UNEDITED!

PART - 11

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"Love Is Hard To Find, Hard To Keep And Hard To Forget"

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Next day

Rishab was preparing breakfast when Inayat walked into the kitchen.

"As-salamu-alaikum, uncle?" Inayat greeted him

"What should I say in return?"

"Wa-alaikum-salaam"

"Okay, I will remember to say that from next time. Oh and you can call me dad" Rishab said with a smile.

Inayat fell silent hearing the word 'dad'. The man (Rafiq) who she saw in a father figure all her life trying to molest her made her hate that word and she decided never to call anyone 'dad' or 'abbu'

"It's okay. You can call me uncle if that's what you like to call me" Rishab understood her reticence.

"Um... Can I help you?" She offered.

"Sure, you can peel the potatoes. Meanwhile I will make tea for us. Wait, you drink tea or coffee?"

"Tea. Thank you"

"Your mom never wakes up before 7 so ever since we got married I cook breakfast. She cooks lunch and dinner." Rishab said.

"Oh, I can help you from today onwards, uncle"

"I love to cook but still I will take your help. You daily wake up this early?" He asked.

"Yeah, daily by 5am I wake up to do Fajr prayer... I mean we do prayer before dawn"

"Oh I see"

"After that I won't get sleep. I just get ready for the day and start cooking for my brother..." She paused, thinking about Izzaan.

"So you worked in a school right? Which grade students you were teaching?" He asked to distract her.

"6-9 grade, English"

"Good" he said and offered a cup of tea to her. The cup clattered against the saucer when she held the saucer with her trembling hands.

Rishab took a sip of tea and closely watched her. She grimaces her face after taking the first sip of tea. Rishab snickered.

"You didn't like my tea? Tsk, tsk, too bad. My wife loves it"

"No! No! I like it, uncle. It's just the milk... We use camel milk in Kashmir so this tastes odd...but I will get used to it"

"Ohh, I will get a camel for you" he joked. Inayat smiled.

"Only Veer is a morning person like me. Naira and Arjun are like their mom, lazy pandas!"

Inayat softly giggled and then went silent. She stood on the other side of the kitchen counter and cooked potato masala.

"What's your favorite hobby, Inayat?" Rishab asked to kill the silence.

"I like to read books and novels, uncle"

"Ah, I should have guessed it. English Lit you are, so obviously you would love to read books"

"What you like the most about Veer?" He shot his next question.

"Are we playing 20 questions, uncle?" Inayat asked with a teasing smile.

Rishab laughed. "Not really"

"Well, I like everything about Veer. He is warm, caring, smart... Above all he is so genuine, uncle"

"Good"

"Now you tell me about your kids, uncle"

"Hmm... Madhu is sweet, strong and crazily emotional person" Rishab said with a fond smile. Inayat couldn't help but admire his love for his wife. "Veer...I adore him for his maturity. He is very kind like his mom. He made us proud by joining Army." He said proudly. "Arjun is...always fun. He keeps everyone around him happy and laughing by cracking his lame jokes." He chuckled. "And, Naira...she is my jaan (life). Her small smile makes my day"

"Really, daddy? I thought I annoy you the most?" Naira asked as she walked into the kitchen island and loosely hung her hand on Inayat's shoulder.

"That I am not denying, honeybee" he said with a lopsided grin. "And how come you are up this early? It's not even 7?"

"I couldn't sleep" she shrugged. "You cook?" Naira asked Inayat in surprise.

"Yeah, you?"

"I know to make sandwich and salad"

"And do we call that cooking, sweetheart?" Rishab teased. Naira pouted.

"Dad, when are we going to Sab's place?"

"Evening?"

"No, after breakfast we will go"

"To where?" Madhu asked and yawned.

"To talk with Sabeer" Rishab blurted out before Naira could lie.

"Oh! Okay go. I am not coming." Naira sighed in relief. "I am pretty mad at that boy" Madhu said and turned to Inayat. "Veer isn't up yet?"

"No, he is still sleeping, ammi" Inayat woke him up when she got out of the bed and asked him to sleep on the bed. Without a word, he sleepily walked and flopped on the bed.

"Ah okay. He must be tired. Even you should be taking rest, Inayat"

"Hmm"

"Good morning" Arjun said cheerfully to no one in particular and kissed his mother's cheek and turned to kiss his sister.

"Don't come near me without brushing your teeth, Arjun" Naira pushed Arjun away from her. "Your breath stinks"

Naira made a face when Arjun licked his wrist and smelled it.

"No, my breath is not smelling bad" Arjun argued.

"Eww... You will become one disgusting doctor, Arjun" Naira slapped Arjun's arm. Arjun laughed.

"Bhabhi, two cute dimples form in your cheeks when you smile" Arjun poked Inayat's cheek with his finger making her jerk.

"Oops, sorry" he momentarily forgot about her phobia.

"It's okay" Inayat breathed hard.

"Come on, Inayat, we will set the breakfast table" Madhu dragged her to the dining room much to Inayat's relief.

"Don't touch her, Arjun" Naira scolded her bro.

"Don't worry, sissy, Dr. Arjun will cure his bhabhi's phobia" Arjun vowed more to himself.

"Hello, you are just a student not a full-fledged doctor yet" Naira smacked his head.

"Don't smack my head, Naira di. You might damage my brain"

Rishab rolled his eyes at his over dramatic son and walked out of the kitchen.

"You guys started having breakfast without me?" Veer asked in an accusing tone. Inayat looked up at him and they shared smiles.

"You are late" Rishab pointed out.

"I was tired so I overslept"

"Long night huh, bro?" Arjun asked with a wink. Inayat scrunched her eyes in embarrassment.

"Idiot" Veer smacked his head and sat beside him on the chair.

"Why the fu... why you all are smacking my head? I might go crazy"

"You are already one, Arjun" Radha teased pinching her grandson's cheek.

"Even you, Brutus dadi?" Arjun asked his granny, faking hurt. Everyone laughed.

--0--

"Mom, where is my coffee?" Sabeer jogged down the stairs, massaging his throbbing forehead. "Hangover sucks! I should never ever drink senselessly" He muttered to himself.

"Mom..." He looked up and found Rishab and Naira talking with his parents in the living room "Hi Rishab uncle, Naira. What a pleasant surprise?" Sabeer greeted them. Rishab gave him a head nod. Naira stood up from the couch and took a step towards him.

"How are you, Naira? How is your leg? You don't have any difficulty while walking right?" Sabeer asked in concern.

"I am perfectly alright, Sab. Thank you" Naira smiled as her heart melted like ice seeing his concern for her.

"Sorry, I couldn't attend your wedding..." Sabeer apologized. Naira frowned. "Anyways, congratulation. Where's your husband? Don't tell me our workaholic Roshan has gone to work on the very next day of his marriage"

"I didn't get married" Naira said as her heart started throbbing fast against her rib cage.

"What? Why?" He asked and looked at every face presented in that room hoping someone would answer him.

"Aren't you happy that I didn't marry Roe?"

"Why would I feel happy? In fact I feel sorry for Roshan. What's wrong with you, Naira?"

"Sabeer, I love you" Naira confessed. Sabeer looked at her in wide eyed shock.

"What? No, you are joking"

"No, I am not joking. I am serious" Naira's eyes well up with tears and her vision blurred. Rishab wrapped his arm around his daughter shoulder and drew her closer to him at the right moment otherwise she would have collapsed.

"I think there is some confusion. We will go now and talk about this matter some other time" Rishab said to his friend Sameer. He can clearly tell from the shocked look on Sabeer's face that he wasn't in love with his daughter.

"No, dad, I want to talk now... Sabeer, you remember the phone call?"

"What phone call?" He asked incredulously.

"I knew it! I knew you would forget everything. You were so drunk yesterday"

"Yeah, I was." Sabeer admitted.

"I called you yesterday few hours before my marriage... You were so drunk... You said... Your lover... getting married...to some other guy... You said you were hurt and asked me to help you...Oh god!" Naira burst into tears and turning around to her daddy, she buried her face in his chest. Rishab patted her head silently asking her to control herself.

"Sabeer just tell me why you drunk, yesterday?" Rishab asked cutting to the chase.

"As Naira said my lover got married to some other guy..."

"And your lover is?"

"Dr. Sasha" Sabeer said. "We worked together and we were in love for nearly one and half years but suddenly she broke up with me and married this rich NRI guy"

Rishab turned his gaze towards his friend and wife. "Why the fuck you didn't tell me about this when I called you, yesterday, Sameer?"

"Rishab, I didn't know... I thought he loved your daughter" Sameer said. Sameera nodded her head agreeing with her husband's words.

"I didn't tell my parents. I was waiting for the right moment to tell them..."

"Naira, come" Rishab urged her to walk but she stood rooted to her place and refused to go with him.

"No, I want to talk..."

"There is nothing left to talk. Everything is crystal clear. He loves someone else, not you" he said and forcefully dragged his daughter out of the house and to his car.

"Dad, please, let me go. I will make him understand..."

"Naira, I am sorry" Sabeer followed them to the car park.

"Sabeer, you please go. I will handle my daughter." Rishab said politely and dumped his daughter into the car. Then he walked around to the driver side and got in. Sabeer stood there and looked at Naira, sympathetically.

"Naira, stop embarrassing me by crying" Rishab said through gritted teeth and revved up the engine noisily before he drove off.

"Daddy, I want Sabeer." Naira cried cupping her face with her palm.

"Naira, please, pull yourself together and calm down" he said but she didn't seem to be calming down so he pulled over the car on the side of the road and released his seat belt.

"Daddy..." She hugged her daddy and cried like a small child.

"Oh baby, please..." He groaned ruffling her hair "...stops crying. It's not like he is the only guy for you in this world."

"No, he is the only guy for me" Naira cried adamantly.

"Daddy, turn the car... Take me back to Sabeer's place. I will talk to him. I will beg him to love me..."

"Get out of the car, Naira!" Rishab's words stunned her and her tears ceased, miraculously. She withdrew herself from his hold and looked up at him. "And don't show me your shameful face till my anger subsides" he said harshly and turned his face away from her.

"Daddy?" She gently placed her palm on his arm.

"You want to beg for love?" He asked shaking his head in disbelief and gripping the steering wheel tightly till his knuckles turned white. "You think you will get his love by begging? Then you are highly mistaken, Naira. It's love. You have to feel it and you have to earn it with respect."

Naira hung her head down in shame for even thinking to beg for Sabeer's love.

"If you are so desperate to be loved by him then go, go and beg" he gently shoved her shoulder.

Naira angrily opened the car door and clambered out before shutting the door with a loud bang.

Rishab raked his fingers through his hair and he heaved a huge sigh.

While he was contemplating whether to ask his daughter to get in the car and go with him to their home or not, Naira got into the rear side of the car and slammed the door shut.

"Naira?" He twisted his body so that he was able to see her. She looked mad and hurt. Rishab felt so bad seeing his darling daughter in such a sorry state.

"Mommy was right when she always said you were rude. You are rude, so rude, daddy. You are King of Rudeness!!!" Naira growled and bit the inside of her cheek to prevent from crying all over again.

"I solemnly agree with your momma's assessment and your late realization, Naira. And I am sorry for hurting you" he said feeling remorseful and then he drove off the car to their home.

... To be continued!

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P.S - I will update BABY DADDY tonight!!!