BOUND

PROLOGUE

Faris was sitting cross-legged on one of the cubed armchairs residing adjacent to a square dinner table while having the company of Mr. Dawood and his old companions. They were fervently discussing contemporary politics, a topic in which Faris had very little interest. He had no intention of being here tonight. As a matter of fact, if it wasn't for his driver's unannounced absence, Faris wouldn't have volunteered to escort his father to attend this wedding reception and he would be spending his weekend comfortably laying on his recliner watching Wimbledon's final instead.

It was getting late and Faris was waiting impatiently for the chafing dishes to open up so that they could get over with dinner and return home sooner, but there was no sign of movement from waiters or servers near the buffet tables. Faris assumed that the reason for this unwanted delay was probably because groom's side hadn't arrived yet even though by conventional norms they should have been here by now, but Faris couldn't care any less. All he wanted was to leave as early as he could, because the prospect of having to stay a bit longer among these elderly citizens who he barely knew didn't sound very exciting to him.

Bored by the ongoing conversation on their table, Faris' gaze wandered off across the hall surveying trivial details. The banquet was glamorous, and its size was humongous with a capacity to accommodate at least thousand guests. Everything was looking extravagant and well decorated as if no expense was spared, which perplexed Faris to some extent because he recalled that on their way here to the reception, Mr. Dawood had told him that they were attending the wedding of Mr. Wani's daughter.

Mr. Dawood once told Faris that Mr. Wani was among his oldest and closest friend and unlike his father who belonged to an elite businessmen family, Mr. Wani was a member of a large middle-class household who weren't rich, and he had worked all his life for a nine to five job as a hard-working salaried employee. However, looking at the magnitude of this wedding, Faris was under the impression that either his father gave him an inaccurate account of Mr. Wani's financial stature or Mr. Wani has spent his lifetime worth of saving hosting this event.

Suddenly, Faris heard a disruption near the stage, and what he was about to witness next was completely going to eradicate his boredom. When Faris shifted his attention towards the stage, he saw couple of ladies and men shouting and whining at each other. Comparatively they were much more dressed-up than the rest of the guests, indicating that all of them were very close family members of the bride. At the center of this commotion was standing Mr. Wani, a short and balding man who was trying his level best to calm everyone down and put everything under control, but he was failing miserably.

Frustrated, Mr. Wani had to walk away from the crowd and now he was coming towards the table where Faris and Mr. Dawood were sitting. From close proximity Faris could make out Mr. Wani's face which had completely lost its color as if he has just been struck by a lightning bolt. As he walked past their table, Faris heard him talking on his phone with a quivering voice and practically begging to the person on the other side of the call to save his family from this terrible humiliation.

Something dreadful had unfolded. All of Mr. Dawood's friends sitting at the table began to gossip about the situation, but Mr. Dawood had not made any contribution in such idle discussion. Instead, he stood up from his armchair and walked away to inquire what was going on. When Faris attempted to follow him, Mr. Dawood signaled to him to stay where he was while he went and have a chat with Mr. Wani alone.

Faris' eyes were fixed at his father who was now conversing with Mr. Wani. In mere seconds, Mr. Wani broke down and helplessly started crying resting his head on Mr. Dawood's shoulder, and just like a loyal friend Mr. Dawood began to console him while rubbing his arm. Mr. Dawood was now whispering something in Mr. Wani's ear which caused him to lean back and look at Faris' father in disbelief. Faris had no clue what his father was telling Mr. Wani but he was sure that it was very effective, because Mr. Wani had stopped crying and was now looking assured as if he was put under a spell by Mr. Dawood.