friend and even if I had I would never in my dreams ask him to 'crash in'. I don't understand, you shouldn't even be here asking me this. Are you afraid that dad will refuse?"

He shook his head and took a deep breath, "My friend is a She" he slowly uttered and a gasp left her mouth.

"Please Chidiya, you have to help her. She is in danger and has nowhere else to go and this time is the most appropriate as no one will ask questions." He stood along with her and stared at her expressions. She was shocked and surprised.

"What's her name?"

"What?" of all the possible questions, he sure wasn't expecting this.

"I need to know her name in order to introduce her as my friend" she said calmly.

"Nargis" he gulped, not at all believing that she was in this so quickly.

She nodded, "When will she reach?" she asked opening her wardrobe and rummaging through her clothes.

"She is waiting downstairs"

"What?" she came out of the wardrobe, eyes wide, and a few clothes hanging in her hand. He looked away from her disappointed expression.

"Bhai are you trying to give me a heart attack, just two days before my nikah" she exclaimed exasperated raising her hands. He moved forward and grabbing the clothes from her hand threw them on the bed and dragged her outside.

"I am still in my pyjamas"

"We don't have time for this. Lets go before anyone sees her" he whispered and stopped to peep in the living room. "Clear" and paced outside.

"I need explanations after" she warned and he nodded.

"Promise. Just don't ask her"

As they reached at the back of the house, he went straight to the spot where he had asked her to wait.

"Nargis, I am here. Are you o-" his voice was caught in his throat when he didn't find her there. He looked around and panicked when there was no sight of her.

"You were joking right" she crossed her arms, but he didn't reply and she saw him pacing around in circles whisper calling her name.

He felt his heart constricting at the thought of her being taken away by those men. His legs almost gave away and he crouched down, with his head in his hands. He was scared, too scared to even express. As his mind played all sorts of scenarios that could have happened to her, he felt Mehreen sitting in front of him with her hands on his shoulder.

"Bhai, don't worry, where will she go. She must be here only" she said confused at her brother's behavior. And wasn't able to understand the reason behind it. It felt like he was about to pass out.

"No. She is taken" he whispered and she felt like the earth slipped from beneath her feet.

Do let me know who according to you the 'Two Musketeers' were? ;)

Vote. Share. Comment.