Gatecrashers

“So, how is the wedding of the century treating you?” The man on the other side of the call asked Ruqsana.

“Shut up Adnan bhaijaan, I’m not married yet,” Ruqsana pouted.

“But you will be soon,” Adnan Raees replied.

“Don’t remind me, there’s honestly nothing magical about this. I am being tied down to a boy who doesn’t care whether I’m there or not.”

“A boy not into my beautiful sister? I’m not sure whether I should sigh in relief or knock some sense into your fiancé?”

“I doubt you will be able to knock anything into him.”

“Why is he a good fighter?”

“No idea. It’s more likely that he just wouldn’t react to having the absolute crap beaten out of him.”

“Speaking of out, have you been sneaking out now that you’re in a new city?”

“Yup, it’s even easier here since I have a separate hotel room.”

“That’s good, don’t get too cocky though, I’m not there to cover for you.”

“Don’t worry, no one will find out. Speaking of which, I met this boy, Prince, while sneaking out. Very interesting fellow.”

“Prince? Should I prepare for an elopement?”

“Bhaijaan! We are not like that, we’re just friends.”

“Any boy who can just be friends with you is either lying or isn’t into girls. Might explain your fiancé.”

“Uff! I haven’t even told him my real name, I’m going by Roxy in front of him.”

“Oh! You made up a whole new person to be with your Prince?”

“Yeah, yeah! You tell me, are you coming to Shah Sarai?”

“I would love to be there with you, if Papa hadn’t sicked me with his entire empire.”

“He probably did it to keep you from causing problems for this arrangement.”

“Well, he doesn’t know me well if he thinks he can keep me from helping my baby sister. If you ever decide you’d rather not put up with our parents’ plans, then just say the word, I’ll do everything in my power to get you out of there.”

“Thanks bhaijaan,” Ruqsana smiled sadly, “But we both know that Mamma and Papa will have their way one way or the other.”

“Enough of this gloomy talk, tell me more about this Prince character, is he more handsome than Ahmer?”

“I’ll talk to you later, Allah Hafiz!” Ruqsana cut the call before her brother could respond. She had more important matters to attend to, like deciding what to wear for her not date. Normally, she’d just put on whatever hoodie or T-shirt she could get her hands on, but normally, she was out by herself.

After much deliberation, she put on blue jeans, a white T-shirt and a beige cardigan. Then she applied makeup and changed into her disguise. She thought about packing her swimsuit but decided that teasing Prince wouldn’t be worth getting sick.

Roxy skipped down the stairs and took a taxi a few paces away from the back entrance. Unbeknownst to her, a blue-haired man spotted Roxy and clicked a pic on his smartphone as she entered the taxi, but was disappointed when he noticed that her hair was brown.

“Tayyib, what are you looking at?” An orange-haired man asked him.

“Sorry Akbar, I thought I saw Ruqsana Raees,” Tayyib replied.

“Really?” Akbar checked the photo, “From which angle?”

“It’s dark and her silhouette looked similar, okay?”

“Hn! So far, the only time she has come out was when leaving for the Qaiser Residence.”

“In the time I’ve spent outside this hotel, I could have gotten ten scoops already,” Tayyib complained as they went back to their positions.

After a long drive, Roxy reached Fateh Beach, which was quite dark because of it being a new moon and there being no street lights on. But the sky was clear and filled to the brim with stars, many of them surrounded by faint fuzzy smudges of light. It didn’t take long to find Prince in the parking area.

“Asalamualykum! You’re looking great tonight,” Prince complimented her.

“Wailaikum assalam! I’d say you’re looking nice too, but I can barely see you,” Roxy gave a beaming smile.

“Yeah, the streetlights here are switched off unless it’s cloudy to keep the light pollution to a minimum.”

“Isn’t that dangerous for cars and pedestrians?”

“Yeah, but a lot of people would rather risk accidents than lose a stargazing spot. There were even protests when streetlights were first installed here.”

“I guess the view is worth the risk,” Roxy shrugged, taking a few pics of the sky, “I never knew night could be so beautiful.”

“It’s not just the sky,” Prince said, “Follow me.”

Prince led Roxy to the beach where a few tourists had set up a campfire and were playing musical instruments, adding melody to the night. But this was not what he wanted to show her. They went close to the water, which was glowing a soft blue.

“Bioluminance!” Roxy identified the phenomenon.

“That’s right, our waters glow as bright as our skies.”

“Poetic,” Roxy smiled, “But seriously, it’s hard to believe I’m in a city right now, it’s like I’ve gone to a faraway magical island.”

“Who’s being poetic now?”

Roxy pouted and lightly hit Prince’s arm, who laughed in response. The two basked in the ambiance of the starry night with Roxy clicking lots of pics.

“STOP THIS INDECENCY!” Someone decided to ruin the vibe, “LEAVE AT ONCE OR FACE OUR WRATH.”

Everyone turned to the source to see a few goons holding sticks and threatening beachgoers. A few ran away at once after the threat, while some brave ones decided to record the incident live.

“What’s their problem?” Roxy asked Prince.

“They must be the Anti-West Squad,” Prince answered, “They hate all western things like music, dating and fun. We should get out of here.”

“Why? We aren’t doing anything wrong.”

“I know, but that won’t stop them from attacking us.”

As if on cue, some of the goons noticed Roxy and Prince, “WHAT ARE YOU STARING AT? YOU WANT TO GET BEATEN UP? JUST LEAVE ALREADY!” One of them screamed, spit flying from his mouth as he spoke.

“Why should I?” Roxy asked.

“WHAT DID YOU SAY?”

“Calm down bhai! We were just leaving,” Prince tried to placate the goons.

“No, we’re not leaving!” Roxy shut him down.

“We’re not?” Prince asked.

“We can’t just give in.”

“I’m not sure if you noticed, but I’m not exactly a Bollywood hero capable of defeating ten twenty people alone.”

“But we aren’t alone,” Roxy turned to civilians who were still at the beach, “Everyone, why are we letting a bunch of morons dictate how we should live just because they hate modernity? We are from the land of lions; we can’t cave in to wolves trying to take us back into medieval times. Besides, we outnumber them. Let’s use our numbers to stand for what’s right.”

Everyone looked at each other, but no one stepped forward.

The leader of the goons started clapping, “Nice speech, NOW DIE!” He raised his stick to attack Roxy, who raised her hands to stop the blow.

Prince didn’t waste time, he got in front of Roxy, took out a can and sprayed pepper into the leader’s eyes.

“ARGH! MY EYES!” The leader rubbed his eyes, making the burn even worse.

“Why do you have pepper spray?” Roxy asked.

“It’s 9:30 in Shah Sarai, why don’t you have one?” Prince retorted.

“Get him!” A goon cried out and rushed at Prince, who chucked the empty can at the attacker, knocking him out.

“You’ve got nothing now,” The other goons confidently rushed Prince. He responded by kicking sand into their eyes, “Ow! Ow! Stop!” They cried but Prince wasn’t taking chances.

“What are you doing? He’s just one guy! Surround him!” The leader ordered, still temporarily blinded by the attack. The others tried to do as the leader suggested, but instead they found themselves surrounded by the beachgoers. Seeing Prince effectively solo the goons with his above-average skills had inspired them to act.

“OYE! What do you think you are doing? We have political connections,” the leader warned them.

“And we have votes,” Roxy replied, “Get’em!” And so the civilians beat the crap out of the goons and tied them up. The police arrived soon and arrested the goons for causing trouble. They took statements from everyone and provided first aid to those who needed it.

“Are you okay?” Roxy asked.

Prince stared at his hands, surprised by his own courage, “Maybe I am a Bollywood hero.”

Roxy laughed, “A living meme is what you are.”

“Sorry it turned out this way, we were supposed to have a calm and fun night out.”

“Hey, it’s alright. I could have done without getting attacked, but I had fun. I mean, I got to kick some sexist asses.”

“You really enjoyed it, didn’t you?”

“I’m not denying it.”

The two of them continued enjoying the starry night, buying snacks and joining in with the group that was playing music. Those goons may cause trouble again, but for now, everyone was celebrating the victory of the common man, unaware of the uncommons among them.