08. Bomb nahi hai

*****

Marwan hissed lightly as he rubbed the bruise around his neck. The angry purple and dark marks were finally visible as he looked back at his reflection. His mind recalled the conversation he had with his father and even though he felt a tiny amount of guilt creeping into his heart due to the harsh words he used for Waheed Qureshi, a small part of him clearly agreed that he deserved it.

"Baba, ap aisi harkatein toh na kara kare."

Waheed looked up from his laptop and the frown on his forehead deepened as he registered the mock tone of his son. Marwan stood by the table, arms crossed across his chest and a sarcastic smile on his lips.

"Matlab kya hai tumhara?"

Marwan shook his head lightly, as if utterly bored with a common occurrence.

"Baba, where's the card?"

"Yeh-"

Waheed paused in mid-sentence, a look of recognition crossing his eyes. Leaning back against the flush sofa, his expressions relaxed considerably as he shrugged lightly at his son's question.

"Jaha hona chahiye tha. You don't have to attend functions of such petty people."

The distaste in his tone for 'the so-called petty people' had Marwan reigning in his temper and annoyance. He was a man of playful nature but invents like these tested his patience like no other.

"Dost hai woh meri. Aapko koi haq-"

"I am not in the mood for your tantrums, Marwan. Leave me alone."

Waheed tried dismissing his son but the stubbornness had passed with flying colours from his genes' to his son's.

"Baba, you need to stop looking at people as if they belong under your feet."

Marwan's voice raised by octaves and the anger on his father's face clearly didn't go unnoticed. Waheed Qureshi tried to calm his anger in order to not make any rash decisions but his son was making it more difficult than necessary.

"Not all of them."

"Problem kya hai aapki?"

Waheed rubbed his temple and got up from his position. A look of defiance flashed through Marwan's eyes as he stood his ground and watched his father glaring right at him.

"Problem yeh hai ki you need to grow up. The ones below you in society will use you as a ladder to climb great heights while you just stand on the ground with nothing but defeat. Aise logo ko 'dost' bolna band karo."

Marwan's eyes reflected the clear disbelief as he heard his father speak. Gritting his teeth in utmost restraint, he took deep breaths before questioning in the most collected tone that he could muster.

"What do you know about my friends?"

"Jitna jaanna chahiye tha utna jaan chuka hu. Don't even think for a second that I have forgotten the types of friends you were connected with-"

"That was more than a decade ago! You need to stop looking at everyone from the same perspective!"

"I can't help it if all-"

"Not all."

Waheed's temper was ticking and his son's behaviour just worked as the oxygen for his burning temper.

"29 ke ho gaye ho. When are you going to understand the reality you live in?"

"If this is reality, then I believe you marrying mama would also have been something of benefit? After all, even she belongs to-"

"Marwan, watch your words."

The warning lacing Waheed's tone fell on deaf ears as Marwan's bubbling anger finally got the best of his sane judgement.

"Why? Someone speaking ill of your own relations hurts so bad? Lekin kyu? You never cared about mama- not her wishes or her opinions. Might as well accept the fact that you-"

Marwan's words were abruptly stopped as Waheed's hand wrapped itself around his son's neck. The latter's body worked on reflex as he heard the disrespectful tone of his son towards his wife. Marwan's face seemed to be getting paler but he made no attempts to free himself. His eyes held a challenging glint as they glared back at Waheed's furious one.

"Mera nahi toh kam se kam apni mama ka hi lihaaz kar lete."

Before the banter could continue, a panicked Madiha separated the two as her hurt filled eyes overflowed with tears. Her accusing gaze met Waheed's who lightly shook his head to come out of his daze. His eyes fell on a coughing Marwan and then at a lightly sobbing Madiha.

The feeling of despair hit harder than ever as he quickly walked away of the scene, leaving behind a slightly guilty Marwan and a worried Madiha.

*****

Marwan knew his choice of words were not the brightest but seeing as his anger got the best of him, he couldn't do anything apart from reeling in the guilt.

His hazy daze was broken by the ringtone of his phone. Sighing to himself, he rubbed a hand over his exhausted looking face and accepted the call.

"Marwan?"

"Yaar, ek toh tum baar baar mere phone par call kar ke mere baare mein puchti rehti ho. Agli baar landline pe karna, zyada scope rahega."

He picked the phone in his hand and walked up to his bed. Placing his worn out form in the middle of the bed, he rested his back against the headboard and listened to what his friend had to say.

"Very funny. Waise, aa raha hai na tu?"

The later sentence came out in a nervous tone and Marwan smiled to himself but the mischievous feeling to tease his friend emerged in no seconds and he clicked his tongue and cleared his throat.

"Nahi na. Card mila hi nahi, kaise aau?"

He heard shuffling from the other end and waited for Aliya's response which came just as he had imagined.

An annoyed grumble followed by incoherent and colourful mumbles.

"Card? Like seriously. Maine toh formality ke liye bhej diya tha, tu kya khud ko posh and sophisticated sabit karne ki koshish kar raha hai. Better be at my doorstep on 9th warna main bata rahi hu apne dulhan wale jode mein tujhe tere ghar se kheech ke laungi yaha."

"Woah! Easy there, woman. Aa jaunga but wasn't it 10th?"

"Are you actually so dumb ya phir sirf mujhe tang karne ke liye yeh sawal puche ja raha hai?"

A scowl formed on Marwan's features at the blatant disrespect but before he could retort back, Aliya smacked some sense in his head.

"10th far away relatives aur friends ke liye hai. 9th is dedicated to my close circle."

"Theek hai. Aa jaunga. Aur kuch?"

"Haan. How is Ziah doing? Is she comfortable there? Uska phone number hai kya tere pass? Did she-"

"Hold up! One question at a time please and to answer your previous ones, Alhumdulillah, how much I have observed, she looks comfortable here. Aur uska phone number-"

Marwan paused his sentence and thought over it before cursing under his breath.

She didn't have a phone for crying out loud!

Clearing his throat, he cleverly kept that piece of information aside if at all Aliya might just get another thing to insult him about.

"Chalo acha hai. Aur haan, akele mat tapak jaana. Bring aunty and Ziah too aur agar uncle aana chahe, then he's welcomed with open arms."

Marwan heard some yellings from the other side and shortly after, Aliya bid a goodbye for she had to go to the boutique.

Keeping the phone aside for a few seconds, Marwan worked the wheels in his brain before quickly dialing another number.

"Hello?"

"Assalamu alaikum, Hafeez, tujhse ek kaam tha. Free hai?"

"Ji bhai free hu. Bole kya karna hai?"

"Can you arrange a good model phone by today evening? Paise main tere account account mein transfer kar dunga."

"Ji bhai, zaroor. Ho jayega."

"Shukriya tera, Hafeez. Acha sun, teri padhai kaisi chal rahi hai? Paise time se mil rahe hai na?"

Hafeez Sulaiman, a guy of 22 years was the son of Qureshi's most trusted driver, who had lost his life battling with covid-19 a year back. Since he was the only income to the family of 4, the Sulaimans' had their life in pause until Marwan stepped it, careful enough to not let his father know about this or else the havoc the old man might cause was unimaginable.

Hafeez was a bright student, wanting to become a civil engineer someday but seeing as the education would cost more than a fortune from his perspective, he had almost lost all hopes, that was until his Marwan bhai extended a generous hand for help in return for his loyalty and dedication.

"Ji bhai, sab sahi ja raha hai, Allah ke karam se. Aap ka jitna shukriya karu-"

"Acha bas bas, zyada sappy hone ki zaroorat nahi hai. Yeh shukriya bol bol kar kaan dukha diye hai mere. Chal rakhta hu ab, Khuda Hafiz."

Marwan heard a chuckle from his younger brother by bond before he cut the call and placed the phone on the bedside table. His eyes darted to the clock that read 4:45 in the evening and he closed his eyes for a few seconds, in hopes to just relax his exhausted muscles but even he wasn't aware of when sleep overcame his senses.

*****

Ziah sat at the dining table with a lost look. Madiha had asked her to take a break from all the housework that she had been doing since the morning, even though the young woman would love to disagree but seeing as the older one was stubborn, Ziah couldn't help but comply with the command.

Now that Ziah had her mind free of thoughts from her current location, her conscience led her to the place she was at a month back.

The pale brown brick walls, the silence that could be mistaken for a household that was mourning, rooms after rooms yet no soul in reach and the constant ticking of the clock sounded like a countdown for pain.

"Socha hai ya nahi?"

Ziah didn't dare raise her head as she heard her mumani's words- words that held an underlying tone of sarcasm and threat.

"K-kis b-bare mein?"

Khurshida Rafeeq rolled her eyes at the clueless display of emotions on her niece's face. Bringing the hukka near her lips, she smoked a few times with a relaxed expression.

"Badar se nikah ka."

The memory faded into oblivion as fast as it came. The air suddenly felt cold as Ziah visibly shivered but maybe more because of the fear that still resided in her than the air around. Her hands were quick to wrap themselves around her just like they did every time she felt afraid- the only way she assured herself that she was safe.

The sound of someone clearing the throat beside her had her shrieking in horror. Marwan too yelped at the sudden sound that resounded in the once eerie silent environment.

Scowling at the woman in front of him, he quickly collected himself, trying not to show how he was caught off guard by her sudden antics.

"Itna kyu darti ho tum?"

Marwan's eyes gleamed in amusement as he watched the young maiden trying to collect her breath and rubbing her forearms. Ziah looked up from the wooden table and gave a narrowed glare to the man in front of her who found her expressions more laughable than scary.

"A-agar aise kahi se bhi aa ja-jayenge toh dar toh lage ga hi na."

"Well, it's not my fault that you were too deep in your mind palace."

An embarrassing blush spread across her cheeks, dusting the lightly dusky complexion with pink. Marwan smiled from ear to ear at her, knowing very well that he had won the not-so-official argument.

"Acha, woh sab chodo aur meri baat suno."

His tone held excitement that made Ziah look at him with curiosity and question. Marwan took a seat beside her, his knees touched hers and Ziah visibly stiffened at the contact.

The replay of her memories that had occurred not long ago had already taken up her mind in spree and the sudden contact that was uncalled for, jumbled her already distressed mind.

Clearing her throat lightly, she softly moved her legs a little away, making the move look completely casual but what she forgot was that the person in front of her was trained to learn a person's thought by their body posture.

Marwan realized his unintentional mistake and moved a little back himself, before shaking his head and trying to bring back the excitement that had dulled in seconds.

"Haan, toh suno- Nahi, usse pehle yeh lo."

Ziah watched silently as Marwan forwarded a packed box to her. She looked at it in question and Marwan rolled his eyes at the assessing gaze of the woman in front of him.

"Bomb nahi hai jo aise dekh rahi ho. Open it."

Ziah hesitantly took the box and slowly unwrapped it. Her eyes widened in surprise and she quickly peeled open the box only to gasp in awe.

The samsung galaxy s21 ultra lay magnificently in the white box, shining with pride with its glistening sky blue colour.

Ziah stared at the phone like a fool for what felt like hours before looking at Marwan who tried to play it cool but was sweating bullets due to nervousness.

Will she like it?

Is the colour too pale?

Should he give her the choice of exchange?

Ziah blinked a few times at him and that was it for Marwan.

"Nahi acha laga toh change-"

"N-nahi, I mean haan, nahi. Matlab, bahot acha hai, lekin yeh kyu-"

"Tumhare paas phone hai?"

Ziah stared at him unblinkingly and shook her head in negative. Her response made Marwan shrug lightly as he relaxed on his seat.

"Haan, toh phir problem kya hai? You need something to communicate with the others because telepathy toh ab tak maine seekhi nahi."

"But this is too much. Itna spend nahi kare hum par. I'll be on my way before you know it."

Her words were meant to show gratefulness to all that he and his family had done for her, a mere stranger, but the prick that her heart felt was undistinguished, something she hadn't experienced in years. Meanwhile Marwan's mind tried to control the frenzy that had suddenly arisen in it. The thoughts of where she'll be in the future, with whom, and what not clouded his mind.

Emotions that were unsaid or maybe he just didn't want to name them rose in his heart as his posture stiffened. He looked at Ziah, her fingers were fumbling with each other, a look of sadness which might be because of the unwanted guilt that she had been feeling was clear on her face and Marwan smiled softly at her.

"Itni fikr mat karo. You are more than a guest in this house and these are some basic necessities in today's world, nothing out of the ordinary."

"Lekin-"

Marwan gave her a look and Ziah sealed her lips and thoughts of opposing his words. Her heart warmed at his gesture, the guilt subsiding immensely but the tinge of sadness still remained.

-Sadness for an entirely different cause that didn't make sense.

"Acha, you remember Aliya?"

Ziah perked up on hearing the name and looked at him with a gleam of happiness as she gave him an affirmative nod. Marwan controlled himself from chuckling at how enthusiastic she had gotten all of a sudden and coughed lightly to cover it up.

"Well, then, she has invited you to her wedding- a wedding that'll be in two days. Start your packing and dresses mama handle kar lengi."

He casually dropped the bomb on her and whistling lightly under his breath, he walked away from the dining table, leaving behind a gaping Ziah as she tried to process his words.

**********

Woah! A little intense, a little emotions idhar udhar and a memory from Ziah's past.

Ab jaldi jaldi batao chapter kaisa laga?

Just so to say beforehand, the wedding will be.... a havoc.

**********