A Midsummer Weekend (The Extended Version)

18. The Drama

The plane took off and I turned the screen on to look at the flight path. 

"Tell me again why we're flying West from Seattle over the Pacific, instead of East over the Atlantic like we normally do?"

"I wanted to add Thailand to the list of countries I have set foot in. Komal's already visited Thailand, so we're not officially going there any time soon", he smiled, and added, "And it takes almost the same amount of time"

I wasn't too sure about the time thing, because the 6 hour layover in Bangkok before our flight to Karachi, was a lot longer than I had ever done in any of the middle-eastern countries we would typically stop over in. But I had shrugged and let him book our tickets. After all, he would be my brother-in-law soon. 

I looked out the window as the city of Seattle faded away behind us. This was the city that I had landed in 5 years ago, with two suitcases in hand and the memories of a girl I had fallen in love with over a weekend. 

The irony of it was that I hadn't even uttered those words to her yet. But after 5 years of keeping those feelings to myself, saying it over the phone or on text just did not seem adequate. I didn't expect her to feel that way yet, but that wouldn't stop me from saying them. Right after our Nikah, just before I would pull her in for a kiss on those soft pink lips, in private of course. 

Closing my eyes I leaned my seat back slightly, and practiced in my head exactly what I would say to her. 

I love you Farah, I've been in love with you since the moment I saw you

Safdar

A strong kick in my ribs woke me up with a jolt. 

"Uloo ka...", I started to curse my friend who had decided to use the extra seat between us to plop his long legs on, and now his foot was jutting into my ribs. 

I would have pushed him off the seat had I not been desperate to get married to his sister. So, right now I was ready to suck it up and put up with anything Kamran would send my way, even his feet. 

Over the last six months, ever since I had started my first job and my parents had called up Komal's, this flight was the moment I had been waiting for. I knew how big a deal this trip was for Kamran, and I had no intention of eclipsing his wedding. But part of me wished that I too was going to Pakistan to bring home a wife...as clichéd as that sounded.

I mean, there was nothing left to decide, at least on my part. Komal and I had some video chats in the presence of our families. I had seen glimpses of her before when Kamran would chat with her, but never realized how stunning she was till we did a video chat with our families. And ever since then we had texted often, mostly about our respective work and travel, but I felt like I knew her better than I knew most of my childhood friends. 

"Chalo dosti nabha loun pehle, phir apna sochoun ga", I mumbled to myself, and turned on my screen to watch something now that I had been rudely awakened. (Fine, I'll fulfill my duties as a friend first, and then think about myself)

But oddly enough there was only static on the my screen, as there was on all the other screens around me I realized. Suddenly, the lights of the cabin completely shut off leaving us all in pitch dark. Cell phone lights turned on, and worried voices questioned, while panicked voices squealed. 

"This is your captain. The plane is under a security threat. I repeat, the plane is under a security threat. Please keep your windows closed, return to your seats and put your seatbelts on immediately", a male voice boomed across the cabin. 

Dim lights turned back on, but an eerie silence descended in the cabin and all you hear was the clicking of seatbelts. 

"Kamran, wake up", I shook my friend.