Asad was rudely awoken from his deep sleep by some loud knocking on his door. He glanced at the clock above the television...1:30 am? Who the hell could it be? He fumbled for the fuzzy hotel slippers and cautiously went to open the door. Stupid idiots, waking people up.
It was her. The same annoying girl. What the hell was she doing here?
"Wha-"
"Hello Mr Khan! I hope I didn't disturb you too much."
She was bright and chirpy, as she pushed him aside and entered his room.
"Guess what?...Oooh kurta hunh? Nice to know you don't sleep in those three piece suits. Not that they look bad on you...I mean..."
"Miss Faarooqi, do you realise what time it is? You're in a strangers hotel room at 1 am. What do yo-"
"Kya karein, neend hi nahi aa rahi thi. Anyway, whenever I can't sleep, I get amazing ideas, so listen. Ab aap hi dekhiye, we both are stuck here, until all this gets cleared up, so why don't we make the most of it? Lets tour the whole of Italy. Train lekkar, ya ek car hire karke jaa sakte hain na? Kal hi nikalte hain, we can go to Florence and Venice, aapko patha hain, I've always wanted to go to Venice? It's such a beautiful place, aur waise bhi..."
He stared at her, bewildered. Here she was in his room, ar 1:30 in the night, behaving like touring a country with a complete stranger was a perfectly normal thing to do. And he was actually listening to her.
"Miss Faarooqi, aap jaante hain aap kya keh rahi hain? Kahin aap pagal toh nahi hain? You want to go on a road trip with me, a complete stranger? We don't even know each other. For all you know, I could be a murderer or a rapist. You really should get some sleep, I think your delirious."
"Allah Miya what's wrong with you?! It's a great idea. A- We're stuck here for 2 weeks. B- This is Italy, the dream destination. C- It'd be more dangerous for me to travel alone, than with you. D- I'm an excellent judge of character, and you're not the kind of person who'd misbehave with me. E- I know Karate, Mr Khan. And I have my pepper spray. F- You look like you could really use some fun. Convinced, or do you need more reasons?"
She finished, taking a deep breath and looking at him expectantly.
"Come on Mr Khan, when was the last time you did something impulsive? And its not like we're gonna share hotel rooms or anything. It'll be fun, people come from all the world to see this country, let's not waste this opportunity. I have it all planned out Mr Khan, it'd be a lot easier if we went together...please, please, please?"
"Pweetty please with a cherry on top?"
He remembered his Ammi..."Don't sit around being grumpy Asad, take a break from your work...you're in Rome after all," she had said. Well, the stress from work had increased lately... And the SRM clients were looking for designs based on Greco-Roman architecture, this was the perfect way to get inspired. Moreover, it'd always been a secret wish of his to go hiking through Europe (which went completely against his OCD nature), and this came pretty close to that...And if he went on his own and left her to travel on her own, he'd feel pretty damn guilty...
Yikes! Asad stop it. You're not going anywhere with her, she's already made you half mad.
"Miss Faarooqi, I will most definitely take you to a psychiatrist in the morning. Now if you will please just let me sleep..."
"No no no! Mr Khan, you have to come with me. I'm not leaving this room until you've said yes."
"Pleaase Mr Khan?"
"Don't be so Akdoo, Mr Khan."
"Mr Khaaan, I'm not going to let you sleeep."
*Half Hour later*
"What exactly have you got all planned out Ms Faarooqi?"
Well, there it is.
Please do leave your comments... :-)
Constructive criticism is welcome. I know it sucks.
- Ruhi.
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