"Zaib, just tell me what you want. I'm sick of thinking of something," his mother hissed, rubbing her templates out of frustration.

Zaib chuckled, leaning forward as he grabbed his mother's slender hand within his. "I'm telling you mom. I don't need anything other than your prayers," he cheekily told her to which Ayesha rolled her eyes to the back of her head.

"I've been preparing gifts for all your twenty-three birthdays. Please have mercy and help me with the twenty fourth one?" Her voice oozed of sarcasm and her nostrils flared. She really was out of ideas and her blank mind raged to seek something he desired. She had gifted him numerous watches, perfumes, wallets and shoes.

"I have nothing to ask from you. By the grace of Allah, I already have everything." he explained keenly, hoping she'd stop interrogating him about something so insignificant. His birthdays were usually celebrated with hugs and gifts but he found these celebrations to be a waste of money.

What was significantly worth celebrating about him aging?

"Ugh, you're useless." And out his mom marched with a distasteful scowl on her face towards the kitchen where she was cooking some roasted chicken for the entire family.

Zaib's thoughts circulated back to yesterday. It felt like he had already received a gift from the Almighty Allah Himself earlier when he was lucky enough to taste Zoya Malik's handmade cupcakes. A gift in advance for his upcoming birthday—the best gift he had ever received for any of his birthdays.

If his mother heard his thoughts, she'd have punched his teeth out of his smile.

Zaib resumed his attention back to the stack of papers resting on his desk. For some reason, they never seemed to end today. Usually, it took him about thirty minutes maximum to review all the documents and put his signatures down. Unfortunately, today was not one of those days.

Reading through the lines, his eyes paused scanning.

"Both the parties agree to keep the location undisclosed until the board of meeting-"

Board? That game board. That silly game of Ludo! That board game which he solely played to find more excuses to memorize the depth of those lively eyes, dimpled smile.

She was a dangerous combination of a cutely competitive and a breathtakingly beautiful woman. Her smile was contagious. Every time that little dimple peaked out, he found himself brimming with joy. His heart reacted immediately whenever his gaze met hers.

She was just there... making him lose his senses. It was unbelievable how a person could impact your life so much without having a single clue.

"Why're you so strange today?"

Zaib jerked aback, caught off guard at the sudden intrusion of his thoughts. From behind him, he found a smirky Zain standing at the doorway. Zaib spun his chair to face him.

"What?" He answered with another question.

Zain chuckled, stepping into his room. "You've been staring at the wall with a humongous smile literally, your teeth will pop out any time soon. What's going on?" He interrogated with his hands resting within the pockets of his jeans.

Zaib rolled his eyes swinging back around focusing his attention to the papers. Zain itched closer to him with a quirked eyebrow, curiosity hinted within his gestures.

"What is going on with you?" He repeated like a broken audiotape.

"What do you mean Zain?" Zaib knew exactly what he meant but he wouldn't admit it for the world.

"You space out easily these days. I've passed by your room like five times today and you're either just fiddling with the pen or staring into nothing with that creepy smile," Zain deduced, giving out all the evidences of his conclusion.

Letting his brother's detailed notes go unheard, Zaib jotted down another clause on the document and signed it off. Zain immediately caught onto his brother's motions. Zaib gave himself away since he wasn't a good liar and anytime he would want to hide something, he'd just maintain silence.

"Did you cause trouble?" With a tacky smile, Zain guessed as he poked his brother in the arm. "Zain, I'm trying to work," Zaib gritted, shrugging him off again and again.

After the tenth poke, Zaib growled at his younger brother, pushing him away. "What do you want?" He spat.

If siblings didn't exist, life would be quieter and less exasperating. But then again, what's the fun in that?

"What did you do," Zain sang it out to make it more stupidly annoying than it already was. Zaib sighed folding his arms over his chest.

"I'm clearly very busy Zain," he hissed.

"What's on your mind? You seem happy about something and it's getting on my nerves," Zain called him out, his suspicion growing larger.

"It's something personal."

"Personal huh? Since when were you hiding things from me you idiot," he teased.

"I have my own things going on and—"

"You like someone don't you?"

Zaib halted, his heart plummeting to his stomach as the color of his skin vanished into a lifeless pale. What the hell? Why did Zain know that?

"You do!" Zain gasped, shrieking in disbelief.

"Shut up!" Zaib yelled, alarmed at the loud pitch of Zain's voice. If his mother found out, he was going to push himself into the deadliest ocean and drown.

"Oh my god. Who is she?" Bouncing, as if from an adrenaline rush, Zain asked desperately.

"She— uh. You don't know her—"

"Tell me about her. How dare you hide this from me Zaib?" Zain dramatically gasped, unable to contain the excitement within his jumpy words. It was for the first time since the both of them had undergone puberty that Zaib liked someone.

Back in high school, Zaib was the heart throb following Zain. They were perfectly capable to fit the 'boyfriend material' criteria: young, gorgeously groomed men. They had the girls circling them everywhere with gifts and passionate confessions. Zaib never felt the urge to get involved.

His heart was engraved with the teachings of his parents and Islam. Boys around him were regulars at the downtown clubs and as exciting and fun those places sounded like, Zaib managed to successfully stay away.

Zain, well... he did fall for the glory.

Zain was a ridiculously huge flirt who enjoyed the attention and sought more ways to grow popular. He had even dated a few of the girls without Zaib's knowledge. Seniors year, Zaib caught him against the lockers with one of his playthings of the time and confronted him.

Zain didn't do anything suspicious since then.

"What do you wanna know?" Zaib mumbled.

"Okay, let's start with the name?"

"Zoya." Just saying her name was enough to make him feel enlightened.

"Zoya, that's a cool name. Okay, how do you know her?" His interrogation continued.

"You remember I told you Ehsan got engaged to this girl, Naimat?" Zaib reminded and Zain nodded without hesitance since it happened only a few days ago. "Well, Zoya and Naimat are good friends."

Zain chuckled with a more simple smile. "Okay, that's interesting. What's she like?"

What's she like?

He didn't need to think. It was as if he had already memorized a paragraph of her importance.

"She's like a breeze of mercy from Allah. I mean, she shines. She's got these blue eyes which I unintentionally find myself looking at. I don't know why but I feel special whenever she's around me. You know, as if I'm the main character and the spotlight is on me. I notice everything of her, the smiles and the giggling and it's like the world is unnecessary. I have trouble catching my breathe and my body malfunctions. It's unexplainable like—"

"I asked for some words and you've given me an essay."

Zaib reddened from the ears to his cheeks and quickly recovered, dusting it off like he didn't just pour all his emotions out in just a moment. Zaib pinched the bridge of his nose, mumbling for Zain to get out of the room.

"It seems like you're really in love with her. You should approach her," Zain encouraged with a wide toothy smile causing Zaib to shake his head disapproving him.

Zain's smile faltered. "What, you don't like her enough?" He muttered with a quirked eyebrow.

Zaib answered without hesitance. "I like her. I know she's the one, for sure," he confidently stated, his eyes glinting with determination.

Zain had never seen his brother so single-minded about anything before. He could tell that Zaib really did love her. Zain patted Zaib on the back mumbling a 'good luck' and exited the room.

He was going to give Zaib the best birthday gift ever.

:)