The Other Mask Comes Off

Prince sat atop the hill fort, watching the cityscape quietly, his tears dried out. The bright and lively day was in complete contrast to his mood, as if to say how little the world cared for his heartbreak.

When his phone started ringing, he initially ignored it, but decided to pick it up when he saw it was a call from Salman.

“Assalamualaikum, Ahmer, where are you?” Salman asked.

“I’m at Shahi Qila,” Prince answered.

“Is Ruqsana with you?” Salman asked.

“Why would she be with me?” Prince asked him.

“Hasn’t Ruqsana told you yet?” Salman asked.

“Told me what?” Prince asked.

“I’m sending a link, just check it out,” Salman shared a link. Prince clicked it and his world turned upside down. Roxy is Ruqsana Raees, his fiancée. The girl he loved was the girl he was being forced to marry. They have the same face if you ignore the hair color and eye color. Also, everyone thinks Roxy is cheating on Ahmer because they haven’t figured out that Ahmer and Prince are the same.

“I have a crush on the girl who hates the real me and I had no idea,” Prince summarized.

Meanwhile, Saad and Sania were interrogating their daughter in their hotel room. At some point, Suhail and Rahila had also joined them.

“Who is he?” Saad asked, ice in his voice.

“He is just a friend,” Ruqsana replied, crying.

“Do you hug all your friends?” Sania asked, her tongue as sharp as a knife.

“It was just a hug,” Ruqsana answered, pleading with her parents to understand.

“Don’t play with us girl!” Suhail butted in, “It’s obvious that the boy is more than just your friend. He is your lover.”

“Please be calm, maybe he really is a friend,” Rahila tried to pacify everyone, “You know how these media people are. They draw conclusions without any proof.”

“The proof is out there bhabhi,” Saad retorted, “this girl has ruined our reputation.”

“Both of Raees and Qaiser family,” Suhail added.

Ruqsana felt helpless, like a lamb surrounded by hungry lions ready to rip her apart. She cried but they had no mercy for her.

“Enough with your crying! Tell us where the boy is,” Saad ordered.

“What will you do to him?” Ruqsana asked, ‘not again.’ She thought as her stomach sank.

“Oh, are you concerned about your lover?” Sania asked, her tone like poison, “You should have thought of that before you got mixed up with him.”

“How long has this been going on?” Saad asked.

“We only met last week, there's nothing going on,” Ruqsana insisted.

“Do not test my patience, just tell us his name and where to find him,” Suhail demanded.

“It doesn’t matter, we’re not going to meet anymore anyway,” Ruqsana tried to convince them.

“Damn right you won’t meet him anymore,” Saad growled, “We will make sure of it.”

“There is no need for all this threat,” Rahila tried to pacify them again, “You’re only scaring the poor girl.”

“Rahila,” Suhail said irritated, “If you aren’t going to help, just leave this room.”

“Well, one of us has to keep a cool head and you three aren’t it,” Rahila stood her ground.

“Don’t try to shield this useless girl bhabhi!” Sania spat, “She should never have been born.”

“Bhabhi! That’s going too far,” Rahila gasped, hugging Ruqsana, who cried harder.

“The one who has gone too far is this girl!” Saad scoffed.

Just then, someone knocked on the door, “Sir!” Usman called out from the other side.

“What is it, Usman?” Suhail asked.

“Sir, he is here,” Usman reported.

“Who is here?” Suhail narrowed his eyes in irritation.

“Sir, him,” Usman repeated.

"Who?" Suhail frowned.

“Suhail,” Saad pointed to the television.

“No,” Ruqsana gasped as if the floor beneath her had given away.

It might as well have been because on the television was a live footage of Prince, right here outside the Raees Royal Hotel, getting off his bike and making his way to the front gate escorted by Tabrez.

“The source of our problem has come here himself, I see,” Saad said.

“Hn! At least he saved us the trouble of finding him,” Suhail grunted, “Let’s see this boy.”

Suhail, Saad and Sania marched down with purpose while Rahila and Ruqsana followed them, hoping to prevent the situation from escalating any further. They reached the front entrance where Prince was waiting for them, with the media behind him trying to get a byte from him.

“So you’re the boy that’s been serenading my foolish daughter?” Saad asked.

“Yes uncle, I have been touring the city with Roxy this whole week,” Prince admitted.

“UNCLE?” Saad shouted.

“Why are you standing outside? Do you think being in front of the media will save you?” Suhail asked.

“Oh no, Abbu, I’m just here to make everything clear and end this media jury at once,” Prince answered.

“ABBU? JUST WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?” Suhail asked.

“Your son?” Prince answered.

The media perked up at Prince’s statement, “an illegitimate child?” A lady reporter said.

“Or maybe child of a secret second wife he told no one about,” An old reporter guessed.

“A love triangle between Ruqsana Raees, Ahmer Qaiser and a love child of President Qaiser. What a scandal!” A young man theorized.

“Is this what you meant when you said your father was influential?” Ruqsana asked Prince.

“WHAT NONSENSE! I HAVE NEVER SEEN THIS BOY BEFORE TODAY!” Suhail said, suddenly finding himself on the back foot.

Rahila got a good look at Prince and said, “Oh no.”

“RAHILA, DON’T BELIEVE HIM! HE’S LYING! I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN FAITHFUL TO YOU!” Suhail defended himself.

Rahila gave Suhail a bombastic side eye and spoke to Prince, “Beta, your cosplay.”

“Oh yeah,” Prince said before removing his wig and spectacles, revealing his silver locks and silver eyes. Everyone gasped for before them was-

“Ahmer!” Suhail said in shock. Ruqsana was stunned. So were Saad and Sania.

“That’s right,” Ahmer affirmed, “the one Roxy or rather Ruqsana was seen with in both today’s and the beach videos is me, Ahmer Qaiser. Ruqsana has not been double-timing or anything, we just disguised ourselves to enjoy some free time in privacy.”

“Why would you two disguise yourselves?” A lady reporter asked.

“As I said, we wanted privacy and this way no one would recognize us in public,” Ahmer repeated.

“How do we know you are really the Pepper Spray Man?” A middle-aged reporter asked, “You could be pretending to protect your fiancée.”

“Before I answer that, which one of you came up with the theory that Roxy was cheating on me?” Ahmer asked.

The reporters parted, revealing Akbar and Tayyib.

“You and all of you have a day to issue a formal apology and take back the false report about Roxy. If you don’t, I’ll sue you for libel. Got it?” Ahmer warned them.

“Hey, you can’t threaten us reporters,” Tayyib retorted indignantly.

“It’s not a threat, it’s a warning, now chop chop!” Ahmer clapped.

“What now? We will be ruined,” Akbar asked, “Boss will definitely fire us for this and no one will hire us.”

“If we can’t write news, then we may as well make it,” Tayyib said, “AARGH!” before charging at Ahmer.

“Prince!” Ruqsana called out.

Ahmer reacted quickly, taking out his pepper spray and unloading it on the crazed reporter.

“My eyes! My eyes!” Tayyib went down. The media clicked pics and took a recording of the incident.

“He attacked me, everyone saw that, right?” Ahmer asked.

“Yes,” Tabrez patted Ahmer’s back, “Nice shot.”

“Yup, definitely the Pepper Spray Man,” said the middle-aged man who had asked the question.

“Why do you have pepper spray?” Saad asked Ahmer.

“Are you kidding me?” Rahila asked, “It’s Shah Sarai, you must always pack some heat to be on the safe side.”

The reporters soon dispersed, Akbar and Tayyib were taken in by the police for the attempted attack on Ahmer.

“Why am I being arrested?” Akbar asked.

“For stalking and recording a lady in the lady's toilet,” The officer answered before shoving them into the police car.

The Raees and Qaiser family went back inside, gathering in the living room of Saad’s hotel room. Ahmer and Ruqsana were seated on the sofa while their parents stood, too angry to sit and still processing the events of today.

“Why didn’t you just admit that you were seeing Ahmer?” Sania asked Ruqsana, still suspicious.

“I…” Ruqsana couldn’t think of an answer.

“I made her promise that she wouldn’t tell anyone,” Ahmer answered for her.

“And why would you make her do that?” Saad grumbled.

“Because I wasn’t supposed to be outside,” Ahmer said, with a grin that said ‘I messed up.’

“Damn right you weren’t!” Suhail scolded Ahmer, “How did you escape from Sameer? Are they slacking?”

“I snuck out the window?” Ahmer said, not willing to give away his secret passage.

.

“Are you telling me or asking me?” Suhail asked rhetorically.

“Telling! Definitely telling!” Ahmer affirmed.

“What have you two been doing in disguise?” Sania asked, still suspicious.

“I was just showing her around the city. But believe me, we haven’t done anything you’d be ashamed of,” Ahmer assured them.

“Are you sure?” Sania narrowed her eyes.

“You still don’t believe us,” Ruqsana scoffed.

“Well-” Sania tried to explain herself but Ruqsana was having none of it.

“You slapped me! You wished I wasn’t born!” Ruqsana cried.

“We were just upset,” Saad tried to placate her.

Ruqsana got up and ran off to her room. Ahmer tried to follow.

“And where are you going, boy?” Suhail asked him.

“To see if she’s okay,” Ahmer answered.

“Oh no, after today, you two are never being left alone,” Suhail decided.

“You aren’t calling off the wedding, are you?” Ahmer asked, somewhat afraid.

“Oh no,” Saad scoffed, “After all the drama you two have caused, you are marrying her even if it’s the last last thing you do.”

“Then there shouldn’t be any issue with me seeing my wife-to-be, right?” Ahmer asked defiantly.

“You-” Suhail growled.

“Suhail, let the kids talk,” Rahila took Ahmer’s side, “He might be able to cheer her up.”

Suhail and Rahila looked at each other, then Suhail sighed, “Five minutes,” He told Ahmer.

“Seventh floor 702,” Sania told him Ruqsana’s room number. Ahmer nodded and went to Ruqsana’s room.