How do I love

How do I love again?

How do I trust

How do I trust again?

"Aaban," Parvez called. Aaban turned his head to the source of the voice.

"Senior..." He said with a smile that stopped short on his face when he saw the man who accompanied Parvez.

The man had a domineering presence that was hard to ignore. Even though Aaban hadn't met him for a few years, he recognized him immediately.

It was... Taahir Rahman .

Trailing behind him was his assistant, Nadir Sheikh whom he just met a few days ago.

Taahir gave the gangly teen a once-over. He felt the teen look fairly familiar. Their path only crossed once, which was during his wedding to Tahera.

Aaban had grown in the past few years so it was natural Taahir couldn't identify him instantly. Nadir, however, recognized him with just one glance.

Aaban approached Aaban, laughing as he said, "Your timing is as impeccable as always."

Aaban ignored Taahir and focused on Parevez. "Senior, thank you so much for your help. I couldn't find anything better out there so I have to borrow from your private library."

Parvez replied, "I would have lent you some sooner if you'd just asked, but I have to say, I don't think you'll be needing these reading materials any time soon."

The books were indeed far too advanced for Aaban's current level. Aaban knew he had to come clean so he said, "It's not for me but my friend. She's so good that she has no eyes for anything less than the best."

A shocked Parvez replied, "Who is this friend of yours? Is it the same person who wrote the mini-game?"

"Yes, that's the one..."

"Who is this person? You have to introduce her to me one day," Parvez said. He was interested in this friend's mysterious identity.

Aaban nodded and said, "She's a bit caught up with life at the moment. I'll be sure to make the introduction when the opportunity presents itself."

"Alright, I'll hold you to your promise. Here's the books you wanted. Return them to me when she's done with them," Parvez said as he passed the bag he held in his hand to Aaban.

"Thank you, senior. I'll be leaving now..." Aaban accepted the bag and left in a hurry.

"Aaban, wait..." Parvez called after him but he was already gone. Parvez wanted to introduce him to Taahir.

Parvez said rather indignantly, "Youngsters these days are always rushing somewhere. Can't he recognize the famous CEO, Taahir?"

Taahir asked insouciantly, "Who is that guy?"

"That's my junior from school, a good person and is quite a talent. I intend to let him join our company because I can see he'll be a valuable asset after some training."

"He looks awfully familiar."

Nadir took the break in their conversation to cough lightly and whisper to Taahir, "CEO, that's Aaban Hussain."

"Aaban Hussain?" Taahir mulled over the name that he heard once before.

"He's Miss Tahera's cousin."

Everything clicked instantly. It was truly an incredible coincidence.

Parvez overheard their conversation so he asked, "Who's Miss Tahera? And how do you know Aaban?"

"I suppose you can say that we are somewhat related but I didn't expect the two of you to know each other as well."

Parvez knew where to draw the line so he concluded, "It is indeed a small world. Those books happened to be chosen by you as well."

"What I did was merely pull a few titles off your shelf," Taahir said with a shrug but he was indeed curious who the books were for. Those were some of the more difficult books in Taahir's collection.

One could say he was a bit miffed when he did the selection. He originally went looking for Parvez but the latter said he needed some time to wrap up a project so he left him with a request while Parvez went to finish his work. "Since CEO is so well-read, I'm sure my inquisitive junior could benefit a lot from CEO's careful selection," were his exact words.

This old friend of his was never shy when it came to ordering him around. As payback, he picked the most difficult titles he could find...

Parvez was afraid Aaban wouldn't be able to understand these books, but Aaban himself specifically mentioned he needed the most difficult titles he had.

Parvez was surprised that Aaban had improved so much in such a short period of time. He had no idea he was borrowing them for someone else.

"You heard the conversation I had with him, right? The books are for that friend of his," Parvez told Taahir.

Taahir nodded as he replied, "The person who you mentioned that has the perfect coding skill?"

"Indeed. It was only for a mini-game but you could see the programmer's proficiency. You yourself have seen it, is it not one of the finest works you've seen?"

"You're right but it's just a few lines of codes. You might be overestimating the programmer, there is much more to programming than code-writing," Taahir offered, "In any case, I'll leave the security system upgrade in your hands. Do finish it before the Hacker Competition."

"Don't worry, that's our specialty. I'll work overtime to ensure the system is upgraded before the competition," Parvez said seriously. Taahir nodded before leaving.

Parvez hurried back to work. He foresaw many sleepless nights in the future because even though a system update sounded simple on paper, it was actually quite complicated.

This was because the new system was developed with the aim to withstand deliberate hacking attacks. That was the crux of the Hacker Competition and he'd heard that the hackers involved this year were better than the ones from years before.

Competition in the online business had gotten increasingly severe in recent years. Every company tried their best to put up the best defense software because failure could spell the beginning of a company's demise.

Parvez had to ensure he helped Taahir's company survive until the end of the Hacker Competition to preserve his company's name.

After all, the company was a joint business venture between Mirza Family and Rahman Family.

***

Tahera was satisfied with the books Aaban brought back with him. However, she still managed to finish them in the blink of an eye...

Aaban had gotten used to his sister's inhuman-like ability so he was no longer surprised.

The person who was most surprised though was Parvez. "She's done with them already?" Parvez was taken aback when Aaban returned him the books.

"I'm afraid so, she said the books were nice but she wonders... do you have anything more difficult?" Aaban finished his question in almost a whisper because he himself thought his sister was being a bit too much.

He even began to suspect whether his sister was still human. How can there be such a difference in talent between the both of them when they shared same Hussain Family blood?

He must be adopted. The absurd question caught Parvez off-guard. It was already crazy that the books were finished in a day, but the person still asked for something harder‽

Those books were already the hardest he had! This friend of Aaban's seemed to be more formidable than he initially thought.

Junting straightened his face and put his arms around Aaban, adding, "Junior, don't hide from your senior. Tell me who is this friend of yours? You must introduce her to me."

"Senior, it's not that I don't want to, but she doesn't want to reveal her identity at the moment. I promise the moment she feels otherwise, you'll be the first one to know," Aaban said.

Geniuses tend to have their eccentricities; Parvez understood that much.

He didn't force Aaban to reveal more but helped him as much as he could by finding him more books. Before Aaban left, he said, "Aaban, I'll be frank. If your friend needs a job, tell her to come to me. I'll have a good post waiting for her."

Aaban was overjoyed. He nodded earnestly, "Thank you, I'll be sure to tell her that!"

Aaban rushed back to the hospital, eager to tell Tahera the good news.

"Sis, why don't you come work for my senior's company when you're feeling better? The benefits offered are not bad, and we can work alongside each other," Aaban suggested enthusiastically.

He was looking forward to their future. They were going to be colleagues and with their combined salaries, things were finally going to look up.

Tahera replied as she packed her overnight bag, "I don't intend to commit to a 9 to 5 job."

Aaban was bewildered, he asked, "Then what do you intend to do?"

"Alright, that's everything. Let's go home," Tahera said in lieu of an explanation. She lifted her bag and headed towards the exit.

Aaban quickly helped her carry the rest and the both of them took a bus ride home. After several days of recovery, Tahera was feeling much better.

On the bus, Aaban said happily, "Sis, to celebrate your discharge from the hospital, dad bought a whole chicken this morning to make tandoori chicken for us to enjoy."

Tahera smiled thinking about her uncle's cooking. She wasn't much of an eater but she would end up eating a bigger portion than usual whenever her uncle cooked. This was because his cooking reminded her of home...

Tahera leant her head on the window pane, the glass was icy to the touch; a stark contrast to the warmth in her heart. If not for her uncle and Aaban's support, her past few years would have been hell.

They provided her with a semblance of family and even though they didn't have much material-wise, they had each other.

Now that she recovered her memory, she promised herself she would repay back their kindness. She decided to start earning money and she wasn't lacking in means for that. And none involved a 9 to 5 job. It was not that she looked down on Aaban's senior's company but she had something better in mind...

After passing many stations, the bus finally reached their residential area. They descended from the bus and headed straight home.

Their residential area housed the city's bottom feeders like cheap foreign labors, the practically homeless, abandoned seniors as well as the infirmed...

People whose everyday life was a struggle. For these people, life was not an enjoyment but an uphill battle.

Furthermore, living in the area cowed its residents' spirit. Gradually, they stopped pushing themselves as they surrendered to the reality that, they believed, would be the rest of their lives.

"Aaban, our immediate objective is to find a new place to live, we can't live here anymore," Tahera said suddenly.

Aaban looked at Tahera strangely, trying to see if he had heard wrong. He finally replied, "But we don't have the money..."

"Leave that to me. We must locate a new place to live soon because this place is not suitable for an aspiring young man like yourself. It is also harmful to uncle's health," Tahera explained when they spotted a gathered group of people several feet in front of them.

A harsh sounding voice emitted from within the group, "Told you to start packing, didn't I? Or you want us to do the packing for you?"

Aaban wore a mask of worry as he said, "What's happening, why are there so many people in front of our house?"

Tahera ran forward and fought her way through the crowd. She saw her uncle locked in a confrontation with their landlord.

It wasn't really a confrontation because Rahim, due to his peaceful nature, merely stood there as the landlord yelled at his face. When the landlord stopped to take his breath, he said weakly, "How can you ask us to move so suddenly? It's not like we didn't pay your rent."

"Old man, keep your mouth clean and don't accuse me of things I didn't do, I said I'll return your filthy money after you move! Today, you must empty this house!" The landlord pushed his way across Rahim and started throwing their stuff out the door.

"Stop, please stop!" Rahim moved forward to stop the landlord but the landlord shoved him away with a hard push. He faltered for a few steps before knocking into one of the dining table's corners, sending the whole table and the tandoori chicken crashing to the floor.

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