Risen from dust

Thirty Six

Daniyal quickly texted Khalifa, instructing him to meet him near Madam Mehnaz's house with the prepared sweets, some gulab jamuns, barfis, and flowers The Chaudhary family, including Harris bhai, Sairah, and Waliya Aunty, were on their way to ask for Rabail's hand in marriage. While Rabail's father was thrilled by the proposal, her mother had her reservations. As they arrived at Rabail's house, Daniyal noticed that Khalifa was already waiting with the items he had asked for.

"Sahib jee, anything else is requ--" Khalifa's sentence was interrupted as he suddenly went into a coughing fit, attempting to divert attention away from himself. Daniyal grew concerned, observing Khalifa's condition with worry. The reason Khalifa was hiding his face was because he spotted Harris and his family, and they couldn't see him. Or else they would kill him. What were they doing here? Weren't they living in Gujrat? He had to get out of here before he was caught.

"Are you okay?" Daniyal asked, his voice filled with genuine concern.

Harris bhai intervened, questioning Khalifa's presence. "Who is he, the man you hired?"

"Jee bhai, I asked him to bring the sweets and flowers. You take these inside. I will join you shortly after ensuring Khalifa is alright," Daniyal explained, trying to assure his family.

With that, the Chaudhary family proceeded inside, leaving Daniyal to tend to Khalifa. He approached him with a caring demeanour, aware that something was amiss.

"Khalifa, you don't seem well. You need to rest. Find a nearby place where you can relax. I will call you once the meeting is over, and we can discuss the next steps," Daniyal suggested, displaying his concern.

Khalifa nodded gratefully, acknowledging Daniyal's words. "Thank you, Sahib jee. I will find a place to rest and await your call."

As Khalifa made his way to find a resting place, Daniyal's mind was filled with questions. He couldn't shake off the feeling that something was not right, but for now, his focus was on the important meeting inside Rabail's house.

The scene at the Khan house was chaotic. Rabail couldn't figure out what to wear, Zenia was running around crying for attention. Noors heart went out to her, but she wasn't allowed to touch her. Zaviyaar wasn't anywhere to be found, and Mrs. Mehnaz kept muttering to herself how she could have found better for Rabail. Mr. Ibrahim welcomed the Chaudhary family and made them sit in the drawing room. He hoped his family members would get a grip and finally come down and have a chat with their guests.

"How's business going, Harris bhai?" said Ibrahim.

"Ah, good, good. What about you?" Harris asked.

"We just finalised a great deal with Mr.Qureshi yesterday, so that was a big win." said Ibrahim.

"Enough with the business talks, where are Haneen, Mehnaz, and Rabail?" Interjected, Waliya.

"On their way." said Ibrahim. As soon as the words left his mouth, all the women of the house had arrived, including a now happy Zenia.

"Asalam O Alaikum ladies." said Haneen begum. "Welcome, welcome to our house." She added.

The conversations kept flowing between the families, and Daniyal and Rabail kept stealing glances at each other. Now, the time had come to ask for what they came for, but their elder son was nowhere to be seen.

"Ibrahim bhai, where's Zaviyaar?" Harris asked.

"Zaviyaar. Wait, I will go check on him." He smiled. Zaviyaar must be in one of his foul moods, thought Ibrahim. That guy needed a good beating to open his eyes to the realities of this world. While he was looking for his son, he found Noor sitting on the sofa reciting the Quran beautifully. He didn't want to interrupt, but he had to attend to the guests and couldn't waste all his time finding him.