I put my luggage down on the floor and sat down on the seat. We were at the airport. We meaning Ami, Abu, Adil and me. Originally, we were supposed to go to Pakistan in a few months but the plan changed. It had been a week since I last saw Hussain and now we were already going to Pakistan.
"Zara, you okay?" Adil asked from beside me. I nodded.
"If you need to talk about anything, just say. Okay?" Adil asked. I smiled at him, so he didn't get worried. I closed my eyes. Why did I see Hussain, even when I close my eyes? I need to forget him. I'm getting married. I can't keep thinking about him.
We arrived in Pakistan and set off for our home. We arrived home and we all went our own ways. I looked around. It had been a long time since I'd been here. Nothing had changed except the atmosphere. Even if Dadi had been here, she would have been able to stop the wedding. A tear dropped from my eye. Why is everyone leaving me?
The next morning, I was woken up by Ami.
"Go get ready quickly. Aftab sahab is coming with his son." She said, getting out my clothes for me. I got up wearily and got ready in a blue salwaar kameez. This was the same salwaar kameez I had worn the day I first went to Hussain's house, without even knowing. A smile came to my face automatically. It was so fun with Shehry, Waqas and Atif. And adorable Maha. The smile went as quickly as it had come. I missed them too. I had hurt their brother and them too. At least they had Najma. They need her to lighten the atmosphere after I had made it so dark. I got ready, when Ami came in.
"They're here. Aajao. (Come.)" Ami smiled. I smiled back, trying to be happy. Maybe they could be good people after all. I went downstairs with Ami, to see a guy around the same age as Abu with a younger guy next to him. I sat down on the sofa opposite them.
"This is my daughter, Zara." Abu introduced. The older guy who must have been Aftab sahab smiled at me.
"This is my son, Saad." Aftab sahab introduced. Saad smiled at me. I smiled back. He actually wasn't as bad as I expected. He was so similar to Hussain though. Saad was handsome, with a charming smile and with a bit of stubble. He was wearing a brown leather jacket, reminding me of Hussain once again. Argh! I need to forget Hussain.
"Zara, why don't you take Saad to your room?" Abu suggested. I stood up and went to my room while Saad followed me. We sat down. It was so awkward. I just realised. I didn't know anything about this guy. What the hell do I say?
"Aap-" Before I could say anything, Saad interrupted me.
"What's with the formality?" Saad looked amused.
"You know English?"
"Um, I think most people know English? But I studied in New York which is why I have the accent." Saad grinned.
"Oh."
We chatted for a bit. He was as charming as he looked. Maybe I would be happy with him.
Najma's P.O.V
"Oh. Okay. Yeah, I'll tell them. Bye." I cut the call. I sat down on the bed, trying to absorb all the information. Shehry came into the room.
"Hello jaanu." Shehry smiled, sitting next to me. I didn't reply. Partly cause I couldn't.
"Jaan?" Shehry held my hands. I got up and closed the door. I had to tell Shehry everything.
"Shehry, I need to tell you something." I said, sitting down.
After I told him the whole story, a tear accidentally fell from my eye. Shehry wiped away the tear and kissed my cheek.
"How are you so strong?" He whispered.
"I'm not. Zara and Hussain are." I whispered back, more tears falling. Shehry kissed my tears.
"Najma, I can't bear to see you cry." Shehry said, putting his forehead on mine. I pulled back and wiped my tears.
"And now we have to go to Pakistan for Zara's wedding." I said. Shehry looked shocked.
"But-but Hussain-"
"I know. Shehry, we have to tell him. He can get Zara back." I said. Shehry nodded and together, we went to Hussain's room where he was sitting on his bed.
"Hussain?" Shehry called. Hussain looked up.
"Shehry. Bhabi. Come in, sit down." He said, smiling. We sat down. With Shehry, I told him about Zara's wedding. Surprisingly, Hussain didn't have any reactions.
"I hope she's happy." He said quietly.
"Hussain! You can't say that!" Shehry shouted.
"Yes I can!" Hussain yelled back.
"She wants to be without me. She's the one who broke up with me." Hussain said quietly.
"But she didn't want to. Zara still loves you Hussain. She doesn't want to marry that guy." I said, putting my hand on his. Hussain looked up at me with red eyes.
"Sachi? (Really?)"
"Sachi. (Really.)"
Later I went downstairs with Shehry since Hussain felt exhausted and wanted to sleep. Mama was sitting in the living room.
"Mama, we have to go to Pakistan." Shehry said, sitting down.
"Pakistan? Why?" Mama asked, surprised.
"Shaadi. (Wedding.)" Shehry said quietly.
"Shaadi! (Wedding!) Whose shaadi? Do we know them?" Mama asked excitedly. Shehry looked at me.
"Zara's shaadi." I said. Mama looked shocked.
"Zara's shaadi. Acha theek hai. (Okay, alright.) I'll tell Asif." Mama said, standing up. She left the room. I looked at Shehry, who looked as miserable as me.
Hussain's P.O.V
I've made up my mind. I'm going to stop this wedding. I love Zara and Zara loves me. I'm the only one who's going to marry her. The next week, I went to Pakistan with Waqas and Atif. Shehry and our parents would come a day before the wedding. We went over to Zara's house. I greeted Noureen aunty, Ahmed uncle and Adil. However, my eyes only longed for Zara.
"Zara! Dekho kon aaya! (Zara! Look who's here!)" Noureen aunty called. At that moment, Zara came down the stairs. I stared at her in awe. I hadn't seen her for so long. She stopped as soon as she saw us. Zara greeted everyone.
"Hey Waqas!" She grinned, shaking his hand. Waqas smiled back.
"Congratulations on your wedding." Waqas said quietly. Zara's smile faded away. She shook Atif's hand and ignored me completely.
We were given space to stay at Zara's house. I took a shower and went downstairs to the living room. There I bumped into Zara. She avoided my gaze and started to leave. I held onto her wrist.
"H-Hussain." She started to say.
"Stop it!" I said loudly. Zara flinched.
"Stop avoiding me. Zara, please, talk to me." I said, facing her. Zara looked down.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Zara said.
"Zara. I know you don't want to do this. I know you still love me. You don't have to go through this." I said, cupping her face. Tears started to roll down Zara's cheeks.
"H-Hussain, I have to. I have no choice." Zara weeped with wet eyes. I hugged her. I could feel her heart beat twice as faster.
"What the-?" I heard a voice.
Zara's P.O.V
I quickly pulled back from the hug to see Saad standing in the entrance. Oh damn!
"Saad-"
"What the hell is going on? Who are you?" Saad asked, confused.
"My name is Hussain. And I need to tell you something." Hussain said. Oh no!
"Yeah?" Saad asked. Maybe Saad would understand.
"I love Zara. And Zara loves me." Hussain started. Saad looked at me.
"What?" Saad asked. My tears didn't stop falling.
"Saad, please don't tell anyone." I weeped.
Saad didn't say anything and left. I looked at Hussain.
"Where did he go?" I asked. Hussain shook his head.
"I don't know."
Later I went back to my room and fell asleep. I was woken up by Adil, who was shaking me.
"Zara! Wake up! Abu needs you!" Adil shouted. I quickly got up and went downstairs to see Saad and Aftab sahab standing there in front of Abu.
"I didn't think you of all people would have the nerve to do this!" Aftab sahab yelled.
"Now calm right down Aftab sahab! Izzat se baat kijiye. (Talk with respect.)" Abu said loudly. Aftab sahab scoffed.
"You are talking about izzat (respect)?" Aftab sahab said.
"Can you tell me what the matter is? Why are you breaking this marriage?" Abu asked. Oh damn!
"Your daughter has a lover! And you were trying to get her married to my son? Have some shame!" Aftab sahab shouted. Saad stood next to him, saying nothing.
"What? Yeh kya bakwaas bol rahe ho? (What nonsense are you saying?)" Abu asked, shocked.
"Bakwaas nahi! Saach! (Not nonsense! Truth!) My son saw it himself. It's final! We are breaking this marriage!" Aftab sahab said, leaving with Saad. Abu turned around and faced me.
"In all these years, I never thought you would betray me like this." Abu said in a quiet voice.
"Abu-"
"Chup! (Quiet!) How could you do this to us?" Abu said and left. I sat down on the step and started to cry. What did I do wrong? Now my family hates me.
"Zara! Kya hua? (What happend?)" I heard Hussain behind me, as he hugged me. I tugged out of his grip.
"Why did you come here?" I cried. Hussain looked at me, confused.
"Zara-"
"No! Because of you, my dad hates me! Because of you, this wedding broke! Because of you, my life is done for! Why did you come into my life?!" I shouted, pushing him towards the door.
"Zara, calm down!" Hussain shouted. I pushed him again, wiping away my tears.
"Jao yahan se! (Go away from here!) I never want to see your face again!" I weeped. I pushed him out and closed the door in his face. I leaned against the door, crying. Why did I just do that?
Hussain's P.O.V
I wiped away my tears and texted Waqas and Atif. A few minutes later, they came outside with our bags.
"There's nothing we can do now. We have to go back." Waqas said, patting my shoulder. I nodded.
The next morning, we left Pakistan and went back home. It was the least amount of time I had ever stayed in Pakistan but after that day, I didn't want to ever go back. I just longed for Zara.
Zara's P.O.V
I entered Aftab sahab's house. The maid showed me in. I sat down.
"Yes, I'm coming. Wait. I-You?" Aftab sahab came in talking to some guy but stopped in sight of me. The other guy left. I stood up.
"Aftab uncle, before you say anything, please hear me out." I said. Aftab sahab nodded.
"Uncle, you may have misunderstood something but I have no lover. On behalf of my father, I ask you to get your son married to me. There is no obstacle in getting us married. " I said. Aftab sahab looked at me.
"Saad told me-"
"Saad misunderstood. I said I love him. But he thought I was talking about someone else." I said nervously. Aftab sahab nodded again.
"Theek hai. (Okay.) I will talk to your father." He said. I left and went back home. It took me 2 hours so by the time I came back home, Abu was waiting for me.
"Thank you beti. You have done a very brave thing." Abu grinned and hugged me. A tear slipped from my eye. At least my dad was proud of me.
Najma's P.O.V
Hussain had just come back home but without Zara. He told us the whole story.
"But they didn't inform us that the wedding has broken?" I thought out loud. Shehry called Adil.
"Yeah, hi Adil. It's Shehry. How are the wedding preparations going? Oh..yeah of course. See you. Bye." Shehry cut the call.
"The wedding is still on." Shehry said. At that moment, I felt really nauseous and ran to our bathroom.
"Najma!" Shehry called. I started to vomit a lot. So much that it started to hurt. Once I finished, I washed my face and went outside. Shehry and Hussain was sitting there, looking worried. Shehry helped me to sit down.
"Shehry, I think you need to take Bhabi to the doctor. That didn't sound like normal vomiting." Hussain suggested. So we went to the doctor. The doctor did some tests on me and then called Shehry back.
"Well, Mr. and Mrs. Asif, congratulations. You both are going to be parents." The doctor smiled. I looked at Shehry who had tears in his eyes. He squeezed my hand and grinned. I grinned back. We're going to be a family. The doctor gave us the reports.
"Okay, so eat well, drink water, all the usuals. And no travelling." The doctor smiled. No travelling. But Zara's wedding?
So we arrived home. Everyone was sitting in the living room.
"Mama, Baba, Maha, Hussain. We have something to tell you." Shehry smiled.
"Kya hua? (What happened?)" Mama asked concerned.
"You're going to be grandparents and you two are going to be a phupi (aunt) and chachu (uncle)!" Shehry grinned excitedly. Mama stood up and hugged me. Baba hugged Shehry. After all the congratulating we sat down.
"You two don't know how happy I am." Mama grinned.
"Lekin Mama, ek problem hai. (But Mama, one problem." I said nervously. Mama looked at me.
"I can't travel. So I can't go to Pakistan." I said sadly.
"If you don't go, we won't go as well." Mama smiled.
"Mama, why don't you guys go and have fun? I'll be okay here alone." I suggested. Mama shook her head.
"We will stay with you. And Sara is pregnant as well. We just heard before you came." Mama smiled. OMG!
"So I'm going to be a phupi and a mother!" I grinned.
"And I'll be a phupa and a father!" Shehry grinned in the same tone. I shoved him gently. Everyone laughed. I looked at Hussain who had a smile on his face but pain in his eyes. How do we help him now?
Guys sorry if it sounds rushed but itll get better. The picture is of Saad Aftab (Aditya Seal). Please check out my other DhoomBros story, Always For You. Please vote, comment and share. Bye :)