CAN'T TAKE MY EYES OFF YOU

"Hamza, listen to me just this once. I promise I won't pester

you for anything ever again." I banged his door.

I was trying to convince Hamza to attend the Thanksgiving

party with me.

"Go away, sis."

"Hamza, I do not hold any grudges against you. I don't think

you were wrong. I trust you." I spoke in a calm voice.

Suddenly the door opened.

"You do?" he asked me with hopeful eyes.

I nodded.

He smiled slightly.

"I will come along."

"Really?"

"Yeah." he shrugged.

"But, please don't take too long. I am waiting outside." I

begged him and ran outside.

The cold wind gushed over me and I hugged myself to be

warm. I wasn't wearing anything warm. I was wearing a long

sleeve knee length burgundy dress with blank ankle strap

heels. I curled my hair a little bit.

"Here." Hamza walked out and handed me his coat.

"Thanks." I wore it.

"So, who's the host?" he asked me while I was driving. We

were on our way.

"George." I smiled.

"Do you remember her?" I asked him hopefully.

"Of course. That chubby girl with 2 ponytails." he chuckled.

"She isn't chubby anymore."

"Oh, what a bummer. I always wanted to pull her cheeks when

she was a kid but she used to run away from me all the time."

I smiled knowing the reason she used to run away from him.

"Do you think there's a reason as to why she used to avoid

you?"

"I don't know." he shrugged.

"Ask her today." I suggested.

"Okay. Make sure she doesn't run away this time. Will you?"

We laughed.

"Romi, this is my granny. And granny, this is Romaisa."

George introduced me to her granny.

"Hello." she smiled at me. I hugged her.

"Come let's meet my other friends too." she dragged me to a

group of people.

I looked around. George's home was remarkable. Cozy and

beautiful. The party was in her living room. The lights were

golden and dim. Her parents and the elder guests were seated

in a corner and there was a large table on the other corner

filled with delicious dishes and most importantly Mandarin

roasted turkey. I licked my lips. I was going to have one hell of

a feast tonight.

"Hey, there." Hamza approached us.

George stilled for a moment and then adjusted her hair.

"Hi." she smiled at him.

He extended his hand towards her. She quickly placed her

hand in his.

"I am shocked. You didn't run away from me today." he

winked at her.

"I should get going. I need to check up on my guests." she

tried to free her hand.

He smirked.

"I see. Running again huh?"

"I..."

"Elena." Hamza called out to someone behind us.

"Is that you?" he smiled and walked to her leaving George's

hand. I saw George's smile fade away as Hamza hugged her.

"Romaisa, this is Elena And, this is Romaisa." he introduced

us all the while smiling at her. Something seemed off about

Elena but I let it go. I eyed George. She was smiling slightly

and she quickly excused herself. I sighed.

Maybe I shouldn't have bought Hamza along. Daniyal was a

better option.

I grabbed an orange drink and walked up to a corner. I leaned

against the wall and noticed everything. I saw how Hamza and

Elena danced together and I saw how George tried to fake

smile. I saw how George's mom beat George's dad when he

playfully asked another lady for a dance. I laughed. Just then I

saw him on the other side of the corner. Near the feast.

Azaan.

It was him.

He was wearing a white turtle neck sweater with dark washed

jeans. He looked really charming.

He was looking around when his gaze landed on me. He

smiled widely. I smiled too.

That moment was perfect.

Golden and dim lights.

Gazes locked.

And beautiful smiles.

He winked at me. I looked away.

I hated him.

He walked towards me with a group of people.

I politely smiled at them.

"These are my siblings. Zainab, Sarah and Malik." he

introduced them to me.

"And this is Romaisa."

"Hey."

I saw his brother smirk and look at him.

"The sweetheart?"

Azaan nodded.

"Hey. Don't call me that." I scowled at his brother. He didn't

share Azaan's looks. He looked very different. He had a longer

beard and he didn't have dimples. Zainab and Sarah on the

other hand looked somewhat similar to Azaan but they didn't

possess dimples either.

"I was so excited to meet you. Brother promised us that he'll

take us to meet you." Sarah spoke smiling all the while.

"I am happy to meet you too." I smiled.

"I love your dress." Zainab grinned.

"Thank you."

"You look really beautiful." Sarah chimed in.

"You look beautiful too." I smiled at them.

I looked at Azaan. He gazed at me lovingly. He came to stand

by my side.

"Can't take my eyes off you." he whispered.

I laughed quietly to cover my embarrassment.

"Shut up." I whispered back.

"Hamza." I called out to Hamza; he was busy clicking pictures

with Elena.

"Guys, this is my brother Hamza." I introduced him to Azaan's

siblings.

"And, Hamza this is Azaan and his siblings. Azaan is a friend."

I saw his expressions change for a moment. He then talked to

them while I looked around for George. I couldn't see her.

"What's wrong?"

"I am looking for our host."

"BTW." I turned to him.

"Who invited you here?" I asked him.

"George." he shrugged.

"Are you guys' friends or something?"

"No, she met me at the hospital yesterday and she invited me."

"You came to the hospital yesterday?"

"Yeah." he nodded.

"I didn't see you."

"Missed me?" he grinned.

"In your dreams." I smiled and batted my eyelashes at him.

"Stop you look like a camel." he exclaimed dramatically.

"Yeah, and you can't take your eyes off a camel right?" I

scoffed.

He stilled for a moment.

"It was a joke."

"I know." I looked down.

"I came to the hospital yesterday but left earlier than usual."

he stuffed his hands in his pockets and we walked towards the

large window.

I looked outside. George had decorated her house with fairy

lights. She liked preparing for Christmas earlier than usual.

"You didn't tell me." he started.

"What?" I frowned.

"What happened to the guy whom you were meeting for

dinner?"

I chuckled lightly.

"Well, let's just say destiny has its own plans. I didn't have to

do anything. Things turned out in my favor I guess."

"What happened?" he smiled.

"Well, my family got into a fight while the guests were over.

Honestly speaking I should be happy considering that the guy

won't be interested in this proposal anymore but I didn't want

it to happen like that." I looked at my feet.

"My family has grown distant. And I try to do these little

things that would bring them together but..." I sighed.

"No family is perfect, Romaisa."

"I know."

"Keep trying."

"Huh?"

"Keep trying. One day you'll get what you want. Little efforts

can make big changes too." he smiled.

"I know. Nothing can dull my spirit."

"Oh..." he raised his eyebrows.

"I like your sweater." I blurted out.

He smirked.

"You checking me out, Romi."

I frowned.

"Hey, don't call me that."

"Why?"

"Because, I feel like a baby. It's Romaisa for you."

Well truth to be told I liked the way he said my name. It

sounded beautiful.

"But I like it. And I'll call you Romi."

"No, please." I laughed.

"Well, I like your dress too." he smiled.

"Might as well say that I look pretty."

"No, you don't. The dress does." he laughed lightly.

He forwarded his hand.

"I am not dancing with you."

"I don't want to dance with you either." he laughed.

"Then what is it?" I slammed my palm in his.

He took my hand and twirled me around.

"I thought you said you didn't want to dance with me." I

stated nervously as he held both of my hands now.

I looked at my hands in his.

"I just..."

He looked around.

"I am bored actually."

"This party is boring." he stated.

"Yeah."

"Let's play a game." I suggested excitedly.

"Let's play with them." he pointed to a corner where his

siblings and my brother stood.

"Okay."

We walked towards them. I tugged my hand back. He let it go.

"Guys, I am here to turn this boring party into an interesting

one." he announced loudly.

"It was my idea to play something." I whispered to him.

"Yeah but, they don't know that." he shrugged.

I rolled my eyes.

"So, what's the game?" Hamza asked us.

"We can play many. Let's start with two truths and a lie."

Azaan told them all to sit down.

I looked around and find George standing in a corner. I

walked up to her.

"Come we're playing a game." I grabbed her hand she tucked

it back.

"I don't want to." she shook her head.

"Why?"

"Oh..." I realized.

"Look Elena is gone." I pointed in Hamza's direction.

"Now, come." I dragged her to the table.

Azaan looked up when I approached the table. He patted on

the chair next to him. I saw Hamza sitting on the chair next to

the empty chair. I pushed George forward and sat down

beside Malik. Exactly opposite to Azaan.

He scowled at me.

I shrugged innocently.

"Rules are simple. Each one of us gives three statements about

ourselves and the other player has to guess the lie amongst

them." Azaan instructed rapidly.

"So, who goes first?" Sarah rubbed her hands excitedly.

"Hamza & George" I suggested. Hamza scowled at me.

"Okay. I will go first." Hamza turned towards George. I saw

her smile.

"So, when I was in High school, I consumed drugs.

I am scared of spiders. I scream like crazy when I see them.

I have a crush on you." he smiled.

I saw George's smile fade away.

"Easy." she replied with a sad smile.

"The third one is a lie." she looked away.

I saw Hamza look at her with an amused expression.

"Your turn."

"When I was in high school, I failed in the subject Science.

I had a fight with a guy once and ended up with a plaster cast,

so for revenge me and Romi pushed him into the water

fountain when we knew he had Aquaphobia.

Besides being a doctor, I am also a certified ballet dancer."

"Huh." Hamza scoffed.

"Easy."

"The first one. You couldn't possibly fail in a subject you're

most interested in. The second one is a truth I know how

badly Romi influences people and I am not surprised at the

third one either." he shrugged.

I stifled a laugh.

"You're wrong, dear brother. The first one is a truth. The third

one is a lie." I laughed hardly. He looked like he had lost a

battle.

"I don't like this game." he muttered annoyed.

"Who's next?" George asked.

"Romaisa and Malik." Sarah replied.

I scowled. Why me and him? I wanted to be paired with

Azaan. I looked at him. He was staring at me and Malik

awkwardly.

"You go first." I told Malik.

"Uh okay."

"When I was younger, my granny would scold me a lot. So, for

revenge I chopped off her long hair when she was sleeping

and blamed it on Azaan.

I stole Azaan's favorite watch and blamed it on Sarah.

I burned the food that my mom made and blamed it on

Azaan."

Someone banged his hand on the table and I turned to look

who it was. It was Azaan.

"I knew it. The first one is a lie. You loved granny too much. I

know about the last two. You can't fool me dear brother. I

knew it. I knew you stole my watch. I also knew about you

burning the food."

Everyone laughed.

"Hey, she was supposed to guess not you." Malik scowled.

I was grateful to him for interrupting. I mean how would I

know. I just met Malik and hour ago.

"Who's next?"

"Azaan and Romaisa." George yelled. I smiled at her.

Azaan cleared his throat. I grinned.

"You go first."

"Okay." I thought deeply.

"I speak 5 languages.

I know how to do a moonwalk.

Once I almost burned down the whole kitchen."

"This is not easy." he shook his head.

"The three of them sound true."

I smirked.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you actually speak 5 languages and

also if you know how to moonwalk. The third one seems true

too. I think you can burn down the whole kitchen considering

your insanity." he scratched his stubble.

He thought hardly for a while.

"Dear brother what's taking you so long?" Malik asked him

amusedly.

"I think it's the last one. It sounds dramatic."

I leaned forward and rested my hands on the table.

"You're wrong." I smile.

He clicked his tongue and looked away.

"It's the first one. I can only speak one language."

He chuckled.

"My turn."

"Go on. I will win."

"We'll see." he smiled wickedly.

"I once beat up a boy so bad that he ended up in hospital all

because he messed up my hair.

I am an awesome singer.

I am an awesome chef."

My eyes widened.

This was hard. I couldn't believe the fact that he beat up a boy

badly for a petty reason. The third one sounded true

considering his love for food and I was confused about the

second one. If he was a good singer, he would have told me

about it.

I laughed nervously and looked at Zainab and Sarah for help.

They shrugged helplessly.

I took a random guess.

"The first one. You're not that merciless to beat someone for

such a petty reason." I looked at him nervously.

He looked at me for a moment.

"You're right."

Malik coughed beside me.

"Yeah, now let's play another game." Sarah suggested.

We were still looking at each other.

"Truth and dare." George chimed in.

I broke our eye lock. I looked down.

"Spin the bottle."

"It's on you, Romi." someone called and I looked up.

"What?" I asked Hamza.

"It's your turn. Truth or dare?" he asked me.

"Truth." I replied quietly.

"Let me." George shirked excitedly.

"No, you're her friend. You'll go easy on her." Hamza scowled

at her.

"Let me." I heard Azaan.

Gosh.

I hated him.

"Romaisa." he called me. I didn't look up.

"Yes."

"Look here."

I looked up and he was grinning like an idiot.

"I have the perfect question for you."

"Have you ever been in love?"

I laughed lightly.

"Sorry. I am not into all of that." I smiled politely.

"Oooh." George whistled.

"I really hope that's true, sis." Hamza laughed lightly.

"Your turn." I looked at Azaan.

"Go on." he smirked.

"Truth or dare."

"I am really daring so I'll go with a dare."

I raised my eyebrows at him.

I needed to think hard and give him a really tough dare.

"Go up on the stage and sing 'Let it go' from frozen. In a rather

girly voice."

I saw the color draining from his face while his siblings

laughed hardly beside me.

"I hate you." he looked away with a smile.

"The feeling is mutual." I smiled and we all got up.

We walked up to the center of the room.

"Where's the stage? There's no stage. Give me another one."

he laughed nervously.

I smiled wickedly.

"There's no way you can escape this. Do it here. We don't need

a stage." I stated while everyone agreed.

He stood in the front of the hall. George handed him the

microphone. He took out his phone and began to sing. In a

girly voice.

"The snow glows white on the mountain tonight.

Not a footprint to be seen.

A kingdom of isolation and it looks like I am the queen."

Malik laughed so bad and smacked Hamza's arm. Hamza just

laughed lightly. Zainab and Sarah were filming the whole

scenario. And I was grinning like an idiot.

He looked so cute.

After a while when he was done everyone hooted and

applauded for him while he just brushed past me handing me

the microphone with a small smile playing on his lips.

"Come one, now. It's your turn." he told me when we sat

down.

"Why me?"

"Did you think you could be safe after making me suffer like

that?" he raised his eyebrows.

"I am sorry."

"I know." Hamza shrieked.

No, I'll choose for her." I heard Azaan.

I saw Hamza glare at him for a moment and then he began

conversing with George.

"You said earlier that you know how to do a moonwalk."

I shook my head. He smirked.

"Anything but that. Please."

"Come on, Romi. You're good at it." I heard George.

"I can't do it in front of so many people." I laughed nervously.

"Do it for me, Romaisa." Azaan smiled.

"Fine." I got up.

George handed me a black Fedora hat. And, I took of my

heels.

I snapped the heel of my left foot up off the floor and

simultaneously I snapped the heel of my right foot down. I

danced some more. I could hear the hooting of the crowd but I

didn't look up. I couldn't. After a while the music stopped and

I took of my hat and bowed down on front of the crowd. I

looked up and saw him smiling at me whilst shaking his head.

I handed him the hat.

"I looked like an idiot, right?"

"No, you looked cute."

I turned to face him.

"Really?" I smiled hopefully.

"No, you really looked like an idiot." he burst out laughing.

"Who's next?"

"George." I shrieked."

She narrowed her eyes at me.

"Guys, Hamza here is known to give the best dares. Let him

choose." I told everyone.

"How did this game turn from Truth and Dare to only Dare?"

Malik asked me.

"I don't know."

"No, I prefer truth, please." George whispered quietly.

"Alright, truth it is." Hamza agreed with her.

"So, Ms. Georgina." Hamza turned towards her.

She looked up smiling. Probably thinking why, he addressed

her with her full name.

"What are your real feelings about me?"

Her smile faded away. She didn't want this. I silently prayed

for Hamza to behave and not break my bestie's heart.

"I..." she looked at me for help.

I nodded.

"Hamza it's late." I stated whilst glancing at the large wall

clock. It was midnight. Mama wouldn't spare us.

"Guys, let's take a picture." George yelled excitedly.

I smirked. She dodged his question very smartly.

We stood close to each other. I felt an arm around my

shoulder and I turned to see who it was. It wasn't Azaan. It

was Hamza.

The picture was perfect though. Zainab, Sarah and Malik

made weird faces. Hamza and George stood close to each

other whereas me and Azaan just smiled charmingly.

"Hey Hamza. Let's leave." I called out to him; he was busy

speaking to George. More like him speaking to her and her

looking for ways to escape.

"You leaving?" Azaan walked up to me.

"Yeah. Mama's waiting." I shrugged.

"Alright. Good night."

Suddenly I remembered something.

"Hey, do you mind giving me your number?" I asked him

nervously.

He smiled and took out his phone.

"I thought you would never ask."

I saved his number.

"Save me as Azaan the best friend."

"Shut up."

We all walked to the parking lot.

"Hey, Romaisa." Malik walked up to me.

"Yeah?" I stopped.

"I didn't want to say this to you but..." he laughed.

"Azaan let you win. That game two truths and a lie. He

actually beat up a boy that bad once. The second one was a lie.

But he let you win."

I stood there confused. After a while I finally got what he said.

I looked at Azaan. He was standing a little away from us. He

looked at me and then at Malik. He waved at me. I smiled

slightly and walked to my car.

I took out my diary once I reached home.

November 28, 2019

I attended George's Thanksgiving party. It was beautiful.

I met Azaan siblings.

We played games together. It was fun.

I made Azaan sing Let it Go from Frozen. It was hilarious.

He made me do the moonwalk. I looked like an idiot.

The picture we took was perfect. The feast was perfect too.

I think Hamza likes George too.

I got Azaan number.

He let me win. He lost a game purposefully for a reason I

don't know.

I haven't talked to Daniyal for a whole day. It never

happened before.

- Romaisa

I closed my diary and slumped on my bed.

Maybe I should talk to Daniyal tomorrow.

I miss him.

Though it's just been 24 hours.

Why did Azaan let me win?