Posheeda (پوشیدَہ) -
Concealed; Hidden
*****
Marwan Qureshi, a commando in the Indian army had two goals set in life. One, not to let his father's poisonous words get to him and two, spend the rest of his life serving his...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
*****
"Aa gaye nawab zade?"
Marwan bit his tongue in absolute restraint, trying not to spit anything unwanted in the presence of Ziah who seemed the least bit interested in witnessing a heated family drama.
Marwan could only utter a silent salam to his father's mocking words and Waheed Qureshi chuckled in a cold tone before replying to his son's greetings.
"Dimaag badal gaya hai ki abhi bhi banduk pakde rakhne ka irada hai?"
"Aap kya-"
Madiha tried to intervene since the tension in the room kept rising second after second but was silenced when Waheed gave a not-so subtle glare to his wife.
Marwan fisted his hands as he looked at the scene. The numerous occasions from the past year kept resurfacing as memory after memory hit him hard but alas, when did his father care?
"Banduk toh haal filhal mein nahi chutne wali. Aap bataye, paiso se dimaag hat gaya hai ya nahi?"
Waheed clenched his jaw at the blatant disrespect and Marwan could only smirk knowing very well that he hit a nerve. Waheed took a step forward to put some sense in his son's mind but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the small female clutching onto Marwan's sleeves.
Marwan followed his father's gaze and his stiff body froze the very second. Ziah's eyes were lowered as she tried to hide behind him. The rage on Waheed's face might have disturbed her to an extent that she didn't realise when her hands fisted Marwan's sleeves in an attempt to calm her anxiety filled state.
Marwan's eyes softened considerably on seeing her frightened expression and he could only sigh before caressing the back of her palm with a gentle smile.
"Kuch nahi hua hai. Tum mama ke saath jao, main abhi thodi der mein aatu hu. Hmm?"
Ziah looked at him for a nanosecond, the clear conflict in her eyes didn't settle well with him as he looked at his mother for help. Madiha nodded her head in assurance and gently took Ziah's hands in hers.
"Thak gayi hogi safar ke dawraan. Thoda araam karlo, uske baad main tumhe ghar ka tour de dungi. Chale?"
Madiha's voice held a motherly love to it and Ziah gulped down the tsunami of emotions within her. This was all getting too much for her to handle and giving one last look to Marwan who was already smiling at her, she followed Madiha silently as the elder woman led her away from the tension-filled scene.
