Just to let you guys know, Aisha's secret will be revealed in the next chapter (Chp 6)! Hope you enjoy this one. Please post detailed comments! They really help me.
Chapter 5
"Never pretend to a love which you do not actually feel, for love is not ours to command." –Alan Watts
Sabah and Amaan were waiting at the front of school for the Desi Club officer's meeting to end so Imraan could drive them home. Rehan and Samira were staying at school late to work on a project, so it would just be the three of them in the car. Sabah noticed a guy from her Spanish class standing nearby and remembered something she wanted to talk to him about.
"Hey Peter!" she called out to him.
Peter joined them. "Hi Sabah. What's up?"
"Not much. I've been meaning to ask you something for a while."
"Oh yeah. What's that?"
"Well, I heard that your dad's a nuclear engineer, and I'm thinking of going into that field, so–"
Peter gave her a disbelieving look. "Really, you?"
Sabah nodded. "Yes. I've been looking into it since 8th grade. I was wondering if it's not too much trouble….do you think you could try to get me an internship with your dad next semester? It doesn't have to be paid. I just want to see his work." She assumed an innocently, flirtatious expression. Peter smiled back, clearly charmed.
"Sure," Peter replied. "I'll talk to him tonight."
"Thanks Peter. You're a sweetheart."
Amaan watched all this from a distance, disturbed by his sister's coquetry. This was the first time he had ever seen her use her beauty to influence someone. Afraid that she would get angry if he said anything, he decided to keep quiet about it.
Peter's ride arrived, and he left. A few minutes later, Imraan walked out the front door with Nisha and Rahul, both seniors and also Desi Club officers.
"Sabah, guess what!" Nisha told her excitedly. "Some student groups are coming together to put on an Asian Culture Show in January, and they want members of our club to perform a dance in it."
"Really?" Sabah said. "Sound like fun. Are you gonna participate?"
"Oh, hell no," Nisha laughed. "I'm a terrible dancer. But I'm sure my sister will."
"Anjali can dance?" Imraan asked.
"Yup. That girl was born to dance."
"I think Rehan might be interested in choreographing," Sabah told them.
Rahul smiled. "He'll have to battle it out with Jasleen."
"Why?"
"She already named herself the choreographer. I think she believes it's one of her many privileges as Desi Club President." Imraan and Nisha rolled their eyes. It was clear that Jasleen was not one of their favorite people.
"We'll just see about that." Sabah responded, assertively. She would make sure that Rehan got a fair chance.
Amaan was getting bored listening to their conversation. Finally, he decided to speak up. "I told my friend I would meet him at the park at four. Can we head back now?"
"Oh yeah," replied Imraan. "Sorry about that."
They said goodbye to Nisha and Rahul and walked over to Imraan's car.
Yusuf's last class ended at four, and he began walking across campus towards his apartment. It was a nice evening. The leaves on the trees were just starting to turn yellow and a light breeze was brushing through his hair.
Near the edge of campus, he saw Aisha at a distance, leaving the student learning center. This was the first time he had seen her at Berkeley all semester. He called out her name and she waited as he caught up with her.
"Getting some work done?" he asked.
"Yup," Aisha replied. "Study group for an Econ problem set."
"Oh, ok." He hesitated for a second before bringing up what had been going through his mind for days. "So, I'm guessing you know about the conversation our parents had last week."
Aisha lowered her gaze, warily. "Yeah, Mummy told me."
"Aapko is baat se koyi objection to nahin hai?"
"Nahin. Not really."
"Great…so, I was thinking we should talk about it. You know, go out for coffee or something and get to know each other. I mean…I'm not looking for anything in particular, but I'd like to know if you have a life-long dream to travel the world by hot-air balloon or something."
Aisha smiled. "You're right. I was also thinking that we should talk, but I have two midterms coming up next Monday. Hum agle hafte mil sakte hain?"
"No worries. Just give me call when you're free."
They exchanged phone numbers and parted ways to return to their apartments.
After dropping Amaan off at the park, Imraan was planning to return home, but Sabah suggested something else.
"You want to go to Baskin-Robbins? I'm really craving ice cream, and I need a break right now."
Imraan could never give up a chance to spend more time with Sabah. "Sure. I could use some ice cream too."
While they drove towards Baskin-Robbins, Sabah turned up the stereo volume.
tu, jaane na tu, chaahat meri kitni betaab hai
jo barson meri palkon mein tha tu wohi khwaab hai
They were stopped at a red light. As Sabah looked out of the car window, she absentmindedly put her hand on Imraan's hand, which was resting on the parking brake. She became aware of it immediately and turned towards him, pulling back her hand. He turned to look at her, and their eyes locked. They gazed intently at each other, and for that moment, the rest of world was nonexistent.
yeh jhukti nazar, jaan-e-jigar hosh le jaati hai
main kaise kahoon, ek ajnabi dard de jaati hai
The sound of a horn startled them, and Imraan realize that the light had turned green. Taking a deep breath, he stepped down on the accelerator.
"Thanks so much for talking to David," Samira said to Rehan, from across the table at the library. "By the way, how did you get him to change his mind?"
Rehan shrugged. "I just told him that he should have talked to Carissa openly about his feelings instead of commanding her not to go. If he's doesn't behave like he trusts her, why should she give him a reason to?"
"Aur aap relationships ke baare mein itna kaise jaante hain?"
"Apne parents se seekha hai. My dad treats my mom as an equal, and they always make decisions together. That's the way a marriage should be."
Samira nodded, amazed. She had never met a guy who was so mature and perceptive at such a young age. He seemed to have the perfect balance of idealism and practicality.
Samira's cell phone rang, and she answered it.
"Hi Zeenat…Did he really?…Aww, that's cute…Hey sorry, I'm at my school's library right now. Can I call you later tonight?…Great! I'll talk to you then. Bye sweetie!" She ended the call and turned towards Rehan. "Sorry, it was my cousin."
"Your cousin's name is Zeenat? How old is she?"
"Like eight or nine."
"Oh," Rehan replied, disappointedly.
Samira looked at him with curiousity. "Kyoon?"
"Kuch nahin. It's really stupid."
"No, come on. Tell me."
"Well," began Rehan, "I met this girl named Zeenat about five years ago. She was about my age. We only talked for a few minutes and then she disappeared. I don't know anything about her except her first name. I didn't think much of it then, but lately, for some reason I've started thinking about her a lot. I don't know why, but I have this feeling that we're destined to meet again. But that's ridiculous. There's no way I'll ever see her again."
"You don't know that, Rehan. Maybe somehow you'll find her."
"Ho bhi sakta hai. Anyway, we should get back to work."
As they returned to their project, Samira couldn't ignore a strange sense of disappointment. Why did she feel like things were not how they were supposed to be?
Imraan and Sabah walked into the ice cream store and studied the available selection. Imraan was trying to decide between a sundae and a cone when Sabah tapped his shoulder.
"Do you like banana splits?" she questioned.
"Yeah, but I don't think I can finish it."
"Let's share one!"
Imraan stared at her, surprised. Sharing ice cream seemed like something a couple would do. Was Sabah trying to say something? Imraan didn't want to reveal his thoughts, so he decided to casually go along with it.
"Uh…sure. That sounds good."
Imraan placed the order and paid for the ice cream. When it was ready, they sat down at a table and started to eat. Just as Imraan had taken his first bite, the door of the shop opened and Maryam and Anne entered. Oh no, Imraan thought, inko bhi abhi hi aana tha.
Anne whispered to Maryam, "Hey look, there's your brother. Is that the girl you were telling me about?"
"Yup that's her," answered Maryam, gleefully. "Just watch. He'll get nervous even if we just talk to them."
They walked up to Imraan and Sabah and greeted them.
"I didn't expect to see you two here." Maryam began.
Imraan stuttered. "Uh…actually, we just…um…wanted to take a break."
Anne looked down to keep from laughing. Maryam was right. He was getting unnecessarily panicky. If Sabah couldn't tell he had feelings for her, she had to be completely clueless.
"Alright, we'll go order our ice cream now," Maryam continued. "Enjoy your banana split."
They both walked towards the cashier, trying to suppress their giggles. Sabah saw that a pink tint had appeared on Imraan's cheeks. Silently thinking that it looked cute on him, she decided to console him.
"Imraan, relax. They're just 13 year olds. They find everything funny."
"Yeah, I'm fine," Imraan lied. He wished he could stop himself from getting tense around Sabah.
Faisal faked a goal attempt, causing Amaan to dive toward the left, and then kicked the ball to the right, straight into the goal. Amaan was astounded. This guy just never ran out of fakes and tricks. But he had to admit that practicing twice a week with Faisal had been beneficial, and he was learning a lot. As the two highest scoring forwards on the team, both Amaan and Faisal were eager to improve their coordination and teamwork, so they would be invincible.
An alarm on Faisal's watch sounded, and he stopped playing. "Sorry, I have to go."
"Already? Can't we just finish the game?"
"I would, but I really have to get somewhere."
"My sister can give you a ride."
"No!" Faisal exclaimed, louder than he had intended to. "I mean…don't worry about it. I'll just ride my bike. Bye!" Before Amaan could object again, he was running across the field towards the bicycle rack.
Amaan watched him leave and wondered, what was that all about? It seemed like there was something that Faisal was trying to hide from him.
"Wow! So your parents and Yusuf's parents both want to get you guys married. You two are practically engaged!"
"Say it louder, Radhika," Aisha responded in a loud whisper, rolling her eyes. "I think the guy in the back of the room didn't quite hear you." They were sitting in their evening South Asian Studies class waiting for the professor.
Radhika giggled. "Sorry. Anyway, what are you gonna do?"
"I'm not sure. Maybe I should give it a chance, but I just think it'll be unfair to Yusuf if I can't forget Hasan."
"Why don't you just tell him about Hasan?"
Aisha thought this over. "I might. But first I'll just see if there's any other reason that we shouldn't be together. If I find something, then I won't have to tell him."
"Why do you insist on keeping this a secret from everyone?" Radhika asked.
"You don't understand. Telling the story makes it even more real. It's like confirmation that it really did happen. It was so difficult to tell you…I don't know if I can do it again." Tears began to glisten in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Aisha." Radhika touched Aisha's hand supportively.
Just then, their professor walked in. Aisha wiped her eyes and tried to focus on the lecture.
Imraan stopped the car in front of his house and looked at Sabah. He knew she had been watching him intently for the past few minutes.
"You know what I like the most about you?" she asked.
"What?" Imraan inquired, surprised by the question.
"How expressive your eyes are. I can always tell what you're thinking just by looking at you."
Imraan smiled. "That seems to be the consensus. 'Imraan ko apne jasbaat chhupaana nahin aata.'"
"Well, it's not a bad thing," Sabah maintained. "It shows that you're honest."
"I guess."
"Waise bhi apne dil ki baat chhupaani nahin chaahiye. You should take a chance and just say it."
Imraan stared at her for a few moments trying to interpret what she was trying to imply. Finally he decided to ask. "What do you mean?"
"I think you already know. Think about it. Bye Imraan."
She opened the car door and stepped out. As she walked towards her house, she looked over her shoulder and saw that he was still sitting in the car thinking about what she had said. Bas kuch din aur, she thought with a smile.
Questions:
1. Which 'couple' do you find the most interesting?
2. Am I taking too long to reveal the mysteries?
Edited by SuhanaSafar - 17 years ago
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
