Hiyaaa! Long time no see :S
As you guys know I'm in India right now.
So the next update will also be short like this one. There's no time for all this, you know :(
Love you :*
And don't keep your hopes high up for this chapter. There's nothing in it :P Like, literally.
OPEN YOUR EYES, REMEMBER ME
CHAPTER 5
Screeech.
The driver hit the brakes and the car came to a halt. Aaliya saw a sign board nearby. B-52 Rajajipuram Kukrail Ghat, Bhopal, it said. Though she knew every nook and corner of Bhopal by heart, she'd never heard of this place before, let alone being here.
"Chalo Aaliya beta! Niklo niklo!" Asmita said hurriedly.
Aaliya got down from the car, her heavy bridal attire making her sweat more than usual.
"Ammi? Hamara nikaah yahan hai?" Aaliya asked looking at the abandoned building looming above them.
"Arey beta ab kya bataye! Aaj kal toh shaadiyon ka zamaana hai, theek thak marriage halls milna hi bahot mushkil hota hai. Tum toh jaanti hi hogi na." Asmita said.
Aaliya nodded.
"Fikr mat karo, andar jaakar tumhe aisa kuch bhi nahin lagega." Asmita smiled at Aaliya and they walked towards the entrance of the building.
And, surprisingly, Asmita was not wrong. Aaliya stepped inside the building and looked around.
There was a single room, it's walls decorated with red and white roses and it's floor covered in a thick golden carpet, just as she liked. But all this did nothing to undo the knot in her chest, to reduce the dread she felt at the moment.
In the center were placed two deewans separated by a thin silver and red curtain. Very few people were to be seen.
She broke out of her reverie when she realised that her Ammi Abbu should have been here by now.
"Ammijaan?" Aaliya turned around but Asmita was nowhere to be seen. She decided she'd wait and walked up to the deewan and sat down.
A lady dressed in blue sharara offered her water which she gladly accepted, she was feeling thirsty more than usual today. She took out her napkin and wiped the sweat off her forehead. And waited.
"Arey bhai! Qaazi Saheb kahaan kho gaye?! Dulha Dulhan tayyar hain! Bulao unhe koi!" Asmita's voice echoed in the room.
Aaliya looked up and saw Zeeshan walking up towards the deewan on the other side of the veil. If Zeeshan was here then her parents would be here too. That made things little better for Aaliya.
Zeeshan was wearing an off white sherwani and a golden pagdi. He was not wearing a sehra covering hence she was free to study his face.
She looked at Zeeshan.
At his small eyebrows, his small eyes, small nose, small smile playing at the corner of his lips. A smile she didn't know what to make of.
At that moment, she realized how much more handsome Zain was from Zeeshan.
And at that moment, she too realized that she'd know it all along, only not accepted it to herself.
And now, she had accepted.
She didn't know why she was even thinking about Zain. He was the most irritating person she'd known in her 22 year old life.
Yet.
Yet she thought about him.
She sighed. She felt like a million tons of brick were loaded on her head and her head would split any moment due to the weight and all she wanted to do was to crawl in her mother's lap and sleep.
And keep sleeping.
But life demanded more from her.
More than she could give.
More than she even wanted to give.
"Aaliya beta." A voice broke her train of thoughts.
"Jee Ammijaan. Woh mein aap hi ko dhoond rahi thi. Mein pooch rahi thi ki Ammi--"
"Haan beta. Mein wahi batane ke liye tumhare paas aayi hoon. Samdhan Ji aur Samdhi Ji traffic mein phas gaye hain. Shayad woh doosri road se gaye honge--"
"Lekin Zeeshan toh aa gaye. Aapne kaha tha wahi laa rahe hain Ammi Abbu ko." Aaliya looked at Asmita.
Asmita blinked.
She hadn't considered that angle.
"Woh...beta.." She stuttered. This girl was always two steps ahead of her. "Haan...lekin woh kya hai na ki.."
"Ki driver already aa gaya tha." Aaliya looked up to see Zeeshan smiling down at her, he continued, "Mein unhe lekar nikalne waala tha ki driver already pahunch gaya. Toh meine gaadi driver ko hand over kardi aur khud auto se ghar chala gaya. Aur bas abhi abhi ghar se tayyar hokar nikla hoon." He finished.
"Haan..haan!" Asmita said, relived. "S-sahi kaha." Everything had gone smooth till now. She did not want any last minute nonsense to ruin what she was so close to achieving.
"Dekhiye hame aur doosri mashghooliyan bhi hain. Nikaah jaldi shuru karwaya jaye." An old but firm voice said.
Aaliya realized it was the Qazi.
"Nahin!" Aaliya panicked. "Ammijaan abhi Ammi Abbu nahin aaye hain, ham nikaah kaise shuru kar sakte hain?"
Asmita sat beside Aaliya and rested her hand on her shoulder.
"Aaliya mein samajh sakti hoon beta ki nikaah ke roz ek ladki ke liye uske maa baap ka hona kitna zaruri hota hai. Tumhari tadap mein samajh sakti hoon beta. Lekin, meri bacchi, samajhne ki koshish karo, halaat hi aise hain. Qazi Saheb ko der ho rahi hai. Agar woh chale gaye toh kahaan se layenge doosre Qazi?"
Aaliya looked down and fisted her hand in her lehenga. Her bottom lip quivered and she bit it to keep herself from crying.
There was no one here.
No one she knew, atleast.
The room was scattered with people with strange faces, people she did not know. They smiled at her, but it did not reach their eyes. So technically, it was not a smile. It was a mere twisting of their faces.
She missed her parents. She wanted them to be here.
And for the first time in her life.
She missed him.
Him.
Zain.
"Aur Zain?" Aaliya asked Asmita, trying to blink away the tears which were threatening to spill.
"Zain?" Asmita asked surprised.
Aaliya lowered her eyes. " Haan...woh bhi nahi aa raha?"
"Bulaya tha meine use." Zeeshan said. "Lekin usne kaha he's simply not interested'."
Aaliya stared at Zeeshan.
He held up his hands. "His words not mine."
"Oh." Was all she said. Nothing else seemed fit.
It didn't surprise her, though.
Nothing surprised her anymore.
Aaliya sat up straight on the deewan.
"Nikaah shuru karte hain." She said as she stared ahead of her indifferently.
***
I'm not there not IF doesn't mean you don't comment and all okay?
You still have to Like&&Comment.
If you love me, that is :P
I love you still <3 That's why I'm updating inspite of all ;)
Next update will be...I have no idea when.
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