Meher and Hooriya were sitting in the garden on the patio table with their cups of tea.

The cool mountain breeze made Meher shudder.

"Are you planning to fall sick before exams ?" Hooriya asked narrowing her eyes at Meher.
"Here wrap this around yourself." She said passing Meher her black woollen Kashmiri shawl.

"Thank you." Meher smiled softly.

"Mama and Mami are coming tomorrow along with Kulsum Khala and Arham's bijaan (maternal grandmother ) so I doubt the house will be peaceful enough for you to study in, there is a library close by you could join and go there to study, you'll get your additional books there as well and a lot of company to study there too." Hooriya suggested.
"Arham and I can alternate between dropping and picking you up."

"As you say Hooriya baaji, I hope he doesn't min-."

The sound of the heavy metal gates opening interrupted their conversation and a familiar black Audi rolled into the drive way.

The driver's side of the door opened and a man clad in a fitted black T-shirt and blue denims stepped out. He removed his sunglasses and threw them inside the car again.

"Hooriya." He said with a smile and walked towards the two.

"Yusuf Assalam Walekum, kaise ho?" (How are you Yusuf ?) she said with a smile.

"Shukar hai, at least today you remembered to greet me." He said playfully rolling his eyes.

Meher looked at the man keenly. He was a site for sore eyes. His hair were pushed back in a quiff and his perfectly trimmed beard only enhanced his sharp jawline. His brown eyes looked like pools of amber as the sun light highlighted them, his sharp nose giving him an edger look. This man was beautiful.

His eyes shifted to Meher's who quickly cast her eyes down to avoid being caught staring at the stranger.

"Toh aap hain the new Mrs Butt." He said with his infamous smile.
(So you are the new Mrs Butt.)

Meher felt heat rush to her cheeks as the man, Yusuf,  kept looked at her and spoke to her addressing her by her new identity.

"Mera naam Yusuf hai." He said extending his hand for a handshake. "I'm Arham's best friend." (My name is Yusuf.)

Meher looked up through her lashes and slowly shook his hands, his warm hands enveloping her own.

"Meh..Meher." She said softly.

"I know." He smiled at her. "You are prettier than I thought you would be." He smirked and released her hand.

Meher quickly retracted her hand and wrapped them around herself. Her eyes lifted from the ground once again, this time to see past Yusuf, she saw Arham standing by the car, in same clothes he had worn yesterday, looking in their direction.

His eyes caught her's for a second before he turned around and entered the mansion.

Arham's hostile behaviour did not go unnoticed by Hooriya. She turned to Yusuf and flashed him a smile.
"I'm sure you are here to have breakfast, tumhare hospital me toh nahi puchta hoga tumhe." (No body would even bother to ask you for food at your hospital.)

"I'm grateful they let me breath in there." He chuckled popping out his dimple.

Hooriya smiled, shaking her head and ushered Meher and Yusuf to move inside.

"Hooriya baaji, I'll go help in the kitchen." Meher said and rushed to the kitchen.

"Baaji ?" Yusuf repeated raising his eyebrows. "Sautan nahi kehti?" He taunted.

"Yusuf." Hooriya whisper yelled. "Don't."

"How long ? How long are you going to hide the fact from her that her husband already has a wife he loves and she is in fact the other woman in their life." He spat. "I felt bad for my best friend before. But now, I feel bad for her. She doesn't deserve this, it's on you Hoor, all their misery, it's all on you." He said venomously and walked in the direction of the kitchen.

Hooriya stood there rooted and Yusuf's voice echoed in her brain. He wasn't wrong she knew, but all she wanted was for Arham to be happy after she left, and now she wished the same for Meher. They both deserved happiness.

Hooriya quickly made her way upstairs, she knew this was the only time she would get with him alone and uninterrupted.

She pushed the doors of the bedroom open and saw Arham standing in his towel wrapped around his waist, buttoning up his shirt.

"Arham."

"Oh Hooriya." He said flashing her a wide smile, taking her by surprise.
"Sorry just give me a minute." He said and stepped into the wardrobe to get dressed.

Hooriya's heartbeat quickened and she felt like she was doing something wrong stepping into her room and talking to Arham alone.

"Hooriya ?" Arham pulled her out of her thoughts, standing in front of her dressed smartly in a khaki pants and a maroon button up shirt.
"I'm sorry but next time I guess you should knock before you enter, I've just got married and you might have caught me and my wife unaware in a compromi-."

"Arham." Hooriya interrupted him. "I'm sorry."

"No its alright, she isn't in the room anyway." He said playing coy. "But I guess you already know that, that's why I see you here."

"Arham please." She said holding her emotions in check. "I'm..I..I really just am doing what's best for all of us, you've to-."

"You did what's best for you, Hooriya Ajmal." Arham roared taking a step towards her making her flinch. "You don't care about me or about that girl, so drop the act. I blamed her before, I blamed her for my misery but she is as much of a victim in this as I am, it's you who is my culprit, our culprit." He said walking out of the door.

Hooriya took in a deep breath and quickly wiped the treacherous tears that fell from her eyes.
She dabbed her dupatta on her cheeks once more and plastered a smile before following Arham out.

•••

Meher had rushed to the kitchen to escape interaction with the stranger who had introduced himself as Yusuf.

She had never been good around new people, with the exception of Hooriya of course, and she wanted to stay away from anyone who was associated with her husband.

Her husband who hadn't even spared her a minute of his time since he had brought her home after their nikkah.

"What are you doing here ?" The dry and condescending voice made her look up and pulled her out of her thoughts.

"I..I've come to help." She said looking up at Gulnaz who had placed a kettle of water on the heat.

"Nahi caheyh madad, you can leave." She said brushing past Meher to get to the fridge. (Don't need your help.)

"Voh I-."

"I believe isn't how Safa Aunty has trained you to speak to anybody in this house, and she happens to be your mistress and I see you are mistreating her Gulnaz." Meher was aware of the owner of the voice and his presence right behind her.

"I..I voh Yusuf Bhai I didn't -."

"I know Gul you wouldn't hurt anyone intentionally but sometimes it's best to keep our own emotions in check, never hurt anyone."

"Sorry bhaijaan." She said casting her eyes on the floor.

"You don't have to be sorry Gul, I understand." He said looking at her giving her a small smile. "Now let Meher make the tea and you can go set the breakfast table." He said with a smile and she nodded leaving Meher alone with Yusuf.

"Th..Thank you." Meher stuttered.

"It wasn't a problem, forgive her she is just a child and adjusting to changes in the family." He said.

"Ji ?" Meher asked confused.

"Aap chai banna rahi thi na?" (Weren't you making tea) Yusuf said changing the topic.

"Yes." Meher said quickly moving behind the counter and started to quickly add condiments into the boiling kettle.

"So what do you do Meher ?" Yusuf asked her as she added fresh ground ginger to the water.

"I'm doing my final year of degree in fine arts." Meher replied confidently.

"That's great. What do you plan on doing further ? Filmography ? Photography ? Direct-."

"I want to pursue Fashion. I mean I like -."

"I can see." He said raking her up and down, appreciating her choice of clothes. "It's always good to have a career in something you love." He said with a small smile.

"What do you do ?" The words left her mouth before she could bite her tongue.

"I'm glad you asked." He said giving her a smile as he saw her close her eyes forcefully for a second and mentally scolding herself.

"I'm a general surgeon, I slice and stitch people up."

"That's very intense." She said a small laugh left her throat, making Yusuf's insides feel warm. She was too young and innocent to be ruined by the Butt's.

"It's is." He said watching her transfer the tea from the kettle into a ceramic pot. She picked up the tray and walked towards him.

"Chaley ?" She said with a small smile and he nodded following her into the dinning room. (Let's go ?)

•••

"So we both grew up together. We went to all boys catholic school in Manchester and then high school, Arham had come back to Pakistan for his graduation and I stayed there but then he again shifted to London for his masters and by that time the two of us had finished our education. So I came with him to Pakistan, decided to stay back as people here needed my services more." Yusuf said munching on his breakfast as Meher nodded politely and sipped on her tea.

They had almost finished their breakfast but there was no sign of Hooriya or Arham.

Yusuf had given her a lot of information about Arham, about his education and childhood to be precise but she wasn't complaining, she was ready to take whatever little she could get.

"So a little birdy told me you have exams soon ?"

"Ji. I have to give my last exam in the next three months." She said with a small smile.

"That's close, you'll ... oye hoye kon aa raha hai dekho." Yusuf said mockingly. (Oh look whose has finally decided to come.)

"Did you have your breakfast?" Arham asked as he saw is friend sitting and talking to Meher.

"Of course I wouldn't wait for you to come down at a sloths speed, I have a few surgeries lined up for the afternoon, I'm going to be leaving in some time now." Yusuf replied.

Arham nodded as he took seat at the head of the table. Just a seat away from Meher.

"Chal badiya hai." (Oh good). "Mehrunissa pass time the eggs." Arham said looking at Meher.

She looked at him and blinked once and then twice. Did he just talk to her, he called her by her full name, how does he even know her name !

"Eggs." Arham said a little louder breaking her line of thoughts and she nodded her head passing him the plate.

"Sorry." She murmured softly.

"Mehrunissa ? That's your name ? " Yusuf said loudly. "Who is Meher then ?"

"I am." She said and a soft laughter escaped her lips.

"Wow I have one bloody name and you." He said sipping his coffee and shook his head.

"You know Meher, Mehrunissa was the Mughal King Jahangir's (also known as Salim) wife, twentieth wife." He said, his inner history buff ready to tell her all about her name.

"Mehrunissa was so beautiful, just like you." He said playfully winking at her making Meher blush. "She was named as Nur Mahal before being titled as Nur Jahan (light of the world) . Salim loved her, infact they have a very twisted love story."

"But Salim loved Anarkali." Meher mumbled.

"Well that's a story, nobody knows if there truly was an Anarkali or it's just a tale to entertain love sick hearts."

"Well I believe there was an Anarkali." She said with a smile. "A love like their's, Salim and Anarkali's it has to be real, I've never seen someone so selfless in love, she loved him so much that she chose her death over his, that's true love." She said dreamily.

"She never thought about Salim" the voice made her neck snap in Arham's direction, was he really speaking or was this a dream? 
"How would he live without her, a woman he loved ? She chose the easy way and left Salim alone to deal with all the pain. It was not love." Arham said looking up from his plate taking Yusuf and Meher by surprise.

"Well if Anarkali hadn't been selfish this once, not given her life for Salim's he wouldn't have ever met Nur Jahan. He wouldn't have ever fallen in love with Nur -."

"Maybe he didn't want Nur Jahan in his life at all, maybe all he wanted was his first love, his only love-."

"But he did fall for her didn't he ?" Meher argued with Arham. "He learned to love again, maybe not as much as he loved Anarkali but he certainly did love Nur Jahan." She said.

Arham looked at Meher closely, her bright doe eyes, twinkled as she spoke of love which existed centuries ago, a story of a king and his first love and his last wife, very similar to what was their life today.

Life of Arham, Meher and Hoor.

"Ahem." Yusuf cleared his throat, breaking the stare off Meher and Arham had locked themselves into.

"It was nice knowing your views on the late King and Queen but I'm getting late. I'll take your leave now, will visit when aunty and uncle are back." He said patting his lips with the napkin and placing it on the table.
"I'll see you soon meri jaan." He said placing his hand over Arham's and giving it a gentle squeeze.

He pushed the chair and stood up looking at Meher. "Nur Jahan I'll see you soon." He said dazzling her with a charming smile.

"I'll walk you till the door." She said and looked at Arham for his permission, who gave her a small nod.

She got out of her chair and walked side by side with Yusuf towards the door.

As they neared the foyer they saw Hooriya descending down the stairs.

"Hoori, you ditched me." Yusuf said faking hurt. "Good we have your replacement now, Nur Jahan kept us entertained." He said.

Hooriya very well understood the dual meaning behind his innocent words but chose to ignore it.

"Nur Jahan ?" She asked scrunching her eyebrows.

"Meher." He said rolling his eyes at her. "I'm going to go, I'm getting late. If you want to spend time in my awesome company be on time agli dafa (next time)." He said winking at her.

Meher chuckled at his innocently narcissistic behaviour and Hooriya shook her head.

"Come soon." She called as she headed for breakfast while Yusuf and Meher headed for the door.

"How will you go to the hospital ? Aap toh Arham ke saath aaye thay na ?" She said as they stood in the front porch (You took a ride here right Arham right ?)

"I' called my driver don't worry." He said giving her a small smile and immediately a silver Mercedes pulled in front.

"I guess I have to leave now." He said with a smile. "I'll see you soon Nur Jahan." He wrapped his arms around her body quickly giving her a brief hug and got into the car driving away.

Meher watched his car pull out of the gate and disappeared out of her sight of vision, she turned around and took a breath, smiling to herself. She had made another friend.

She quickly walked down the same path she had taken towards the dining room but stopped in her track as she heard loud voices.

"... it's you, who did this hoor, only you, the day you realise what you have lost blame yourself." Arham seethed in anger.

"It's a small price to pay Arham and I've told you once, I've told you twice and I'll tell you again, I don't mind as long as I get what I want." Hooriya replied in an indifferent tone.

"Very well then." Arham said and the sound of his chair screeching against the floor echoed in the room.

Meher quickly entered the room in order to not be caught eavesdropping on them .

"Meher did you have breakfast ?" Hooriya asked forcing a smile on her face as she saw her enter.

"Not yet Hooriya baaji." Meher replied looking at Arham who was looking intensely at Hooriya.

"Join me then." Hooriya said flashing Meher a wide smile and Meher nodded.

She took baby steps towards her chair to to occupy her previous seat but was stopped as Arham moved towards her.

"I will send someone to collect my lunch ,make sure it enough for two and bland, I'm being joined by a foreign client." He said looking at Meher and she nodded.

He looked at her one last time and shuffled his way out of the room.

Hooriya looked at them, an expression of hurt crossed her feature but she quickly hid her face with her hair and wiped the tear threatening to fall from her eyes.

"I'll see you in the evening." Arham said to Meher and left the room, Meher confused and Hoor broken.

AN: hope you enjoyed the chapter!!
I'm so crushing on Yusuf 🙈
What do you think about this new character???

Also girls do me a favour please comment down below your favourite books on Wattpad (not the common ones because I'm sure I've already read them lol)

I'm reading The Rawat Brides right now by thebutterflyeffect31 and I'm absolutely loving it, already in love with Dr. Rudra Rawat, go read it if you haven't and check out her The cricketer ex wife too which I loved again.

Please leave book suggestions because I'm more of a reader than a writer.

Lots of love
xoxo