Love So Far

Love Bites

"Yeah, I'll see you there." 

****

"I snapped at her, in front of her mother." Zafar had his hands over his face and he groaned. "It wasn't even her fault. It was the bloody maid. But I was so humiliated that my in-laws were offering to help me in my 'difficult times', that I snapped at Fariha." 

There was a café near Model Town that he and I both used to frequent a lot, and had sort of become our usual meet-up spot. We sat at the table, our cups of coffee resting on the table in front of us, with his cup practically untouched. 

"Apologise to her." I said. "You clearly realise that you were wrong, so just go and apologise." 

"I told her not to hire that maid! Even Ammi Jaan did! Any other maid would have done, but not the one who works at her parents' house as well." 

I stared at him like he was insane. "After all the samajdari,  you fight with her for hiring the wrong maid?! Are you high on something?" 

*Samajdari: wisdom.

He looked genuinely guilty, and I could understand that he reacted in the moment, but he was wrong, and there was no doubt about that.

"Bro, I've almost lost my entire family because of my anger and ego." I said. "You know that very well, you were around to witness it all. Swallow your ego, and go and apologise. Your relationship with Fariha Bhabi is too precious for you to damage it over hiring the wrong maid." 

"I hate it when the personal matters of my family is discussed out of my family, Ahad."

"Yeah, I get it. But Fariha Bhabi didn't tell her mother. This was just unfortunate, okay? She kept it to herself, and you need to understand that." I said. "Go take her a thoughtful apology gift and bring her back home. You know she would never intentionally hurt you or cause harm to your self-respect."

As I spoke, I had basically been about to cause problems in Jasmina's life, the way Fariha Bhabi was suffering, because of my interference. Oh, s**t. "Go get her back, bro. We all know that neither of you will be happy or at peace until she's home." 

He nodded. "Yeah, I guess." 

"Think about this. Everything you do will have an impact on the kids, especially Saad and Omar right now. And because they are old enough, they might start resenting you, because it's natural for kids to side with their mother." 

"I certainly don't want that."

"Great. Then you know exactly where you're heading from here." 

He grinned. "And Arhaan Bhai once said that you'll never grow up mentally." 

"I'm a package full of surprises." I shrugged. 

Zafar and I finished our coffees, and headed out. As I was heading home, and he was going to the Ali family home, we were basically heading to the same area. I was tempted to race him, but didn't, because it could have potentially landed him in trouble with his bosses. 

Ya Allah! I really am mature now, aren't I?

****

Zoya was in a video conference with her colleagues when I got home, and I just winked at her as a greeting when I entered our bedroom. She briefly glanced at me before her gaze returned to the screen. 

I'd already showered at the gym, so I just freshened up, before heading back into our bedroom to lounge around on the sofa. 

Zoya squealed and I looked up to see her shutting the lid of her laptop.