章節 7: Chapter Seven
"Noori, do you like this one?" Aarush and Noori walked around the zoo with smiles. Noori was smiling because of the various animals, while Aarush was smiling seeing his niece so happy.
"Yeah. We never had this one in America." She said while looking at the blank monkey in front of her. She found it funny looking, but still fascinated by it.
Aarush nodded his head and just watched her try to wave at the monkey she thought was looking at her. "Want to go to the petting area?" He asked with a smile. "They have lots of animals there as well."
Suddenly, Noori looked at Aarush with excitement. "Yes!" She said with a bright smile.
Seeing this, Aarush felt an unknown enthusiasm rush into his body. "Alright, let's pet every single animal they have! If they try to stop you, I'll break their hands!" Aarush grabbed her hand and they began to run towards the location in excitement. Of course, their reasons for being excited were different.
'I think this is far enough now.' Inaya spoke with a heavy sigh as she looked back at the house she came from. It was too far to make out properly, but to her, the area still exuded a disgusting and frightening feeling. 'Now, I just need to get a rickshaw to take me over.'
Inaya slowly waited for one to drive by. After a minute or so, she saw an empty one driving her way. Waving her hand rapidly, the rickshaw came towards her. The one driving it was a middle aged man with dark skin. "Where do you want to go?"
"Take me to the girls academy." She described the location a little more.
"Alright." He nodded his head and drove away. Inaya still didn't feel at ease. In the movies, it was usually during this time that someone would show up to ruin everything. While still riding for ten minutes, nothing happened.
'I should be safe now.' She felt relieved and happy at the same time. After another ten minutes of riding, they finally got to the academy. It was large but barren, of course that was because it was Sunday.
"Miss, the fee." As she was about to leave quickly, she heard an irritated voice from behind. She turned around and smiled in embarrassment.
"Sorry." She passed him a hundred rupees before walking away. Approaching the white walls with a single door, she saw a security guard standing in front.
"I'm sorry, but the school is closed today, please come back later." He stopped her with his hand, not letting her approach the door.
"Would you mind contacting a teacher inside? I'm here to apply for a position as a teacher." She showed a few documents she brought with her, the bachelor's degree being one of them of course.
The security guard narrowed his eyes as he looked at the information and then nodded his head. "Wait, let me ask someone inside." He walked towards the door and pressed a button on the side. It was red with a microphone on top of it. "Miss, some woman is here to see you." He waited a few minutes and the door suddenly opened. Walking out was a middle aged woman. She had long hair and thick eyebrows.
"The principal is inside waiting." She said with a gentle smile. Inaya smiled back and followed her in with a sigh.
'I can't believe my brother forced me to this position.' She silently followed the woman who explained everything about the surroundings. Inaya nodded her head the whole time, not saying anything else. Finally, they climbed a flight of stairs and entered an open area with a single door.
"You can go in, the principal is inside." With that said, the woman left right after. Inaya looked at the door and took a deep breath. Clutching her bag, she pushed the door open and walked into the room.
"Dear, over here." When Inaya entered the room. She noticed a large window, it was the only one, with a few stains, but it was big. It caught her attention, since she could see past the walls from it. The voice broke her from the stupor she was in, bringing her attention to the left side of the room. "Come on."
Inaya turned her head and saw an older woman. She had grey hair and an amiable expression. Walking over, Inaya took a seat on a ripped leather chair. "Principal, I was wondering if you have any open…"
Before she could say more, the woman raised her hand and stopped her. "We can accomodate you here and even feed you, but you will not be paid, if that is alright, then you can begin tomorrow." She just said these few words.
"I'm fine with that." Inaya said without hesitation. As long as she had a place to sleep and food to eat, why would she worry about being paid? Survival was what mattered. "Thank you." Inaya said these words from her heart, she truly needed someone to help her like this.
The old woman smiled. "No problem, lots of our workers are not here because they wish to teach, but because they are running from something or someone." She said with a smile. "Tell me, what kind of class can you teach? As an all girls school. It is difficult to find teachers, so we can use all the help we can get. You can see by the state of the school, we don't get great funds, but enough to keep the classes clean and the teachers fed." She wasn't wrong. The school itself was nice and clean, but the office was horrendous. All the pay the school got went into keeping the place clean and running, and keeping the teachers fed and clothed. There wasn't anything extra for renovations or expansions.
Inaya quickly pulled the same documents she showed to the guard outside, out and placed them on the table. "I have a bachelors of english. Although I don't have real experience teaching, I have tutored my niece many times." Inaya didn't have much going for her, but she wasn't going to lie either. That wasn't something she could do nor was willing to do.
"Impressive, you have the qualifications to teach an english class atleast, which is better than most teachers here who can just barely teach little kids." The old woman was truly impressed. "Alright, I will show you where you will stay and the chores you must complete." She got up from her seat and began to lead Inaya around the area she would be working. The tasks assigned to Inaya were to wash the dishes in the cafeteria, teach the kids, and keep her class clean. The school didn't have a proper janitor, so it was up to the teachers to keep the place clean.
She was then led to her room. It was small and only had a bed and a mirror. "Thank you principal, I will handle it from here." Inaya smiled and watched as the principal left. When she finally left, the bag in Inaya's hand dropped and she walked to the bed and sat down. She placed her hands onto her face and felt the tears fall from her face. 'Why did my life come to this? What did I do to get a person like that as my brother? Why?' She cried for a few seconds before moving her hand away from her puffy eyes. Using her hand, she rubbed her nose and walked to her bag. She brought it to her bed and pulled her things out. Her phone was only running at twenty percent battery and she didn't have a charger. 'This school doesn't have a charger most likely.' She sighed and put it back into her bag, wanting to only use it sparingly. The next thing that came into her hands was Aarush's book. She looked at it and couldn't help but open it up. For some reason, she fell more in love with the story and loved the main character inside even more. 'If only this character was my brother, if only.' She kept thinking this repeatedly as she read the book.
"Where are we going next?" Aarush slowly sat Noori on the bike. She looked at him with a happy expression and asked curiously. The whole trip to the zoo allowed her to be more comfortable with Aarush. She already had that weird feeling of familiarity with him, and this event allowed her to just open up more.
"You said you like dresses, right? Let's go to the biggest mall here and buy a bunch, alright?" He said with a smile.
"But I have lots already." She said with a weird expression.
"So?" Aarush smiled back. "Let's get more. We will fill your closet with a million dresses, you can wear a different one everyday. Just like the princesses, no even more than them." Aarush said with a smirk.
Noori looked at him carefully before nodding her head. "Alright." She remembered that her mom constantly told her that if Aarush wanted to get her something, she should let him. She even went to the extent of saying things like, 'if you ever want anything, ask Aaru uncle. If you feel hungry, tell Aaru uncle. If you want to go outside, tell Aaru uncle.' it was weird. Normally, her mom would tell her to never act spoiled, but it seemed like she could act spoiled in front of Aarush however much she wanted. It would even make her mom happier, weirdly enough.
Aarush started his bike and drove towards the mall. Although outdoor markets were more common, there were still those large malls in the smaller cities of India. "Let's go." When he arrived at the glassy mall, he got off the bike and picked Noori up and gently put her down as well. Grabbing her hand, he led her into the mall. "Do you see a shop you want to check out first?" He asked her as he got on her level and looked around.
"That one looks pretty." She pointed at a pink bordered shop. Aarush nodded his head and walked into it with her. There weren't much clothes inside, rather there were a bunch of small jewels. Of course, most were fake, but they were still pretty and colorful. It was a shop for little girls. "Wow, look at these!" She pointed at a small plastic bag that had blue and green beads. Aarush grabbed a few bags as quickly as she said it.
"We'll get it." He said with a smirk.
"But…" She saw him do it so quickly she couldn't even react.
"Don't worry. Choose more, we can get anything. We will buy this whole store if you want it, alright?" He said with a smug look.
"Really?" She asked with surprise.
"You don't believe me?" Seeing her shock, Aarush smirked. "Just watch me." Aarush walked to the front desk with large strides, Noori following him from behind.
"How may I help you?" The woman stood there with a smile. Aarush was a handsome man so she smiled even more.
"How much would it be if I bought everything here?" He asked with a straight face.
"E-everything?" She asked with a shocked expression.
"Yes, everything. It's for my niece, so tell me." Aarush continued speaking with a straight face. The store was fairly small and the items were mostly cheap, so Aarush felt he could buy everything without an issue. Of course, if it was a larger store with more expensive items, he would have contacted a few people, such as his three friends, for some backup. Still, he wouldn't hesitate to do such a thing, it was Noori after all.
"Um… can I call my manager and ask first?" She was shocked but still did as she was trained. She quickly ran to the back of the store and called a middle aged woman. On the way, she explained the situation. The shock on the face of the middle aged woman couldn't be hidden.
"Sir, are you sure you want to buy everything here?" The manager asked.
"Positive. Just tell me the price." He said with a bit of annoyance now. He had said the same thing three times. It was just wasting his and Noori's time now.
The manager nodded her head and quickly did a bit of calculations with a paper in her hand. She handed the paper to Aarush. "The price is listed on the bottom."
Aarush looked at the page and saw a few dozen crosses. Seemed like previous sales. He looked at the number which reached the seven digits. 'This will take only a small portion of the savings I have, no big deal.' He had been saving for seven years, and this included the amount he had saved in America as well. The amount of could be considered mind blowing, so seven digits was really only a small portion, especially since it was in rupees. "Alright, I'll get it." He said with a smile.
Taking a deep breath, the manager nodded her head. She ran into the back and brought out a piece of paper, with a small machine. "You can scan the card here." Aarush nodded his head and pulled out his card. He gave it to Noori with a smile.
"Go ahead, it is yours now." Noori was still in utter shock. Aarush noticed this and placed the card in her hand gently. He got on the ground and tapped her head. "What are you thinking, Noori? This is Aaru uncle's sorry gift for being away for so long from you, so just get it." He held her arm and helped her place the card into the machine. Aarush then pressed a few buttons and then a few seconds later… the transaction was complete.
"Congratulations, all of this is yours." A receipt began to print from the machine, but the manager put the receipt on the side and let it print the long paper. "Can you fill this out? We will deliver all the items to the house for you, cost free."
Nodding his head, Aarush read the paper briefly. Seeing it was just the standard form, he filled it quickly and handed it over. "Alright, I will let my servant know you guys are coming."
"No problem.." The manager then handed Aarush the receipt. "Here you go. If any items are missing or are damaged, we will replace those for you as well, just keep this as proof." With such a large customer, how could she even think of doing anything fishy, plus since he was buying so much, she didn't think he would lie about anything.
"Thank you then." Aarush smiled and pulled Noori, who was still in a daze, out of the store.
"A-Aaru uncle… did you just…" She looked at him with bright eyes.
"Buy all that for you?" He smiled and kissed her cheek. "Of course, like I said, I will get everything for you. You're my little Noori after all." He smiled sweetly.
"Wow." She finally snapped out of her shock and said silently.
"Now then, what next?" He asked her with a smile.
"We can get more?" She suddenly became quiet. "Mom might get mad." Although her mom said to get whatever Aarush said, this was after all a lot of things.
"Your mom? Who cares? I'm not scared of her, if she says anything, just leave it to me." Aarush said with a smile. "Come on, what else do you want?"
"Let's go over next then." She pointed at a clothes shop nearby. Aarush smiled and pulled her to the shop. When they entered the shop, Noori ran around and began to look around for anything she wanted. Aarush smiled and watched her do this while pulling his phone out.
"Bali, a few people will be coming to the house with lots of stuff. Put them all into Noori's toy room." He gave his order and then shut the phone.
"Aaru uncle, what about this one?" She brought him a blue dress.
"We'll get it." He said.
"I want to try it first." She said with a slight pout.
"You will look cute in everything, but if you want, go and try it inside there. I'll take a few pictures." He pushed her towards the change room and waited outside with a bit of excitement. After a few seconds, Noori walked out in the blue dress, looking extremely adorable.
"How is it?" She asked somewhat shyly.
"So cute!" Aarush said with a bright smile. He pulled out his phone and snapped a few pictures. "Let's try more. We'll get this dress though."
Noori went around and picked a few more dresses. She tried them all and Aarush took a picture each time. After they were done with the dresses, Noori picked out a bunch of footwear to match the dresses. Aarush bought those as well. Noori liked a few socks as well, so he got these for her too. From shop to shop, Aarush bought so much that he was covered from head to toe with bags.
"Thank you Aaru uncle!" Noori suddenly planted a kiss on Aarush's cheek, surprising him. The past two to three hours, she never once kissed him on the cheek, but now that she did, he felt like buying her everything in the whole mall.
"My little Noori, what do you want next?" He just wanted to spoil her as much as possible. Even if it meant losing all his savings, he thought it was worth it as long as Noori was happy.
"Umm, I think I got enough, haha." She giggled a little. "I am a little hungry now."
"Let's get some food then." As they walked to the food court, Aarush saw an empty cart and he ran towards it as quickly as he could. He placed all the bags inside and took a deep breath. "I thought I was going to die." He said jokingly to Noori with wide eyes.
"Haha, that's because you got me too many things." She said with a sweet smile.
"Not that much. When you were a little kid, you and I would always be at the mall. We would get anything you wanted." He said while remembering the past, feeling a little nostalgic. "Want to see what your favorite candy used to be?" He asked with a smile, as he pushed the cart.
"Yeah." She nodded her head and watched as Aarush pulled out his phone. Aarush went to his old photos and pulled out one of Noori when she was only four.
"You see this one? You would eat this everyday. It was such a big chocolate bar." He laughed and said.
"Wow, it's so big," She said with a bit of shock.
"Yup. You never got tired of them. Your face would always be so dirty after eating it that your mom would come and yell at me. After she was done yelling, I would sneak out with you and get more candy." Aarush laughed at this while he looked at the older Noori with a gentle look.
Noori felt a little shy under his gaze yet also a little sad. This man loved her so much back then, yet he suddenly vanished from her life for seven years. As they found a place to sit, Aarush quickly got them a bunch of food and finally settled down, eating it slowly.
"Do you like it Noori?" He asked as she ate her burger.
Noori nodded her head happily. "Aaru uncle, why did you leave? Weren't you happy with us?" She asked suddenly. Although she was older then before, she was still a kid after all, so she didn't mind asking these questions.
When Aarush heard this, a deep sigh escaped his mouth. He opened his phone and pulled out an image that almost made him want to cry a little. It was a picture of his beautiful Aeleya. "Noori, do you know who this is?"
Noori looked at the picture with a bit of confusion. "No." She shook her head and looked back at Aarush.
He sighed even more. 'Do they not even have pictures of her anymore?' This made his heart hurt a little, but he tried to smile on the surface a little, not wanting Noori to see him looking upset. "Well, when you were four, I got married to this pretty girl. She loved Aaru uncle a lot and I loved her too. She loved you a lot too. When I was busy with work, you would play with her when you were little, eating from the same plate, sleeping on the same bed, and so much more."
"Where is she now?" While taking a bite from her food, she asked Aarush curiously. She never learned much about Aeleya. No one told her much since the topic was sensitive.
"Seven years ago, she suddenly just disappeared." Aarush didn't want to mention death to her since it was a hard topic for kids. "When she left Aaru uncle all alone, I felt lonely and sad, so I moved over here and lived alone."
Noori couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "If you were sad and alone, why did you move here alone? Wouldn't it be better to stay with us? You wouldn't have felt alone then."
Her words made perfect sense, but Aarush knew it wasn't as simple as that, but he didn't say too much about that. "I was being a baby." Aarush smiled bitterly and said.
"Aaru uncle, do you still miss her?" Noori asked curiously.
"Yup, I loved her a lot." Aarush replied with a smile.
"Do you think she will ever come back?" She asked again.
"No." Aarush said with a sigh.
Noori became silent for a moment. "Why don't you get married again? Maybe you will find someone you love again?" Noori said while wiping her mouth.
"Let's see. I'm happy that you are here, so I don't need anyone else." Aarush said with a smile. "Come, let's eat more. We can then go back home before it turns night."
"Aaru uncle, why are you crying?" Noori suddenly asked with surprise on her face. She noticed two tear droplets falling from his eyes as he ate his burger.
"I'm not crying." Aarush said as he quickly wiped the tears in his eyes. "I accidently got some spice powder in my eyes, it hurts so my eyes became a little wet, haha." He laughed lightly, but anyone could tell it was forced.
Getting up from her seat, Noori walked over to Aarush and gave him a hug from the side. "Mom used to always tell me that Aaru uncle never cries, but when he does it's only around me. She said that if I ever see you cry, I should hug you and give you a kiss." Noori then planted a kiss on his cheek and smiled at Aarush brightly. "Aaru uncle, Noori is here, so if you feel sad just come to me. You said you will do me anything in the world for me, right?" Aarush nodded his head. "Then, I want you to do one thing for me."
"What is it, Noori?" Aarush said with a gentle smile.
"I want you to be happy. Get married again and never cry. My mom always cries thinking about you." Noori suddenly showed tears in her eyes. "I don't like it when you cry either, so find someone to marry and stop crying. Mom said that you will only be happy when you get married." Aarush listened and sighed a little. Everyone kept saying the same thing, and even Noori was now saying the same thing. If moving on was so easy, he would have done that years ago, but how could he move on from something like this? It wasn't easy.
"Alright Noori, just for you I will look for a wife, alright? Now stop crying, I'm not sad anymore." He wiped her tears with his fingers and planted a kiss on her forehead. "Let's eat quickly. After that, when we get home, I will show you my favorite place in the whole house." Noori nodded her head and went back to her seat. She began to eat happily right after, making Aarush smile at her even more.
About twenty minutes passed and Aarush quickly called Bali to bring a car for them. It wouldn't be easy to carry all of their stuff on a bike, it would be dangerous.
"Yunus sir?" As he was cleaning his table and collecting the garbage onto a tray, he heard a sound from behind. Aarush turned his head and saw three people, two of which were familiar. Reni and Amin, while the third was a woman he didn't recognize but knew who was.
"Reni, Mr. Amin, I didn't expect to see you here." Aarush smiled and walked forward. He nodded at the two people he knew and then looked at the woman. "You must be Reni's mother?"
"Yeah, how are you Yunus sir?" She said with her sweet sounding voice. She was an attractive woman. 'Wow, he is so handsome.' These were the thoughts that ran through her head when she saw Aarush.
"I'm alright. I was just coming to get some things for my niece here. What brings you guys here?" He asked with a small smile.
"I just needed a few things, plus Reni said that there was a project she had to do for school, so we came to get a few things for that as well." The mother said with a smile playing on her face.
"Well, I won't hold you guys then. Me and niece are done now anyways, so I will see you next time." Aarush smiled and began to walk away, but before getting too far, he turned his head and looked at Reni with a smile. "Send your dad and Inaya my regards." With that he walked away.
"He seems like a good person." Reni's mother said with a sweet smile.
"He is mom." Reni then looked at Noori's small figure and raised her eyebrows. "So, this is his niece? She is so pretty and cute."
"Her mom and dad must be good looking people, after all, looking at her uncle." Her mom replied with a smirk.
"I don't know, something about him is a little off." Amin suddenly interjected.
"What do you mean?" Reni asked with a weird expression.
"Well, he is only a teacher but you guys say he has a huge house and if you notice the items in his cart, it is not something small. I feel that he might be someone who depends on his rich family." Amin didn't have any favorable impression of Aarush. He was a jealous person, so any male who hung around Inaya made him very mad.
"Is that the case?" Reni's mom raised an eyebrow and asked Reni.
"Nope, that is actually not true." Reni said in a smug way. "Me and Ina thought the same thing before, but we later found out that he is actually a doctor as well. Not only that, but he has his own clinic and even works at the hospital as a surgeon. He writes books too. He is super smart." Reni looked at Amin and explained. "Ina even borrowed one of his books because she liked it so much. I think this is a good thing, I heard Yunus sir's wife died a long time ago, so if he and Ina can maybe get together through the book.."
"Reni!" Amin suddenly glared at her.
"What…" She cowered a little and asked with a bit of confusion. "What's wrong with that?"
"Amin, calm down." Reni's mom glared at him. Although she was also not expecting Reni to say such a thing, she hated it the most when someone yelled at her daughter. Sure, she knew about her brother liking Inaya and that everyone was forcing her to marry Amin, but that was all second to her daughter. "Don't yell at Reni."
"Sorry." Amin calmed his mind a little and said embarrassingly. "Reni, you shouldn't say such things behind other peoples back, it isn't a good thing. Yunus sir lost his wife and is still alone, don't you think he would get mad if you ever said that to him?"
Reni thought about it for a moment and nodded her head. "You're right, I'm sorry."
"You don't have to be sorry Reni. You didn't say anything wrong." Her mother interjected and grabbed Reni's hand, walking away from Amin with a frown.
Amin smiled bitterly at this, but suddenly sharply glared in Aarush's direction. 'This bastard!'
Aarush arrived home with Noori rather quickly, following behind him was Bali. He was carrying many bags, with only a few in Aarush's hand. "That was fun, right?"
"Yup." Noori replied while walking with a skip. Seeing this, Aarush smiled even more. This was the best time he had in the past seven years, nothing could compare to how happy he felt today.
As they entered the house, Aarush saw a woman glaring at him. 'Shit.' Seeing Aliya look so angry, he knew what was going to happen.
"Aaru, did you really just get her everything inside of a store? Are you an idiot?" She was furious. Her glare then focused on Noori. "And you, how could you act so spoiled? A whole store?"
"Hey, don't yell at Noori." Aarush walked in front of the cowering Noori and glared back at Aliya. "I can get Noori anything I want, why do you always make such a big deal out of it?"
"Aaru, a full store! That isn't a small thing." She said while gently massaging her forehead.
Aarush walked forward and placed his hand on her head, lightly pressing against it and giving her a small massage. "Relax, you know how I am. Plus, getting Noori things makes me happy, I thought you wanted to see me happy. Was that all a lie?" He said with a mischievous smile.
Aliya frowned a little and then sighed. "Still, a full store is way too much. You have to hold back a little when you spoil her."
"Yeah yeah, I will think more later, anyways go and get some rest. Getting stressed over such small things isn't good for you or your baby." Aliya nodded her head and then walked away, watching her leave, Aarush then turned around and smiled brightly at Noori.
"Hehe, she thinks I'm going to stop? Next time Noori, find a bigger store, we'll buy everything again. Haha!" He laughed loudly, while Noori was also a little surprised by his weirdness.
"Wasting money isn't a good thing Aaru uncle." She said with a mature expression.
When Aarush saw this he got on his knees and planted a big kiss on her cheek. She smiled while her face scrunched up a little. "Noori, Aaru uncle isn't wasting money, I'm using them on you. If you're happy, so am I. That isn't wasting money, it's investing." He said smilingly.
"Alright." Noori said while rolling her eyes. When Aarush saw this, he suddenly froze. He couldn't help but recall a scene from the past. It was a scene of his deceased wife teasing him by constantly rolling her eyes at him and even making the younger Noori do the same. He sighed a little just thinking about it. There were so many good memories and so many dreams he had, yet all of them disappeared.
"Noori, Aaru uncle is actually feeling tired, why don't we play more tomorrow?" He said with a sigh. His body was trembling very subtly, which was unnoticeable to Noori. Although he had a great time with Noori, he just couldn't stop thinking about Aeleya, his mind was a mess. It felt like his head was about to explode.
"Ok, I will go and sleep with mom then. Bye Aaru uncle." She planted a small kiss on his cheek before running off. Seeing her run away, Aarush sat on the ground and gestured Bali to come over.
"Grab me a bottle, I'm going out." Bali nodded his head with a sigh. This wasn't the first time Aarush did this, rather he used to do it a lot. Luckily, he had stopped drinking in recent months, so seeing him want to go out again and drink for a bit made Bali sigh deeply.
Running off to grab Aarush his bottle of alcohol, the latter pulled out his phone and went through his photos. There were many pictures of Aeleya. He looked at them one by one. He grabbed the back of his neck and dug his nails into his skin, wanting to scream and vent, but keeping it all in. Veins popped from his face and his expression showed extreme agony. Bali came soon after and handed Aarush the black bottle. Without even turning around, Aarush walked out of the house while taking large gulps from the bottle.
'Should I go tell someone he is going out? It isn't safe…' Bali remembered that whenever Aarush went out like this, he would somehow get into a fight with someone.
"Miss Inaya, although this is your first day, we want to show you where we get the groceries from." A woman walked over to Inaya who was slowly washing a pile of dishes. Her dainty hands were wrinkled because of constantly being in the water.
"But…" The last thing Inaya wanted to do was go out. There was a chance she could get caught.
"Don't worry, the guards will come with us. If someone bothers us, they will handle it." Most of the women either ran from their families or from someone. As long as the person wasn't some sort of high ranking official, the guards could protect them well. "You just have to remember that if someone comes to bother you, whoever it is, you have to stand your ground. Alright?"
Hesitating for a second, Inaya nodded her head. She quickly dried her hands and followed the few females out. She wore a plain dress that she brought from home. It was a dark purple with no design. It covered her well. Stepping out of the walls, she was led by three other women and five guards, most of which kept a good distance from them.
"What kinds of things are we getting?" Inaya asked.
"Well, we have to do the shopping every Sunday. We get vegetables and fruits, rice, flour, and a few other things." The leading woman explained patiently.
Inaya nodded her head. The shop they were going to wasn't too far from the school so they arrived after about twenty minutes of walking.
"We will split into groups of two, so go ahead and begin finding what you need." Inaya followed the leading woman since she was new. They began to pick various things, Inaya wasn't new to buying food so she was able to help. They haggled here and there, purchasing things for as low as possible.
"Aaru bhai! Stop hitting them!" As Inaya walked around with her partner for half an hour, she suddenly heard a commotion.
"What's going on?" She asked the woman.
"Not sure, let's go and check it out." Inaya followed behind her and entered a small crowd. They pushed their way to the front to see the event.
"Aaru bai, you have to stop!" When Inaya got to the front, she saw a scene she never dreamed of seeing.
"Maazi, let me go! I'm going to smash these fuckers' faces!" Aarush had a few bruises on his face while his shirt was torn from various places. On the ground in front of him were a group of three young men. They also had a few bruises, but their expression showed fright more than anything.
Maaz felt his head throb because of the situation. He glared at the three before snapping at them as well. "You three get lost, right now!"
All of them got up and quickly ran from the scene. Aarush tried to tear Maaz's arm away, but the latter just wouldn't let go. "Maazi!"
"Just calm down, you're drunk so you aren't thinking right." Maaz explained as he still kept a firm grip on Aarush. "Let them go, they're just idiots." Aarush stopped struggling and elbowed Maaz's stomach. The latter quickly let go of Aarush and grabbed his own stomach. "Ouch!" He stumbled back and groaned a little.
"Next time, don't stop me!" Aarush glared at his younger brother with his drowsy eyes. His body was constantly swaying and the way he spoke was very weird. Aarush looked at the group of people watching him and suddenly threw a bottle on the ground, smashing it into pieces. "What the fuck are you guys looking at? Fuck off!"
Everyone began to disperse. "Inaya, let's go." The woman with Inaya said with a quiet voice. "These are just drunkards." Inaya nodded her head. She recognized Aarush even though he looked like a mess. His face was bruised and covered in tear stains, but he was recognizable. Plus, the torn clothes were exposing a bit of his tattoo and the scar, which made it even more easy to find out who it was.
"Alright, but you go ahead first. I want to do something." The woman nodded her head and left. The only people left were Aarush, Inaya, and Maaz. Of course, Inaya wasn't near the group, she was a little further away.
"Aaru bhai, let's go home now." Maaz walked over with a bitter smile.
Aarush swayed on spot and grabbed his brother's cheek. "You go ahead, I'll come myself." He then pushed his cheek away, wobbling towards a chair. He sat down and grabbed a bottle and began to gulp the contents.
Sighing, Maaz didn't leave, rather he just walked to a nearby chair and sat down. He didn't sit next to Aarush, just close enough to keep him in his line of sight. Maaz didn't know why Aarush was acting like this, but he was sure it had something to do with Aeleya.
It was silent. Inaya watched the scene and didn't know if she should go forward. She didn't know Aarush well, but he offered her help, so she wanted to help him as well if she could. Looking around for something, she suddenly saw a small shop. As if an idea popped in her mind, she walked over to the shop.
"Maazi, are you still here?" Aarush said quietly with his eyes closed.
"Yes Aaru bhai." He replied with a sigh. Maaz felt hurt seeing his brother like this. In the past, he was always aware of what was going on and usually kept his emotions reeled in, but now he was just bursting.
"You know, when Aeleya died in the car back then, I didn't even notice it." He spoke with a bitter laugh, his words coming out in a drunken tone. "It's funny, she was next to me, sleeping. I heard a big boom, but she still slept so soundly." He made a very exaggerated motion with his hands, but Maaz felt his eyes become a little wet seeing his brother acting like this. "You know Maazi, I planned on going on my honeymoon with Aeleya back then. I wanted to spoil Aeleya, but she died so suddenly. I still remember the big boom, it was so loud. My ears hurt so much back then. Maybe Aeleya's ears hurt as well. You know?"
Maaz didn't reply, he just listened. Inaya who was walking with an item nearby was a little shocked to hear this story. She knew Aarush's wife died, but she had always assumed it was due to an illness. Never had she thought it was something like this.
"Haha, it's so funny. I always thought that Aeleya would have to live alone when I died, but now I'm alone after she died. It's weird." Aarush spoke randomly, but Maazi and Inaya knew that he was just speaking his heart. "When I saw Noori today, she didn't even speak properly to me at the airport. It hurt so much Maazi, I love Noori. She was my favorite, but luckily I was able to go shopping with her. Noori is such a cute girl, I love her so much. It sucks I couldn't see her grow up, you know? I wanted to be the first person to take her to school, I wanted to see her study, to come home tired from school. I wanted to tutor her and tell her to enjoy school and not stress about it. Jeej is so lucky, he got to do all that." Aarush looked up at the sky with a plain smile. "I envy Jeej so much, even Hazim is luckier than me. From day one, I fight, while they don't. In the end, I lose everything while they still have everything. I lost Aeleya, I lost precious time with Noori, I couldn't see you graduate Maazi, I prevented Maya from being married by now, and just lost it all. Maazi, do you know what it feels like to lose everything?" His mumbling continued, but Maazi closed his eyes and just listened to his brother break down.
'He's really not so lucky.' Inaya sighed deeply, listening to his words. Unlike Maaz, she understood the pain of losing everything. Her life was a mess right now and so Aarush's words struck a chord in her too.
"Maazi, Noori told me to get married again, and so did Aliya." Suddenly, Aarush spoke these words and Maaz looked up in shock. "Aliya said that I have accepted that Aeleya is dead. I think she is right. Maybe it is time to move on, plus Noori really wants me to get married again. You know I can't say no to Noori."
Aarush stopped speaking after that. His eyes opened up slowly and he looked around. He noticed Inaya standing afar, but he couldn't see who it was because of his blurry vision.
"Hey you, come here. I can't see your face." Aarush gestured Inaya over, but the latter didn't move right away.
"Aaru bhai, stop doing that." Maaz finally walked over and looked at Inaya with an apologetic expression. "Sorry, he's out of it."
Inaya shook her head with a smile and walked over, much to the surprise of Maaz. "Don't worry, I don't mind. I actually know Aarush." She carried a small glass of milk in her hand and walked in front of Aarush. "Aarush, do you recognize me? I'm Inaya."
Aarush narrowed his eyes and concentrated his eyes on Inaya's face. "So pretty." He said in a small whisper, so quiet that only she heard his words. Inaya suddenly took a step back and handed the drink to Maaz.
"Sorry, I forgot that I had to meet someone. Just make him drink this, it will help him." She then ran away after that. Maaz watched her leave with raised eyebrows.
'Who was that?' He had never seen that woman before, but she knew her brother. 'I'll ask him later. I need to get him home first.' Maaz then helped his brother to a car.
Inaya sat in her room with a dazed expression. 'What kind of expression was that?' She couldn't help but recall the way Aarush was looking at her. He was drunk, but there was no lust or dirtiness in his expression, rather it was so pure and childlike. Plus, his sudden compliment messed up her mind. 'Why did he say that so suddenly?'
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