BE HAYAAI KE NUQSAANAAT

Chapter 1 - Relationships of the heart.

"And how is my dolly?"

She smiled at the endearment.

"Thik, Alhamdulillah."
(Good Alhamdulillah)

After Waleed had excused himself and had disappeared up the stairs, Naailah turned to Hamna, her hands clasped on her hips.

"Where were you?"

Hamna's eyes shone with mirth.

"Oh I might have been the one who told Ami jaan that you used my favourite pyjama top to clean your boots, and also where you were hiding."

Naailah narrowed her eyes.

"You shrewd little girl, and then you stood in the shadows while I got all the scolding."

Hamna grinned like a chashere cat.

"Serves you right for touching what was not yours!"

Naailah rolled her eyes.

"And that is not even a pyjama top, did you see the condition of it. It literally had about five holes on the back of it. It was completely worn out, completely and utterly useless as a top. How do you even wear that thing?"

Hamna huffed.

"I don't care alright, it was my most comfortable one and you ruined it."

Naailah scoffed.

"Haa, it was already ruined. I just rightfully used it, as a cloth for my shoes! "

Hamna crossed her arms over her chest.

"Which you did without the owner's permission!"

Naailah rolled her eyes.

" You are just a typical hoarder who cannot even let go of worn out and tattered things!"

" I am not! Watch me, I will take it back, wash it thoroughly and wear it again, and don't you dare touch it ever again!"

Naailah threw her head back in laughter.

"You really would not do such a thing."

"Try me!"

Hamna narrowed her eyes then stomped up the stairs, mumbling incoherent words udner her breath.

A voice and a chuckle followed by the click of the front door, startled her.

"You're always grating on her nerves!"

She quickly draped her dupatta over her head, concealing her hair.

She passed him a small smile, which he returned with a full blown one.

"Waqaas what brings you here?"
and weren't you taught to knock first? She wanted to add, but decided against it. She didn't need another bout of shouting from her mother.

" I came for you!"

He beamed.

"What?"

Naailah and Hamna who had returned and ascended the last stair when she heard the door being opened, said in unison, both shocked at his reply.

He chuckled, earning a glare from Naailah.

"I was just kidding girls, calm down!"

He held his hands up in surrender.

"What a horrible way to end a peaceful Monday. If I knew it was you I would not have came back downstairs."

Hamna scrunched her nose at Waqaas, who smirked in return.

"Oh trust me, I don't fancy seeing you as soon as I enter this house, but oh well, what can I do? I am a magnet that attracts every girl."

Hamna scoffed.

"Psht puh-lease I've seen way better!"

He raised a brow and Naailah giggled.

"Oh! have you now? Wait till Khala jaan hears that!"

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Oh I have alot of evidence against you, if you tell Ammi jaan what I said."

Waqaas stepped forward, both stared each other straight in the eyes.

He had a look of amusement in his eyes while her eyes held pure irritation and annoyance.

Finally he stepped back, flashing the sisters a bright smile.

"I have to establish relationships with my family and the only way to do that is to visit them often. "

Naailah shook her head in disapproval.

"I don't agree with you. You can visit often but still have disagreements and ill feelings towards one another."

He rose his brow.

"Aha, if you say so."

"Rishte tab hi qaaim rehte hain, jab dil me ho."

He smirked.

"Oh! Since when you became a philosopher!"

She rolled her eyes.

"You better go before Ammi jaan scolds at us for speaking to one another."

He frowned, but nodded nonetheless.

Sakina disliked her daughters to speak to any of their male cousins unnecessarily, as it was not allowed in Islaam and not appropriate as well. Many of her female cousins did speak to their male cousins openly, but that was because their parents were not as strict as Sakina was.

Since their childhood days Waqaas and Naailah had been two peas in a pod they would do everything together, where one went the other went too.
As Waqaas entered his teen years they became closer, but once Naailah hit puberty, Sakina forbade them from conversing. It was a norm for cousins to marry each other in their family, hence her stern warnings. Naailah never took heed to her mother's warnings,she would still converse with him when her mother wasn't watching.

The cousins would always tease them and call them childhood lovers, when the elders were not around, but Naailah would always brush them off.

She never ever looked at him that way and she never would, as for Waqaas, he merely chuckled and shook his head, but the twinkle in his eyes conveyed another message.

A few of their cousins noticed this, but let him be. Fate would decide whether they would be bound in a sacred bond of marriage or if they were destined for two different routes, for if they suggested that they get married, Naailah would be forced into a loveless marriage and Waqaas would have to endure a life of unrequited love.

The destiny of their lives had already been written years ago, the pens had been lifted and the ink had dried up, only the future would unroll the fate of each of them. They had to just wait and see what the future beheld.

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Asslamulaykm lovelies, I know this is short, but in Sha Allah longer chapters await us in the future.