"Don't tell me you actually apologized to her," my friend Zaffar demanded.
"And what if I did?" I replied dryly.
"Then I..." He threw his hands in the air before clamping them over his mouth, a deep, husky laugh rumbling in his throat. "I'd laugh!" His shoulders shook with suppressed amusement, which only irritated me further.
I glared at him.
He stopped abruptly, his face flushed red from the force of his hands trying to contain his laughter.
I sighed.
"Hey, dude! I'm just shocked that Mr. Ahad Shah possesses the basic etiquette to apologize to people," Zaffar said, a teasing glint in his eyes. "Could it be that you...you've..."
He didn't get a chance to utter those ridiculous words before I snapped, "If you want a ruin dead body of yours before evening, feel free to continue." I warned him, my voice low and dangerous.
Zaffar's expression went blank. He knew me well. While I might not commit murder, I could certainly inflict a significant amount of pain on anyone foolish enough to suggest I had fallen for someone.
"If you didn't want me to continue, why bring it up in the first place?" Zaffar wrinkled his nose, clearly still amused despite my threat.
He was giving me shit. The man had guts, I had made sure to return his favorite for rest of the day.
"Just a disclaimer, baby brother," I retorted.
We were so engrossed in our less-than-fascinating conversation that we hadn't noticed someone eavesdropping. The last thing I wanted was a witness to this and for my mood to be ruined.
Shit.
"Pyaar hova pyaar hova Allah miya!" [Pyaar=love]
A creepy voice echoed from behind us. We both turned to see Haider, a class junior and last year's badminton champion, who lived near the 'Kashmir Cloth' shop, about a twenty-minute walk from our school. God, the urge to beat him senseless was almost disappointingly easy. But out of the top fifty unpleasant things I could think of doing, this didn't even crack the top hundred.
"Pyaar hova pyaar hova !" he repeated the song lyrics in a sing-song voice.
Getting tangled up with Haider was the absolute last thing I wanted to do, especially if it meant jeopardizing my future by potentially ripping his head off.
I stood up, my fists clenching.
"Calm down," Zaffar called out behind me. He was one of the few people in the world I could resist exchanging more than twenty words with at a time, and one of even fewer who dared to command me. Nevertheless, I was already so preoccupied with Iman's situation that I didn't want to complicate things further by dragging Haider into this mess.
"Zaffar's right, yaar. Calm down, brother," Haider smirked, then turned and sauntered in the opposite direction, hands casually shoved in his pockets as he whistled.
The boy definitely had guts.
I was almost unnerved to hear the echo of my own thoughts coming from Zaffar's mouth.
"One of the few juniors daring enough to pull a stunt like that in front of us," Zaffar said with an almost bored expression, his handsome features barely registering the annoyance."Don't worry about that little shit. By this evening, he'll be regretting it. I'll send a few guys to teach him a les—"
He trailed off when he noticed I wasn't paying attention to him, my gaze fixed on something behind him.
"What is it?" Zaffar asked, his brow furrowing slightly.
"Don't tell me there's a chemistry ghost behind me, demanding I apologize for nearly blowing up the lab with my experiments last week," Zaffar quipped. A muffled laugh rumbled in his throat, but it slowly faded into a serious expression when I didn't even offer a smirk in return.
"What is it?" I nearly yelled, my voice tight with a sudden, dreadful premonition.
I ran a frustrated hand over my face, trying to quell the rising panic. Hamid, our batchmate, one of the group members assigned to bodyguard Iman. He wouldn't show his face here, running like this, with that stark fear etched on his face, unless something was terribly wrong.
Shit. If something had happened to Iman...
Happened to Iman..
Iman.
"What!" Zaffar barked, finally turning to our visitor, who was drenched in sweat and visibly terrified. "Now don't tell me something has happened to Iman. God, how many times have I used that phrase by now?"
Aside from Hamid's cousin, Hashim, Zaffar was the only other member who knew about Hamid's task. The initial bodyguarding shift was assigned to Hamid, and the later one to his cousin Hashim. They sometimes swapped schedules, occasionally due to work or, more often, girls – something I couldn't care less about. All that mattered to me was Iman's safety. I didn't entirely trust them, but Zaffar had known these cousins since childhood, and over time, we had all gotten along well enough for me to entrust Iman's well-being to both of them.
Their studies were never a problem, their parents earned a shit ton of money behind their desks.
Their family business wasn't just established; it was an empire woven into the very fabric of the city. Their influence stretched far beyond mere commerce, permeating every level of society. Respect wasn't the only currency they dealt in; fear was a potent undercurrent in every interaction. Even ministers, usually puffed up with their own authority, and policemen, who were supposed to uphold the law without bias, treaded carefully around Mr. Bilal and his younger brother, Mr. Aijaz. To even think about leaking sensitive information concerning them was akin to signing one's own social, if not literal, death warrant. Hamid was Bilal's son, and Hashim was Aijaz's. The city held its breath when the Bilals' name was mentioned, a silent acknowledgment of their formidable power. Their reach was long, their memory even longer, and crossing them was a mistake no one in their right mind would ever consider making.
"Is Iman alright?" I demanded, the question ripping through the tense air. If anything had happened to her, I would hunt down the one who caused it and bury them six feet under. And I meant every single word.
Hamid's face drained of all color, becoming ashen under the dim light. His voice cracked and gave way on the last syllable, a strangled sound of pure terror. The silence that followed stretched, thick and suffocating, broken only by my harsh, ragged breathing. My gaze, unwavering and lethal, pinned him to the spot. He knew there was no escape, no way to soften the blow. He had no choice but to deliver the news, no matter how much he clearly dreaded it.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he gathered a shaky breath and blurted out, the words tumbling out in a rush, "Haffiz...just...proposed...to Iman."