It Had To Be You

Chapter 18

"Ajin, finally we meet!" Zafar Ahmed, Inaya's father advanced towards an old man who had an oak tree tall height.

They shared a brotherly hug.

"It has been a while. Assalamualaikum Rehana bhabhi." Ajin greeted Zafar's wife.

"Alikum assalam bhaishab. Bhabhiji kidhar hai?" Rehana asked.

"She's playing with our grandson. It had been more than a year since Aiman last visited us with his family. On the occasion of this event, at least we got to see our whole family together." Ajin laughed.

"Can't deny the truth though." Zafar joined in.

"Assalamualaikum uncle." Inaya entered the room while carrying a bouquet and a gift bag in her hand.

"Aahhh Inaya, walaikum assalam, meri bacchi. Mashallah! You look beautiful. Bhabhiji, I hope you'd applied her a kaala teeka before bringing her here. She's gonna have all the eyes on her today." Ajin's features softened looking at the young girl.

Inaya blushed.

"Aur bata bhi koun rahe hain? Jo khud apne suit boot ke saath party mein chaar chaand laga rahe hai." Her counterback made Ajin crackle out a hearty laugh before patting her clothed head.

She handed over the bouquet to her father.

"Yeh lo, Ajin. Retirement Mubarak ho." Zafar congratulated him.

"Arey, yeh meri retirement party thode hi hai. I still have a few months to go before I actually unload my burden onto my sons' shoulders and live a peaceful life with my wife. For now, this is just a welcome party for my son who has returned to his motherland after 14 years. An opportunity to introduce him to our corporate world and celebrate the new chapter of his life." Ajin explained.

"Koi na. Tu yeh advance retirement ki badhaaiyaan samajhkar rakh le. Retirement ceremony mein aur bhi bada bouquet laaunga." Both the men laughed.

"Accha chalo main tumhe apne bete se toh mila doon." Saying that Ajin started scanning through the crowd assembled in the hall. He gestured for someone to come to them.

Inaya's phone started ringing.

"Hello."

"Hello Innu! I forgot to hand you the exchange card for the suit you took."

"What exchange card?" Inaya asked confused. She'd got a good two steps away from them to not disturb their conversation.

"Arey, the showroom that we visited, gives an exchange card incase later some exchanges or adjustments are required by the customer. It's exclusively for premium garbs I guess. That's why Nanlini handed me one as she had forgotten to put it in your gift bag. But in haste, it slipped my mind to hand it to you." Aashika explained.

"Oh, I see." Inaya took a moment to think about it.

"So... Should I come there and hand it to you?" Aashika offered.

Inaya was called by her father to hand the host the gift bag. She walked towards them with slow steps and forwarded the gift bag towards the new intruder, without sparing as much as a glance at him.

"No that's fine. It's too late now and you need to rest after such a long day. Take care. Bye." Inaya whispered in haste.

"Bye." Aashika cut the call.

As soon as the call was ended, the strap of the gift bag was held by another hand and she looked towards the now new face only to find it shockingly familiar.

"This is my son for whom this party has been organised. Meet our future CEO of 'Khan Enterprises', Arhaan Khan. And Arhaan this is Uncle Zafar's daughter, Inaya." Ajin introduced them with a sudden notch of excitement in his voice.