"What?!" A short whisper just escaped my larynx.
"Haan to iss mein problem kia hai?" Dad says casually switching through channels.
"But papa, I..I'm not ready." I said, turning to him.
"Haan to hum kaunsa tumhaari shaadi kar rahay hain. Engagement hi to hai." He replies and I shake my head.
"Papa engagement to hai, pr itni kia jaldi hai? We're just 18." I say with my eyes widened.
He smirks at my sentence. "Yeh to mujhe tum dono se poochna chahiye." Bam ! He makes his move.
I could feel myself blush as I looked down. Okay, awkward. He's got a valid point. I stayed silent, unfortunately giving him a chance to pull another one on my helpless situation.
"Wohi jo roz roz aik doosray se chup chup ke milte ho, engagement ke baad to chalo, aik valid excuse to hogi na iss sab hanky panky ke liye."
My eyes widened as I nudged his arm jokingly. "Papaa !"
"Kia? Ghalat kaha meine?" He rolled his lips inwards to stop himself from laughing, while I just kept on getting uneasy and embarassed. He knows. He knows everything.
"Aik minute. Chup chup ke?" Mom suddenly barged in the baap-beti convo, and before I could give daddy the glares warning him not to tell her, he had already opened his mouth. Great !
"Ohho begum. Mein to waise hi chair raha hun isse." Phew ! I love you dad ! He hid a fist near my legs for me and I gave him a fist bump, winking at him.
Mom chuckled all of a sudden, breaking apart the silence that surrounded us. "Aap baap aur beti jo baray seyahn-pati ban rahay hain na, mein bhi sab kuch jaanti hun. Alhamdulillah aankhein hain meray paas, aur Irfan bhai bhi." She smirks and my jaw dropped. Irfan uncle. Ugh ! Guess he's too smart for Shehry.
Dad and I gave each other 'the look' and she continued.
"Wohi mulaqaatein chup chup ke, aur jo vase toota tha mera. Beta sab khabar hai mujhe. Aur parso jab salgira manaane gayi thi uss ke saath, hmm?" She nudged me and I just felt so weird and awkward and flushed and embarassed and...I don't even know what !
"Waise Asif aise maamlon mein kaafi strict hai, I think. I blackmailed Shehry at the door when they arrived and God ! You should've seen his expression. Hawaiyaan urr gayi thi bechaaray ki." Dad laughed out loud.
"Papa." I pouted.
"Kia? Ab mein mazaak bhi na karoon uss se?" He raises an eyebrow.
"Aap ko dekh ke to waise hi uss ki hawaaiyan urr jaati hain. Uppar se aap uss ke papa ko le aayein beech mein, heart attack denay." I narrowed my eyes.
"Kia heart attack. Baaz to woh phir bhi nahi aaya. Sab dekh raha tha mein uss time jo living room mein ho raha tha, humaare saamne. Kaise ghoor raha tha tumhein." He says with his eyes on the TV as he flipped through another bunch of channels.
Pyaar karta hai daddy jaan. Ghooray ga nahi to aur kia karay ga.
"Chalo jo bhi. At least baap ka darr to hai usse. Aapne to beti ko sir pe chardha rakha hai. Poori poori saheli hai aapki. Hmph." She turns away, showing a little attitude. I just rolled my eyes. Typical Desi maa.
"Begum apna waqt bhool gayi ho kia, aur kaise abu jee se chup chup ke mujhe milne aati thi roof pe?" He winked at mom and her eyes widened.
Dad and I gave each other a highfive and mom just shook her head.
"Astaghfaar. Itna jhoot Rizwan jee. Hudd hai. Sirf aik dafa mile thay hum. Uss ke baad shaadi ho gayi thi. Kiyun bachi ko bigaar rahay hain." She lightly slapped dad's arm from behind me and he laughed.
"Acha fine roof pe to aik hi dafa mile thay magar phir Statue of Liberty pe bhi to gaye thay hum saath mein." He says rubbing his temple as he grinned to himself and mom blushed.
Omg ! Statue of Liberty.....Aaah !!! Shehry and I went there, too. And definitely made some unforgettable memories.
"Oh haan. Woh to mein...bhool hi gayi thi." She says quietly. "But that was after you proposed to me na." She quickly added.
"And yes ! We even met each other when I proposed to you. Ab bolo. I win, begum." Dad boasts showing a thumbs down and I just sat there smiling to myself, as I hear my parents reminiscing their romantic adventures.
Mom just looks away shyly. "Bachi bari hogayi hai pr abhi bhi wohi bachkaana harkatein hain aapki, jo 20 saal pehlay theen."
"Dil to bacha hai jee." Dad sang and I got down the sofa, landing on the floor and tugged mom closer to dad, in the place I sat. I leaned against their legs, sitting quietly, enjoying their cuteness.
May they always stay happy, united and madly in love with each other, forever and ever.
Mom ran her fingers through my hair and spoke. "Look where we started and where we have reached." She giggled.
"So Nida beta. What do you say, hmm?" She asks sweetly.
I sighed at turned to face them both. "Umm....normally I'd say yes. But ! Is it okay, if I discuss this with Shehry first? And see if he's willing enough to take this step?"
"Of course." They both nodded.
"After all, it's about your lives." Mom adds and I hug both their legs, leaning my head on them.
"Thanks for being so understanding mom and dad. Really." I whispered.
"Honey, it's your right to choose your life partner. Aur....hum to wohi chahein ge na, jo humaari shehzaadi chahay gi." Dad smiled at me, patting my head and I smiled back.
I stood up and giving them each a kiss, I headed towards the elevator. "Ab aap dono so jaayein. Kaafi dayr ho gayi hai."
"Haan, hum bas baat kar ke aatay hain." Dad says and I nod, stepping into the elevator.
Engagement.....As much as I tried to calm myself thinking it's just a little thing, I couldn't. It's a huge ass thing. It'll determine our future together. But...why so soon? Did his parents find out about our relationship, and so decided to get us engaged, so that our relatives or people around us don't get all suspicious?
"Oh." The elevator had already reached the second floor and I was too lost to even notice.
I went into my room and lied down on my bed, still pretty wide awake.
This engagement thing was really getting to me. I wanted to talk to Shehry about this. To hear what he has to say about this.
I text him. I know it's pretty late but....I don't know. I just want to.
Me: Shehry pyaar, you awake? :|
He replied instantly.
Shehry: Neend aani hai kia mujhe? ;)
Me: Kiyun? ;)
Shehry: Bas zindagi mein aa jo gayi ho tum meray hosh uraane, to neend kahaan aani hai. :*
How do I approach the engagement topic? Hmm...
Me: Aww :* Tum bhi na, dialogue maarne se baaz nahi aatay :P Okay, can I call you right now. It's important.
Before I could receive his answer, I receive his call instead. Waah. Speed hai banday ki.
I picked up and hear his hushed up tone.
"Hey babe. Sup?" He whispers and I giggle.
"Why are you whispering?" I ask.
"Hussain's asleep, and so is Maha and I don't want to leave this room, so bear with it." He says, whispering again and I laughed.
"Why not? Just go to some other room na." I whined.
"I'm too lazy to lift my butt off my comfy bed for you, pagli." He says in a loud whisper.
"Fine, lazy bum. I wanted to talk about.." I was about to say more when he cuts me off.
"Our engagement." This time he was louf and clear enough.
"Can we meet somewhere in a café or something and discuss this? I wanna do this face to face." He says and my heart skipped a beat. Why does he wanna do it face to face? Is he going to disagree with the idea and reject me on my face?
"Umm..okay." I reluctantly agreed
"Cool. I'm coming to pick you up. Be at your door in 10 minutes." He says and we both hung up.
Shehry had arrived and gave me a call. I was ready in a hoodie and sweatpants. I went down to the ground floor and slowly peeked here and there. Nope. I guess mom and dad were asleep.
I walked toward when my head shifted to my left. Ugh ! The bathroom light was on. I must've forgotten to turn it off when I went to wash my hands after the dinner. I was about to go turn it off when my phone vibrates again. Uff ! Be-sabar insaan.
I narrowed my eyes and cut his call as I went outside, finding him on his bike. Thankfully, Irfan uncle was asleep. Yay.
I sit down. "Why are you so impatient?"
"Cuz you were taking so long." He responds, pulling my arms forward and securing them around his torso. The butterflies. Aah !
"Hold on tight." His voice escapes through his helmet in a robotic tone and I immediately warned him. "No wheelies mister."
"Okay okay." He chuckled, started the bike, and we drove off.
Rizwan's (Nida's dad) POV:
Nida left for her room and Rafia and I just sat quietly, lost in our thoughts.
I held my hands in hers. "Rafia mat socho itna. Everything will be okay." I tried to reassure her.
"Mein kia karoon Rizwan jee. Kab tak chupaayein ge hum Nida se yeh sab?" She said, tears pooling up her eyes. I wanted to cry, snatch those tears away for myself, but I couldn't. All this harsh reality deemed was that I just....couldn't. I had to stay strong. For her. For us.....For Nida.
"Rafia, meri taraf dekho. Nothing's going to happen, I promise. Bas aik baar Nida ki shaadi ho jaye, sab theek ho jaye ga. Uss ki khushi mein hum bhi khush honge. In Sha Allah. Mein Shehryaar ko jaanta hun. Bohat pyaar karta hai woh Nida se. Aur uss ko humesha khush rakhay ga." My hands tightened around hers as I tried to control my emotions which were steadily beginning to get the best of me.
"Par itni jaldi yeh sab kar ke hum uss ke saath ziyaadti kar rahay hain na Rizwan? Uss ke pardhne likhnay ka haq hum...hum uss se cheen rahein hain. Woh...woh kia sochay gi? Woh munh pe kabhi nahi bolay gi magar dil hi dil mein to mehsoos karay gi na. But we don't even have any other choice." She now began weeping.
"We do Rafia. We do have a choice. I promise, it'll get better, and we'll let Nida live her life the way she wants. You and I.......will see her happiness and the love she'll get throughout her life, and...our pyaare pyaare grandchildren." I smiled and she chuckled at the last part, though I could still feel her pain.
"Abhi to apne Hussain ka intezaar hai." She smiles, talking about Sara's unborn son whom she and Sara had already named Hussain.
"In Sha Allah." I uttered and wiped the tear-stains off her cheeks with my thumb.
"Chalo, aik bari waali smile do. Jaldi se." I add quickly, giving her a big cheesy grin.
She just looked down and I lifted her face up to mine. I put both my thumbs on either corner of her lips slowly curving them upwards and she giggled.
"Aap bhi na." She yanks my hands away, smiling that heavenly smile of hers and I pulled her in my arms, and hugged her tight.
She broke out crying again as her tears now fell rapidly. I pulled her away from my chest and she speaks in her shaky tone. "Rizwan. Hum bohat majboor ho gaye hain. I just pray we're able to give Nida the most we can, jab tak hum dono ka saath rahay ga."
"Aisi baatein mat karo. We're here for each other and for her, today, tomorrow, and always." I managed to utter as my heart ached with every second giving me painful realization regarding our future together.
"It hurts. Dard hota hai. Sirf soch soch ke." Her lips trembled as she spoke.
"Abhi bhi kuch umeed hai Rafia. Never give up. Meri strong biwi ho, kisi cheez se nahi darti...."
"Par ab darti hun Rizwan jee. Ab darr lagta hai. Bohat darr lagta hai." She cried continuously and I felt my eyes well up, too. It was no use. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't do anything to supress her sadness.
"Rafia?" I lifted her face up and wiped her tears.
"Hmm, kahiye?" She sniffed.
"I love you." I spoke, looking directly into her sore eyes.
She smiled through her sadness and put her arms around me. "I love you too Rizwan jee and always will."
I wrapped my arms around her and place my head on top of hers as it gently rested on my shoulder.
We just stayed silent for a few minutes, not wanting to talk about anything.
Suddenly, she gets up. "Rizwan jee !" Panic evident on her face and her expression disturbed.
"Rafia, kia..kia hua?" She gets off the sofa and rushed towards the bathroom. I ran after her and held her tight, as she bawled out everything she ate, for the second time, the same day.
A tear rolls down my cheek as I caressed her back.
"Better now?" I ask.
"Yeah." She replied, panting as she straightens herself and then hugged me, tightly, as if....... as if we'd lose each other if let go.
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Short and quick update but chalo, kuch to hai :p What do you guys think this is about? What are Nida's parents worried about? Please do answer what you think :) Especially all you voters out there, who don't comment :p