Walking around the house in a baby pink anarkali, while her hair was tied in a loose practical bun, she stood a firm contrast to the woman who had killed yesterday night so easily.
The plan was so simple it felt like taking candy from a child.
Men! Their stupid all consuming urge to get power at any cost and destroy anyone for their power! were thoughts going around constantly in her head as she chopped the onion and then put the pieces into the kadhai.
About half an hour later and she was finally done preparing the lunch. The aroma of biryani had filled the dilapidated building in such a manner that all the occupants had come out from their rooms, the hustle and bustle of the house once again restored.
Meerab loved that noise.
Farukh and Maariya exchanging what happened in their days with such gusto that one would have thought they were out on adventures every day. But that's what made them so appealing to the observant Meerab, the love they shared between them was so profound yet silent, their intimacy reflected in the way they were always seeking each other's eyes, the way Farukh would make bad dad jokes to make her laugh and then looked at her unabashedly like she was his whole world. As much as this filled her heart with happiness, she felt fiercely protective of preserving this peace, this one constant thing she had in the otherwise mad world.
She had given up on love a long time ago. It only brought pain and suffering. Attachments were an elixir, a tempting and false elixir which would choke you the minute you tried to have it. It seemed better suited to other people. The only thing that would bring her sukoon was fulfilling her damn objective, hauling this family out of Pakistan and then being on high alert for the rest of her life just in case the dear Khan parivaar decided to fuck things up again.
She had been thinking all these thoughts like a practiced routine while her fingers idly messed around the plate, which was now almost empty and beside her, two adorable monsters had been gobbling up the chicken pieces off her plate at an alarming pace.
Meerab, usually so hypervigilant, felt relaxed around this home.
"Rabia, Rashid, phuphi ki plate se dur hato. Biryani unhone hi banayi hai aur thank you kehne ki bajaye tum unke hi plate se chori kar rahe ho."
"Dono ko dekho toh zara, jab bhi koi aata hai, pesh toh aise aate hain jaise hum inhe khaane ke liye kuch dete hi nahi aur bhuka rakhte hain. Naak katvayenge dono Maariya dekh lena."
"Phir bhi tumhe ek aur Rabia ki khwaish hai Farukh."
This banter brought a smile to Meerab's face. "Naak katvani hi hai toh apne Abbu ki katvana, ammi ki naak toh itni pyaari hai" she conversationally mentioned to Rabia who nodded her little head in understanding.
Rashid quipped "Haan phuphi, Abbu ki naak zyada badi hai, unki nayi naak lagvado."
The best and worst thing about kids is their absolute maddening lack of filter. So they could tell you that they love you and you are going bald in the same breath and you could do nothing more than still love them while tolerating their blunt truths.
Maariya, who had always known how self conscious Farukh was about his nose, placed a little kiss on his cheek and said "Mujhe toh bahut acchi lagti hai tumhari naak. Dono Abbu ko sorry bolo, Phuphi ki plate mein aur biryani daalo aur bahar jaake Feena khala ke bacchon ke saath khelo."
Listening to their favorite parent, they quickly did as they were told and kissed their parents and Phuphi goodbye before leaving the house in a blur.
Farukh sighed. They were definitely their Ammi's kids.
If it had not been for them having his eyes, he would surely have nothing to say they were his. All the cuteness and adorable antics were Maariya.
And in a quick moment, the house turned sombre. Taking it as her cue to leave, Maariya got up and left her husband and the woman who put on a guard, yet was the one most in need of love and caring, to discuss their business.
Ya Allah! Meerab ka khayaal rakhna!
As she washed the plates in the small but airy kitchen, she could hear angry whispers from the living room.
"Meerab, tum hamare saath kyun nahi rukk jaati kuch dino ke liye?"
"Nahi Bhai, the Khans are going to be on high alert. Though Qureshi was not one of their own, he was still the one who took care of all their dirty business. He had no qualms about the blood he spilled and while they may not care about him as a person-
She paused at this, a bitter memory suddenly bringing tears to her eyes. The man she called Bhai could only sigh in frustration at her state.
"They would have surely cared about him as a resource. Replacing him is not going to be easy. I know there's no way they are going to be able to trace back the deed to me, but I was still thinking of laying low for a few days and staying here would just mean putting the kids in danger and I could never do that."
"Mai kuch aur kahunga toh tum sunne toh waali ho nahi."
"You know me so well", she said laughingly.
Her phone rang and she hesitated looking at the caller ID. What was so important that he had to contact her? She had asked him to not reach out to her.
She picked up the call, her heart part anxious, part thrilled.
"Hello!"
She nodded her head, the other occupant of the room looking at her face going through panic to surprise to finally settle on a look of resolve.
As calmly as she could manage, she conveyed the news.
"Murtasim Shahnawaz Khan is back from Canada."
Hi guys, please be a little patient with the story, it will take time to build up. I would appreciate your honest comments about the story so far.
