Nikkah

20

Same day, evening.
Aryaan had texted Zarah his home address since four o'clock because he knew meeting new people for the first time for her might be awkward. He had arrived there since that time and waited for her in his car, but it was seven, the time when the Maghrib prayer was called, and there was no sign of her. He expected she would text him, at least if she had changed her mind, since when he volunteered the idea, she didn't show any disapproval, but he didn't receive any message.

In the end, he got tired of waiting by himself and left to go in, but the engine of a car pulling up made him halt, and within seconds, she was standing in front of him, panting, because she ran while going to him.

As he opened his mouth to share his displeasure with how she treats time, she quickly spoke,

"I'm very sorry. I was reluctant when I saw your message because your family and I share no relation," she said while being out of breath.

He was nonetheless still angry, but since he had no right to comment about it, he quietly nodded.

"Come on. We don't know each other, so you have no right to be mad at me. As the saying goes, therapists have no right to be upset with their patients."

He stopped midway and turned, giving her a blank stare as he tried to understand if she really didn't want him to be upset. As she flickered her long lashes innocently, he sighed and nodded, letting it pass, and she smiled broadly because, like always, her eyes made someone forgive her.

She scanned his house once, and it was nothing near her home. Her house had sumptuous furniture right from the entrance, but here, everything looked plain, according to her.

"Mum! Sanam!"

Her body reacted when he screamed their names because she wasn't used to someone yelling with her in the room.

They came down at once, though Sanam lingered behind with fear across her face at the thought of why she was at her home.

"Good evening, Aunt." She greeted her with a warm hug and then pulled away.

"Evening. We couldn't speak yesterday because you looked"

"I know. Unfriendly," she smiled awkwardly, and then her face became apologetic, "Sorry. But I'm here to make up for it. We can know each other tonight."

"I'm going to the mosque, but I'll be back shortly." When he saw she had gotten comfortable with his mother, he left.

Her eyes then furthered at Sanam, who looked very disturbed by her presence, and she waved at her, smiling warmly.

"Sanam, stay with her. I'll also go and pray Maghrib, and please give her tea and snacks." She instructed before she also disappeared into a door. After she left, Zarah heaved a long sigh of relief and then followed her into the guest's living room, where both of them settled down.

"How are you?" Sanam asked her, though she was very nervous before her.

"I'm fine. How are you?"

"I'll go and bring tea."

Zarah's hands on hers stopped her, and she responded,

"Don't bother. I'm fine,"

"Thank you for bailing my father," she brought up after they fell into silence to stir up a conversation.

"You will repay me one day, won't you?"

Her brows furrowed slightly, not able to grasp what she meant. "How?" she asked.

"I don't know, but when the time arrives, you will, right?" Her face was serious, and so she nodded without asking any further questions.

"Good." She smiled while exhaling a breath.

Another moment of silence passed between them. In fact, Zarah even became busy on her phone until Sanam asked her, "How is Azaan?"

She kept her phone aside and observed her slowly—she was still nervous. "He's always fine. You should know that as his girlfriend. Doesn't he share about his days with you?"

"Well, it's been five days since we last spoke to each other. He said he would be busy this month, so we should take a break because he doesn't want his attention to be diverted into two things."

That was a piece of news she didn't know about, and her face mirrored that surprise. Regardless, she didn't want to think of other things, so she inquired, "But he texts, right? At least once in a day?"

"His last message to me was three days ago,"

She hummed and replied, "I'll find out what is keeping him busy. He had asked me to meet him later, so I'll find it out for you. But yes, you must repay that favour as well." Her tone turned serious towards the end while she nodded happily and responded,

"Anything you ask from me,"