Tariq

Tariq Bhartti is a character in the KateModern web series. He lived in East London and is a West Ham fan, but has recently moved to India with his mother.

Dating Kate
At the beginning of the series, Tariq started a business with his friend, Gavin. He was dating Kate, but was hurt when he found out that she lied about her name, and becomes even more upset when he finds out that she visited her Ex. His distrust of Kate increased after she claimed to have lost her memory. Tariq didn't believe her, and Kate ended up turning to Steve for help. Tariq became jealous of Steve, and suspicious of his intentions, and attacked him. This led Kate to break things off.

The two reconciled after he came to her rescue at Carnaby Street, where Steve brought Kate to "recover her lost memories." Kate was hurt and confused after she found out that the specialist she had seen was dead, and suspected Steve and the Hymn of One had something to do with it. Tariq stood by Kate as she questioned Steve, and later worked to get Kate off the hook when Steve threatened to press charges against Kate for her tactics.

Tariq became even more worried for Kate when he noticed a Watcher outside of her apartment. He became outright disturbed when Kate received a letter from Dudley, asking her to meet him on Pinchin Street so that he and his father, the specialist (who had faked his death) could explain themselves. Tariq tried to come with her, but Kate decided that he could not come, causing Tariq to become upset and break up with Kate.

New and Former Friends
Tariq goes on a date with a girl he met on the internet but it didn't go well. He then met Julia, an Orange Shop employee, who he began seriously dating. However, he remained conflicted about his feelings towards Kate. After Kate vanished, he was approached by Charlie, who asked him to help her find Kate. An upset Tariq replied "Why should I care [about Kate]?". However, he later became more worried, and helped to steal the car that Kate had last been seen in and lived in it for weeks, hoping to get some information about her whereabouts. When Kate contacted Charlie to let her know that she didn't want to be found, Tariq became understandably upset with Kate and gave her a piece of his mind.

Shortly after returning from the woods, Gavin and Tariq renewed their efforts to work on their software. In order to help them, they hired on Lee, a work experience trainee volunteer. Unfortunately, Gavin seemed to find humor in degrading Lee, who was working for nothing. As retaliation, Lee stole the only copy of their software in The Leak, and exposed what the software did to the public. Frightened, Gavin and Tariq hide out at Aunt Joan's house, and begin drinking any alcohol they can lay their hands on.

Tariq began to feel lonely and isolated while in hiding, and invites Julia over for a conjugal visit. Gavin walk in on them and becomes upset that Tariq has given up their location, and stresses that Julia might have been followed. Sure enough, Terrence the benefactor of Project Orwell, arrives and begins looking for them. Lee, out of spite, decides to post videos that would lead both Gavin in Tariq on a treasure hunt around London to attempt to recover their software. This strained their friendship, and they began blaming each other for what has happened. Julia and Charlie begin a more serious search for the software after Gavin and Tariq reach the point where they are competing over who will get the software first. In the end, the software is lost when Kate's Watcher steals it.

Later on, Patricia Nielson attempted to interview Tariq about Kate and Dr. Griffin, to which he refused, claiming it was "trouble we don't need." He says that his relationship with Julia has gotten more serious, and begins contemplating making a commitment. The two are later seen decorating Tariq's apartment for Christmas, followed by a day out where they see the movie "Enchanted". However, the relationship begins deteriorating, and in the video Happy new year? Tariq explains that Julia had broken up with him because he couldn't let things go. He gets a new job working for Terrence, and the two of them force Gavin to help them get the software back by force. They attack the Hymn of One center, but they are stopped when the police arrive. Tariq tried to prevent his former friend, Gavin, from getting arrested by the police. However, he failed and went into hiding for the next few weeks.

Severing Ties
Following Kate's murder, Tariq took a great interest in attempting to discover who killed his ex-girlfriend. He arrives at Kate's Memorial Service and accuses Steve, leading to a brawl that knocks over the shrine in the room. Charlie becomes upset at the two of them, a forces them to make amends and working together to find out what happened to Kate. Ironically, this turns out to be counterproductive as Tariq and Steve work together to disrupt a meeting between Charlie and Patricia, who had been the last person to see Kate alive.

Julia put in a good word with Justin at JustIncredible.TV in hopes that he would hire Tariq as the new technical manager for the channel. Following his interview, Tariq seemed to become quite congenial with Justin. He then tagged along with Julia and Lee while they filmed an interview with Rupert Van Helden, hoping to find some answers regarding Kate's murder. The following week, it was discovered that Gavin had taken the position that Tariq had applied for. Deciding that he had nothing left keeping him in London, Tariq fled to India, and expresses his bitter feelings towards Gavin for taking the job. He sends Julia a postcard, indicating he is in Mumbai. He continues to dispel advice to his friends in the UK through Bebo, and warns Charlie to be careful of Tim, Kate's exboyfriend.

Tariq ultimately decided to stay in India, and posted the following explanation: "Tariq"

- I wanted to write something here to let you all know that I'm not going to be around for a while. I'm really loving India and I've decided I'm going to stay out here for a long time. My mum's going to come over and we're starting a new life here. I'm happier than I've ever been and it's great having a change of scene, meeting new people and forgetting all the bad stuff that's happened in the past.

So thanks for sharing the good and bad, for supporting me in difficult times and telling me what to do when I was being an idiot.

Etymology
Tariq means "he who pounds at the door" in Arabic. This is the Arabic name of the morning star. Tariq was the name of the Islamic military leader who conquered Spain.