Aryan's pov:

Today was not how I planned it to be. It was way better than I planned it.

Flashback*

"Nafu! Please take me with you! I'll be so bored alone." I hear Karya's voice as soon as I leave my room.

"Sorry, I really need some time alone." her friend Nafisa responds.

"I understand. But I'll be so bored!"

"You won't be when I'm here." I walk up to them.

"Great! You can hang out with him." Nafisa pats her.

"No! Why would I hang out with an annoying guy like you?" Karya glares.

"What? I'm lovely. Even Noor bhabi said it!"

"I'll get going then." Nafisa starts leaving.

"Nafu! Oh gosh." Karya tried calling after her.

"Come on curry! It'll be fun! Let's go."

"Stop calling me that I swear."

"I know you love it."

"Oh God. Do you have anything fun planned? Or are you just here to annoy me?"

"I'm going to the Louvre Museum if you want to tag along." I offer. I planned to go there alone before I came. But going with her is even better.

"Oh my gosh!" Her eyes lit up. "Yes! Okay fine."

We walk out of the hotel and start walking towards the museum. Karya starts taking photos of things around her in awe.

"Everything is so pretty here! I couldn't see anything properly before because I was so focused on the wedding activities," she says, still looking around right before we enter.

"Yeah. It's good ."

As soon as we entered the museum, she silently went around everywhere. 

She loved art. It was her favourite subject alongside literature. She hated every other subject which everyone was always surprised about as she was good at everything.

I knew for a fact just because you're good at something doesn't mean you enjoy it. Which gave me extra credits to annoy her.

Annoying her was something I always enjoyed. Not because it annoys her but because when I do annoy her, her whole attention is on me.

-

"This is so pretty! Take a photo of me." she holds her phone out.

I take her phone and start taking pictures of her. 

"Let me take one of you." she takes her phone and waits for me to pose.

"No. I don't like my pictures taken." It's not just a dislike. It's despise. But I don't tell her that. She doesn't need to know why.

I turn around to make sure she doesn't take one when I hear a snap.

"Did you just take a picture of my back?" I ask confused.

"No. I took a selfie."

"Okay. If you're done looking at everything, should we go now?"

"Awh! But it's all so pretty. I don't want to leave!"

"We've been here for six hours. The sun had already gone down."

"Fine let's go."

"Don't worry curry. We still have another thing to see."

"I swear if you call me curry again, I'll chop your head off, make curry with it and feed it to the hyenas!" she threatens.

"Woah woah woah. Chillax!" I say as we leave the museum. 

Instead of going towards our hotel, I take her in another direction.

"Where are we going?" she asks curiously.

"Not going, we're already here." I say when we reached the bank of the river. The Eiffel Tower was on the other side.

It was night already so all the lights are turned on.

"Wow! It looks so beautiful at night from afar!"

"Yeah."

Do I say it? Should I say it? What would she think? Would she stop talking to me?

"Can't believe I'm saying this, but you are kinda fun." she says.

Flashback ends*

My thoughts were interrupted by a phone call from my firm.

"Mr Raihan. We found some interesting files against the Rashids." my assistant Ifran says when I pick up

"Interesting files? Okay, hold onto them until I'm back." I instruct.

"Got it." he hangs up.

My attention shifts from Karya to the Rashids.

They've been trying to take us down for two generations but failed. Apparently, they are the strongest this time, as Tayab Rashid now has 2 sons to go against us. 

Well, good for him. Our dad has four. I don't get why he is still scared even after having us.

He asked Azaan bhai to make sure to exceed the Rashids. And gave me the responsibility to handle all the legal terms. 

As the 'perfect' son I am, I've been trying to legally take them down ever since. Everything was clean so far.

The information Ifran found could either be the key or be utterly useless. Let's hope it's the first one.

Nafisa's pov:

What just happened today?

Why is Mr Azaan Raihan being so kind to me? 

And why the heck do I keep thinking about him all the time?

I'm so confused! 

Everyone kept saying he was this cold guy who didn't know what kindness meant. They said he doesn't wait a second before firing someone who makes one mistake. I've seen it myself as well.

Is he even the same person as Mr Raihan of the Raihan company? 

I mean, it should be, right? But why is he so kind? So helpful? So han-?

Stop it Nafisa! He is your boss for goodness sake!

Flashback to earlier*

I felt bad leaving Karya. But not anymore as Aryan is there.

Honestly, I ship them. I just haven't told anyone about it cause they might say I'm thinking too much.

He probably likes her in secret.

I go to a cafe and order coffee to drink.

Coffee is always the best. I didn't care what anyone else thought. I loved it. 

Coffee is always there when you're sad or happy or angry or disappointed or anything! It's one of the best treatments!

I go to pay in the counter when I realise, I forgot my purse.

Of course. Why do these things always happen to me?

"Ma'am? You know that you have to pay right?" the person says in a French accent.

"Yeah umm-" 

"She is with me. I'm paying." The voice behind me makes me freeze. Oh no.

I've already had enough embarrassment with him!

He takes the whole tray which included both mine and his order and goes over to sit on one of the tables. 

I silently follow him and sit down opposite him.

"Thank you. I'll pay you back when we reach the hotel." I say in an awkward voice.

"It's fine. You don't have to pay me back. Just enjoy your food."

I take an awkward sip of my drink as I notice he is working on his laptop.

"Your advertisement plan, if I go through with it, will you be able to do it with all the wedding distractions?" he asks without looking up from his work.

"Yes. I'll be sure to find time to finish the whole plan." I say as confidently as I can.

"Okay." he continues typing and after just a few minutes, I get an email, congratulating me that my work was the best one and that it was chosen to go forward.

I was honestly surprised as I thought he was just asking.

"Don't disappoint." he says.

"Don't worry. I'll do my best!" I was completely overjoyed. 

"You must really love coffee." he says looking at my order. I ordered a cappuccino and also a macchiato. And two croissants, one of them was coffee-flavoured.

"Yes! I love coffee! It's really good and it always makes me feel better no matter what mood I'm in. It's just my key to happiness! And also-" I continue to yap about how great coffee is.

"Do you like it?" I ask in the end.

"No." he says coldly.

"Oh." That makes sense; he ordered Matcha and a normal croissant.

I noticed he was wearing the jacket he gave me. I wanted to ask if it got cleaned properly but I don't want to bring it up again.

He gets a video call from someone.

"Yeah?" Azaan says as he answers.

"What are you- wait. That jacket. Oh, you still have it. I thought you lost it as you didn't want to say where it went that day after flight." I hear his older brother Ahaan's voice.

"No. I told you the reason. Forget that. Why did you call?"

"It was your favourite jacket, of course I'd think about it. It was the first gift I gave you." Favourite? Oh gosh.

"Why did you call?"

"Are you busy?"

"Yes."

"Okay," Ahaan hangs up.

"You don't have to stay with me. You can go." I insist.

"I'm not staying because of you. Don't think like that just because I paid for your food. I'm here because of my own work."

Flashback ends*

Stop daydreaming about your boss for goodness sake! 

He was there for his own work! He just paid for your drink as he probably didn't want to wait too long in the queue.

He gave you the project because he was impressed with your work. 

Or maybe because he felt pity and wanted to give you a project before firing you so you get less humiliated.

Noor's pov:

I had an exhausting day. The elders in the Raihan family had us go to 3 different museums, the Eiffel Tower, the Notredam Cathedral and some other things I don't even remember anymore. 

I am now in the lift. 

I can't wait to go to my room and crash onto my bed and then maybe yap to Aliyah about how exhausting the day was. She is the best listener.

I enter my room and find Karya's back facing me.

"What happened?" 

"Shush. She's asleep." Karya gets up from beside her and walks up to me.

"Asleep?" Aliyah hardly ever slept more than 4 to 5 hours. And she never slept before 12 am. It was 10!

"Yes, I heard from Ahaan that the lift shut down when they were in it." 

Oh no.

Aliyah had Nyctophobia and Claustrophobia. Her Claustrophobia was something she could control a little, but she hated darkness. It reminded her of her past. Those horrific days. 

"Is she okay now?" I ask worried. My exhaust was gone, replaced with worry.

"Yes, she couldn't talk much. She fell asleep as soon as she layed down. I stayed until you came in case she woke up in the middle."

"Do you think she should stay instead of attending the Mehendi?"

"I don't know. She will probably insist on going herself. She might get better when she wakes up. Don't worry too much. She is a doctor herself, she would probably know what's best." Karya starts walking towards the door.

"I'll get going now. Nafu is also not very well. I can't leave her alone."

"Okay. Don't worry, I'm here to take care of Aliyah."

Karya leaves the room.

I go to the bathroom to do my night routine when I hear Aliyah's voice.

"Fahad. Please don't!"

I run to her to see she was still lying down.

I sit beside her. She jolts upwards.

"Aliyah? You're okay. Don't worry. I'm here. He is not here. You're fine." I try to steady her breath. Which was kinda helpless, I honestly had no clue what to do.

"He-he- he was."

"He is not here anymore. Don't worry."

"Ar-are you sure?" her stuttering was something I'd never seen before. She was the strongest person in our group.

We knew about her past and how it haunted her but this is this is the first time I'm experiencing it with her. 

"Yes. Don't worry. I'm here." 

She relaxes a bit and then lays back down. I wasn't sure she was asleep for the first two hours as she was one of those people who didn't make a sound when they were sleeping. Not even a heavy breath.

After two hours, I was finally sure she was asleep as if she weren't then she'd tell me to go to sleep. 

I go back to my bed and start processing everything.

My Nikkah is two days later.

Everything happened so fast.

Both our families wanted to leave out the Rashids. But the public was so excited to see them that they had to be invited.

How I wish I could put them in prison. Especially that Fahad!

But there is no proof or evidence of his wrongdoings. Aliyah is a witness, but she can't even talk about it. 

Maybe I can talk to Aryan about it. He is a criminal lawyer. He would probably be able to help. They also hate the Rashids.

The Rashids are always the problem.

Thank you for reading<3