Noor's pov:

"You will come to my brand opening ceremony. Right?" I ask Aariz with a lot of hope.

"When is it?" he asks without looking up from his laptop.

"Tomorrow. It will start at 3 pm and end at 8."

"No. I have a shoot," he said coldly. This cockroach!

"Areh, it's for five hours. You don't need to be there for the whole time just for an hour maybe? Or even 30 minutes!" I plead

"No. I have a shoot for the whole day tomorrow. I am not available."

"Khaddus cockroach." I say while rolling my eyes.

The next day*

"Congratulations to our desi girl!" Karya and Nafisa come over to me and hand me a bouquet of roses. I preferred Orchids but they didn't know that. Only Aliyah does but that is also only because she has sharp sharp eyes. I didn't tell her myself; she just guessed by how I reacted to the orchids I saw in Nafu's garden when Nafu didn't notice.

"Thank you." I take the bouquet from them.

"Where is Aloo?" Karya asks after looking around.

"She is in the hospital. Apparently she had a surgery to perform."

"Ah, that explains why jiju is not here." Nafisa says. "Wait, where is the other jiju? Your husband?" she says when she doesn't see him among other people.

"Now that Aloo got married, her husband is your main jiju while my husband is the other jiju?" I ask while trying to sound offended.

"Areh. Nhi yarr! Ahaan jiju is older na? That's the only reason. There is no main jiju!" Nafisa says while trying to defend herself.

"Where is he?" Karya says when I didn't answer the question.

"He has a shoot. For the whole day." I say trying not to sound disappointed.

"Awh. Noorie don't worry. It's probably a very important one or else he would've joined." Karya says while giving me a hug.

"Yeah. Probably." I say mostly to myself.

"Noor Dayyan! It's a pleasure to see you again! It has been a long time hasn't it?" my highschool classmate Mahira came up to me.

"We'll leave you to your classmate then. Nafisa saw her lover." Karu whispers in my ears before leaving.

They probably thought Mahira was someone I liked or else they wouldn't have left me.

"Yes! The last time I saw you was when you got told off for ruining a girl's dress because they wore the same one as you. You got transferred to another school didn't you?" I say in a very not sorry voice.

"Uh, yeah. Anyways, meet my husband." a man comes up beside her and hugs her. "I invited you to my wedding but you didn't come." Who would even want to go? You would've shown off about how you got a husband while I'm hard to love.

"You got married too right? To a Raihan wasn't it? Where is your husband?" she looks around as if she is looking for Aariz.

"He umm," I try to find a good excuse. I can't humiliate myself and say he was too busy to be here.

"Don't tell me he is not here. This is your grand opening. The biggest step for your brand! A husband should be there for his wife no matter what." she says in a pitiful voice. 

"Right. It's my wife's opening. There is no way I can miss it." I get surprised to hear Aariz Raihan's voice behind me and then feel a hand around the back of my waist.

"Aariz Raihan? Oh my gosh, I can't believe I'm finally meeting you. A big fan." Mahira's husband holds his hand out.

Aariz takes it when he holds Aariz's hand with his other hand as well. Mahira should get her husband out of here before I freaking bury him to the floor.

"Amaan. Let's go." Mahira takes his hand and starts dragging him out.

"But-" was the only. thing heard from him before they were out of sight. Thankfully.

"Here." Aariz held out a bouquet of orchids at me. 

Orchids.

How did he know?

"Thank you." I say as I take them. "What are you doing here?"

"Shoot got cancelled,"

"Oh." Just then, my assistant comes up to me and tells me it's time for my speech.

Aliyah was still in the hospital which made me kind of disappointed. She said she would be here by 6:30 pm but she'd still miss a lot.

It's not her fault though and I will surely not blame her for it.

"I can hold it for you." Aariz offers. I mean, as much as I'd love to hold Orchids while I give my speech, I'll need to focus on the camera and the audience and not the Orchids and Aariz. So I take his offer and hand him the bouquet.

Karu and Nafu come to me and wish me good luck before I step onstage to give the speech I've prepared for almost a year.

I nervously look around the audience before I start talking where I spot Aariz.

He was smiling at me.

Him.

Smiling.

At me.

Ahaan's pov:

"Procedure complete." I declare after finishing the surgery.

The patient gets taken away by some nurses and then we start the post-operation process of putting everything back and cleaning all the surgical tools.

Everyone in the room was staring at me- including Aliyah- as I was there. Normally in our hospital, the Lead surgeons did not stay for this bit. You could if you wanted to, but judging by how everyone was staring at me, I was probably the first one.

--

"Who. Are. You?" Aliyah says bursting into my room.

"Pati hu aapka. Naam yad hai?" (Your husband. Do you remember my name?)

Aliyah looks at me like she is looking at a cow singing. No, even a singing cow would probably not get that reaction out of her.

"Oh God. Seriously. Ambulance bulau? Oh wait no. That wouldn't matter. We are in the hospital. Should I call the emergency department and inform them about your memory loss?" (Should I call the ambulance?)

"What memory loss? I remember how much of a nightmare you are."

"Thank goodness. You're still here. No one will sue me for murder. Since when did you stay in the OR after surgery?" she raises an eyebrow.

"Since umm.. today." 

"Oh wow. I wouldn't have been able to guess that." she glared at me.

Her phone rang so she turned around and answered it. She turned back again with the same glare on her face.

"When does your shift end?" she asks.

"Why? So curious to get to know me already?" I say while smirking.

"Just answer the damn question."

I look at my watch and count the last ten seconds. "It ended right now." I say while getting up.

"Lovely, then drop me off." she says while leaving the room.

"I have an event to attend." I had to attend Noor's opening as a relative. Everyone else in the family was already there. Though I think that is where Aliyah needs to go but I'd rather argue with her before giving her a lift.

"I have to be there as well! It's not going to cost you any extra fuel just take me." 

"But what about the fact that I'll have to deal with a nightmare for 30 minutes on the ride?" 

"You annoying bird! Just take me!" she said while grabbing my collar and pinning me to a pillar.

"I-I" I froze on the spot because of the sudden action.

The sound of someone clearing their throat was heard. Me and Aliyah looked to the side to see Dr Karim.

"Dr Rahs- Raihan. Just came to inform you your surname change has been made." he leaves before anyone can utter another word.

"Dr Raihan? What does that mean?" I look at Aliyah in disbelief. 

"I umm. Yeah. What do you mean? I changed my surname to Raihan, no one said I couldn't."

"Wait, so you took my surname? And I'm just learning about it?" 

"Well, I don't have to tell you everything. Besides, it's not just your surname. Your whole family has it. And now I have to be a part of it. So I took it as well."

"But that means everyone would find out. And it was supposed to be a secret. And also, I'm already Dr Raihan. It would be hard to have two Dr Raihans in the same department!"

"Well, you have cousins don't you? People might think I'm with them. Who cares? And whatever, everyone knows I'll be the better Dr Raihan." she starts boasting.

"Yeah keep dreaming." 

We enter the parking lot and I get into the driver's seat of my car. But without permission, that Nightmare helps herself to the passenger seat.

"Did I say you could just sit here without my permission?" I say annoyed.

"No. I just did," she says before looking out the window not appreciating my presence! "You know, you look weird right now. Like your face looks empty." she says while swinging her hands around my face.

"What the hell do you mean? I ask confused.

"The flour! Your face is missing the flour! Bhut ho na? Face white hona chahiye. When we go home, I'll throw flour at your face. It suits you very well." she said while chuckling. (You're a ghost. Your face should be white.)

Her chuckle. Her smile. Her laughter.

They were rare and beautiful. Like a dream.

Ever since I've seen her smile, I've wanted to see it again. Moreover, I wanted to be the reason for her smile. The reason for her laugh. 

Yes, she was a Nightmare. But she was my nightmare. A nightmare I'm ready to turn into a dream.

I didn't mind the name change. 

Aliyah Raihan.

It does not sound bad. It sounds amazing.

But I'm worried that Mum would get angry about it. It is supposed to be a secret. Changing it from Dr Rahsin to Dr Raihan meant everyone would ask questions.

--

"Bye birdie." she gets out of the car before I could reply and runs off.

I come out to see Aryan arguing with that lover of his in front of the entrance. Not really arguing, him trying to tease her while her getting annoyed.

"Ahaan bhai! Please be my saviour and tell Curry that I am such a sweet person." That maniac shouts out when I start walking over to the entrance.

"Areh jiju! Dekho na, ye badtameez ladka mujhe hamesha 'Curry' bolta rehta hai! Do I look like a food? You can tell that I'm a human right?" Karya says right after. (Look. This disrespectful guy keeps calling me 'Curry' all the time.)

"Jiju? Seriously Karya?" I ask annoyed. I'm pretty sure her friends know it's a contract marriage- not that I want it to be anymore but Jiju is way too extreme.

"Haan (Yes)! You are my jiju! So I'll obviously call you jiju!" she said excitedly.

"You're on your own then Saali. (sister-in-law)" I say before walking off to leave them with their bickering.

I enter the hall and find Azaan in the corner so I walk over to him, finding him staring at a specific person.

"Someone changed that ice heart of yours?" I say to tease him.

"You're talking like someone didn't change yours," he replies and then gestures at Aliyah who was standing right beside the girl he was looking at- Nafisa or something. How did this guy know?

"So you are saying someone did change yours?" I say to change the topic to his.

He doesn't reply. Just shrugs.

Aariz's pov:

Took me too much denial to realise I couldn't deny it anymore.

I fell for her.

Honestly, I don't even understand why. She is crazy! And I'm crazier for liking her. I mean, who would fall for someone who hits you with a jhadu and calls you a cockroach?

The event was packed. Everyone loved and supported Noor which made me very proud. However, I think it would take some time for me to actually say it out loud.

"Were you smiling at me during the speech?" Noor says right when she was free from a group of people. It has been an hour since she gave the speech and she has been talking to everyone since then. She looks exhausted.

"No." I try and say nonchalantly.

How embarrassing is it to tell her that I started liking her after I was the one who kept telling her to leave me alone?

"I know you were! Tell me the truth you cockroach." there it was again.

"I don't know what you're talking about darling. Maybe you saw someone else smiling and thought it was me." I say the first excuse that came up in my brain.

Was this a bit immature? Yes.

But do I have way too much ego to actually tell her the truth? Also yes.

"Don't you darling me!" she glared at me.

"Why darling?" 

"Okay, how did you know I liked Orchids? When even my friends didn't know?" she raised an eyebrow.

Now, what excuse do I make of this?

I can't just say that I looked through her profile during the shooting break and saw her posting mostly about flowers but more about orchids than any other flowers - How do I know this for sure? Cause I counted- and that I also saw Orchids as her phone's lock screen wallpaper!

"That... is pretty easy. You talked about it once." I say hoping she would not double-question it.

"What? When?" completely not what I wanted.

"Darling, you talk too much about everything. About your favourite dress, about your favourite design, about your childhood stories and whatnot. You probably forgot talking about it." she does talk to me about all these things. Every night. And I listen and take notes of any details that could've been important.

For example, her favourite colour was Lilac. Which helped me in choosing the orchids.

"True but-"

"Why are you stressing about it so much darling? It's just a bouquet of flowers."

"It's the first bouquet of Orchids I've ever gotten from someone." 

Her words made me think a little. Why don't her friends know what her favourite flower is? Did they think it was an unimportant detail? Or did they know but just pretended not to?

Drinks got served around by servers so I took one and started drinking it so Noor couldn't ask me another question.

My attention diverted to a corner where I notice Noor's three friends with my three brothers. Noor must've noticed them as well as she started walking over to them while I followed her.

We go there to see one of Noor's friends- who is not my bhabi or Aryan's lover- was completely utterly drunk.

Yes, I've started calling her bhabi already.

Aryan's lover Karya was holding onto one side of her while bhabi was holding onto the other side. 

"What happened?" Noor asks worried.

"Somehow. Unbelievably, she got drunk. Very drunk." Aliyah bhabi said while holding onto Nafisa's hands again cause she tried to let go.

"It's bwight! Too bwight!" Nafisa tried to cover her face in Karya's shoulder.

"How did she even get drunk? All drinks served here were non-alcoholic!" Noor said in disbelief.

"I need to stay here until the end. Can one of you take her home?" Noor asks Aliyah bhabi and Karya.

"Well, I actually came to tell you that my brother called so I need to go. I couldn't leave her side so I was waiting for you." Karya said while giving an apologetic look.

"Oh. Okay then." Noor takes the side of Nafisa that Karya was holding and Karya whispers something to her and Aliyah bhabi and leaves.

There was a moment of silence before Aliyah bhabi turned pale.

"Aloo? Kya hua? Are you okay?" Noor looks at her in concern. (What happened?)

"I-I... I need to go to the bathroom sorry." she rushes over to the direction of the restrooms.

Nafisa slouches over Noor as she struggles to hold her.

"Azaan! You know that you are my favourite devar right?" Noor said with a smile on her face.

"Bhabi! What about me?" Aryan said looking disappointed. 

"Kutte, tu chup reh. Karya hai na teri?" she mutters to him which only me and Aryan heard as we were beside her. (Shut up you dog. You have Karya, don't you?)

Ahaan bhai whispered something to Azaan and then he agreed to take Nafisa to her place. Noor gives him her address.

"Do you want me to take her until the car?" Noor offers.

"No need." saying that, Azaan bhai picks Nafisa up in his arms and leaves. Thankfully, the corner we were in had an exit to the back so he didn't need to crossover hundreds of people.

"I umm. Need to go and check Aliyah." Noor leaves for the restroom where Aliyah bhabi went a few minutes ago.

"So, will I get included in this Azaan bhai thing?" Aryan says when she was out of sight.

"Yeah, what did you whisper to him, huh?" I ask.

"He is just as lovesick as you." Ahaan bhai said patting Aryan's shoulder to which Aryan's eyes widened in surprise. I'm sure my reaction was that as well.

"Him? Love? The sun definitely went up from the wrong side." Aryan said in disbelief.

"Areh! After ages it finally went up from the right side! Let it stay that way." I say scolding Aryan.

"I can't believe everyone is so lovesick now. Everyone except him." Aryan points to Ahaan bhai to which Ahaan bhai went silent.

Not the reaction we were expecting to see.

"Wah! I can't believe it! You actually didn't force Aliyah bhabi to marry you! You two are in love." Aryan starts half dancing with the happiness.

I was happy for him as well. Ahaan bhai getting out of the ice berg personality of his is a miracle.

Who knows if any miracle like that would ever happen to me and I'd actually get over this big ego.

-------------------------

Thank you for reading <3