His gaze dropped toward the pink dupatta still hanging from his hand.
“Yeh amanat wapas karne aaya tha.”
(I came to return this belonging)
For a second, Reem only stared at the fabric in his hand before realization crossed her face.
She stepped closer and took it from him.
She looked up at him softly. “Thank you.”
“Tumhari strategy kaafi khatarnaak thi.”
(Your strategy was very dangerous)
He nodded toward the dupatta.
“Mujhe isse baandhna.” (Tying me up with this)
A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
“Waise idea bura nahi tha.” (Wasn’t a bad idea though)
For the first time since he walked in, the corner of her lips twitched only slightly. As though her mind was occupied with something else more.
The silence that followed wasn’t uncomfortable exactly, but Uzair could still feel something off about her.
Today she just seemed…elsewhere.
He straightened slightly, eyes narrowing a little as he studied her properly.
“Aaj itni chup kyun ho?” (Why are you so quiet today?)
Reem looked down at the flowers again too quickly.
Uzair didn’t believe that for even a second as he watched her start rearranging flowers that were already perfectly aligned, adjusting stems unnecessarily.
“Kisi ne kuch kaha?” (Did someone say something?)
Her fingers paused briefly, remembering what she just witnessed a while back, her body involuntarily shuddering. Uzair catches that.
Uzair frowned faintly as he wasn’t used to this feeling.
Usually he didn’t care enough to notice when someone’s mood changed or care enough to even ask twice. But watching her look distracted and uneasy was irritating him for reasons he didn’t understand.
Before he could question her again, she changed the topic herself.
“Aap ka zakhm kaisa hai ab?” (How’s your wound now?)
Uzair stared at her for a moment longer before answering.
“Zinda hoon.” (I’m alive)
She gave him a flat look.
“Maine yeh nahi poocha.” (That’s not what I asked)
He almost smiled, before speaking again
“Tum doctor ho ya florist?” (Are you a doctor or a florist?)
“Dono ban’na pada uss raat.” (Had to become both that night)
That earned an actual quiet chuckle from him.
Usually conversations exhausted him, especially with women. He didn’t know how to entertain softness, but doesn’t know why he keeps trying to make her speak normally again.
Reem finally looked at him properly again, her expression softer now.
“Waise…” she hesitated. “Aap ka naam kya hai?”
(By the way…what’s your name?)
The question made him stiffen almost instantly.
His real name carried weight in Lyari and looking at her now, standing among flowers with worried eyes, he suddenly didn’t want that fear entering her face too.
“Azaan,” he lied smoothly.
The name rolled off his tongue without effort.
Something about hearing her repeat it even a fake name in that soft voice of hers irritated him more than it should have.
She tucked a loose strand of damp hair behind her ear before speaking again.
“Uhhh… Aap chai piyenge?” (Will you have tea?)
Uzair immediately shook his head.
“Aise kaise nahi?” (How can it be no like that?)
“Aap mere shop mein aaye hain pehli baar.”
(This is your first time coming to my shop)
“Toh chai toh banti hai.” (Then tea is necessary)
Uzair clicked his tongue softly.
“Tum har baat pe itna insist karti ho?”
(Do you insist this much on everything?)
“Sirf un logon ke saath jo bohot ziddi hote hain.”
(Only with people who are very stubborn)
That pulled another smile from him.
Finally he sighed in defeat.
Reem nodded once in satisfaction and started moving away from behind the counter.
She turned to see Uzair frowning slightly.
“Tum kahan jaa rahi ho?” (Where are you going?)
“Chai lene.” (To get tea)
“Haan?” she answered like it was obvious, furrowing her eyebrows.
Uzair stared at her for a second like the answer itself annoyed him.
“Nahi, Tum yahin raho.” (No, You stay here)
Before she could respond, he had already straightened up despite the slight pain in his side.
“Main le aata hoon.” (I’ll get it)
“Aapko zarurat nahi” (You don’t need to-)
Reem somehow actually listened.
She watched him leave her shop, disappearing into the busy street outside, before slowly sitting behind the counter again.
The usual quiet in her shop returned almost instantly.
She exhaled slowly, before leaning her head on her hand on the counter table, closing her eyes briefly, inhaling the familiar scent of flowers around her. Mixed somewhere within it was that same masculine cologne lingering faintly around him, oddly calming her.
She looked down at the folded pink dupatta beside her and smoothed the fabric gently before setting it carefully away.
A few minutes later the bell above the entrance chimed again.
Uzair stepped back inside holding two small clay cups of tea.
Reem stood quickly to receive hers, their fingers brushing against each other.
The contact only lasted a second, before Reem pulled her hand back first and Uzair notices almost immediately.
“Aap toh kaafi better chal rahe hain ab.”
(You’re walking much better now.)
She says, noticing his walking is much better now.
“Tumhari wajah se.” (Because of you)
The answer came so simply that she didn’t know what to say for a moment and just smiled.
They sat behind the counter quietly, the warmth of the tea filling the silence between them instead of awkwardness.
Outside, Lyari continued moving noisily as always but inside the little flower shop, it felt slower.
Reem blew softly over the tea before finally speaking again, her voice quieter now.
“Us raat hua kya tha?” (What happened that night?)
Uzair’s gaze remained on the steam rising from his tea.
“Ghar ja raha tha aur kuch logon ne roka” (I was going home and some men stopped me)
His jaw shifted slightly.
“Lootne ki koshish ki.” (They tried to rob me)
It wasn’t entirely true but it wasn’t entirely a lie either.
There had been men, there had been knives, and there had been blood.
The only thing he left out was who those men were, who he was, and the fact that nothing about that night had been as simple as a robbery.
Which Reem doesn’t have to know.
Reem raised her eyebrows, not expecting him to actually tell her and nodded absentmindedly, though it was obvious her thoughts weren’t entirely in the shop anymore.
“Ek ke paas chhura tha.” (One of them had a knife)
For a few moments, only the sound of traffic outside filled the silence.
Reems face grimaced as stared down into her tea, watching the surface ripple faintly whenever her fingers shifted around the cup.
“Log kisi ko itna dard kaise de dete hain?”
(How do people hurt someone that much?)
Uzair glanced at her the question felt oddly specific and Reem didn’t seem to notice.
Her brows were furrowed slightly as she continued staring at her tea.
“Aur phir… unhein bura bhi nahi lagta?”
(And then… they don’t even feel bad about it?)
“Duniya mein har tarah ke log hote hain.”
(There are all kinds of people in the world)
The gruesome image flashed through her mind again but she pushed the memory away.
“Kabhi kabhi lagta hai kuch logon ko bohot zyada taqat mil jaati hai.”
(Sometimes it feels like some people get far too much power)
Her voice had become quieter now.
“Aur phir….koi unhein rokta hi nahi.”
(And then….nobody stops them)
Uzair leaned back slightly as he still didn’t connect it to anything specific.
To him, it sounded like the usual frustrations people had living in Lyari.
Fear, crime and powerful men.
“Yahan log aadat daal lete hain.”
(People get used to it here)
The answer earned a small frown from Reem, she looks at him, her eyebrows pulled together
“Aadat daal leni chahiye?” (Should they?)
For the first time, Uzair didn’t answer immediately.
Because despite the simplicity of the question, he wasn’t entirely sure what the answer was.
Reem finally seemed to realize at his silence that she’d been speaking more to herself than to him.
She blinked, looking down at her cup. “Sorry.” She shook her head lightly. “Pata nahi main kya bol rahi hoon.” (Sorry. I don’t know what I’m saying) She chuckles half heartedly, brushing it off.
And that’s when Uzair notices she’s genuinely unsettled by something, but he still has no idea it was Rehman killing Babu Dakait that she witnessed. To him, she just seems disturbed by something she saw or heard around Lyari.
Uzair's gaze lingered on her face.
“Dukaan mein sab theek hai?”
(Is everything alright with the shop?)
Reem looked at him properly then, slightly surprised by the question.
Uzair leaned back in his chair.
“Phir kis baat ka bojh lag raha hai?”
(Then whats weighing on your mind?)
The words left his mouth before he could stop them and Reem's fingers tightened around her cup. For a second he thought she might actually tell him.
Instead she lowered her gaze and shook her head.
“Nahi. Bas thodi thak gayi hoon.”
(No. I'm just a little tired)
Uzair left it as he did not want to push her in anyway to tell him whatever it is thats bothering her.
He glances at her again, this time not looking away and staring shamelessly.
The way her lashes lowered whenever she drifted too deep into thought, the tiny birthmark tucked beneath her lower lip. The way she kept blowing lightly on the tea even after it had probably cooled enough to drink.
And when she finally lifted the cup to her pink lips again, Reem caught him immediately.
A soft pink tint spread across her cheeks so fast it almost amused him.
Uzair looked down at his tea to hide the faint smirk threatening to appear.
For the first time in a very long time, he wasn’t thinking about enemies, deals, territory or blood.
His phone vibrating against the counter shattered the moment.
Uzair sighed quietly before answering.
“Kahan ho tum?” Hamza’s voice came immediately. “Ghar aaya toh pata chala janab phir gayab hain.”
(Where are you? I came home and found out you disappeared again)
Uzair rubbed his forehead.
“Bhai ko pata chala na toh iss dafa zakhm se zyada woh maarenge.”
(If Bhai finds out, this time he’ll hurt you more than your wounds)
A quiet huff almost left Uzair.
“Haan bas bas, Aara hu mai”
(Yeah, enough enough, I’m coming)
While he spoke, Reem found herself watching him.
His black kurta sat loosely against his frame, the top buttons undone enough for the sharp line of his throat and chest and the slow movement of his Adam’s apple to show whenever he spoke.
She looked away before he could notice.
“Mujhe jaana hoga,” Uzair said after ending the call. “Bhabhi waise hi pareshaan hain.”
(I should leave, my sister-in-law is already worried)
“Aap apni bhabhi se aise baat karte hain?”
(You talk to your sister-in-law like that?)
Uzair looked at her in confusion before realizing what she meant and he laughed.
“Allah ka shukar hai nahi. Woh Hamza tha.” (Thank God, no. That was Hamza)
Recognition immediately crossed Reem’s face. The same Hamza who had marched into her apartment, grabbed her forearm, and looked at her like she was the criminal.
Uzair immediately caught the look.
“Haan, wohi.” (Yeah, that one)
“Lagta hai abhi tak maaf nahi kiya tumne.” (Looks like you still haven’t forgiven him)
“Maaf kar diya hai.” (I have forgiven him)
“Pasand phir bhi nahi hai.” (I still don’t like him though)
Uzair laughed, a proper laugh this time.
“Yeh sun ke uska dil toot jayega.”
(His heart will be shattered when he hears that)
“Tootne dijiye.” (Let it shatter)
Reem says with zero hesitation and for some reason, that made him laugh even harder.
She found herself smiling too, not because of the joke anymore, but because she had somehow managed to make him laugh. The sound suited him far better than the guarded expressions he always seems to wear.
Her day already felt a bit better, despite what she witnessed today.
After they shared a laugh,
“Aap… dobara aa sakte hain kabhi.”
(You can come again sometime)
The second it left her mouth, her eyes widened slightly.
A quiet flicker of amusement crossed Uzair’s face, like he was trying not to smile too openly.
Her cheeks warmed instantly again which she hated how easily that happened around him.
He turned as if to leave, Reem following him but after a few steps he stopped abruptly and looked back.
Reem barely had time to react before she almost walked straight into him.
She stopped short, looking up at him.
Uzair held her gaze for a moment, steady and in that quiet way of his.
“Mujhe tumhare saath waqt acha laga.”
(I liked spending time with you)
Reem gulped at his bluntness before nodding, feeling butterflies in her stomach.
She extended her hand almost shyly this time.
Uzair looked at it once before his much larger hand closed around hers fully, against her bangles, warm and firm enough to make her heartbeat stumble again.
“Apna khayal rakhiye,” (Take care of yourself) she murmured. “Aur zakhm ka bhi.” (And your wound too)
His thumb shifted faintly against her hand before letting go.
Then he walked out into the evening crowd outside, he turns to look at her face once again as though to remember each detail about her before disappearing slowly beyond the street after she waved at him, smiling.
Reem stood there long after he had gone.
The flower shop suddenly felt strangely empty again.
She missed his presence already.
➡️ This chapter was longer than 6, but i hope all of you enjoy both chapters!!
Here are 2 chapters as promised😇
Let me know if you want to be added or removed from the taglist 🥰
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