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***
Tara
Mama smacked my hand away. "Do not touch, Tara!" She gave me a warning glare.
I gave her a sheepish smile. "Please, Mama. I haven't visited you at the bakery in a long time, so can I not get at least one chocolate chip muffin?"
I stood behind the counter with her, and she had just finished serving a customer. Of course, because she was a mother, she had known that I was trying to sneakily eat a muffin, even though she wasn't looking in my direction.
"Zoha hasn't visited for a long time either, but look at her." Mama nodded towards the table where Zoha and Misha were sitting, chatting.
"It is wrong and unfair to compare each individual." I sighed. "And you would never have refused her if she'd asked. All the unfairness is reserved for me."
"Apni dramay baazian kahin aur jaake maaro. Maa ke samne karne ka koi faida nahin hai."
*"Go and be dramatic somewhere else. Your dramas are pointless in front of your mother."
"Fact." I muttered in agreement. Then a cheeky idea occurred to me. "Okay, at least pack one for Zain."
She raised an eyebrow. "Zain bechray ko to ek crumb nahin mile ga, agar maine tumhare haath bhijwa diya."
*"Poor Zain won't even get a crumb if I send it through you."
"The only part true about that statement is about Zain not getting a crumb. But since when is he a 'bechara'?" I asked.
"Since he married you!" Misha called out.
"Shut up or I'll cut your hair when you're asleep tonight." I threatened her.
Zain was working late tonight, so I'd decided to stay at my parents' house. As it was a school holiday period, Papa was on holiday as well, so he had decided to go to Lahore, and had flown out a couple of days earlier.
"You wouldn't dare!" Misha frowned at me.
"Are you challenging me?" I raised my eyebrow at her. "I'm the same Tara who released two fairly large spiders in your bed when you were twelve."
Followed by an hour of yelling by Mama, and two months of being grounded.
"Mama!" Misha whined.
"Misha, stop whining like you're five." Mama sighed. "And Tara, don't be yourself for once."
"In other words, behave like a human." Misha grinned.
"Say your goodbye to your hair now." I glared at her.
Misha put her hands over her hijab-covered hair protectively. "Churail."
*Churail: witch.
"Misha!" Mama glared at her.
The door opened, bringing a cool breeze from the outside and I was surprised to see Zain walk in. "Assalam Alaikum."
"Walaikum Assalam!" We all greeted him.
"What are you doing here?" I wrinkled my nose at him in confusion, earning a light slap on the arm from Mama.
"Does he need a reason to come here?" My mother glared at me, and I glared at Misha, who was laughing quietly.
"Dekh lain, Aunty. Apke Damad ki yeh izzat hai." Zain said, dramatically.
*"Look at this, Aunty. This is the respect that your son-in-law gets."
"Don't mind, Tara, Zain." Mama shook her head. "It's her old habit to talking without thinking first."
Zain winked at me.
I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at him.
"Actually, Aunty, I'm here as a customer." He looked at Mama. "A bunch of us are throwing a small bash for my cousin Amir, as he is the latest victim of marriage. And I recommended some desserts from this bakery."
"Victim of marriage?" I repeated as Misha almost fell off the chair laughing.
"Aunty, you should hire better service." He continued talking to my mother. "This one has no customer service skills."
"Zain Bhai, you're officially my favourite person." Misha wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes.
"Thanks, sis." He grinned at her, before turning back to the counter. "What do you recommend, Aunty?"
"Unfortunately we don't sell brains here." I smiled sweetly at my husband.
"Astaghfirullah, Tara!" Mama almost snapped at me as Zain chuckled.
"It's okay, Aunty." He said. "If you sold brains here anyway, Tara would have received it first, under family discount."
"Burn!" Misha jumped up, applauding.
Zoha giggled and even Mama smiled.
"Actually, we don't just sell dessert." Mama told him. "I sell some chicken and spaghetti cutlets as well, homemade. I would highly recommend those."
"Sounds absolutely delicious, Aunty. May I have all that you have?" He said. "And Tara, can I have all of those chocolate fudge cake slices?" He nodded down at the glass display.
"No, you can't." I teased him.
Zain took a lot of things from the shop, paying quite a hefty amount for it.
"I thought you were working late." I said, as I walked him out.
"Yeah, but my friends called me and suggested we do this for Amir, so I couldn't resist." He gave me a cheeky smile. "You mad at me, Trouble? Rest assured, this is not going to be like a bachelor's party."
"It better not be." I warned him.
"Or what?" He turned to face me by his car, his eyes sparkling with his usual mischief.
"Or I'll raid the party and smash cake into your face in front of everyone." I narrowed my eyes at him.
"Will you be licking it off my face as well?" He grinned .
"Oh my God!" I lightly shoved him. "Zain!"
He laughed as he unlocked the car and set the items on the back seat.
"Zain..."
"Hmm?" He turned to look at me.
"Are there going to be any female friends there?" I asked, sounding more anxious than I wanted to.
"I don't think so, no. But if anyone turns up with any of my friends, I'll let you know." He gave me a quick kiss on the lips. "Take care, and don't get into any trouble, Trouble. Love you."
"Love you too." I watched as he got into the car and drove off.
****
Zoha was staying the night as well, so it was going to be serious fun, just as ladies.
Mama went to bed early, worn out from the day, and Zoha, Misha and I lounged around in the living room, arguing over which film to watch.
"Let's watch Kuch Kuch Hota Hai!" Zoha suggested her favourite Bollywood film.
"You mean where the main guy is a total flirt who doesn't notice his best friend until she glams up and becomes more 'feminine' as per the traditional standards?" I rolled my eyes. "That film is an insult to everything."
Zoha glared at me. "Shut up. You spoil everything."
"How about...To All the Boys I've Loved Before?" Misha suggested.
"Pass." I shook my head.
"Who are you to reject all our suggestions?" Misha glared at me.
"I'm the one with the coolest taste." I grinned. "How about we watch..."
"Girls!" Mama's scream made us all jump up from our places. For a second I felt hat we were being too noisy, but then she came running down the stairs, crying out in distress.
"What happened, Mama?" Zoha's voice rose in panic, seeing the state of our mother. "Is Papa okay?"
Mama was in tears as she came into the living room doorway. "T-The bakery. Someone has set the bakery on fire." And then she fainted.
****
The police wouldn't let us go anywhere near it, as the firefighters sprayed the flames.
Zoha stayed home with Mama, who was in a bad state, whereas I had driven over with Misha.
Black smoke rose up from the building and into the dark night, and a heavy smell of the fire hung in the air, making us cough.
"That's our mother's shop!" I told a policewoman.
"Sorry, ladies. The general public is not allowed anywhere near the premises right now. It's not safe." She shook her head. "Is your mother the owner of the shop?"
I nodded.
"Is she here?"
"No, she became unwell as she heard about the fire, so my sister and I came instead." I explained.
"Well, we're going to have to speak to her sooner or later." She said.
I was shivering, but not just from the cold. I was thinking about the grief my mother was about to experience, because this building looked like it was beyond saving. This was my Mama's baby. She had started the business from home when Misha had first started going to school, baking cakes and goodies for friends and acquaintances, and it had grown so big that she had bought a small shop, the one that had been practically burnt to the ground now.
"What's going to happen now, Tara?" Misha looked at me, tearfully.
"I have no idea." I muttered, feeling like my mother's dreams were disappearing off into the night, along with the smoke. "Who would do this to Mama?"
****
Zain
"Your mother-in-law makes delicious food." Amir complimented as he ate his third cutlet.
"Yeah, it's awesome." I nodded.
One of our friends was hosting the party at his place, and currently, as our friends played snooker and mingled, Amir and I sat on the sofa, eating and chatting, both of us already tired from our days at work.
"So, how's married life?" I grinned at him.
"Ask me after April, In Sha Allah." He laughed. "For now, it feels like an engagement."
"You can't stand being away from our Bhabi, right?" I teased him.
"Sod off!" He took a sip of his soft drink.
My phone started vibrating and I pulled it out of my pocket. TROUBLE. I smirked. Maybe she was worried that there were girls at this party, which there weren't. "S'up, Trouble?" I answered the phone as Amir laughed.
"Zain..." Even in the loudness around me, I could hear the distress in my wife's voice.
"What's wrong, Tara?" I frowned, getting up and heading away from the noise.
"Zain, someone set fire to Mama's bakery." She informed me, sounding like she was about to cry.
****
I went to her family home immediately, as she had said that she was going back there. Amir offered to come with me, but I told him that I would call him if needed. I'd barely pulled up outside her family home, when the front door opened and Tara came running out.
"Zain." She threw herself in my arms, sobbing.
I wrapped my arms around her tightly. "Stay strong, Trouble. How's Aunty?"
"She's in shock. She's not saying or doing anything, not even drinking water." She looked up at me. "Who could have done this to her? Papa's not even here, I don't know how we're going to help her get through this."
"It's okay, Tara. We'll deal with this together." I put my hands on her shoulders and reassured her. "Let's go inside."
She nodded, and hand-in-hand, we walked into the silent Hamid house. In the living room, Zoha Appi sat besides Aunty, with her arm wrapped around her shoulders, trying to talk to her, but there was no response from Aunty.
"Assalam Alaikum." Zoha Appi stood up, nodding at me.
"Walaikum Assalam." I replied, before turning to look at Aunty. "Aunty, aap fikar na karein kisi baat ki. Main aapki har cheez main madat karoon ga, aur hum yeh problem bhi solve kar lainge, In Sha Allah."
*"Aunty, don't worry about anything. I will help you with everything, and we will solve this problem as well, In Sha Allah."
Aunty slowly looked up at me. "It's not easy to recover from a loss like this, beta. And, especially since our home heavily depended on the bakery."
"Mama..." Tara sat on her mother's other side. "As Zain said, we'll get through this together, In Sha Allah. Stay strong, okay? You'll speak to the police tomorrow, and they will do an investigation into this. We'll be fine."
Aunty started sobbing quietly.
"Mama, have faith in Allah. This is just one difficulty. We'll get over it, you'll see." Zoha kissed her mother's cheek. "We're all with you."
****
The damage was devastating and was going to cost a lot.
The insurance wasn't going to cover even half of it.
Hamid Uncle flew back home immediately to be with his family in these tough times, and currently, he and I had just finished a meeting with a insurance agent regarding this.
"Looks like Jamila has to go back to baking from home now." He sighed, shaking his head.
"You're not giving up that easily, Uncle!" I argued.
"Beta, unfortunately, repairing this is not within our budget." He looked up towards the sky as we headed to my car.
"How about if I help you out?" I suggested.
"Zain." He frowned at me.
"Hear me out." I said. "I won't give you financial help in the usual way. Instead, I can organise a place where Aunty can hold a bake sale, and sell her items. The proceeds can go towards helping repairing her business."
"Zain, I'm not sure if that's a good idea." He said.
"Why not? Aunty is basically putting her hard work in to earn that money. I'm just going to find you a place and customers. I have a lot of connections, as does Amir, and this will really help Aunty. I'm not disrespecting you by giving you money, Uncle, but if there's any way that I can help you guys, I'd be honoured."
"I'll discuss this with Jamila."
"We have to fight our way through the tough times, Uncle. And I have full faith that we will succeed, In Sha Allah."
"In Sha Allah."
****
Meanwhile, the police had discovered that the fire had been caused by a short circuit, and it was therefore concluded that it wasn't a criminal act. Anyway, Aunty didn't have any enemies anyway, so arson wasn't very likely.
Amir knew someone, who knew someone, that owned a community hall, so we decided to hold the bake sale there.
Aunty was helped by not just her daughters, but also Marina Khalla, Gul Aunty, Anaya Bhabi, and Rumaisa's eldest sister, Rida. Because it was a question of mehram and non-mehram mixing, us guys decided to help set everything up for the bake sale instead. Because it was around Christmas time, we were expecting a lot of people to turn up for desserts.
I was just helping load some baked goods into a van, when Tara came out of the kitchen and down the hall.
"Zain!" She called out.
As I turned to face her, she gestured for me to come forward, as if she wanted to tell me a secret. I walked up to her, and she took my hand and led me upstairs.
"Trouble, what are you doing?" I asked, confused.
Inside her bedroom, she turned me around and handed me a cupcake with pink icing. The icing was done a little messily, but the cupcake looked good. "I made this one especially for you."
"For me?" Upon closer inspection, I realised that the blue coloured scribble over the cupcake was actually the letter 'Z'. "You really didn't have to go to all of this trouble, Trouble."
She smiled. "This is a genuine thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for helping my family out."
I took the cupcake and bit into it. Oh wow, this is chewy...and it lacks sugar.
She was smiling at me, expectantly, waiting for my reaction.
"This is delicious." I swallowed hard, trying to look like I'd really enjoyed it.
She rolled her eyes. "Liar. I was testing you to see whether you do the cliché move of lying to protect my feelings."
"What?"
"I made two of these at once and I tasted the other one, and I swear, my eraser tastes better, I'm sure." She shook her head.
I grinned sheepishly at her.
"Thanks, though. For lying to protect my feelings and for being such an amazing son-in-law to my parents." She leaned up and kissed my cheek.
"There's the sweetness I was craving." I smiled, closing my eyes.
"Allah! You're so cheesy, Zain." She giggled and wrapped her arms around my neck. "I had no intention of getting married any time soon until a certain designer-suit butler walked into my life. And now, I'm really glad that I decided to marry you."
"I'm glad that you decided to marry me too." I smiled and then closed the distance between us, locking my lips tightly against hers, as we lost ourselves in a truly romantic kiss. "I love you, Trouble."
"I love you too, Zain."
After exchanging a few more kisses, we headed downstairs, holding hands.
****
The event turned out to be huge...like seriously huge.
I wasn't surprised. Amir had a lot of connections, as did Faiz Jamshed, who had also helped us organise this.
Now I was hanging around outside with Amir, Faiz, Faiz's best friend Hamza and Abdul Rehman Bhai.
*Go ahead, thank me. Three of my male leads in one scene ;)
"Thanks, bros. This wasn't possible without the help of you all." I told them all.
"What are brothers for, man?" Amir grinned, patting my back.
"I mean a majority of them are my guests, with five sisters and all, Ma Sha Allah." Faiz joked and we all laughed.
Suddenly I saw a car pull up and I paid no attention until the doors opened and... Talha Bhai and Lamisa Bhabi stepped out.
What the effing duck?
****
Tara
I was having a wonderful time with Anaya Bhabi, Rumi, Ashi, Rumi's Rida Appi and Hania, Hamza Bhai's wife. We were laughing uncontrollably over random things...often funny husband-related things.
I spotted Mama in the corner, talking to Marina Khalla and I began to make my way towards them.
Suddenly, I saw Zoha standing by a stall, staring at her phone in her hand like she was in shock. "Zoha, you okay?"
She looked up at me and her eyes filled with tears.
"Zoha..." I walked over and put my hand on her shoulder. "Come with me." Taking her hand, I led her out of the hall towards the ladies restroom. I made sure that we were alone in there before we began to talk. "What's going on?"
"I...I'm worried that Abdul Rehman is going to divorce me." She told me, sobbing. "I just received a message from someone I know that they spotted a profile for him on a online matrimonial website, looking for a girl in Pakistan."
"What?!" That made no sense to me. I had seen the way he looked at her, like she was his everything. "Zoha, there must have been a misunderstanding."
She shook her head. "I think he's getting tired of the fact that we've been trying for a baby since we got married and..." She closed her eyes. "I shouldn't have told you that, but Tara, I'm suffering from so much depression over all this lately, and I don't know who else to talk to. And now this..."
"Wait, did he say himself that he's getting tired of you?"
"Well, no, he still claims to love me no matter what."
"Then why are you freaking out, you crazy but lovable weirdo?" I gave her a hug. "Just trust your husband, babe."
"I heard my Saas and Nand talking." She whispered against my shoulder. "My Nand jokingly said that she thought that you, as in Tara, would get pregnant, and even Misha would get married and pregnant before I even had hopes."
"That's horrible!"
"To my face they're nice, Tara, but literally every single person in that family talks bad behind my back, males and females, everyone! I've often overheard them talk about me. What's wrong with me, Tara, that nobody likes me?"
"Zoha, when someone talks horribly about you behind your back, the problem is with them, not you. There's nothing wrong with you, sweetie, but you need to talk to Abdul Rehman Bhai about this."
"He lost his job a while back, and he's really worried, and I can't put him under further stress."
"He lost his job?!" I asked, surprised.
"Things have been really tough for us, Tara, but don't tell anyone about this." She looked at me.
"Zoha, if you are suffering this much, you need to tell him. He's your husband."
"I'm so worried, Tara." She sighed. "I love AR, and I know he loves me, but I know that he really wants kids. What if I get divorce, Tara? I can't even bear that thought? Things are falling apart for me and I'm scared."
As she continued crying in front of me, my heart broke for her.
My sister was too much of a sweetheart to deserve this treatment.
But how can I help her without looking like I'm interfering?
****
And the drama is about to start!
What are Talha and Lamisa doing here?
Will Abdul Rehman stick by Zoha?
Would Tara get herself and her sister in trouble by somehow interfering?
Thoughts and comments?
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