Updated FanFiction - Part 7 page 7! - Page 5

"Thank you" said Usman Abdullah accepting tea from Suraiya. His wife smiled in return and took a seat on the sofa facing the window. The couple both looked out their window overlooking the lawn. A soft smile sat silently in both their faces as they watched their son converse over the phone.

"I can't believe he's made it this far" Suraiya says as her eyes follow the agitated pace of her son's strides.

"He's nothing less than a miracle" Abdullah replies with pride beaming in his eyes as he watches his youngest son, Zain heavily engrossed in a phone conversation.

"It was so hard being away from him for an entire year" Suraiya says in a thick voice while Abdullah lays a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"It's all the past" Abdullah comforts his wife knowing that Zain needed the year away from them. It had been two years since Zain decided to leave for USA. He stayed in rehabilitation for an entire year and then returned to India. Ever since his return, Zain had immersed himself in work. There was no looking back. He was once again pursuing his master's degree along with establishing his own firm. The determination in will was back. The pride in his tone was back. His son was back. Usman Abdullah smiled, knowing nothing could compare to the feeling of elation when he once again found the son he felt he had lost.

"Dad, the financers have reached" Abdullah looked back to find Fahad standing with a file.

"That's great. Have you fixed a meeting with them?" Abdullah asked and Fahad nodded in response.

The father and son walked out the hall to discuss the meeting details when Nafeesa walked in with a tray in her hand. Fahad promptly ignored so Nafeesa offered the tray towards Abdullah who politely accepted regardless of the fact that he had tea a few moments ago. Abdullah held in a sigh in his son's obvious show of disrespect to his wife but this was a matter Abdullah could no longer handle. When Zain had left to US, the political party had fallen on hard times, in desperate need of a financer to sustain. Their only financer had been Nafeesa's father who made the unfortunate demand of his daughter being married to Fahad. Usman Abdullah had taken a practical decision and married the two when Fahad had given his consent. The two were married but Fahad's disregard for the marriage had become controversially clear when he went ahead and married his girlfriend, just a few months after his marriage to Nafeesa, thus Shazia became a part of the Abdullah family. Now almost two years into the marriage and the couple still had bridges to build. Usman Abdullah didn't know who truly was at fault; was it him for being more practical than emotional? Was it Fahad for being too desperate to save the political party? Was it her father for taking advantage of their weak situation? One thing Usman Abdullah was clearly certain about was that Nafeesa was not at fault yet she was the one that suffered.

"Fahad" Abdullah began as he sat in the car with his eldest son.

"Yes?"

"You cannot treat your wife like that..."

"She isn't my wife. I was pressurized into marrying her and that isn't marriage according to me" Fahad said, going to his usual retreat.

"Fahad I will not have you disrespect her like that" Abdullah says with a sigh but knowing his words had little to no effect on his son. The rest of the journey passed in silence as both father and son contemplated their mistakes.

~~~*~~~

"One job, they can't do right!" Zain says as he shuts his phone. The last hour he had been giving word by word instructions to his employees. He drops at the edge of his bed with his loosened tie dangling around his neck. The whole day had been hectic. He had meeting and presentations to attend. The office was going into a diwali break so all the pending work was to be completed before everyone left to their holidays. Zain massaged the back of his neck as he lifted the tie off his collar and flung it across the room. He then went on to add his jacket to the pile. He then went out the room for a glass of water.

"Bhabi..." Zain begins uncertainly as he sees Nafeesa sitting on the kitchen table all alone. Since his return, he couldn't figure why Fahad would do this to someone.

"Zain. You've returned from office? Would you like me to fix you something?" she asks with a smile. Zain had a late lunch and felt full but wasn't able to deny Nafeesa knowing how much her life was already wrecked.

"Yeah that'd be great. Let me just freshen up" Zain says with a nod. He goes to his room and washes his hand then asks his mother to join them. They all sit for a meal Nafeesa prepares for them.

"How was your day mom?" Zain asks as he fills his plate with food.

"Great. I went shopping. Had a great time" Suraiya replies and Nafeesa smiles in agreement. Zain nods in acknowledgement and carries on light conversation throughout dinner. After dinner Zain excuses himself and leaves the kitchen to his room to retire for the night.

Zain goes to the bathroom and performs a quick ablution then comes to the room to pray his prayers before sleep. Once done, Zain goes to his cupboard and places the prayer mat next to a crumbled sheet of a paper; a paper that seemed to be torn off a notebook with a heartfelt note from a faceless savior. Like most nights, Zain reopened the note and read it once more.

"Why won't the God you love so much let me meet you?" Zain asks with a smile. He had tried countless of times to find his donor but failed. In the end, Zain had prayed to God and left it to God.

~~~*~~~

Aliyah stood in caf in line for her favorite chocolate milk. The caf was one of the best in town and her favorite. The guy in front of her took all the time there was to choose a drink. She sighed in relief when he finally made a choice and then went ahead to pay the bill.

"Sir, we can't accept a card" the cashier says to the man when he presents him a card.

"What?"

"We don't accept.."

"No, I heard you right the first time but how can you not accept a card?" disbelief was clear as daylight in the tone of the man.

"Sir, we only accept cash" the cashier replied in a bored tone. Aliyah felt bad listening to the conversation so she stepped forward to volunteer.

"Could you fit his coffee and my hot chocolate in one bill?" Aliyah asks the cashier as she hands him the money which would be sufficient for the both of them.

"Excuse me, I think I..." the man begins the sentence and as Aliyah turns he freezes in mid sentence. His eyes widen slightly and surprises registers on his face.

"It's you!"

"I'm sorry?" Aliyah responds as she eyes the man warily. She had never seen him yet he acted like they had met. She observed his face but couldn't place him.

"Where are the bright scarves? Not competing against the sun anymore?" the guy asks with a lazy smile and it clicks. Zain Abdullah! But this wasn't the Zain she remembered at all. She remembered a shabby guy with overgrown stubble and poorly kept hair; not this clean shaven man with fashionably styled hair. Aliyah did a double take and nodded in acknowledgment.

"Remember me, now?"

"Yes. I do. I'm glad to see you're doing better now" Aliyah says she takes her drink off the counter and Zain follows suit.

"Yes... things are.. looking up now" Zain replies awkwardly; not wanting to name his forgotten addiction but at the same wanting her to know that he's come a long way since then.

"Well I'm glad things worked out well for you" Aliyah responds politely and makes her way to the door when Zain follows her urgently.

"If you'd wait just for a minute, I would repay your money" Zain says as he positions himself between her and the door.

"It's not big deal"

"No but still, I wouldn't want it on me. Could you wait just for a few minutes?" Zain asks as he rings his driver to get into the coffee shop.

"I would but my mother is waiting in the car for me"

"I really don't want this on my conscience. Trust me, I have enough debt to sort through" Zain half jokes with Aliyah who looks at her watch with impatience.

"You want to pay me my money?" Aliyah asks seriously.

"Yeah. Why else would I be stopping you?" Zain asks with a laugh.

"It's 500 rupees right?" Aliyah asks and Zain nods skeptically, not knowing where she was taking this.

"Give 500 rupees on charity on my behalf and you've paid me back my amount. The next time I do charity, I would deduct 500 and your debt is settled" Aliyah says and Zain smiles in amusement.

"So I give the money to just anybody?"

"Yes, anybody who is in need" Aliyah replies.

"What if I keep the money to myself? Never give to charity on your behalf, then what?" Zain asks half curious, half amused.

"Well then I've done my part so there's no sin on my account, the rest is between you and God" Aliyah replies and politely excuses herself to join her mother in the car, leaving a slightly amused, slightly baffled but very curious Zain behind.

~~~*~~~

Zain ends up doing what is asked of him with a smile. After a long time, he met another faithful person but at least this time, the faithful person had a face and a name. After donating 500 rupees he owed Aliyah, Zain returns home. It was the weekend and Zain didn't work on weekends. He usually just went about the city or spent the day at home. There weren't any elaborate plans, at times he'd be on the way to the coffee shop and end up in another city. He figured some habits die hard and driving aimlessly was one of his habits. He entered the house to find his father with papers in front of him and deep in thought.

"What's up?" Zain asked as he took a seat next to his father.

"Nothing really. Just going through the financial investments; the elections are coming and we have to be ready in every sense of the word"

"So are we ready in every sense of the word?" Zain asked uninterested as he bit into an apple.

"There are some loopholes but nothing I can't fix. Why don't you join politics?" His father asked Zain for the umpteenth time.

"I am not interested. Not now, not tomorrow, not the day after dad. I am not ever going to like politics half as much as I like making money" Zain replied in all the nonchalance in the world.

"Not even a tiny bit of a chance?" Usman Abdullah tried again. Though he would never admit it, Zain was his favorite son. Right from his childhood, Usman wanted him to carry on the family legacy but Zain never found interest but thankfully Fahad did.

"Nope. I'm off. My brain can't take anymore politics" Zain says as he gets up but Usman Abdullah lays a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't forget about the brunch today" Usman Abdullah reminded Zain who grimaced but nodded in agreement.

Zain went up to his room where he took a shower then surfed the net. He went through different sites and wasted time learning about amazing' facts he would most likely forget in an hour or two. Then, after wasting considerable amount of time he got ready for the brunch and headed off to meet his father.

"Dad, you ready yet?" he called out to his father from the dining area and his mother promptly slapped him at the back of his head.

"How many time do I repeat myself?! Don't raise your voice across a distance, raise your feet to lessen it!" his mother reprimanded.

"Ready son" his father answered as he walked down the staircase and Zain thanked God for sending his father right before the onslaught of another lecture on etiquette.

"Let's roll, then" Zain replied knowing nothing annoyed his mother more than slang English.

"If I say anything, it will be considered a breath wasted!" his mother comments as the father and son duo left for the brunch.

~~~*~~~

Zain looked around the crowd when he spotted someone from a distant past but someone he clearly remembered; Gabbar uncle and his unfortunate son. He approached the duo with a fond smile.

"Asalamualaikum" Zain greets as he joins the two. There was surprise etched across both faces.

"Zain Abdullah, I've heard a lot about you from your father but it's good to finally meet the son aswell" Gabbar uncle comments clearly not remembering the Zain he had already met at a party. Zain didn't blame him though, heck he'd happily forget that aspect of his life if presented the opportunity.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir"

"Zain! We've met" Waleed says with a smile once his father excuses himself.

"So how's it going?" Zain asks conversationally as he looks about the crowd trying to spot more familiar faces.

"It's going okay I guess. Just got my degree" Waleed tries to sound nonchalant about it but Zain could sense a little hint of pride in his voice and it was well deserved according to Zain. University wasn't easy in any field but engineering just made hell feel a lot like home.

"If I remember right, you did something in engineering right?"

"Renewable and sustainable engineering" Waleed confirms promptly.

"Well thank God the hell is over"

"I want to pursue it further, get my masters maybe" Waleed says with a laugh.

"Masters in engineering? Look, if you're suicidal there are less painful ways" Zain jokes.

"Eh... maybe but I am happy going this way" Zain laughs and then remembers a significant little fact; Waleed was Aliyah's brother. He had completely forgotten about the relationship between the two.

"So...where's the rest of your family?" Zain asks cautiously. He might be careless with words but even he knew you couldn't outright ask a guy about his sister. He had to beat around the bush and let the conversation stumble' upon the subject of his sister's wellbeing then again, Zain didn't know why he was so interested the wellbeing of Aliyah but he wasn't in the mood to judge his own curiosity; he had a mother for that job.

"They're good"

"Uhuh... that's good to hear. Well it should be since you guys have an in-house doctor" Zain throws the bait.

"Yeah...wait, you know Aliyah?" Waleed asks, surprised.

"Yeah we met at the same party, I met you" Zain answers hiding the fact that he knew her before that as a serious teacher's chamcha while she knew him as a certified alcoholic.

"Oh"

"Well.. our fathers introduced us while we joined them" Zain awkwardly adds, feeling the need to clear the air about why exactly he met Waleed's sister.

"Oh right. Dad loves talking about her. She just got done with her specialization in gynecology and he feels the need to say to every passing man" Waleed says with a laugh and Zain laughs along.

So the teacher's pet is a gynecologist; that's an awkward profession" Zain thinks with a smile as he looks for her in the crowd but couldn't spot her.

"She doesn't usually join get-togethers like these" Waleed comments while Zain's wandering gaze quickly snaps to Waleed.

"I wasn't really looking for her" Zain defends without thinking.

"Who?" Waleed asks, puzzled while Zain felt the sudden urge to bang his head against a wall. Waleed was just randomly speaking of his sister's lack of interest in such places and Zain thought he was caught. Well now, he was.

"Rukhsar" Zain says with a laugh and Waleed laughs along remembering the girl who pestered Zain throughout his cousin's wedding. Zain breathes a sigh of relief.

"I heard you've set up your own business?"

"Yeah, it's a sort of experimental run. A chain of fast food outlets that specialize in Indian fast food type but let's see if it works out well" Zain says with a bit of nervousness he always feels when he talks about his newly set up business.

"Fast food? As in what we get in street stalls?"

"Yeah but then Masala Express has all sorts of fast food under one roof and we make sure that the food is prepared in much more hygienic environment"

"That's great. Maybe I should try it out sometime" Waleed says, genuinely feeling it's a great idea for a business. Zain just nods in return.

Just then the waiter comes in and informs the both of them that food is served. Zain and Waleed stay with one another through out the brunch. When it's time to part ways they both leave with each other's contact details.

~~~*~~~

Nafeesa sits by her laptop, browsing her social networking profiles. She silently wished for the sort of life her friends boasted on those websites; a happy life. She had taken an instant liking to Fahad when her father introduced them. Her father had deemed it as a secure means to expand his business without any hindrances in future and the match was made. Fahad hadn't shown much interest in the initial phase of the engagement but it was only when the wedding date was close that Nafeesa realized Fahad opposed the idea of marriage to her. By then, the marriage was well under way and protests from her were never heard. She was married in paper; a paper her husband failed to recognize. Despite all, Nafeesa had hope that she could salvage her marriage but even that hope pretty much died when Fahad went ahead and married once more. There was a chance for Fahad to make peace with his marriage but then Shazia came along and everything went back to square one. After his marriage to Shazia even the annoyance he felt for Nafeesa died. Shazia and Fahad lived the fairytale ending while Nafeesa became a part of the supporting cast in her own story.

She sighed and shut down her computer. Now, all Nafeesa looked forward to the day her father consented to her divorce which he had promised would come soon. Prior to her marriage, Nafeesa was immensely interested in Literature but was never given a chance to pursue it; after her marriage, Nafeesa managed to pursue her dream. She began reading again; writing again and soon her dreams of a perfect marriage were overthrown by dreams of finding the perfect words. She was a poet but a poet in hiding. Nafeesa picked up her book and began writing again. She never began with thoughts but with emotions. Some of her poetry was distraught thoughts and if you didn't know Nafeesa, you wouldn't know her poetry while others were more general. Some about education while others about conformation. Nafeesa smiled as her latest piece was finally written. This one was about hope.

~~~*~~~

Fahad smiled as Idress climbed onto his lap. The little boy was the exact copy of him. He still couldn't believe that the toddler could climb his lap. Fahad kissed his cheek while Shazia came into the room with Idrees' clothes in her hand. Fahad smiled she lift Idrees from his lap and changed his clothes.

"I can't believe I'm late again! I'll be at mom's if you need anything and please Fahad, take a shower already!" Shazia says as she gives him a quick kiss on his cheek and leaves the room. Shazia had gone over to her mother's for the week and had taken Idrees with him. Fahad gets up and changes into his pajamas for the night. He goes into the kitchen for some snacks. He usually avoids the kitchens at dinners knowing that Zain, or his mother must be having dinner with Nafeesa. His mother had made it abundantly clear that if he didn't like the company they had for dinner then he could have dinner in his own room.

"You should have joined me in my shopping spree" Fahad hears his mother complain and sighs. His mother was well known for her love of exploration; not of the wilderness but of a shopping mall. Shazia was similar.

In fact all women are similar when it comes to shopping' Fahad concludes mentally as he puts the pop corn in the microwave.

"But maa, that'd be like watching paint dry for me" Fahad smiles as he hears the reply and then stops realizing it was Nafeesa.

"It's not that bad" his mother says laughing.

"It's not bad, mom. It's pure torture!" Nafeesa replies sounding appalled by the mere idea of shopping.

"You don't know the joy of finding just the right sari or just the right shade"

"You make it sound like astronomy" Nafeesa jokes and once again Fahad smiles and Fahad stops himself. He quickly pours the popcorn in a bowl once it's out of the microwave and leaves to his room to retire for the night watching an episode of "Mind your language".

~~~*~~~

Zain wakes up the next morning and goes down to breakfast. His whole family is there along except Fahad. He sits in his seat and greets his parents.

"So what about Ghulam Haider's dinner?" Suraiya asks as she pours herself a glass of tea. All of a sudden, Zain's interest in the conversation perked.

"I don't think I can make it but if you would like to go then go ahead"

"No. I don't really want to go there without company and Nafeesa is busy with her university material so it's fine"

"I could take you" Zain offers trying to sound nonchalant. Everyone stops whatever it is they're busy with to stare at Zain, even the help stops moving around the table.

"I mean I'm not doing anything plus Waleed's a friend so it can't be all that bad" Zain says and Suraiya nods. Just then another shocking incident takes place when Fahad joins the table. After another moment of silence Suraiya absorbs the abnormalities of the day and continues with the conversation.

"Well I guess we could work with that" Suraiya replies as Zain smiles in response.

"How's university going dear?" Usman asks Nafeesa who smiles and relates her day.

"I had a quiz in calculus and I barely understood what I wrote. Hope my professor gives me marks for efforts" Nafeesa responds. Usman laughs and Suraiya smiles.

"I thought she was studying Literature" Fahad mumbles in annoyance, no one hears him except Zain who was seated next to him.

"Bhabhi, I thought you were studying Literature"

"I am but calculus is university requirement course for all students just as English for academic purposes" Nafeesa explains.

"You can thank me later" Zain whispers to Fahad who just gives him a look that could freeze hell over.

"Oh. That must suck. Business math in my university was hell" Zain says out loud to Nafeesa.

"Yeah, it does. Anyways I am off to university" Nafeesa bids goodbye to the family as she gets up to leave.

"But your classes start late today right?" Suraiya asks.

"Yes but I'd like to go early for revision" Nafeesa says as she gets up to leave. For some unknown reason, Fahad takes the hasty leave from the table a bit too personally.

"Alright I'll be gone too, now"

So that's all for this update. The leap must have not been as exciting but it'll gradually get better. This update was just to introduce you guys to the characters post leap. You must have noticed that a few new characters joined the brigade from the actual show but I've changed their story a bit to give the FF something other than just continuous doses of Zaya; and please bear patiently with me since Nafeesa and Fahad's story is going to be a bit hard to carry forward from this point on. And as usual you are free to let me know of anything you disliked and encouraged to let me know of everything you liked!

Next update might take some time since exams are around the corner!