Father of the Bride

Chapter One: The Wait

Eyes glued on the entrance door, Amirah's hope dwindled into darkness. There was no sign of him.

Today was the most important day of Amirah Khan's life; her graduation. The hall filled with excited graduates with their families clicking pictures, posing for selfies with pride with their children draped in black cloak and donning a motarboard on their head, but Amirah Khan stood alone in the hall without her parents.

"Come on Amy! We're all taking pictures near the fountain." Her best friend Kara grabbed Amirah 's hand and drew her to the fountain where her friends pulled silly faces for the camera.

There in the centre of the group was the man who made her heart race even after three years of knowing him; Ayaaz Qureshi. He had a square shaped face, wheatish complexion; his resting face was angry, brows thick like slugs knitted together with a boxer's nose. A rough roguish look and if she hadn't met him in the University library, she'd have walked straight passed him snubbing him as a drug dealer.

Under the smart suit he wore his bright white and maroon designer trainers, ruining the look but she liked him like that, it bought out his mish-mash personality.

"Your dad will be here, Amies." Ayaaz approached her reading the frown on her adorable circular face and brushed off the stray hair.

Four years after Amirah's parents' divorce, this was the second time she felt abandoned by her parents. Ayaaz found her crying in the library when the librarian told her that her book 'Occam's Razor by Andrew Amston' was overdue and she had to pay a small fine of £1.20 pence. He knew it wasn't the fine that upset her and found a deep embedded sadness in her golden brown eyes that compelled him to pay the fine and unlock her sadness.

From that day, he couldn't bear to see tears in her eyes and bought out the dimples her cheeks when she giggled. He didn't let her feel alone. Instead he allowed her to organise his life allowing Amirah to call or texted him every waking hour about insignificant things like cutting his hair-even though he liked it full-picking his mum's clothes from the dry cleaners and paying the credit card bill. It made her feel needed and wanted.

Ayaaz tilted Amirah's face up so he could read her eyes, but she was fearful she would start to cry.

"Look-" He showed her his digital watch. "My mum isn't even here, she's cutting it fine."

"But you know your mum is in the city." Amirah's voice stuttuered. "She's at her fundraising dinner. She's texted you a million times." Amirah pulled out her phone and showed him the blank screen. "Look. Nothing. No messages. And he promised."

Ayaaz took her phone off her and slipped it in his trousers pocket. "Let's enjoy today. Look on the bright side, it's over. All the studying. The late nights. The assignments. Thesis. Deadlines. The future is ours." He pointed at the door that showed a glimpse of the big wide world for them to explore.

Amirah looked into Ayaaz eyes. "Our future? Together?" She questioned now fearful that she could lose him University was over. Her uncertain future troubled her.

"Would I have it any other way?" He extended his arm over her petite shoulder tightening the hold. "You waking me up at fajr prayer with your non-stop phone calls."

She chuckled drying her moist eyes.

"Come on mum, where are you?" Ayaaz looked at his watch, it was 7:30 p.m

****

7.30 p.m on her black leather strap watch and she was half an hour late. Mahnoor Qureshi looked in front of her at the large room filled with eager eyes and wide smiles listening to her speech for the past thirty minutes. There, in the city centre at Aston University her son's most important day beckoned her and she had to leave. She looked down at the bullet points on the third and final third page. There was no time. So, she concluded her speech.