Laila

A stroll in the park

It had stopped raining long ago, but the weather was still forgiving. The clouds hadn't departed so the sun was being refused to shine bright on Lahore.

Hassan had been in no mood to sit at home on such a nice day and decided that the three of them would go for a picnic at the Lawrence Gardens.

They decided to take Laila's car, for which she was thankful. Ismail wasn't with them so it wouldn't have been possible for them to go on bikes – which Laila had secretly been hoping they would do. Had she been disappointed when she saw no trace of Ismail at the house? Yes, she had been and she could no longer deny it. She liked his company that was all. No harm in wanting to talk to someone, right? She had needed a distraction and she was hopeful that he would provide. Unfortunately, he was unavailable.

On their way, they stopped at a local bakery to fetch some things to eat. Despite it being a weekday, the park was decently crowded, owing it to the pleasant weather.

They had to hike a bit to get to their spot and by the time they reached, Laila was building a sweat. The spot however, was worth it as it was obscure and away from the steadily increasing throngs of people. The two girls had been a little weary about going out with Hassan at such a public place but he had assured them that they wouldn't be seen.

That had calmed Amina down but Laila was still no a hundred percent convinced.

She knew of many of her parent's friends that walked in the historical Bagh-i-Jinnah (Lawrence Garden.)

To further hide herself away from the eyes of the public, she draped her dupatta over her head to partially shade her face. Hassan set out the blanket he had gotten from his house and the three sat down on the partially wet surface.

This was so new to Laila but instead of being repulsed by it, she was actually enjoying it. However, she did know of one thing – or rather one person – who could make this ordeal a whole lot better for her. She sighed.

The food was taken out and Laila was not shy about digging right in.

"Hassan, where do your parents live?" she asked him as they were finishing up their meal.

"They live back in Swat, where I'm from," he replied with a smile.

"Oh, wow. So do you go up their often? To meet them?" she asked. Hassan being from Swat may just be worse for their relationship then Amina being rich. People from the North of Pakistan were known to be private and uninviting, marrying solely within their castes or tribes. These two really hadn't given any thought into the future of their relationship thought Laila.

"Not as often as I would like, but often enough," he beamed.

Time for some serious questions, "So, have you told them about Amina?" she asked, aware of Amina's appalled expression.

Hassan laughed nervously at Laila's question and became uneasy. It was clear from his demeanor that he hadn't.

"It doesn't matter Laila. Have I told Amma, Abba?" Amina retorted.

"Its not that I don't want to tell them Laila, I don't want anything more in the world. Its just that its different from where I am. I'll need time to hone them into the idea of me...marrying a girl from outside of our tribe," he replied solemnly looking at Amina with a want Laila had never known.

Amina averted her gaze from his, her hazel eyes filling with tears.

Hassan leaned over to take a hold of her hand and squeezed it.

Laila was moved by this moment of affection and heartache between these two people from completely different ends of life, from opposite ends of the same country, the only thing common in them being the love they both felt for one another.

She put her hand on top of their conjoined ones and said, "Well, whatever happens, im with both of you."

At this surprising gesture of Laila's, Amina smiled through her tears and Hassan let out a heartfelt thank you.

After lunch and some intense discussions Laila lay back on the dried grass, propped her head on the hand and opened up her book. It was a perfect reading day and Laila had never before read a book in a Pakistani park. Of course in Central Park and Hyde Park it was one of her favorite activities but in Lahore, she hadn't even dreamt of doing it.

For her, this summer was a time of change so why not change this tradition as well?

As she read she could feel last night's effects creeping up on her. Her eyelids became heavy with fatigue and her body was crying out for her to lie down properly. However, she was still aware despite the exhaustion, she was in a public place. In the end, the tiredness overpowered the manners. The book slipped out of her hand, she rested her head on top of her arm and closed her eyes.

Drop, drop, drop.

Laila squinted her eyes as she opened them and a drop of water landed on her forehead. Another. Then another.

Laughter surrounded her. Three sets of different laughter. One girl, two boys. Two boys? Two boys!

She bolted upright, realizing that she must have fallen asleep while reading and now it was raining down on her. A gentle rain.

She turned to put a face on the ongoing laughter.

She came face to face with a giggling Amina, a laughing Hassan...and a smirking Ismail.

Immediately Laila shot up from her place on the ground, mortified by the fact that he had probably seen her sleeping.

"Why didn't you wake me?" she asked Amina, obscuring her face and rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"You looked so peaceful. I didn't want to disturb you," she cooed at her.

Laila had no doubt that that was true. It was Amina after all.

"How long was I asleep for?" she asked, rapidly blinking to wake herself up.

"Almost an hour. Don't worry, Ismail only came ten minutes ago," Amina said with a humongous grin and a mischievous glint in her eyes.

It was Laila's turn to gape at her. Had she actually, really said that? In front of Ismail? She was going to murder her as soon as they were alone. For now, she gave Amina a mirthless smile, conveying to her that she will be dealt with later and turned to Ismail.

"Hello," she said shyly, her embarrassment increasing tenfold.

"Hi," he replied, more chipper than ever before. Probably laughing at her expense.

Ismail stood up as well and walked over to Laila, standing besides her facing the other direction.

They turned to look at each other.

"Hi," Ismail said with a lazy smile.

"Hi," Laila replied with a nervous laugh.

"Want to go for a walk?" he asked.

A walk in one of Lahore's biggest park probably wasn't the best idea what with the threat of her array of friends and family possibly lurking around. She found herself not caring about that.

"Yeah, lets go," she replied.

Without turning back to tell a most likely grinning Amina, the two made their way towards the Botanical Gardens. 

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Things are really going to escalate from here on now! 

Notice:  Guys i've written a short story for my other book. Its just one part long but very captivating. Quiet unlike this book! Please check it out and let me know what you think of it!