removed. - Page 16

Originally posted by: farz_parachute

You still writing?


Coz Imma have to go out.


Aunty's family treating us for iftar (open fast)



But Imma be here till I actually leave home

PART 8

-

The problem is that Aahil just seems to stop existing all together after that night. At first, Sanam thinks it's just because she works the afternoon and evening shifts for two weeks and that Aahil must have taken her word of advice, finally cutting back on his triple espressos. But then he doesn't even show up at the usual time during the morning shift either, and Sanam starts to worry.

It's not that she thinks that Aahil might have been in an accident or so, because he's terrifying and if he ever got hit by a car, Sanam is pretty sure that the car would take the biggest hit. No, Sanam is more worried that Aahil is avoiding her. It's just not logical that he comes in every morning for almost the entire summer to buy coffee and then just stops right after Sanam might have made it pretty clear that she wanted to kiss Aahil. Actually, she still wants to. Very badly.

At the end of September, when it's been like a month and a half since that evening in the art institute, Sanam sees the ad for the exhibition in the paper. It's quite the big thing, with bright colours and cool fonts, and definitely not Aahil in any way. Sanam tells herself that it isn't anyway. It's sadly disheartening every time she realizes that she doesn't know Aahil very well. Or at all.

During past few weeks, Sanam has sort of adjusted to a life where she'll keep googling Aahil almost every night and pine in her bed for a little while before going to sleep. She's sure that it'll wear off eventually because now she can't even see Aahil in person, and maybe that's going to make it easier. She still feels a bit betrayed. Aahil could have said something, like hey, actually, I'm not coming back to the shop anymore. At the same time, Sanam feels stupid for even thinking that Aahil should've told her. It's not like they're friends.

Sanam isn't proud over it, but a couple of weeks back she went to the art institute to make sure Aahil isn't, in fact, dead. The Dhaba girl has looked at her funnily and said that Aahil hasn't been there for ages because he's done with his pieces and doesn't need a space to work anymore. Sanam definitely isn't proud over the fact that she'd tried to pry at least a phone number out of her, but she wouldn't budge.

She cuts the as out from the paper- there's a picture of Aahil at the bottom- and puts it in one of her books lying on the floor beside her bed. She tells herself that it's just so she'll be able to prove to Haya and Rehaan that she's going to be a celebrity now, wearing nothing but a long rag on show for everyone to see. In all honesty, Sanam isn't sure that putting it like that would ever make her friends want to come to the exhibition with her.

They do say know. Haya has the thing at the doctors with Rahaat, and Rehaan is doing a teaching course, so he only works on the weekend and he has to study for something. Sanam figures that she can go alone. She's just going to look at the pieces and doesn't care in the least if Aahil will be there in person or not. If she were Pinocchio, her nose would be as big as China right now.

The thing is, Sanam doesn't know how one dresses for an exhibition. Are there going to be a lot of hot shots and famous people? Or just ordinary folks like herself? Her wardrobe doesn't really contain anything but simple salwars and Kameez', and this is a problem because she's pretty sure that her salwars aren't an appropriate dress code for an exhibition. Haya is too tall, so Sanam cant wear her flashy stuff either.

She calls Rehaan in panic and maybe Rehaan has a bad conscience about being a lousy friend for not offering to fail his thing to accompany Sanam to the exhibition. Or he's just too tired of the whining that he tells Sanam that she can borrow all the pretty dresses from his sisters closet she wants, as long as she's quiet while doing it. That's like telling a child that they can have all the candy they want as long as they don't eat any until Christmas.

"Do I look stupid?" Sanam whines, where she stands in Rehaan's sister's bedroom, staring at herself in the mirror that's stuck to the inside of the wardrobe door. Rehaan's sister isn't at home, won't be for another month, so she has to rely on Rehaan's vision.

"Yes." Rehaan sighs heavily and doesn't even look up form his books and notes.

"Seriously?" Sanam taps him on the head, craving attention.

Rehaan spins around in the desk chair. He's so fed up with Sanam's behaviour, that he doesn't even have to say anything for Sanam to understand that she's been stepping over every red line in the neighbourhood by now. "Sanam. I told you that you could come over and use my sister's clothes, if you were quiet."

"I'm not sure if you're the stupid one for ever thinking that I can be quiet, or if I'm an idiot for ever saying yes to that deal."

"Probably a bit of both," Rehaan sighs.

"Do I look stupid in this?" Sanam whispers theatrically, and then poses like the girls in Vogue magazine. At least that's what she pictures in her mind. Judging by the look on Rehaan's face, she's not even close.

"I hate you," Rehaan mutters, before she gets up from the chair and pulls out another anarkali dress for Sanam to wear that doesn't look like its sleeves are too long for her. "Keep this one. My sister won't mind."

Sanam thinks she's made a big mistake when she's in Rehaan's car a while later. She's wearing a maroon and creamy beige sort of coloured anarkali dress and it actually kind of fits. It has a nice, big dupatta, so if the picture of her is too embarrassing, she can just cover her face with it and run.

That's when she realizes that not only is she going to see herself in a rag, displayed in a big frame, but everyone else is too, and there's the possibility of someone recognizing her. It's going to be a short visit, Sanam concludes. She wont be able to look at her own painting for very long and she's really not that interested in learning what other ragged people Aahil has been drawing lately.

It turns out that she doesn't really have to worry about that at all. Aahil is famous. Like, really famous and that's strangely disheartening on its own. Sanam manages to get in without any one noticing and follows the stream of people. It's a very large room. A very large room. To even think Aahil has enough pieces to fill this place makes it quite obvious why he had to drink all that espresso during the summer.

Sanam only glances at the drawings. The first is of a woman with all the right curves and she's wearing a western wedding dress. She's really pretty. The thought of Aahil being in the same room as her for as many hours and Sanam isn't a thought she wants right now. After that, she just looks at them quickly to make sure that they're not her piece and moves on.

She overhears a woman saying that the artist isn't keen on public appearances and has decided not to show up. She says something about Aahil being eccentric and shy. Sanam is pretty sure that those are kind words for saying that Aahil is a grumpy turd with a phobia of social events. She didn't even know that there could be a real chance of Aahil showing up and it's probably a good thing. Sanam is sick of hoping.

It takes a lot of time to make her way around the place. Not only because there are a lot of people, but Aahil also has managed to accomplish many astounding pieces. They are even more mind-blowing in real life, up close like this, than on Google's picture search.

She starts thinking that maybe Aahil wasn't pleased with Sanam's modelling skills and decided not to keep the piece in the exhibition at all, when she rounds a corner and loses her breath. She shoves a corner of her dupatta into her mouth, chewing frantically, as she stares at the drawing in front of her. It's like looking in a mirror that makes everything ten times bigger than in reality. And makes clothes disappear and turn into a rag.

There is Sanam. And yeah, she's in a rag. Sanam finds it surprisingly easy to look at herself. It's her profile. Nothing embarrassing showing or anything, so. Her nose still has its funny curve and Aahil has managed to capture her habit of always having her mouth slightly open. Sanam's head is turned just a little towards the viewer, which she assumes is Aahil. There's a crinkle in the corner of her eyes, like she's just been grinning like an idiot and managed to wipe it off a moment ago. She can almost see the nervous fiddling of her own fingers, even though the picture isn't moving. Of course it isn't moving- it's a drawing.

She hasn't expected it to feel this way. The tightening of her throat. The way her tongue sticks to the roof of her mouth so suddenly. The way her eyes are incapable of blinking. At the same time, she feels a sudden emptiness.

When the people in front of her move on - she hasn't even heard a word of what they've had to say about the piece - she inches forward. It's even more overwhelming up close like this and she stares at herself; at the lines and smooth strokes of her face, her lashes, her skinny arms. It's weird to think that she's kind of beautiful like this. Not in like the Kareena Kapoor way. But it's something there. Maybe. It looks like picture-Sanam is going to move any second.

Her eyes flicker to the bottom of the drawing, and she isn't sure if she's supposed to laugh or cry a little when she sees the title of the drawing. Thanks. In the end, she does neither. Aahil has a weird sense of humour and Sanam wants to laugh, but it sort of gets stuck in her throat on its way out. It's comforting in a weird way that she listened to Sanam rambling that night, about not drinking that many triple espressos, and that he was being rude for not saying thanks. Sanam thinks a drawing like this kind of makes up for it.

She is forced to leave when people starts crowding around her, trying to get a glimpse of the picture. She doesn't want them to recognise her, even if she wants to stick around just to hear what they make of the picture.

It's strange. It's like the picture put an end to her summer and to her (not very) innocent crush on Aahil. It now feels like a full blown I'm sure you're my soul mate-state. The thing is, she's probably never going to see Aahil again, because the guy seems to have disappeared from the face of the Earth.

Going to the exhibition might not have been the best of Sanam's ideas. She has been hoping for a closure, which is lame, because who needs a closure for something like this? Now it just feels more like she's reopened an old wound.

-

Five days later, her Badi Ammi slaps down the newspaper on the kitchen table in front of her and there's a picture of Sanam's drawing, under the headline: Aahil Raza Ibrahim makes his dent in the history of art.

"Care to explain?" her Badi Ammi says and Sanam flails, searching for words.

"Yeah, well- I did some rag wearing modelling there for a while."

"Yes, I can tell." Her Badi Ammi nods to the picture in the paper, and Sanam tries not to look at it because she can't deal with it.

"That's pretty much all the explaining I can do." Not really. There are a whole lot of explanations possible for why she offered, why she followed through, why she dropped out and them came back, why the picture is named Thanks. Why Sanam's heart cracks a little every time she thinks about it.

"Sanam," her Badi Ammi says and she sounds serious. "Aahil Raza Ibrahim?"

"What? I just stood there in a rag and he drew me, and it's not like we're dating, Badi Ammi." If it were up to Sanam though, they would be.

"Good, because he's too old for you."

"Oh my god, it's just seven years!" Sanam protests immediately, but falls silent when her Badi Ammi glares at her. "It's not like I was the only one doing it. There are a lot of pictures of people wearing next to nothing in that exhibition- my rag covered everything but my face!"

"Yeah, but they only talk about yours," her Badi Ammi says, like Sanam knows this already, and taps her fingers against the article.

Sanam tries to grab the paper, to read it, but her Badi Ammi slaps her hand down all over it, covering the words.

"You sure there's nothing going on between you and this Aahil Raza Ibrahim?"

"Yes, Badi Ammi," Sanam sighs and rolls her eyes."

"All right," her Badi Ammi replies slowly and eyes her like she's trying to determine if Sanam is lying or not. "I might have to take a look at the piece then."

Sanam stares at her, because hello, her Badi Ammi is as interested in art as she is in eating healthy.

-

Sanam doesn't have any words when she's read the article. They call it a masterpiece. They call it a private moment of the artist's soul. They say that it's got to be someone special, because of the playful look in the lover's eyes says enough. She doesn't even know when so many cheesy lines started sounding so right to her.

A part of her wants to say that someone finally has seen what Sanam has known since the first time she saw Aahil. Another part wants to send an angry letter and tell them to shut up, because it hurts and they don't know anything. The majority of her wants to find Aahil to simultaneously hit him in the face and kiss him. She feels a bit torn right now.

Rehaan calls her an hour later. He's half hysterical because he's seen the paper too. And he says things like I thought you were making stuff up and you were actually in a rag with him. Forty minutes later, Haya, who's gone to some clinic camp for Sanam doesn't know how long, sends her a message. Her approach is closer to you go girl and wait until you've married, pls. She keeps the messages up until Sanam messages her in caps lock that, as much as she wanted that to happen, she didn't even as get as much as a peck on the cheek. Then Haya is silent for a long, long time before Sanam gets, it sucks to be you, man.

Like Sanam didn't know already.

The biggest surprise is when Rahaat calls a few days later, and Sanam can hear the smug smile in his voice. "So is he someone special?"

"Oh my god," Sanam hisses, because she's at work and it's embarrassing, even though the place is empty. "No."

"Sure looks like it."

"I mean, it's only special on my part," Sanam admits almost instantly. She really needs to work on her ability to resist telling people everything.

"That's like the story of your life, Sanam," Rahaat laughs, but it doesn't sound the least bit mean. Rahaat is probably the only person in the world who can manage that.

"Yeah." Sanam nods to the phone, glancing around to make sure that no one walks in on her talking about Aahil. Some customers already ask her about it. Others just look at her freakily. Sanam suspects that it's because they know what her collarbones look like. It's weird.

"So, I talked to Haya and Rehaan. We're thinking we should go to the movies or something on Friday, you in?"

Of course Sanam is in. She needs all the distractions she can get right now. All of them.

-

2779 words bruh.

Interaction in next part, which will tomorrow. :P

And angst. Sorry for the mistakes.

Mineee


Oh I wanna hug you so bad!!


You make me cry!! And not at all in a bad way. I wanna kiss and hug Aahil myself! And hit him too!


That is possibly the most heartfelt and sincere thing he could have done! Sketching her and calling it Thanks.

Imma wanna hug Sanam too! Oh she must terribly miss him!


I know I do!



Love you sayang.



You're the best!

Update, update and update :D
This was really great! I enjoyed it. I cannot wait for the next chapter. :))

Unresed mine. The headache one! 😆

Oh my SPEECHLESS!!! Such an Amazing writer... The flow of story, emotions, so beautiful...like poetry in motion! 👏 ⭐️

M hooked...cnt waot 2 read more

you, yes YOU, WHY in earth r u trying to ache my heart n feel heavy in my chest n throb ma head sooo bad for the pooorrr Sanam?!😭🤢 uuurrrggghhh CANT TAKE THIS ANYMORE!!!😡 WANT MA ARTIST AHIL BACK IN THE PICTURE ASAP, wait, scratch that, I WANT HIM NOW LIKE RIGHT NOW!!! PLLLEEEAAASSSEEE UPDATE ASAP!!! WILL BE WAITING FOR A LONGER UPDATER IMPATIENTLY! ❤️

^Hear hear sistah!


Well. Dippu.


You did say next part- interaction


I imagine it's Sanam and Aahil.


Is the part where he can't decide to either kiss her or kill her this part? Or is that even a part?


You rule.

Originally posted by: Prags_Sociopath

Res!!!

That was hilariously epic! I can't comment right now! As I am having a headache :/

But had to read coz it was YOUR story :)

Wanna give a lengthy comment :D

I love you Sarruu!! <3

Laters baby! 😆

Finally unresing! SO late! You already updated the other two parts. Ugh.

The guests at my home are MAKING ME SICK. Long distant relatives😡

Oh, this Sanam is so darn cute man. She can't just contain herself huh? Poor girl, he has got her all hot and worked up, by ONLY asking for TRIPLE ESPRESSOS!! 😆

But. But. BUT. He knows her name already??? OH THIS FREAKING @$#@$@#$ "Why doesn't the girl with dupatta doesn't have a tag". There. So Aahil-ish. INDEED. 😆

And the convos with Rehan were so funny! He is such a cute FRIEND. FRIEND okay? NOTHING ELSE! 😆

Could you just make these both play "Laser Tag"?? 😆😆

Updates are already there, so I won't be asking now 😆