"Sanam! Earth to Sanam! Meri pyaari behna! Sanam!!!" Sanam suddenly broke out of her thoughts, startled as she saw that eight pairs of eyes were on her.
Seher narrowed her eyes and continued, "kaha khoyi hui ho meri jaan. I have been calling you forever. Zara salad pass karogi. Choro main hi le lete hoon. Tum salad pass karte karte toh mera khana bhi khatam ho jayega."
"Oh sorry sorry meri maa. Here you go."
"Wah wah iss baat pe ek sher aarz hai" Zoya said excitedly.
"Wah Wah Wah Wah" Asad said robotically as if on cue. Zoya tossed him an irritated look and smiled the next instant.
"Jab dimag pe dalo zor, Aur behen ko karo ignore... Tab ammi ki tarah socho! Na bano Abu jaise bore! Shukriya Shukriya Shukriya!"
"Really Mrs. Khan! Aur mujhe laga tha ki aap ke pehle wale sher jo aap subha sunayi thi use ghatiya koi ho hi nahi ho sakta. Par aapne usko bhi top kardiya," Asad said shaking his head.
"Asad! Meri bahu ko satana bandh karo. Yeh bechari...
"Ammi woh bechari nahi hai!
"Anyway Abu kaun si shayeri" Seher asked curiously.
"Seher main batati hoon. Woh--"
"Mrs. Khan please ek time par ek hi kafi hai. Aap aapka talent mat waste kijiye." Zoya gave him a dirty look as Seher and Dilshad stifled their grin. Even Sanam bit her lip to suppress her smile.
Asad turned to her. "Tum theek ho Sanam. Jabse hum yahan aaye hai tum thodi si disturbed ho. Your very quiet too. Are you not hungry? You want me to order something else princess?" Asad always referred to Sanam as princess and Seher as pari affectionately.
"No Abu I am fine" Its just that I cant stop thinking about those two eyes. Yikes what was she thinking! But Sanam knew her father would start to get worried if she didnt clarify. She touched his hand to reassure him.
"Main theek hoon Abu, here let me give you some more chicken. Infact I want some more too and some salad. I was just thinking about some of the new projects we are handling."
"Dont stress over it Sanam. Slowly you will get the hand of it." Asad smiled at his daughter with pride in his eyes. Sanam knew that this was she always wanted. To make her parents proud and to fulfill her own dreams about being an independent working woman. Sanam pushed aside all the thoughts of any unwanted intruder.
"By the way Seher, tumhara woh naya job offer aya hai na. Uski interview kab hai?"
"Bahut jaldi Api. In fact, ek hafte main."
"Tumhe nervous hone ki koi zarurat nahi. You will do awesome pari!" Asad smiled at his other daughter.
"Mr. Khan! Of course woh nervous kyun hongi. Aapne kabhi mujhe nervous hote hue dekha hai. I mean have you ever seen me nervous! Aur meri betiyaan...thank god iss department mein mujh pe gaye hai. They will always be confident! Aap ko yaad hai jab maine Najma ke college mein unn ladko ki dhulayi ki thi, aur phir police--"
"Mujhe yaad hai Mrs. Khan maine hi aapko police station se lane ki liye gaya tha. I definitely remember that one."
"Aur phir aapne mujhe ghar se nikal diya tha" Zoya pouted.
"Par maine hi unn gundo si aapko bachaya tha lekin aap ne mera saara credit le liya." Asad gave her a mock angry look.
"Aap bas bhi karo tum dono. Itne saal beet gayi phir bhi tum dono ka jhagra khatam nahi hota" Dilshad gave her son and daughter in law a stern look and then smiled at them.
"Lekin iss jhagre mein hi toh Ammi aur Abu ka pyaar hai Badi Ammi" Sanam said looking at her parents affectionately. They were so lucky to get love. Allah kare inka pyaar hamesh aise hi rahe. If only all of us were so lucky. Sanam knew very few were lucky in love and she was probably not one of them. She had never fell in love before and dated only 2 guys casually. But she knew with the growing need for independence, a stable career and the changing mentally, love was losing its innocence and purity. But seeing her parents so devastatingly in love made Sanam light a small candle of hope somewhere inside of her that maybe some of their luck has been passed on to her and Seher. She smiled as she caught Seher's eyes. Her sister, though not fond of cheesy love stories, believed that love would come her way one day or another. She just didn't want to look for it nor dream of it. Their cousin Haya, Najma Phupi's daughter, on the other hand, was a die hard romantic.
"Badi Ammi aap ne kaha tha ke Abu aur Ammi pehle dinse hi jhagra karte hai. Aur Abu mujhe yeh bhi pata hai ke aapko Ammi se pehli nazar mein hi pyaar ho gaya tha..." Seher said with a naughty smile as Asad looked at his youngest daughter with pure horror and even Zoya blushed.
Sanam shook her head at her sisters bluntness. Seher was something else! But she loved her sister to death. Their own world, consisting of the five of them was simple yet happy. Thats all Sanam needed. She didn't want much in life except for a happy family and successful career. A simple life was all she want. No unsteady feelings, no unwanted attention and definitely no intense glares from rich players like Aahil Raza Ibrahim!
The Khan family as usual made sure that even lunch at their favorite restaurant was a memorable event by sharing anecdotes and funny stories. Their laughter was enough to show how much fun they were having, talking, eating and spending time with each other. Sanam loved spending time with her family for this very reason.
Suddenly Zoya looked at Asad, "hmm didnt you have your meeting with the Chote Nawab today. Whats his name Aahil Ra--"
"Aahil Raza Ibrahim yup I did." Sanam felt her heart beat furiously hearing that name. She drank some water to stop the pulsating inside her chest.
"Care to elaborate" Zoya said smiling. Asad rolled his eyes.
"I knew you were going to ask. I swear it was one of those deals where you really wonder what you've got yourself into and its only the beginning."
"Come on Abu, he cant be that bad. I mean he's quite famous and cute you know." Asad looked at her shocked.
"Before you panic Mr. Khan, let me tell you that Seher is just kidding. I mean do you remember I used to find MS Dhoni cute back in the day, well you know what I mean. Iska matlab yeh nahin ke mujhe usse pyaar tha. Mere MS Dhoni tho aap hai." Zoya winked as Asad gave her a sarcastic look.
"Anyway he is an over confident, rich, stuck up businessman who feels that the world is in his pocket just because he is the son of a Nawab and has all the money in the world to buy anything he wants. I wonder what his parents taught him. I mean seriously, he doesn't even know how to talk to his elders."
As Sanam heard all of this, the two striking eyes flashed before her. She recalled the confusion, intensity and humor in his eyes and then the hurt, shock and anger in them. Sanam tried to ignore the twisted feeling inside of her stomach. Maybe she just ate more than she should have. Sanam drank some more water as her father continued to describe the man she had met earlier, Aahil Raza Ibrahim. Surely her father understood better than her, in fact she had felt the same way too. Then why was she feeling so uneasy, as if she needed to defend him. After all, in one meeting how much can she determine about who he is to defend him. But then the same could be said about judging him? Sanam face palmed herself mentally. This was too confusing!
Luckily Zoya spoke and interrupted Sanam's thoughts which were going in a direction that she definitely didn't want it to.
"Allah Miya whats wrong with you Mr. Khan, manta hoon ke pehle aap thode bahut judgemental hua karte the. I mean mujhe bhi kitna bhara bula kehte the. But then you realized your mistake and now you are the first one to point out that we should not gossip nor say anything wrong about anyone we don't know. I mean yesterday you were telling me not to call Mrs. Gazala stinky just because she doesn't change her clothes everyday. Toh phir! Aap ne ek hi meeting mein decide kar liya ke woh itna bura hai. Aap ya main ya koi bhi kitna janta hai uske bare mein. Yeh newspaper aur magazine ke har baat sach nahin hai aur yeh hum seh behtar kaun jaan sakhta hai. I said this earlier too when Sanam went off about him."
"Mrs. Khan I agree with you. Its just he frustrated me. But your right we have no right to judge him so easily." Zoya smiled and felt proud that her Mr. Khan was no longer judgmental. Zoya loved Asad for who he was but that was one quality of his she was glad he improved on because honestly no one deserved to be judged so quickly.
"Haan Asad, kabhi kabhi insaan bahar se jaisa dikhta hai waisa hai nahin. Tum khud bhi toh aapna feelings chupate the. Kabhi kiski insaan ke andar koi aisa dard ya koi aise yaadein chupi rehti hai jiske dar se woh khud ke aas paas ek deewar kara karta hai takhe use dard na ho. Woh duniya ko ek aur hi roop dikhata hai takhe usse koi dard na de sakhe ya kamzoor na samaj sakhe. Yeh shayad ek tarah ka self defense hota hai." Dilshad added.
Hearing her Badi Ammi's words, Sanam was forced to think to herself. Was she wrong about Mr. Aahil Raza Ibrahim? Was there really another man hiding behind the arrogant, overconfident and brash businessman? Was her first impression of him wrong?
"Aap bilkul theek kehte hai Ammi. Mr. Khan aapne dekha Ammi aur meri kitni banti hai" Zoya said hugging Dilshad as Asad chuckled.
"You can stay with your Ammi, I have my two daughters"
"Nah meri betiyan meri side par hai." As the bickering continued Sanam thought about what happened earlier, maybe she should not have blasted like that. That too based on that one incident. But then she recalled what made her think the way she did and she shook her head. The less she thought about Aahil Raza Ibrahim the better it would be. The farther she stayed away from him the safer it would be, for her dignity and sanity!
After ordering some yummy chocolate cake for desert, the entire family was stuffed and Asad called for the bill. After paying, Seher suddenly turned to Asad.
"Abu mujhe na ek nayi watch karidna hai. Main mall se ghumke aao. Main jaate waqt Ammi aur Badi Ammi ko ghar chor dungi"
"Sure lekin zyaada dher tak mat rehna, hum sab aaj dinner bhi ek saat karenge."
"Yes sir!" Seher said smiling as Asad chuckled giving his daughter a kiss on her forehead and handed her some cash.
"I know you have your credit card pari but just in case."
"Mr. Khan! Aap aur aapka OCD. Mujhe aur Rabert ko iss ka first hand experience mila tha." Zoya said rolling her eyes as Dilshad and the girls started laughing. They all knew the story of how Ammi tried to stop Abu from going to court along with Ayaan chachu and failed big time with their plans because of Abu's extra cautious nature.
As the girls hugged to say good bye before parting ways to Asad and Seher's respective cars, Asad pulled aside Zoya under the pretext of collecting the receipt.
"Mrs. Khan lagta hai aaj aapko bahut kuch yaad aa raha hai. Aap ko yeh bhi yaad hoga ke hum ne bhaang ke pakore kha kar kya kya kiye tha aur kya nahi. Aur shayad kuch aur bhi yaadein hai jo hum aaj raat phir se taza kar sakhte hai" Asad whispered naughtily in her ear.
Zoya closed her eyes as Asad's breath caressed her sensitive skin. "Mr. Khan aap ke tameez, lihaaz aur tehzeeb ka kya hua? Aap bade naughty ban rahe hai."
"Aha par aap toh koi ghyaar nai. Meri Zoya hai." At that Zoya looked into his eyes and she could still see the same love that was there from the very beginning.
"Waise Mr. Khan aap ko nahin lagta ke bache yeh soch rahe hongi ke hume itna der kyun lag rahe hai." Zoya attempted to change the topic.
"Aap baat ko ghuma rahi hai. But I will let it slide. Lekin Mrs. Khan yeh conversation yahan khatam nahi hoti." Zoya felt heat rise up her cheeks as she blushed and pulled away. They composed themselves and walked around to where the girls and Dilshad were waiting by the cars.
While walking away to the seperate cars, the twins exchanged knowing glances and smiled. As Sanam got into Asad's car she thought about how exciting the life of her Ammi and Abu was and still is. She wondered if such excitement would ever be present in her own life. As the car drove away, she again thought about that annoying man, seriously did he know some magic? Why was she thinking about him again. Sanam shook her head and decided to focus on the view outside the window of the car. This was definitely not what she meant as excitement in case Allah Miya was listening!
46