Love So Far

Emotions

"What?" I looked up at her, and she nodded towards where Zafar sat, chatting to Jasmina Bhabi. "Why would that bother me?" 

"Well, it's not a secret that Zafar used to be in love with Jasmina." She shrugged.

"Dosron ke characters pe ungliyan uthane ka shauk hai kya aap ko?" I asked, keeping my tone calm so as to not startled my baby son.

*"Do you enjoy pointing fingers at other people's characters?"

"I'm just saying. Jasmina doesn't have a good history either. Girls like her are not very..."

"Astaghfirullah!" I literally felt sick at her words. "She's my Bhabi, and is expecting my Bhai's second child. How dare you?" I took a deep breath. "I'll go and get Bhai, and you can warn him." I turned and walked away from here. I had no intention to tell my brother about this, especially not on his daughter's birthday, but if that was the only way to shut Sadistic Bhabi up, then so be it.

****

Ahad

"Of course Mumani is upset!" Omar was quietly telling his younger brother, Saad, as I passed them by to get more cake for Ismael, who had asked me with an adorable expression. "You left Hania out on the street by herself, on purpose. Of course Mumani would be angry about that. She's her Mama." 

What the f**k? I frowned. Hania was left on the street alone? My jaw clenched as I thought about the amount of times Fatima Aunty had flipped out at our family when Hania was a newborn, and till now. She'd always acted like Hania only meant something to her Dadiyal.

I felt like immediately going over to Zafar and asking him about it, but then I reminded myself that it was Hania's birthday, and that I couldn't ruin it.

However, I was not the only one who had heard Omar and Saad's conversation, and trust me, there are some people in the world who basically live for drama. 

"What?!" Sadia Bhabi's loud gasp made me turn. "You left Hania out on the street by herself? Astaghfirullah! What kind of kids is Fariha raising? Truly like their biological father!" 

And her words made me realise one thing: as a grown man in my late twenties, I had behaved in a horrible way, so who was I to judge a kid more than two decades younger than me? I had been through a similar stage as Saad, but much later in my life, and if I had earned forgiveness, I had no right to be feeling mad at Saad, who had already experienced a lot of crap in the seven years of his life.

I walked over to where the boys were standing, looking up at Sadia Bhabi, anxiously. "Boys, come on. You want to see my bike?" I knew for a fact that they both adored my motorcycle. 

"Yes!" Saad forgot about Bhabi's harsh words. 

I turned to face Bhabi before I followed them out. "Bhabi, I don't know what happened that day, but you have no right to criticise or judge unless your own kid was involved. And please think a few times before saying such harsh stuff about kids. Psychologically, this can have a very negative impact on them, and as a doctor you should know that." I then strode outside, to show the boys my motorcycle. 

Zoya followed and we watched as the boys admired the bike. She slipped her hand in mine. "You know how s*xy you are, when you're standing up for someone else?"