"It's has been a month and she hasn't come, yet," Ameena asserts.
Fahad doesn't say anything. He is in a turmoil, himself.
"Since you aren't saying a thing, I will assume, that, she isn't coming back,"
He couldn't help, but, cave in. "I don't think she is coming," His voice sounds, utterly defeated.
"You need to get over her, Fahad. Look at you..." She brushes his hair, behind, "you have become so weak,"
"Ammi-"
"There is this girl, I have in mind. Shahista. Noori baji's daughter. She just finished her 12th-grade graduation,"
"Really Ammi?! I am not going to get married, to my sister," He grimaces.
"This is better than getting married to a kali, working girl, who doesn't know how to cook,"
He gets up, to leave. Ameena pulls him, down.
"The truth hurts, Fahad," Ameena fails at consoling her son.
"She knows, how to cook; and she is really good at it. You can ask Shahina baji,"
Fahad recalls smelling delicious delicacies, in her room, just after a lunch break.
"Fahad, listen to me...Just meet this girl – Shahista. You don't have to say a thing in the first sitting. Please, Fahad?" Ameena begs.
"Ammi, but – I..."
"You promised me, that she will come back, in one month. Did she come? Obviously not, because, she ran away," She stresses the last bit, which pierces Fahad's heart, leaving a sour dent.
"Ok Ammi, I will go with you to see her."
"Alhamdulillah. See...here, is a picture,"
Reluctantly, Fahad looks at the picture. A girl, with a tight fitted top and skinny jeans, poses, with her hair, flying in the breeze.
He doesn't like her, already.
"Kitni gori hai, nai?" She is so fair, no?
"Whatever," He gives the photo back, before heading to his room.
~~~
"Don't talk about your engagement, ok?"
"Ok," He sighs.
Fahad and Ameena are greeted by the howl of a Doberman, probably, as they exit the cab. They quickly make their way, towards the massive, two story, pale-colored house.
Ameena lifts the antique, brass knocker, before gently tapping it, against the pine-door.
They are greeted, by the family's doorman.
"Come in," He gestures them inside, towards the living room.
Ameena looks at herself, and then, at the family of four; she looks quite underdressed. They are dressed in designer clothes, while, she is dressed in a pink, cotton salwar-kameez.
"Asalamualikum," Noori baji greets her, with a bone crushing hug.
They take their place, on the couch. Fahad feels bored, amidst the female talk.
He makes a mistake of looking up the staircase.
"Fahad beta, Shahista will be, here, any moment, now. Don't you worry," She laughs, like a lunatic teenager.
~~~
He wanted to just dig a hole, and jump, right into it. His mother isn't helping, either.
He makes a mental note of not letting two Afghani women sit in the same room. They are a catastrophe! They can murder a sane human, with their talks.
Clad in a yellow dress, Shahista looks like a stick of cheese. Quite literally!
She is talking so animatedly. He couldn't understand the purpose of a winged eyeliner.
"Come upstairs...I'll show you, my room," She states, defeated, when she is unable to explain. She holds his hand. He frees his hand, from her grasp.
"It's ok,"
He didn't know, how long, he would survive. Now, he just wants Noor, to come back.