||• Devoted in Love • رگ جاں • ||

『¹』

“yaar ko dīda-e-ḳhūñ-bār se ojhal kar ke

mujh ko hālāt ne maarā hai mukammal kar ke”

°°°

"Afiyahhhhhh ari ohhhh afiyahhhhhh..."

Gul who was trying to wake up her elder sister but she is failing miserably. Because Afiyah is the literal definition of modern "Kumbhkaran."

"Afiyahhhhhh uth jaayein na. Bilal bhai is waiting for you downstairs."

Afiyah jumped out of bed, she took out her uniform and ran towards changing room. She came out after five minutes and started braiding her hair. She was making angry faces looking at Gul.

"Gul ki bacchi tujhe tou mai college se aa kar sidha karungi...pehle ni bata sakti thi mogambo (bilal) mera wait kar raha hai."

Gul who was standing Their terrified laughed hearing her last lines.

"Afiyahhhhhh apppiiyyyaaa....Bilal bhai is not waiting for you. I lied because you're not getting up from the bed and we all know very well you're 'kumbhkaran."

Afiyah who was applying kajal in her eyes stopped at Gul's confession and ran towards her, who had already ran out dropping her mischievous bomb.

"Gul."

Afiyah was looking for Gul, when she heard voices coming from lounge. "Ahan...Ab kaha jaayegi gul bibi bachke..." Afiyah thought and entered in lounge with a big toothed smile flaring her yellowish teeth.

But her smile was gone in a moment when she saw Bilal bhai standing with a guy. Afiyah's eyes strucked on the man beside Bilal...she was lost in his honey brown eyes.

"Afiyah. What are you doing here?"

Afiyah heard bilal's voice and she came back from her trance & cursed herself for openly checking out a guy "Afiyah when will you stop embarrassing yourself?"

"Bhai i was just looking for Gul. Bhai actually...."

Before afiyah complete her sentence Bilal's phone rang and he excused himself.

Afiyah was going from their too, when she heard a raspy masculine voice behind her.

"Waise ek aankh mai kajal lagane ka trend apne shuru kiya hai Miss Aafat."

He was walking towards her and with three strides he was standing so close to her, her lavender scent was making him crazy. He inhaled her scent and looked at the clumsy girl...she was wearing a white uniform making her golden brown skin more prominent, her luscious curly hairs were tied in a fishtail braid...her high cheek bones, button nose...and finally his eyes fell on her thin lips, her lips are small and pinkish in color.

He was assessing her every feature. He has seen beautiful and elegant girls than her but he didn't knew why he was getting attracted towards her. He leaned towards her ear and whispered;

“Ik nazar mai esa jaadu kar gaaye hai, humari rag-e-jaan ke qarib ho gaaye."

He looked at Afiyah whose face is now blood red. He didn't understand if she was angry or blushing? But he didn't waited for her to look up and left from their.

When Afiyah saw him going out of the room. She realised her caged breath and placed a hand on her irrational heartbeat.

"Aaya bada Mirza Ghalib. Hunh."

Afiyah was Talking with herself when she saw Bilal standing beside her. He raised an eyebrow and Afiyah got scared like a kitten ran out of the room.

Bilal laughed at her antics.

***

Its been two months since Afiyah had last met 'him' and since then her heart is rebelling against her. It was the first time in eighteen years of her life she was feeling different kind of emotions. The girl who didn't understand a word of Shayri, now often found reading Ghalib. The girl whose favourite activity is sleeping, her own sister calls her 'Kumbhkaran,' now spent her nights in his thoughts. The girl who hated dressing up, now looks like a sunflower always blooming. She didn't noticed this changes...but Afiyah is not Afiyah anymore, she's becoming someone else. Love has knocked on her heart's doorstep and unknowingly she had left the door open.

"Afiyah...beta come help me in kitchen."

Afiyah who was reading another romantic novel, got up from her place hearing her mother's voice.

"Yes, mama."

"Afiyah jaani cut this vegetables..Bilal's freinds are coming tonight."

Afiyah who was standing at the kitchen's doorsteps hearing that Bilal's freinds are coming she looked up at her mother and then at vegetables in her hand. She took the vegetables from her mother's hand with a big smile.

Her mother looked at her with weird expression but didn't say anything. She didn't understand that her clumsy and lazy daughter who hates kitchen chorus is cutting vegetables with so much happiness.

"Chalo aqal ayi isse." Sana begum thought, who is Afiyah's mother.

"Afiyah jaani go and see if bilal need anything?"

Sana begum ordered Afiyah and she ran out of the kitchen with a beautiful smile. Leaving a confused sana begum.

Afiyah was going towards dinning room, when she stopped Infront of the mirror in corridor and smiled at herself. She was looking like a siren in black color Patiala salwar and short kurti paired with a satrangi duppatta.

Afiyah entered the dinner room and got disappointed when she didn't see 'Him' their.

Bilal's eyes fell on Afiyah and he stopped eating.

"Afiyah?"

Bilal didn't liked that she came out like this Infront of his friends.

"Bhai..Mama was asking if you need anything?"

Afiyah got startled, she was looking at the ground didn't dared to look up.

"I will call rani if i needed something. You go back."

Bilal said in a harsh tone. He didn't wanted to but he was feeling angry at her in that moment. He didn't knew why.

Afiyah was feeling extremely uneasy and embarrassed. Her eyes were filled with tears, she turned around to go back in the kitchen when she heard a familiar voice in the dinning room.

"Assalamu walaikum."

Afiyah couldn't move her feet, it was the same raspy masculine voice but now it was sounding more commanding and hig pitched.

She slowly turned around to steal a glance of him.

"Walaikum Assalam Arsalan."

Bilal greeted Arsalan and sideways hugged him. His eyes again fell in Afiyah's direction, but he composed himself didn't wanted to create a scene Infront of his potential business partner. He looked at Afiyah with blood red eyes, Afiyah also had sensed someone's gaze on her...when she looked at Bilal she ran from their but her heart was beating faster and pleading her to go back.

Afiyah entered in her bedroom and fall on the bed in dramatic way. She was playing with her rebellious curly strands and amusingly smiled to herself. She got up from the bed and stood Infront of the mirror, her eyes fell on Kajal and she applied kajal only in one eye leaving the other.... "Arsalan." She whispered to herself and started dancing around the room.

The moon was witnessing this and smiled sadly, Another ballad of love.

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