With Love

Chapter 11: little surprises

"How are your exam preparations going?" Ammi asked.

Israh hummed. "They're going fine, Alhamdulillah. I just hope my mind doesn't go blank at the last minute. I remember that happening during my GCSEs. It was the worst."

Sidra held Israh's hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "It's going to be fine. Everything. InnShaAllah."

"InnShaAllah." Both Sikander and Israh spoke at the same time.

***

Israh laid down a cloth on the slightly dewy grass and sat down on it, dropping her bag onto it. She retrieved the tiffin of now cold samosas from her bag, and placed it out in front of her, before texting her friends to ask where they all were.

She didn't have to wait long before Noor and Aliya were waving at her from afar, almost running toward her. She smiled widely and waved back, instantly feeling her mood shift to a more positive one. Being with her friends anywhere these days was her safe haven, more than her own home. It sounded bad to say it like that, but it was true, and the guilt couldn't deter her from reaching for the few moments of joy she could get. She deserved that.

Noor hugged her first, a tight bear hug that almost cut out Israh's oxygen supply but was still more than welcome. "I missed you my cutie patootie."

Israh hugged her back, tapping Noor's back to let go a minute later. "I missed you too, Noorie. I'm so glad we could finally meet now. It's been too long."

Noor pulled away with a pout. "I knowwww. These placements are gonna be the end of me, I swear!"

Aliya had already sat down by the time Noor had let go of Israh. Aliya wasn't much about physical affection. She preferred to just be nice and do acts of service, which explained why she'd just muttered a Salaam and took out a bunch of containers with a variety of things that smelled absolutely delicious.

"What did you bring? It smells so good." Israh spoke, her mouth watering at the sight of the fresh biriyani in one of the containers.

Aliya smiled and placed the biriyani right in front of Israh and Noor, passing them the spoons as well. "Biriyani, kebabs, fruit salad, chutney and ras malai."

Noor instantly went for the ras malai and both Israh and Aliya lost her right there, to the sight and taste of sweets.

"Don't eat everything, Noor. Abhi Tamannah bhi nhi aayi." (Tamannah hasn't come yet)

Israh took a spoonful of biriyani and was about to shower Aliya with compliments at how good the rice was, when Tamannah interrupted their enjoyment. "Arey, arey...biriyani aise nhi khaate, jaahil." (hey, hey...you can't eat biriyani like this, you ignorant)

Tamannah put her laptop bag down in the middle before snatching the container from Israh's hands, who complained wide-eyed and annoyed. "Tammu, yaar!"

Tamannah didn't pay attention, before digging into the rice with her hands. "Angrezo ke beech mein reh reh kar khud bhi angrez ho gayi ho." (you've become like the whites, living among them for so long) Tamannah snickered, sitting down between Aliya and Noor.

"Hai na!" Noor agreed, her ras malai dripping down her chin. Before she could reach for the napkin, Aliya reached one toward her and wiped it off.

"Pehle tum acche se khaana sikh lo, phir Tamannah ki side lena." (first you learn to eat properly, and then you can side with Tamannah)

"Exactly. Ab mujhe bhi do, yaar!" (Now, give it to me) Israh reached for the biriyani again but Tamannah refused to give it to her, so Israh glared at her for a moment before grabbing a kebab. "By the way Ali, when are you gonna get married?"

Aliya was a year older, which somehow also meant that she was going to be the first one to get married. Everyone was so excited for her. While Tamannah was engaged, Aliya's nikaah had already happened, but the rukhsati had been delayed because Aliya was finishing her masters at the time.

It'd been a year now, and while Aliya wasn't one to be confident and open enough to share stories about her husband here and there, Israh, Tamannah and Noor had bullied her into sharing a few things sometimes. From Aliya's stories, it seemed like Shehroz bhai was a joru ka gulaam (a wife's slave), because he could not for the life of him say no to Aliya about anything. He listened to her intently, did as she said always, and was the biggest hopeless romantic that Aliya had ever come across. Not that she had come across many.

Shehroz bhai was the kind that went overboard with any kind of celebrations, like the time when Aliya graduated and he'd taken her to the most expensive restaurant around, bought her a freaking diamond ring, had made Aliya a huge books and roses bouquet because he knew Aliya liked to read, and had even reserved them a cruise for the evening. Not only was he filthy rich, but he was also probably the dream man of literally every girl.

Aliya smiled down shyly, before getting something out of her bag. "Actually, I came here for a reason." There were three cards in her hand, and she passed one to each of them.

Noor, Israh and Tamannah looked over and read the cards with their mouths agape before Noor jumped up with a squeal and tackled Aliya to the ground in sheer excitement.

The wedding was going to take place in two months. Israh couldn't believe it. It was too soon and too much. Obviously, she had an inkling that the wedding was going to happen this year, but in two months?!

"Wow, Ali...I didn't think it would be this soon."

Noor was still hogging Aliya but had loosened her hold enough for the latter to embrace Tamannah as well before speaking. "Yeah, it was pretty last minute, but Shehroz got a really great job opportunity in New York, and he's supposed to start later this year. It's gonna be hard for him to travel back and forth if we do it toward the end of the year, so...yeah."

"Wait, what? Does this mean you're gonna move all the way to America? SO FAR?!" Tamannah shrieked.

The same shock and fear gripped Israh and Noor who went silent at the revelation.

"Does this mean we won't be able to see you for years at one time?"

Aliya chewed on her bottom lip, as her eyes began shimmering with unshed tears. She didn't meet their gazes, but her silence was enough. They all had been together since high school, and even though they didn't meet as often as they liked because of course desi parents just couldn't let you be social, at least they knew they were just half an hour away from each other. They were reachable at any time.

America though was too far. Things were already going to chance after marriage, with added responsibilities and relationships, keeping in contact would already be hard enough. Moving away to a whole another continent, where time-zones and schedules would never match was going to be horrible.

What if they fell apart? What if the distance weakened their friendship?

The silence was haunting, heavy and tense. They all seemed to have fallen into deep thought about the future and what it all meant, but then Tamannah spoke, and her tone was hopeful and cheery even if her cheeks were wet with tears. "Guys, cheer up. It's our baby's wedding. We have to go all out. There's gonna be dance routines, and no I don't wanna hear any excuse from you Israh, and we'll have to go on a girls' trip for the bridal shower too. We have so much planning to do girls. Once Noor's placements ends and Israh's exams too, we have to start saving up and thinking properly about what to do, okay?"

Noor wiped her face clean before nodding along. "Definitely. We have to make it worth it. And Aliya..." Aliya looked at her sadly but smiling still. "You better not hibernate on your phone, or I swear to god-"

"Of course not. It's gonna be hard enough to adjust to all the changes. I don't wanna lose you guys." She looked over at Israh and grabbed her arm to pull her into the group hug. "I'm gonna miss you all dumbasses so much."

Once they'd relaxed themselves and were back to eating, Israh spoke up. "I have news too, by the way." The three looked at her expectantly. "I'm...getting engaged next Saturday."