ASSALAMUALAIKUM!!!
*UNEDITED*
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Zeeshan swiped his access card and entered into the hotel suite, unbuttoning his suit jacket with his left hand and meanwhile, loosening his tie with the right one as he took long strides towards the bedroom. He hurled all the items including his cellphone and wallet on the bed and he himself sat on it, removing his boots and socks. He laid his upper body on the mattress with his arms stretched above him, his legs tangling off the bed as he took a relaxing breath for the first time since he came London. It was a hectic week for him but he wasn't complaining. He liked keeping himself busy and enjoyed engaging himself with all kinds of business persons. It was a great experience for him and he was happy he achieved what he came for. He won the deal back and the words his father said to him on the phone was still ringing in his ears.
'I'm proud of you, Zeeshan. Alhamduillah!! I'll offer two rakhats of shukrana outright. Yeah! I will. Alhamduillah. Come back home soon. Everyone here is so excited for you and Laiba. She's Mashallah a great woman. Everybody here can't wait for you to marry her and bring her home.'
A huge smile spread on his face as he recalled the phone call with his dad. He can't wait to meet her too, he thought. All he had ever heard from everyone that every time he talked home, was about Laiba and Laiba alone. They weren't getting tired of praising her and that was making him wonder about her more and more. How she would look? How her eyes would be? How her lips would be when she talked? All those thoughts regarding her were invading the doors of his mind and captivating his heart.
His smile grew wide and he felt blood rushing up his cheeks. He rubbed his cheeks and bit his smile, sitting upright and looking left to right, making sure he was alone. "Gawd!" He laughed at himself, walking towards the cupboard to start packing his clothes. Even after he was done packing, the smile was unmistakably plastered on his face. He was so grateful that Aariz wasn't there at that moment with him, if he was, he would had made fun of him blushing like that. At the thought of Aariz, Zeeshan picked up his cellphone and started checking through the numerous notifications for his name. There were several missed calls, mails and messages from so many people but none were from Aariz, which reminded him that he had blocked his number after the stunt he had pulled the other day with Laiba. He wanted him to believe that he was mad at him even though he was not. Zeeshan never could be mad at Aariz.
He hurriedly unblocked his numbered and texted him the flight timings, asking him to be at the airport to pick him up. He checked his watch and decided to take a quick shower since there was still plenty of time left for the flight. After shower, he put on a casual v-neck grey t-shirt, acid washed blue jeans and a white cardigan on himself. He looked at the mirror and smiled at himself. He was finally going home and meeting Laiba. He made a point in his mind to buy something for her from London. He had shopped nothing for any of his family members as he was too busy for it but since he had got time now, he thought of visiting the Jewel shop, near the hotel he was residing at. He had noticed the shop many times while going and coming back to the hotel and the only person who came to his mind every time he crossed the shop was Laiba.
It was strange but he then thought, he anyhow has to gift her something on their wedding day so why not buy something from that shop?
So Zeeshan went.
It was that typical Jewel shop, that one could find in every commercial areas. With glass compartments, glossy marbles countertops, with too little crowd and overly smiling salespersons. Zeeshan pushed the glass door and stepped in, biting his tongue as he looked around. He couldn't believe he was there but he also knew he would be visiting a lot of places like that in the future.
"Hello sir, a very evening to you." A male attendant approached him. "Please, come in." He laid him into the store further.
"Evening to you too." He greeted back, walking with the salesperson. They halted at a counter and he offered him a barstool, for sitting which he refused. "I'm in a hurry actually so.." He shook his head.
"Oh, no problem, sir. I promise we won't take much of your time." The salesperson wheeled to the other side of the counter, "Such are the collections of our store. Please, enlighten me what you are looking for and for whom you are looking for?"
"Um, it's for my fiancée." He appraised him with pressed smile. "This is my first time in a Jewel shop and I have no idea about jewellery." He laughed at himself, confessing it.
The attendant laughed too, 'It's fine. It's first time for a lot them who come here but it's never the last." He wasn't leaving any chance at boosting about their store, "But don't you worry, sir. We will help you." He gestured to the salespersons across the counter and they all nodded at him. He then took out a tray full of what, Zeeshan thought was diamond rings on the counter, between them. "The finest of the finest diamonds you would have ever seen, I reckon you, Sir." He waved a hand over the tray full of sparkling diamond rings, "Just look at the cuttings.." Then he took a diamond ring in his hand and started blabbering about everything that Zeeshan had no knowledge about.
He scratched his head and scoured the tray with his eyes, tuning out the salesman. All the rings very much looked the same to him and that really confused him. So, he just did what Aariz would have done if he was in his place. He closed his eyes and picked a ring out of it randomly. He brought the ring in front of his eyes and opened it.
It was a ring, made merely by the bonds of tiny,tiny diamonds attached together. It was delicate, sparkly and simply beautiful.
"You like this, Sir."
He loved it.
"Yes." He smiled at the ring, "Pack it, please."
"Sure," The salesperson took it from him and commented as he examined it, "Nice choice, Sir. I'm sure your fiancée would love it."
He packed the ring in a tiny, black velvet box and presented it to him. Satisfied with what he chose, Zeeshan paid the bill and promised him to visit again if his fiancée liked it. On his way back to the hotel, instead of taking a cab, he walked. The weather of London was an another story. Calm and tranquil, the kind of climate people fall in love with. The streets were less crowded and people walked in the side walks more than the vehicles ran on the roads. They even didn't honk much, he noticed. Such a wonderful atmosphere of that city was that he for a second wished to stay there for an another day. From where he was walking now, he would see the hotel then so he thrusted his gloved hands further inside the jacket's pockets and quickened his pace.
Once inside the warm interior of the hotel, he removed his jacket and sat on one of the sofa's in the lobby. He took out his phone and opened the group chat. He smiled at the congratulatory messages flooding in there. He typed a thank you in general and hit the sent option. They, cousins, had a group for themselves, which they use to make plans and sometimes for things like this. He hadn't opened the chats from a week and there were too many things going on there. Especially, his wedding plans and also Areesha's. The girls were talking about wearing lehenga for the Nikâh and a lot of other things like that. He laughed when he read the messages where they were discussing about what hairstyle to wear and which parlour to visit. He shook his head at those discussion, smiling all the while. He missed them all, truly and dearly.
As he was scrolling up through the old messages, he came across a photo, Urooba had shared. He clicked the picture, downloading it. And when the picture cleared up on his cellphone's screen, he felt like someone dropped a bucket full of ice on him. All the sounds around him faded away and everything else other than the picture in front of him, just blurred out. His hearts beats accelerated, his body went numb and his head started to spin.
Urooba had shared a picture of Laiba and herself, in a cab. Both of them smiling at the camera.
He couldn't believe his eyes. It was like a nightmare to him. He didn't want to believe what he was seeing was true. With his hands shaking, he scrolled down and read the message regarding the picture, wishing that it wasn't what he was thinking. But all of his cousins were addressing the girl as...
Laiba?
And just like that, his whole life turned upside down in that moment.
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Short chapter?
I know.
Next one would be a long one
I promise.
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See you soon ;)
Bye.
Allah Hafiz.