"Have you packed your clothes?"Mrs.Tariq asked Asher for the 100th time. "I did everything! for the love of milk and cookies! stop asking me the same thing again and again WOMAN!"Asher whined. 

        "I'm just making sure you don't forget to pack anything important,"Mrs.Tariq went on. Emel eyed them through the corner of her eye and went on to make some milkshake for herself. She had done packing last night. All of her accessories were inside a hand bag. They were leaving for Asher's training and it was a one night stay where the next day they'd drop him off to the academy and head back home.

        Colonel Tariq went to the garage to unload stuff in the car's trunk. "Emel go and check all the plugs in the house!"Mrs.Tariq called out to her. "Already done mom,"she replied. 

        She saw her mother running from here to there for Asher's stuff, checking everything. Mrs.Tariq made their NCB (house boy) carry all her stuff to the car. "Have you done your packing?"Mrs.Tariq finally asked Emel. 

        "Hmm." Emel hummed. "Good, go and check if your dad needs something." Emel wanted to ask her mom in helping her with her hair. Her wavy hair were bothering her a lot and she wanted to ask her mom if she had some time to help her straighten it but due to the current situation, she tied her hair in a loose braid and went down to help her dad.

        Emel didn't do any sort of hijab, although it's normal for girls to not observe their hijab in Pakistan, she didn't do it cause she didn't know if she could carry it for the rest of her life. She always wore three piece Pakistani suits. Her hair were brown and wavy, they were long but she personally liked shorter hair. She never asked her mom for a hair cut cause she feared she'd be scolded for that demand.

        She wasn't skinny or thin, she had a 32 inch waist and was 5 feet and 5 inches tall. Her skin complexion was fair like her family but her eyes were an exception. All of the Tariqs were green eyed except for her. She and her grandfather had the same eye color, lightest shade of brown. She had light brown hair and marks of blue ink and markers all over her fingers.

        She took a hold of her dupatta. "Guess your hair will have to wait,"she told herself as she followed her mom to the car. They took a five hours drive from Attock to Abbottabad and stayed in the Piffers mess lounges. 

        "Unpack your stuff and head out with Asher, explore the area." Her father instructed her,"There are pretty nice coffee cafes down the street, you'll like them." 

        Emel hesitated but her dad and mom forced to head out with her brother. "Hey you wanna come to the coffeano?"Asher asked her. "Wherever you wanna go,"she shrugged. Asher took her to the coffee café down the street. They used to come here when they were kids. 

        "You don't seem happy,"Asher broke the silence. "I don't talk much, being silent and not being happy are two different things." She twirled the straw of her coffee,"Besides I need to practice this silence since you're leaving tomorrow."

        He gave her a soft smile,"I'll call you whenever I can."

        "I don't think you'll be able to call me for the next three months,"she took a sip. "Emel, can I ask you something?"Asher leaned in closer to his sister. They were sitting across each other.

        "Hmm?"

        He stayed silent for a while. Emel asked him what was it. He didn't say anything. "Finish your coffee and we'll head back, we gotta leave early tomorrow."

        Emel sighed. "What about Dure-fishan?"she asked. Asher's expression sorrowed,"I'll keep her updated." He was having a hard time keeping his gf happy. She didn't seem to be the patient type. 

        "I don't get why are you dating her in the first place?"she inquired. Asher gave Emel a quick sneak, he turned his head to the window and admired the scenery of the city lights. "You'll never understand the feeling of liking someone, Emel."He looked up at the sky, it was slightly raining outside. You could hear the kids playing and shouting.

        "If it's something this torturous...I'd pass."Emel rolled her eyes and slurped her drink. Asher knew he and Emel were two different people with completely opposite thoughts on the idea of love. "I don't think once you're caught in this cycle. You can pass it."

        Emel looked away, she wasn't interested in this. But she couldn't bear watching her brother get hurt by someone whom he had cherished so much. "I hope you can change her mentality before you two make things official."

        "Mhm." Asher nodded at her. He stretched his neck and back as he slouched his posture backwards. His eyes met a familiar face. He sat up straight. "What the?"Asher stood up from his place.

        "You okay?"Emel gave him a confused look. "Emel...I think I caught a treat!"he chided. Emel frowned.

        "Hey you!"Asher called out a group of guys who had just entered and sat by the left most table, by the counter. "You with the blue hoodie,"Asher waved his hand. The guy stood up and looked at his friends confusedly. Asher extended his hands towards him.

        "I don't think captain America likes pickles." Asher tried to hold his laughter. The other tan and hazel eyed male, who was nearly the same height as Asher. Both were six feet and two inches. The guy had a tan skin tone with a medium built body shape. He had black, short length with a fringe and messy haircut. The group seemed like they had been caught in rain, you could see his shoulders soaked wet.

        "And I think he still has a jar of pickles by his bed...he eats it every single night." The other guy attested. Emel got up from her place. She didn't understand what was going on.

        Both guys stared at each other for a fair second. The atmosphere got intense. Things seemed to be getting pretty dark over Captain's pickles when all of a sudden both of the boys burst into laughter. 

        "Huh?"Emel questioned herself. 

        "BRO!"Asher hugged the guy. The guy hugged him even tighter. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE HERE!"The other guy exclaimed.

        "Hey I am here on duty."Asher flexed. The other man frowned. Then his face lit up in astonishment. "THE FUCK I'M HERE FOR THE TRAINING AS WELL!"he hugged Asher again. By now Emel was lost. She didn't get who was this boy or man or guy or whatever her brother had recognized and started hugging out of nowhere. 

        They broke the hug and congratulated each other for their selections. The other guy turned over to look at the familiar face behind Asher. His eyes locked with her's. He stayed still for a solid few seconds. 

        She was definitely not that girl who had mud pies and slime all over herself, as far as he remembered...she should've been a tomboy by now. Emel frowned as she felt the guy staring at her. Sure he was tall and handsome but still she felt uncomfortable.

        The guy pointed at her,"You?"

        "Oh Emel, it's Ahmed!"Asher introduced them both. "You remember her right?my sister?" Emel and Ahmed's faces went blank. This was not expected for them.

        "Uh yeah I do...hey!y-you grew up." Ahmed pointed out as he raised his hand to wave at her slightly and scratch the back of his head. "Hi,"Emel whispered. 

        Ahmed smiled casually. "Dude are your parents here?"Asher looped his arm around Ahmed's neck. "Yup, they're in the guest rooms."

        "I should tell dad, he won't let uncle go away with this big news."

        "Oh yeah?"Ahmed playfully raised his brows,"you should wait for my mom to start complaining to your mom about it." Both of them broke into laughter as Ahmed excused his friends and went on with Asher to tell their parents.

        "You coming?"Ahmed glanced at her. She was lost in her thoughts. "Hey...Emel!"Ahmed called her again. She looked up at him with a confused look. He smiled again unintentionally,"We're heading back...your brother's already halfway across the street."

        "Uh he left me again?"She hurriedly stood up and grabbed her hand bag. Ahmed stepped away from the door to let her walk out. "Thank you,"she whispered and walked out of the shop. 

        Ahmed saw her leave, he stood in his place. She seemed so different, as if she were a completely different person. He silently followed her and watched her take small steps. There was an awkward silence. Ahmed looked out for Asher but the guy was already out of the scenery. Ahmed found it irresponsible of him to leave his sister like that. Not that it bothered him or anything, but he didn't like the gesture.

        "Do you know your parent's room number?"Ahmed asked her. Emel looked up at him, he was too tall. She looked away, blushing. "They're in room 6 and I have a separate room...it's room number 4." 

        "Uh...4?"

        "Yeah it's right up there so I'll walk myself...t-thanks for walking me back." Emel thanked him shyly. He seemed confused, maybe he wasn't expecting her to be this silent or something was off. "I'm in room number 7...right across yours' through the hallway." He slid his hands in his pockets,"I uh...so yeah I'll let Amma and Abba know about you guys and we'll catch up agai-"

        "I'll be asleep,"she asserted. He paused for a moment,"Sure...good night." She walked away without replying. He didn't get her, as if he didn't know her at all, well it was obvious that they had grown to be different but somehow he had expected her to be different, more welcoming than this.

        Was he still living in the past? He knew that six years were a really long time for a person to change and to have character development. This wasn't a positive one in his mind though. He expected Emel to be more of the Emel he knew than someone he thought he might have to spend some time figuring out. He got rid of all the thoughts, since when did this all even mattered, he had a career he was starting tomorrow and she had a life to live. The life she was living ever since.

        Ahmed took one last glance at her. She had reached her room and went inside to close the door. He let out a huge sigh, he wasn't satisfied with this meeting. No matter how many times he asked himself why was he bothered. He didn't get an answer. He knew the past was past, nothing could change the present for now. He went to tell his parents about the Tariqs being here. 

        Emel went to bed early, she wasn't in a mood to interact with people. She found Ahmed extremely handsome for his age. But she felt like he never had a glow up, he was always this handsome in every age. 

        "I bet he must've seen me as a house keeper or nanny,"she complained looking at herself in the mirror. "This is probably the worst come back a childhood friend can give you...I look so ugly!"she messed her hair up. 

        But why was she even bothered?he was just that nosy kid she once knew...or maybe she was still in the past thinking that her appearance would matter. She remembered him making fun of how dirty she used to be, always playing gold miners. She hated the atmosphere she had created around herself. He definitely wasn't living in the past.

        "Shoot! why would he even care how I was looking,"she mentally contemplated,"I think he doesn't even give a damn about me...of course,"she hit her head with her hand,"geez I'm feeling bad for nothing!"

        She jumped into her bed,"I'm so stupid. Why am I even caring for making an impression?"She rolled her eyes. "I need to study more...besides he doesn't even remember the-" her eyes shifted to her hand bag. It had a lot of memories given to her by her friends but she wanted to laugh. None of them would still be living in the past like her. She felt drowsy and went to sleep. 

        On the other side, his parents had called the Tariqs over to their room. They were loudly chatting. Ahmed sat beside Ahser, on the arm of his sofa. "Where's Emel?"Mrs.Bakhshi, Ahmed's mom, asked Mrs.Tariq. 

        "She was,"Mrs.Tariq looked around. "She told me she's going to bed early,"Ahmed told them. "You met her?"Mrs.Bakhshi asked. He nodded. "I uh...she was with Asher and then she went to her room when we dropped her off saying she was sleepy or something." He tried to cover it up. Why?Why was he covering the fact that he walked her over to her room. Maybe he didn't want to be foolishly suspected and he didn't like the exchanging sarcastic looks women gave when they'd see a girl and a boy alone or maybe he was simply over thinking.

        "Ah yeah she likes to hit the bed early than anyone of us, she'll meet you guys tomorrow morning,"Mrs.Tariq excused it and changed the topic to something else. Asher probed Ahmed thoroughly. He let his thoughts slip from his mind.

        As the elders dived into their conversations and Asher went out to attend a call. Ahmed walked out in the terrace and gazed down at the grass. He sighed, feeling heavy inside. He knew from tomorrow onwards, he was going to be in a war zone but a training filled with memories. But Emel had started to bother him, he thought about the locked suitcase he had in his car's trunk. It had a lot of things in them but one thing, that shepherdess was still wrapped in a paper bag, still untouched. He thought about the shepherd, if Emel still had it or was he the only one holding onto the old memories and looking like a fool. 

        Maybe he was...or maybe he wasn't?

~

♡"I'll wait for you. And I'll keep on waiting for you, even if it takes forever. I'll be here, right here...till you let me be the one."♡