M U S T A F A and Hoor stepped out of their bedroom together. Him being wheeled by a servant, as she followed the duo into the dining room. The dining room was huge. The centre featured a large glass dining table, with seats for twelve. To the left of it, was a built in wall unit, proudly sporting fine china dinner sets from behind the glass enclosure. The table was set with cutlery and white porcelain plates. Just by a glance, Hoor could tell they were the heavy ones. The kind that is soo expensive you would think a hundred times before buying it.
Hoor had pulled her hair into a bun, letting two strands softly graze her cheeks. She smiled at Alia, who entered with a train of maids carrying all sorts of food trenches.
"Assalamualikum aunty," Hoor smiled at Alia.
The old woman, pulled her into a hug,
"Waalikumassalam, dulhan. Aao betho," she pulled her to one of the seats, that had an empty space next to it.
The space was for Mustafa's wheel chair to roll into. Luckily, it had the same height as the dining table chairs, giving him easy access to the food.
The table was soon full of foods like chikar chollay, halwa puri, qatlama, fired eggs, and bread. All kinds of bread. It was a heavenly spread, resulting in Hoor to gasp in joy. In her twenty three years of life, she had never seen the table be laid with so much food in one go.
"Salam bhabhi. Kia haal hai?" Munazza asked, entering the dining room.
She was followed by the rest of her family, as they all took their respective seats. Not caring to exchange pleasantries with the new bride.
"Arrey mein theek hun. App sab beth jain. Raees aur Sajid bhi aatay hi hon gai," she winked at Rumaisa.
Till now, it was decided that Raees and Rumaisa would be wed next year. Abdur Rehman was yet to break the news, that Rumaisa had rejected Raees. Rumaisa passed her a tight lipped smile.
"Humein yaad kia hum hazir ho gai!" Raees cheekily spoke in his mother's ears, kissing her cheeks. He pulled his beloved best friend into a hug, passing Hoor a gentle smile.
"Arrey ladkay, Rumi keh saath beth ja". Alia winked.
She was not like typical mother-in-law's who had a problem with the husband and wife hanging out before marriage. Infact she would be glad if the did just that. But the two were shy and needed a little push.
"Jaisa aap kahein ammi," he winked back at her.
Sitting down next to his mangetar, who passed him a smile. A bitter smile.
"Chalein bhai nashta shuru karein. Bachun ko bhook lagi ho gi," Sajid, broke away from his conversation with Abdul Rehman and spoke.
"Han. Han. Hoor beta Bismillah karo," Alia hurriedly said.
Hoor passed them all a shy smile, grabbing the ladle and putting some chanay in her plate. She tore off a half of the nan, making a morsel for herself. Just before she could place it inside her salivating mouth, Raees interrupted her.
"Bhabhi aap bhai ko pehla niwala khilain na," he wiggled his brows.
"Nahin. Iski zaroorat nahi-" Mustafa tried to stop him, but was interrupted with Alia's cheers.
Hoor blushed, having no option but to feed him, she turned towards him. Forwarding the bite and placing it in his mouth. Catching a glimpse of his pearly white teeth that were perfectly aligned. Accidentally touching his lips with her thumb.
She turned back to her food, paying no attention to the man next to her who carried a 1000 megaWatt smile on his face. Mustafa forwarded his plate infront of her. As the dishes were far away and he could not stretch much, he had no option but to ask for her help. He wondered if it was something to do with his mother.
"Hoor mujhe thora sa halwa daal dein," he spoke softly.
"Acha ji," Hoor picked up the spoon and added half a spoonful of the sweet into his plate. Passing him a puri.
Alia smiled at their interaction, hoping that this peace and harmony would continue forever.
T H E E V E N I N G
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Hoor was sitting in the tv lounge with the rest of the family. All day she had noticed the rude behaviour of Mustafa's uncle's family. First, Rumaisa had accidentally told her about the crush that Mustafa had on her and his desire to marry her. Next, Munazza had asked her to make something sweet but hid anything that had a form of shakar in it. When she asked for it, she was rudely replied too. And had no choice but to leave the kitchen. The mother daughter had left no table unturned to make her feel that the class difference was real. All day, they had communicated in English, asking for her input.
Thankfully, Alia had come back and put them in their place. Reminding them silently of the fact that Hoor was now in a more powerful position than them. Mustafa and Raees had locked themselves up in his study. Playing on the PS4 that had been installed a few days ago. Hence why they were oblivious about what had been happening.
Now, everyone had once again gathered in the lounge to have their evening tea. Snacking on the samosay and pakoray. The chilly afternoon called for such snacks to be prepared.
"Acha bhai, do dinon keh baad, New Year's hai. 2020 akhir kaar aa hi gaya hai. Ab mujhe yeh batao, keh bacho kaise celebrate karney ka plan hai?" Sajid inquired.
"Uncle mein aur Rumi tou apnay doston keh saath ja rahay hain, Bahria mein fireworks dekhnay," Shahrukh replied.
"Abu mejn Mustafa aur Hoor bhabhi khanay par jain gai. Raat ko puray 12 bajay, ice cream kha kar wapis aajain gai!" Raees told his father.
Hoor was shocked to be involved in their plans. She had not imagined that she would ever have a plan on the eve of 31st December. And she was ecstatic.
"Hoor beta," Alia looked towards her.
"Ji aunty?" She asked puzzled.
"Pehli baat tou yeh, keh aap mujhe Mustafa ki tarah ma bulain. Dusri baat, beta humne aap ki wardrobe ko aaj eik makeover diya hai. Yeh saaman hum nai kal ghar jaa kar lia aur kuch aaj dopehar ko. Bura mat manna beta. Par meri tou koi beti hai nahin, isliye aapkay liye kapray kahreed liye," she talked to her hesitantly.
"Par is sab ki kia zaroorat-"
"Beta zaroorat hai. Mein nahin chahti keh iss ghar mein koi bhi aap ko judge karay. Mein chahti hun aap confident banain. Aur confidence ki taraf pehlay kadam apnay aap ko khoobsurat lagna hai," she tried to reason.
Hoor was still sceptical. She wondered if it was actually because she was poor and did not have designer clothes like the rest of them. However, Alia was the wife of a successful businessman. If she could not convince her, what was the point? And so Hoor was convinced and a bit excited about this new part of her life.
Just then the doors of the home were opened with a loud thud. A few police officers stepped inside. Looking furious. And holding an arrest warrant.
"Assalamualikum. Kia yahan par Hoor Mustafa hain?" The burly man asked.
"Ji par inspector sahab huwa kia hai?" Sajid asked, worried.
"Inn par chori ka parcha kata hai. Mr.Rizwan Rehman aur unn keh walid nai katwaya hai!" He replied sternly.
"Mein-- mein nai koi chori nahin ki," Hoor tried to prove her innocence.
"Tumharay ghar sai ho kar aarahay hain. Rizwan sahab ki maa keh sonay keh kangan ghaib hain. Tumharay ghar par bhi nahin hain. Isliye thanay chalo. Baat wahin ho gi!" The police officer nodded at the female constables to put handcuffs on.
Hoor was hysterical as the took her away. She cried for them to let her go. But all in vain.
"Hoor fiqr na karo. Mein tumhai riha bhi karwaun ga. Aur tumahri innocence bhi prove karun ga!" Mustafa spoke to her, as the inspector gave her a few minutes of privacy to talk to him.
And Hoor had no idea why his words calmed down the frenzy inside her heart.
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