GOAL !! GOAL !!" , the crowded chanted. Mariyam , her best friend was making faces sitting beside Haya . She was not a Messi-Ronaldo fan . She thought that they both were overrated . "I need a bowl to puke .Overrated my ass," Haya had told Mariyam when she had voiced her opinion and rolled her eyes.

OMG, OMG he was going to go for a goal. It was a high strung moment for all the fans in the stadium. Haya sat there biting her nails while the whole crowd was busy cheering for their respective teams. She really wanted Portugal to win. This was quarterfinals FIFA 2018 for heaven's sake. Pakistan had not qualified for the FIFA World cup, so they had to cheer for Ronaldo, M. Salah and Benzema who played for their respective countries.

Out of nowhere , the ball comes was coming towards the stands. Haya saw it coming their way , she closed her eyes as she waited for the impact, which never came. Opening her eyes she looked beside her to find a bright red outline of Mariyam's face. "Shitttt", Haya cursed. Haya was shocked at the sudden change of events. Frozen as a statue ,she sat trying to process the situation. She did not know what to do. So, she just sat there frozen with panic . Hoping that the impact hadn't broken Mariyam's nose or teeth .

Broken teeth was okaish , but not nose. Nosejob would require surgery and she didnt want her friend under blade. While on the under hand teeth repairing for Mariyam was as easy as a plumber fitting pipes in his own house. Mariyam's dad was a renowned dentist , he would have repaired the broken tooth or teeth of his daughter for free. Please if its something broken, may it be a teeth, Haya mentally prayed before inquiring about her friend.

"Mariyam , are you, all right ?" Haya tried to reach for her after finally getting her senses back. Mariyam had spilled her coke all over her Colombian shirt she wore ,she was cheering for James Rodríguez . Haya did not know where the damn ball was and at the moment she didnt care. She was busy wiping the excess liquid with tissue from Mariyam's shirt when she heard the crowd shout again ." Ronaldo ,Ronaldo ".

OMG, was this was one of those moments where Ronaldo apologizes for the ball? She thought completely forgetting about her friend's predicament. Haya was going gaga over it because she had watched these kinds of moment on the internet where Ronaldo comes and apologizes himself.

She was so overwhelmed by the thought of meeting her crush that she forgot all about Mariyam and her misery and soaked shirt. Her heart was thudding inside her ribcage as she looked at the cheering crowd , scanning it for her crush.

She found Ronaldo on the steps making his way towards them. Haya's heart was beating fast in anticipation. God, she was finally going to meet her crush.He was just there. Just few metres away from her. She was about to wave to Ronaldo and smile, signaling it was all okay that no one was hurt . I am sorry Mariyam, Haya thought. It was a crappy thing, but these meeting your celebrity crushes are a one time thing. Mariyam, won't mind.

" Haya!!!!! Baba jani(father) is leaving wake up. " Mama voice came as someone pushed her.

What the hell ,just about to meet him. Log ko kya masla hai. Dhakay kyun day rahay hain. (What's with the people ? Why are they pushing me ?) Wait is that Mama? Is she here too ? Haya thought when she felt another push.

What was Mama doing here? Why couldn't Haya see her? Why was everything turning to a blur? The questions were fogging her mind when she felt another push and she jolted up.

It was a dream? Seriously ? And her mother just woke her up from such a precious dream when she was nearly a minute away from meeting her crush. Haya groaned . Mom and her bad timings.

Mama, could you not be like 5 minute late ? Haya wanted to ask but decided not too.

"Mama, Today I have class at 11. So Please let me sleep . Bhai can drop me to university today ."

"But bhai(brother) left already ",she said.

Which left only one option for her. And she was not liking it. She did not want to go, with that excuse of a cousin. And in his car, that smelt like shit load of cigarettes. Please dont say it mom please .She was mentally begging her mother.

"Salman will drop you then." No !!! Haya face palmed herself.

Salman is her Taya's(elder brother of father) eldest son. And he was just the type of person she liked to be avoid. Haya hated hypocrites with a passion , and Salman was one of them. Cold blooded people. You just do not know what to expect from them. Their behavior depends on the company they are in. And added to that ,Salman smoked a lot of cigarettes , no one knew about it. Except them cousins obviously.Another, red flag for him. He was a wolf in sheep's hide. And he creeped her out . So, Haya hated it when she had to go alone with him.

"Khuda hafiz Dadi "

"Khuda hafiz Mama"

Haya called out as she headed for the gate, dressed in a light pistachio cotton kurta and pants . Now she would have to bear with that creep, she thought. She was hating it.

"What are you doing here? " She questioned astounded as she blinked her eyes looking at the black Mercedes parked in-front of her driveway. It wasn't the Mercedes which had her gaping like an owl . Okay maybe that too . But mostly it was because of the man inside it.

Was she supposed to be happy that it was not Salman? She felt conflicted. It was Taimoor. So, he was back, and no one had informed her about his arrival. Not even Saman, who was just so obsessed with her brother. All, Saman ever said was , "bhai yeh , bhai who"(My brother is this and that") and still she had failed to mention that. Haya was going to have a word with Saman about that. She added that to her mental to-do-list .

Haya and Saman were friends so she knew the shittiest things about Taimoor thanks to Saman. Those years, he had been away were kind to him. She gawked at him , as his face registered in her mind. He had grown up. 'Up' up. It was the first time she had seen him after he had left for London.

His eyebrows were not this thick before. And what did he do to his jaw? , She thought absent mindedly staring at those dark bushy brows and that razor sharped jawline. Whatever their equation was, she was thankful that he was back. Phupho had missed him a lot. Like sometimes at Eid she used to cry in the corner when she thought no one was watching because all the Eids were incomplete for her as family.

But for Haya, life just got tougher. Taimoor was back , which meant her miserable days were back. Right now, it was not the creep cousin , it was the ass cousin who was here to pick her up . MOM !! She thought as her hands curled into a fist.

"Get in quick . I am getting late for my meeting. And will you please stop staring." He says in a voice sharp as knife. His voiced too had change. It was crisp and so manly. She felt body tingle as she heard that deep manly voice, striking some chord inside her. He although may have changed physically but behavior wise, he was still a jerk.

"Hello to you too. And thank you so much for inquiring about my well-being. You are such a gentleman. I am great. Plus, it is such an honor to have Mr. Bill Gates drive me to my university. And I was not staring." Haya replied her voice was thick with sarcasm .

Okay well she was staring but because she had seen him after what felt like ages. His face had changed so much, sand she had to stare to figure out the attractive changes in his face. His face, that used to be bare of any facial hair now had a 5 o'clock shadow. WHICH WAS SO FREAKING ATTRACTIVE. "GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF GUTTER. HAYA, THIS IS THE ENEMY".

And his eyes were intense . Like serial killer intense and intimidating . Taimoor was wearing a solid black shirt with dark formal pants.And boy that shirt fit well. Did he go to gym? Because the veins that were popping out from his well sculptured arm , his hands rested on the steering wheel. 'THE VEINS' , her heart jumped up and down getting dreamy and her alter-ego scolded her again.

"Yeah, you know me and my charity . I like to "help needy" people." He emphasized the word help and need . JERK!!!!

Haya shut your mouth, no need to argue with the devil. It was such a great day and you should not let him spoil it. Her sanity told her .

Without wasting more time , she got in his black Mercedes. Black sedans and pretty men were a deadly combination. And the fact that it was not just any car, but Mercedes was a HUGE thing. And so the questions began popping in her mind like popcorn . Did he work his ass off to buy it or was it a present from his Daddy dearest? Why did she care? , her brain asked. But she was curious . She always had been curious one. It was a part of her personality.

Taimoor may be a jerk and an ass . But he never creeped her out. Not like Salman did. She was pissed but deep down was grateful that it was him. Firstly, his car didn't smell like loads of cigarettes , its smelt more like a male cologne, probably his . And she was really loving it . One day she would ask him what sort of perfume he used. Haya had always found male colognes attractive and divine. One day when he will be his normal jerk-self, she would ask. Haya promised herself. The chances of it happening where negative but one could always hope.

And secondly, she kind of felt safe around him. What was she thinking? SAFE ? AROUND HIM ? He was probably thinking of ways to murder her with his bare hands as he was late because of her. But his aura felt safe.

Haya was lost in her thoughts when he applies brakes, and she would have crashed into the dash board if she hadn't used her hands to shield herself against the inertia.

"Watch it Taimoor. If you want to kill me just do it. You do not have to try this accidental approach . Grow up ".Haya told him as she glared at him.

"Next time try using seat-belts. They are made to avoid such accidental murders." His smart ass replied with a smirk turning his annoying face in her direction.

Okay, how did he manage this sort chiseled jawline was beyond her? She too did face exercise to lose face fat, but her jaw did not even hold a candle to his razor sharped jaw. Now again, she was drifting into her own world where she talked to her alter-ego. Another one of her vices,she had an attention span of a fly. She drifted apart from the reality in seconds. Like right now she was questioning how he had managed that, instead of getting out of the car.

Shoving his Rolex in her eyes , Taimoor brought her back to reality. Looking at him flex his arm ,Haya was sure that he did gym. Something about the men and the wrist watches had always attracted her. Man, they look strong.She thought eyeing his arms hungrily. Okay, Enough of it. She said as mentally slapped herself. Why everything was screaming attractive?

Haya got out of the car and slammed the door in his face. She bent down towards the window as she said "I'll ask Baba Jani not to trouble you ever again. And it is not so nice to finally have you back." Haya replied in her fake sweet accent as she brushed her hair which were blocking her vision after escaping the braid.

"Mamo Jaan(maternal uncle) didn't . Salman called and said he would not be able to drop you . He had 'PLANS'."

"Haya ," he said coming near the window to face her. Something about the way he called her name, pleased her. He slid closer to the passenger window until he was nearly few inches away from her . She could feel his breath on his face. It smelt like mint and pepper. His black intimidating eyes fixed on her brown ones . When he said,

"Last I checked I was 6'2 , the one who needs to grow up here is You." And gives he a loop sided grin as the tainted black glass rolls up and he drives away.

Jerk, jerk, jerk !!!!! She may be short in comparison to him. But she wasn't 'short' short .5'6 is an average height. I am not short. She wanted to shout that in his face. But he had sped away. She wanted to smack the shit out of that beautiful face. Beautiful ? Yes beautiful . Well, let us just admit that he is beautiful. Well sculptured jaw, perfect straight nose, thick eyebrows , jet black hair. Typical Pakistani male. Well maybe not so typical. He was a rare species . At-least with an attitude like that he was rare.

Why was she still thinking about him? Jerk called her short. Short ?

"Are you going to stand there and smile like a goof all day just because you saw someone drop me?" Haya asked Mariyiam ,her best friends since forever who was standing at the gate giving her funny smile. Mariyam had been her rock , her life savior. Her sister ,as she did not have any. Her cheerleader and so much more.

"Who was the hottie ? Front seat with a hottie huh ?Baby, you move fast. Please, stop giving me that look. He was a hottie. Set me up with him ,if you are not interested. My mom wants a son in law." Mariyam smiled dreamily at the thought .Haya could not help but gape. From best friend , Mariyam switched to typical Dad who saw his daughter being dropped by a hot guy and had question.Again she had thought of him as hot. What was wrong with her?

Mariyam and Taimoor. Never!!!!!Mariyam was too nice. She did not deserve a jerk.She thought as she paid attention to what Mariyam had just suggested. "Ahh, that was jerk face, Taimoor. " Haya replied dismissing all the other questions. "You mean your Taimoor. THE Taimoor? " Mariyam asked with a mischievous smile as her brown eyes got brighter with excitement.Mariyam was so enjoying this conversation and Haya knew this was coming. As Mariyam had always thought that; Haya had some big crush on Taimoor and that one day, Phupho, would come and ask for her hand.

Maybe in parallel universe. Taimoor , was going to be the man she was going to marry. Mariyam believed that they were meant to be. They were not.

"My ?" Haya asks horrified although her heart loved the sound of that and Mariyam shrugged in a 'Yeah-you-know' expression. "Cut the crap M. I am in no mood for jokes. Have him, I really don't care .We are getting late for the class", Haya told Mariyam as they made their way to the class.

" Someone is extra cranky today. And bitch Please! I have some moral codes which forbids me to go after my best friend's MAN. But why do you get to have handsome cousins , while I have fat ,bald ones", she complained.

"Fat bald ones are more friendly this jerk . Believe me . It's better to have caring people around than handsome jerks who insults you every time they are around."

As they moved towards the class Haya told Mariyam about her latest dream where she and Mariyam were watching FIFA world cup live. Mariyam listened to her intently and even forgave her for not tending to her in the dream . Haya was so blessed to have a friend like her. Mariyam understood her like her mother and listened to her crap as if it was the most important piece of information.