"A collab between your favorites, the queen of romance, Sumaiya Thaseen, and the knight of social issues, Saroosh Malik."
Opposites attract? ✓
Disapproving mother-in-law ✓
Fate bringing them together despite it all ✓
See inside for a detailed syn...
Yahya's heart hammered in his ribcage as Mr. Ahamed stood up and took long strides back and forth in the corridor. Each passing minute only elevated Yahya's anxiety.
What if he had said something out of place was the constant thought burning in his soul.
"You do not have to remind me of the uncertainties of life and how many tribulations my children have been through." A silence descended on them again. "My Aashiq's demise is enough and it is something that makes me know how uncertain this life is."
"Even though you claim to know the pain we have gone through and are going through, you can never understand it."
Yahya kept quiet, his silence urging the old man to speak more. " Anjum is all I have left after my son. She is not just my daughter, rather she is my everything. My luxury falls in defeat in front of her because she is my treasure, Yahya."
" You are not asking for my daughter's hand but you are silently asking me to give up my treasure," Mr. Ahamed said, falling in his seat, " That is why it's becoming hard for me to believe your words and question your intentions. I am sorry."
Yahya moved in his seat to sit adjacent to Mr. Ahamed, he placed his hands over the old man's hands and clutched them tight. "No, don't be sorry. If I had been in your place, I would have done the same too. After all, we are talking about daughters," He said with eyes glistening, " They are not just treasures. They are the Rahma and Barakah of every household. No one has the right to look down at them. Daughters are the strength of their fathers. I know this because when Rafa got married, it pained me a lot. It took me days to accept the fact that the fairy charm of my house has gone to bestow its charm on another house."
"You see, my parents were always away. I played the role of a father and mother to her. I love her so much."
He didn't realize when his emotions started pouring from his eyes, he unwrapped his fingers from holding the old man and wiped his face. When he looked up, their eyes met. Glazed and full of understanding.
Yet Yahya could see a spark of doubt still lingering in those oceanic green eyes and he didn't have any more words to prove his love in front of him.
That's when his heart started to sink into an abyss of failure.
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The dull aftertaste of the oat milk hit his palate as he took another sip of the apple crisp latte. The warm droplets that crowded his lips were a striking contrast to the cold early morning.
He better be here in five more minutes, or else this cold will settle in my bones.
His eyes watched throngs of passengers leading out of the terminal, fatigued and expectant of a warm bed to sleep in soon. It was only 7 am, and no one wanted to be awake this early on a Saturday. That was exactly why Mahad had taken the 7 am flight, it would beat the crowds, he had said. But it had also meant Abdur Rehman had left his beautiful wife in bed at 5:30 am and started towards LAX.
