Next week Friday:
Aly asked his cab driver to wait outside the airport entrance. He called Jasmin, "Hello? Kaha par?"
"Aagayi yaar, bas do minute." Jasmin said on her phone and packed her bag up, rechecked her documents and ticket.
She saw Aly at the entrance of airport and told her driver to stop, "Aly? Yaha kyu wait kar raha hai?"
"Aise hi, chal ab andar." He gave her cheek a peck and went back to his car.
At the gate, Jasmin got down with her bags in tow. She paid for the cab and sent him off. Aly then walked up to her and gave her a side hug, "Apan sahi mein Jaipur jaa rahe hai?" He couldn't help but feel nervous, he was going to meet her family.
"Haan toh? Tera hi idea tha." Jasmin nudged him in the stomach and pulled him towards the security.
"Ma'am aapka id and ticket please." The guard at the door asked her.
She showed her id and the ticket from her phone and entered inside the airport. Once Aly came inside as well, they both walked towards the self-check in booth.
Aly had gotten their seats earlier, he just went for the boarding pass and deposited their luggage. Both had one trolley bag with a carry-on.
Jasmin looked up their Gate and saw there was enough time for a snack, she pulled Aly's sleeve, "Starbucks chale? Mujhe kuch chahiye." She asked him but didn't wait for his answer, going into the shop.
"Ay, ruk toh sahi." Aly shook his head and followed after her. He laid his arm around her shoulder and pointed towards the menu board. "Bol kya peena hai. Ek kaam mujhe hi apna nasha samajh kar peeja." He acted as though he got a really great idea.
"Cheee. Kya bol raha hai. Mujhe ek basic iced coffee chahiye thi aur tu apne aap ko nasha bana raha hai." She pushed away, only for him to bounce back around her and lean on her again.
Aly laughed at her and asked the barista for 2 iced coffees and got his wallet out to pay. Jasmin also brought her wallet out when he took it from her, "Ladkiyon ko pay karne ki zarurat nahi hai."
The barista scoffed at Aly and looked at Jasmin, "Ma'am aapko nahi lagta that you should've paid for your own drink? Equality ka kya hua."
Aly felt like hurling abuses at the barista, even though she was a girl, and just as he was about to reply, Jasmin held his hand and said, "I'm okay with him paying for me. We have our kind of arrangement. I don't see how that concerns you."
Jasmin then took both of their drinks and started to walk away when she heard Aly saying, "Aur haan, ladkiya pay kar sakti hai, it's just that they shouldn't have to." She smiled at him and motioned towards the door.
Aly then had his drink in one hand and Jasmin's hand in the other, both walking towards their boarding gate.
Jasmin found an empty two-seater space and parked her butt there. "Aly? Tujhe normal toh lag raha hai na? Aisa toh nahi hai ki I'm pressuring you or something?" Jasmin nervously rubbed her hands together.
"Arre chill kar. Tu mere pe kyu pressure daalegi?" He grabbed her hands in his and smoothed them out. "Jasmin itna mat soch aur chal abhi, apni flight board kar rahi hai." He dragged her up and walked towards the exit.
They showed their passes and walked outside, the buses were waiting to carry them to the plane. Since the seats were taken, they stood to a side and held onto the bars above.
Aly stood next to her with Jasmin's back towards him. She could feel him against her back and just leaned on him. Aly chuckled at her, "Kya hua? Khada nahi hua jaara?" He held her tight against him with one hand and the used the other to keep him balanced.
The bus then dropped them off and they got on the plane, found their seats and relaxed back on it. They took deep breaths and noticed the people boarding.
A conversation went on between them about how they wished for a baby to NOT be sitting near them. Jasmin felt sorry for the babies, "Yaar Aly jab apan ko hi itna uncomfortable lagta hai toh unka soch." Aly just shook his head and kept hoping that no baby will cry.
The flight attendants then proceeded with the safety instructions and closed the flight doors. Jasmin then remembered why she didn't like flights. The turbulence, and the run way parts left a funny feeling in her tummy. She kept murmuring waheguru and closed her eyes.
Aly noticing that she got quiet really fast, saw that her eyes were tightly shut and her hands held the arm rest. He picked up her hand which was between them and interlocked it with his. He placed a soft kiss on her forehead and whispered that everything will be alright.
Once the plane started to take off, Aly felt his hand getting squeezed tighter by every second. Jasmin felt that weird feeling in her stomach and kept her eyes shut. She leaned towards Aly's arm and rested her head on it. "Aly tujhe darr nahi lag raha?"
"Nahi Jasmin, kuch nahi hoga. Aur apan domestic flight mein hai, isme toh aur bhi kam danger hota hai." He tried to assure her and ran his fingers through her hair, calming her down.
Jasmin felt like she could finally breathe when the seatbelt sign went off. She leaned back in her seat and looked at Aly. She mouthed a 'thank you' and got out her earphones. Aly took one of it and placed it in his ear, choosing one of his favourite songs on her phone and slept. He rested his head on her shoulder and sighed loudly, leaving Jasmin to her thoughts on how they decided about this trip.
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Earlier this week:
Jasmin was on the phone with her mother, telling her about Ahaan, "Haan mumma, mein mili usse. Humne baat ki, par waisa wala kuch attraction nahi tha, like you know kaisa hona chahiye." She told her how he stood her up the day before.
"Jasmin beta, dekhlo tumhe kya karna hai, abhi waise bhi tum Jaipur aaogi na? Kitna time ho gaya mile hue. Sweety ki shaadi bhi hai, sab se mil lena, aur hume koi pasand aaya toh dekh lenge." Her mom said.
Jasmin felt like banging her head on the wall, and the closest thing to a wall was the strong arm beside her, Aly's arm. She kept her head pressed on it and sighed out loud. "Mumma mein shaadi mein aa jaungi par aap yeh kya bol rahe ho milne karne ka? Mujhe abhi kisi se bhi nahi milna."
Aly hearing this milna thing looked at her with a shocked expression, he wanted to yell out a huge NO, instead he kept quiet and rubbed her head softly.
Her mother chuckled hearing her say no to all this, "Beta tum ek baar aa toh jao."
"Haan mumma, mein aapko details message kar dungi. Bye." Jasmin said giving up on trying to change her mother's mind.
"Bye beta, khyaal rakhna." Her mom said and kept the phone.
Aly finally asked her, "Pressure daal rahe hai? Shaadi and all ke liye?" He smoothed out her hair.
"Thoda thoda, but mein unko phone pe toh nahi samjha sakti, maybe saamne baithe honge toh they'll understand." She muttered and purred against him like a cat.
When Aly removed his hand from her head, she placed it back, "Karta reh na please, accha lag raha hai."
He chuckled at her, "Accha sun, tu kab jayegi Jaipur?"
"Hmm, I think iss friday ko, coz weekend bhi ho jayega aur meri holidays bhi due hai company mein. Kyu? Tujhe bhi chalna hai?" She asked him as a joke, but when she didn't get a reply from him, she looked at him in surprise and she felt a little bubble of happiness in her stomach for she was hoping he'll want to go with her.
"I think so, ek mini vacation type ho jayega. Aur mein waha se aage Jammu bhi chala jaunga, and if you want tu bhi chal mere saath." He told her about his plans.
She hummed at him and laid back, "Dekhte hai, I'll book the tickets for Jaipur though."
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The pilot announcement woke both of them up and they buckled themselves in their seat. This time around Jasmin was not as afraid, she took deep breathes and kept chanting waheguru in her head.
They got ther bags and went towards the exit gate, the heat of Rajasthan hitting them square in the face. "Ahhh, I can't believe mein yeh kehne waali hu par I missed this." Jasmin said and pulled Aly by his arm towards the drivers with the boards in their hands. She found the driver sent for her and sent him to get the car.
"Jasmin aunty ko bol toh de ki apan aagaye." Aly gave her phone to her.
She chuckled nervously and rubbed her hands together, "Actually maine mummy papa ko nahi bataya ki tu bhi aaraha hai." She blurted it out quickly and hid her face behind her hands.
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Dun dun dun.........
What will happen next?
Guess karo aur comments mein batao zara. Also I'm gonna choose a user/reader of the chapter from the comments and votes section! 💕
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