It all started with a request on Instagram.
One day, Hayat was scrolling her feed when a notification popped up :

'murat_ahmad sent you a follow request'

She checked out the profile but it was private, so she thought to keep his request pending for a day or two.
Her mood swings were on top, as it was her 2nd day of periods.

The next day, she asked her best friend, Jaylene, about him as he was on her following list.
"He is a decent guy. Don't worry, he won't annoy you. He rarely messages".

Something caught her eye after seeing his profile from her friend's account and she decided to accept the request, but it was too late.

He had already removed it.

"Should I send him a request?", she wondered.
And without thinking twice, she sent it.

The next day, two notifications popped up :

'murat_ahmad accepted your follow request'
'murat_ahmad sent you a follow request'

She quickly accepted the request and stalked his account for a while.
One of his captions said:
"Gussa insaan ko cold drink samajh ke pee jana chahiye". (one should gulp down anger like a soft drink)

"Bada chill banda hai yaar," (such a chill guy he is) she thought to herself.

His one pic in a black suit caught her eye.
"Hmm, handsome", she said to herself and smiled.

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************

A week went like this.
They both saw each other's stories every day but none of them replied/messaged each other.

"Arghh why isn't he texting me?! He watches every single story of mine.
Alright, I'm texting him first. I don't care what he thinks, because it can't go on like this forever. Someone has to make a move, and if it's me who has to be that someone, then be it."

'Hey!', Hayat texted him at 12:34 am.

No reply

She thought to herself, "Maybe he has slept?", but then a question popped up in her mind, "But who sleeps this early? It's only 12:30 am."

She was a night owl.
Her night started at 11 pm and ended at 2 or 3 am.
Sometimes even at 4 am.

The next day when she came online in the afternoon, she saw his text.

He had sent 'Hi', at 8:34 am.

She thought to herself, "Why so early? Is he a morning person? Damn!"

Soon, they started texting.
She used to ask tons of questions and he used to enjoy answering them.

8th February 2021, the start of a captivating love story.....

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************

Two days later, they added each other on WhatsApp.

Hayat was starting to have a crush on Murat.

She asked him every question that she had in her mind to check if he is her ideal type or not.
And he ticked all the freaking boxes.

Not all actually...
9/10
He doesn't like to read.

"Well, we can compromise a little bit." She shrugged.

Even though they had been in touch for only 5 days, but it felt like they have known each other for decades.
There was a sense of familiarity and comfort between them.

He felt like home to her.
And she felt like peace to him.

Her inbox was always full of messages but she waited for only one text.
Which was his.

Soon they exchanged voice notes and she couldn't stop drooling over his deep voice. She was unwell at that time and the way he asked "Did you take medicine?," melted her heart right away.

Her days began to start with his good mornings and end with her good nights because he slept while texting.

"Lol", she used to think to herself.

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************

Hayat used to meet her cousin, Zoe, every evening on the terrace. Earlier, they used to talk about everything and anything but now, the only topic Hayat had was Murat Ahmad.
The way he cherishes her, flirts with her, understands her, makes her stomach somersault, and makes her feel those butterflies in her tummy.

Her cousin awwed at their cute friendship. "You guys are so cute. You know what? You guys talk like couples."

Hayat tried to hide her blush, "C'mon, we are just friends. There's nothing of that sort going on between us."

"Yeah for now," Zoe added and winked at her, increasing the blood flow in her veins.

"Okay, now stop it," she ended the conversation, feeling flustered.
But deep down she wanted the same.

A week later, they had their first phone call while she was on the terrace with Zoe. While trying to focus on his words, she couldn't help but be captivated by his deep, textured voice, feeling butterflies fluttering in her stomach.

"I wasn't nervous, right?", she asked her cousin after the call ended.

"Yes you were. Because you were holding my hand the whole time and scratched my skin till it was about to come off."

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*********

Soon their phone calls became an everyday thing. She loved to annoy him while he was at work by texting him minute after minute and saved his name as 'Beezzyy Hoomann'.

Not a night went by when she didn't see him in her dreams.
Hayat was starting to fall for him which she didn't wanted.

"You are really in love this time, all you do is talk about him," one of her best friends, Jannah, told her.

"Nah... I'm not. Yes, I do like him but there's nothing called 'love' in the scenario. I don't want to take any risks. What if he doesn't love me back? I might lose his friendship forever and that's the last thing I would wish for, so a big and fatty 'NO' to that love thing."

"Well, in that case, don't propose to him. Instead tell him indirectly 'You belong with me'," replied Jannah.

One fine afternoon, Murat was being moody and told her he might cut off from social media. Her heart skipped a beat after hearing him say that.

"So, we won't talk then?" She asked hesitantly.

"It's not about us. It's just about my mood. Sometimes I just want to leave everything."

"But then you will leave, right?"

"Don't worry, no one is going anywhere right now. But why are you so worried?"

"Friends like you are hard to find," Hayat replied and that's when she realized that she doesn't want to lose him.

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************

"What was your first impression of me? What did you think while sending me a request?" A random question pops up in Hayat's mind as they were talking on call the next day.

"I didn't think you would talk or interact much and we would just follow each other, that's it," Murat shrugged, while working on the computer.

"I see. You thought I'm that attitude girl who doesn't message first," she replied while playing with the hem of her dress.

He laughed, "Girls rarely message first. Now your turn. Why did you message me?"

"Well, I stalked your ID and thought let's check what type of a guy is he."

"And what type of a guy am I?" Smile crept across his lips.

"Friendly, sweet, caring. You're a good friend of mine," her words made his smile wider.

"So you like talking to me?"

"Yeah, why not," she smiled.

"People often think I have attitude, or I'm rude and unapproachable."

"Why?" she frowned.

"I just mind my own business and don't talk much. So they take it negatively," he shrugged.

"People are stupid. They assume everything on their own."

"Hmm. If anyone interacts with me kindly, I reply them back politely. For example, you were friendly with me so I enjoyed talking with you. Your behavior wasn't taunting or disrespectful."

"Hmm, what you give is what you receive."

"Yeah, but who cares," he rolled his eyes, making her chuckle at his comment.

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************

A few days later out of nowhere, Murat asked Hayat the most unexpected question.
'Do you like me?'

She was speechless.
Various thoughts start to revolve in her mind.
He will avoid me.
He won't talk.
I will lose him.

'Umm, where is that coming from?', she tried to question back.

'Dil ki gehraiyo se' (From the depths of my heart)

Her brain freezed.
Should I deny?
Should I accept?
What should I dooo!!??

Noticing her quiet response he replied, 'Okay, I got my answer'.

'But I didn't say anything!'

'Your silence did.'

"What did he meant by that? What did my silence say?" She mumbled while staring at their exchanged messages. "Gosh this is so irritating," she threw a pillow at the wall.

Days went by, but no one brought up that conversation again.
Even though it was eating her out, she didn't want to ruin their friendship by bringing the topic up.
It was almost a week since they didn't talk on call because of his busy schedule.

'Beezzyy hoomann' he was, for real.

'Can you talk in voice notes?' she couldn't help but miss his voice.

Without asking anything, he replied with a voice note, "Sure, why not?"

She smiled like a 5-year-old kid who just got her favorite toy.

"Send me yours too", his next voice note played, making her blush.

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************

A few days later, her time of the month came and cramps were testing her tolerance limit. At last, Hayat took the painkiller and laid down with the hot water bag resting on her abdomen. She scrolled through the social media to divert her mind when his text came, asking her whereabouts.

After knowing her situation, he showed concern and told her to take a rest.

It wasn't even a few hours when his health also began to go down, causing him stomach pain.

'No, it's related to the liver thing. I will be fine,' he explained.

'There must be some medication provided by the doctor.' Hayat typed down hurriedly, long forgotten about her own pain.

'Yeah, I will take it.'

'Can't you take a leave from work?'

'No'

'How's your pain? Is it severe?'

'It's okay. How bout yours?'

'Mine is in control now.'

'Good.
You know what
Let's not talk about it.'

'Why?'

'Because it feels like we both are having periods,' Murat replied sheepishly which made her laugh very much.

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************

After a week or so, he told her about his grandmother. She wasn't well and was in a serious condition.

His sad and quiet mood made her concerned. She tried her best to cheer him up and give him hope, saying, "Everything will be fine, InshaAllah." (If Allah Wills)
As it was a critical time, she avoided joking around too much and talk decently.

He started to get grumpy and moody because of the on-going problem and other things at work. Having everything messed up, his sleeping schedule got affected too which made him tensed and irritated.

He started to get angry even over small things, thus they had their very first argument.

'Hayat, don't trigger him. You know it's not a good time to whine about things,' Jaylene gave her a piece of advice.

'Yeah I know it's my fault', Hayat replied with a pout.

'Not really, it's just not the right time to complain. Just avoid questioning silly things.'

And the night just ended like that.

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The next day she was trying to cheer him up but his mood was just okayish. He soon went offline which was unusual.
He rarely goes off.
Her heart started getting restless and she prayed for him, hoping everything to be alright.

Around 11:30 PM he came online and texted her, 'Dadi ka inteqal ho gaya,' (Grandma is no more)

She was frozen for a second, unable to comprehend what to do, what to say, or how to console. She had only seen elders doing that to each other when someone died in her relatives, but never did that herself.

"Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihil rajiun. May Allah grant her Jannah," she prayed. (Verily we belong to Allah and verily to him do we return)

'Ameen'

'Did you eat anything?'

'Not yet'

'Oh'

'Hmm'

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************

'What should I say?!' she asked Jannah, her life savior.

'Just say a few comforting words and tell him you are there for him if he needs anything.'

The next morning the first thing she did was text him.

'Suno' (listen)

'Hmm'

"Wow, he is online," she thought to herself as his text pops up instantly.

'Just wanted to say, if you need anything or want to talk about anything, I'm just a call/ text away. Okay?'

He saw the message but didn't reply to it.

"Wow I made him speechless?!", she patted her shoulder.

After a few seconds, he replied, 'Ok.'

They texted some more and then she left for breakfast.

In the evening, she left him a text while climbing up the stairs, 'I'm going to the terrace.'

'What's there?'

'Zoe.'

'Achha.' (Okay)

Leaving his text on seen, she got immersed in her daily catch up with Zoe while walking in between the cool winds and admiring the purple sky. Out of nowhere her phone starts ringing, interrupting their therapy session.

Beezzyy Hoomann

"Wow, I didn't expect that. He didn't even text me that he was calling. Glad he took my morning text seriously," she said to her cousin and answered the phone.

"Gayi ye ek ghante ke liye", her cousin mumbled. (and she is gone for an hour)

"Hello?"

No answer

"Did he call me by mistake?" she mumbled to herself.

"What happened?" Zoe asked.

"I think that he doesn't know that he is on the call with me. I can hear his voice talking to someone."

"Give me the phone," her cousin chuckled.

They both heard his distant voice and giggled.

"Looks like he is sorting out a fight between kids," Hayat said.

"Haan, hello?!", finally he answered back.
(Yes, hello?)

"Did you call me by mistake?"

"No, actually two kids were fighting so I was sorting it out, then abba came" (dad)

"Achha." (Ohkay)

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************

And the night came which we all were waiting for.

He asked that question again.
'You like me, right? And don't wanna lose me too?'

'You're asking that question again,' coldness crawled over her hands as she replied.

'Yeah but this time it's more than just like.'

Hayat took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a brief second. 'I don't want to ruin our friendship.'

'Nothing would be ruined. Just tell me the answer,' Murat replied.

'When you already know the answer, then why are you asking me?'

'I wanna hear it from you. Just in case I'm wrong?'

'Yes I like you and I don't want to lose you,' she finally confessed after gathering all her courage.

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************