Link to Part 2
My Friend Fareed: Part 1
"Phuphi aapko yaad hai, I was telling you that my friend Fareed from New York has come to India for his cousin's wedding? Toh kal sangeet par jaana hai mujhe," Zoya informed Dilshaad over the dinner table as she shifted the mattar paneer around on her plate disinterestedly. She'd just order some pizza later after Phuphi goes to sleep. She rolled her eyes as she heard Asad's grunt of obvious disapproval. She was talking to Phuphi anyway. He didn't need to butt in.
"Kal? That's strange, humein bhi sangeet ka invitation aaya hai, kal ka. Shabnam Bi's son is getting married," Dilshaad replied, as she lifted her glass to take a sip of water. Zoya frowned as she fell into deep thought, as if she was trying to recall something.
"If I remember correctly, Fareed had said that his cousin's name is Altaf. Is that Shabnam Bi's son's name as well?" Zoya asked, tapping her chin lightly. Dilshaad nodded slightly, unable to answer verbally because she'd just put another spoon of rice in her mouth. She didn't need to answer anyway since Najma was more than happy to do the honours.
"Jee! His name is Altaf. Aur woh kitna handsome hai Zoya! Aap kal dekhna. Too bad he's getting married. Accha so your friend Fareed is Altaf's cousin? Phir woh bhi good looking hi hoga na?" Najma gushed, balling her hands into fists and resting her chin on them as she drifted off into some sort of daydream.
Asad put his fork down loudly, in an attempt to put an end to the ridiculous conversation. This was one of the disadvantages of living in a house full of women. His ears would always become the subject of torture when they started swooning about clothes, hair, make up, cute animals or whatever else it is that they enjoy swooning about. But the absolutely worst was when they swooned about men he's never even heard of. There was nothing more irritating than that.
"Haan yaar Najma, woh bohut handsome hai. He's an absolute dreamboat. Jab tum kal dekhogi na..." Zoya began her swooning now, replicating Najma's tone and position as well. But she couldn't complete her sentence because Asad cut her off rudely, clearing his throat unnecessarily loudly.
"Haan hum sab kal sangeet pe yeh aadmi ko pehle milenge aur phir baat karenge uske baare mein. For now, can we all just have our dinner in peace?" Asad snapped, shooting a glare first at Najma and then Zoya. Najma complied easily, concentrating on finishing the food on her plate. On the other hand, Zoya simply returned his glare, all poised to retort.
"But Asad, abhi abhi dinner ke pehle jab maine poocha tha, tumne kaha tha that you won't be able to make it for the sangeet tomorrow. And now you're saying hum SAB...?" Dilshaad asked, frowning in confusion. She watched her son stare at his plate intently, his facial expression completely unreadable.
"Oh I thought you had said day after tomorrow. Kal toh main definitely aa sakta hoon," Asad replied calmly, without looking up at his confused mother. If there was one person who could easily catch his lies, it would be his mother. The truth was, he was under no misunderstanding from the very beginning. It was just that he had no interest in attending the sangeet ceremony of people he barely knew. But now, he wanted to go for the sangeet just to see what was so great about this Fareed person Zoya so proudly proclaimed as her friend.
XXXI realize I could easily have made this an OS instead of a TS, but half story post karne mein mazaa hi kuch aur hai :p Besides, I typed this much and then got lazy to continue hehe. I'll write the rest of it soon!
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