Laila

Chapter 34

Hey guys, sorry I couldn't upload this chapter sooner. My internet connection is giving me trouble lately. Anyways...Enjoy ! xoxo

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After finishing my call with Sobia, I walked right out of the kitchen to check on Farid, he was talking to Sabir. I walked over to the boys and sat in my usual spot, right next to Farid.

'What are you guys talking about?' I asked them.

'Football, you won't understand' Sabir picked up his new football and went to his room and Farid turned his gaze towards me.

'What?' I asked him, he was staring at me so differently as if he was trying to get figure something out.

'You seem a lot happier here' He said confidently.

'Yeah, you should try that too Farid, try to be happy' I answered him back.

'I am learning to, I am sorry I ruined your new years eve' He apologized again, Ya Allah what was wrong with him, why was he being so weird. 

'Stop apologizing over and over Farid, you didn't ruin anything. I am glad you came.' My phone vibrated and I saw a text from Sobia saying that she was here. I went to the door and saw Sobia and Rafay. I invited them in. Farid wasn't too thrilled to see Rafay but he still managed to shake his hand and offered him to take a seat. 

Sobia followed me inside the kitchen and we started decorating the kitchen with balloons and confetti. When we finished decorating the table area and the food was ready, I called the boys inside and Farid eyes sparked up. 

Ammi walked over to Farid and placed a kiss on his head and Sabir gave him a quick hug. Farid walked over to the table and before cutting the cake, he took my hand in his and blew the candles. Even thought it was a last minute party, I was happy my friends were there. 

'Thank you for coming' I told Rafay.

'No problem, we got to attend a birthday party, eat delicious food and Sobia really wanted to meet you as well, so it was a win-win' He laughed.

'Let's go and see the fireworks, we still have a two hours before the clock strikes 12, what say Farid?' Sobia jumped in.

'Sure, Laila you want to go?' He asked me and everyone looked at me. 

'Yeah, sure. Ammi, Sabir...lets go' I looked at my family.

'No, I have practice in the morning' Sabir excused himself and so did my mother.

I quickly changed into a gray sweater, navy skinny jeans and black coat to keep me warm. Today was a very cold day. 

'We'll meet you guys at the stadium' Farid spoke as soon as we got out the house.

'You sure? You can come with us.' Rafay offered.

'No, we're good' Farid opened the car door for me and waited for me. 

'We'll see you guys there' I told Sobia and Rafay and stepped in Farid's car.

'Let me if you want to turn up the heat' He said out of the blue while driving on the highway.

'What?' 

'Heat, in the car.' He smiled.

'Oh okay, no I am okay' I blushed, where was my head going.

'Ummm...thanks for doing all of that for my birthday' 

'Yeah...' Before I could finish my sentence he interfered.

'You probably felt really bad for me' He said.

'What do you mean by that?' I asked him, what was he talking about?

'You probably felt sorry for me that's why you called your friends, they probably think  I am loner who doesn't have anywhere to go for his birthday' He said sarcastically.

'No one was thinking like that Farid' I defended my friends and family.

'You probably did' He was getting mad.

'I didn't, why do you like ruining good times Farid...I thought you liked it' I said annoyingly. 

He sighed. What now? Mr.Arrogant didn't want to intrude.

'You aren't wearing your ring' He changed the subject.

'I took it off' I looked down on my empty hands.

'Why?' His voice got louder.

'It doesn't belong to me, it belongs to your real wife...don't worry I haven't lost it, it's still with me and  when our contract will end, I will give it back to you' I felt the tension between us building up.

'I am not going to marry someone else' He whispered and turned up the volume. If only he could say that to my face while looking me in the eyes. 

When we reached the stadium, it didn't take us long to find Sobia and Rafay. They were sitting on the bleachers. We walked there and took our seats, the firework show was about to start soon. After a while, all the lights in the stadium shut down and I jerked. I wasn't too fond of darkness, but once the fireworks started, I felt rather relaxed. It was astonishing. I felt Farid hands moving towards mine and just like that he took his hand in mine. I looked over at him but he kept looking at the sky. His hands were sturdy and secured, he probably thought that I'll jerk my hand away and when I didn't his hands became relaxed around mine.

'I think we should go' Farid intervened after the fireworks finished, it was around 11:30pm.

'We have thirty more minutes before the new year, can't we stay here please?' I requested.

'It's really cold Laila and I am not feeling well' He touched his head.

'Okay guys we are gonna go' I felt bad leaving Rafay and Sobia but Farid was sick few days back and I didn't want him to get sick again so we left from there.

'How is your headache?' I asked him on our way back.

'What headache?' He glanced over at me as if I am speaking in a foreign language.

'You just said you weren't feeling well' 

He didn't answer the question and got inside the car. 

'Farid' I snapped at me. Did he just lie to me?

He remained silent.

'Ya Allah, Farid I don't believe you. Why did you lie? We could have stayed back if it wasn't for you' I crossed my arm over my chest, preventing myself from hitting him. 

'I wanted to be alone with you' He said quietly.

I didn't say anything after that until I noticed we weren't going to my house, he was driving on a different route.

'Where are we going?' I narrowed my eyes at him.

In response, Farid smiled.