(7)

"You wait here, and let me go and talk to that brother of yours who ruined our date." Inhal shook her head and tried to stop him but the man left her room with lightning speed.

Cracking up, she also went out.

Ahmed was playing with her daughter when he saw his best friend coming towards him with a red face and narrow eyes.

"It won't look good when I will beat you in front of your daughter, so, can you come outside?"

Ahmed scratched his head and looked at him confusedly.

Inhal was laughing quietly while placing her hand over her mouth.

"Are you high on something!?" Ahmed asked him innocently.

Zarrar presented his infamous glare to him.

Raima squeals after seeing her favorite aunt and instantly went towards her.

Ahmed also stood up and looked at his friend weirdly.

He gestured with his hand to Inhal - asking her what had happened to Zarrar.

"Talk to me I'm standing here." He gritted his teeth and spoke.

"Bro, I'm waiting for you to speak, for the past five minutes you're only glaring at me."

"Weren't you the one who told me that Inhal loves seafood!"

As soon as those words left his mouth, Ahmed burst into fits of laughter. He was laughing so hard that tears gathered in his eyes.

Now he understood everything.

"You're the dumbest human being ever landed on Earth, you couldn't even get my sarcasm"

Ahmed rubbed his eyes and smiled with all his thirty-two sets of teeth.

Zarrar felt like punching himself at that moment, he remembered how Ahmed rolled his eyes when he said Inhal loves seafood, he was so excited to take her on the dinner that he didn't even notice his friend's mockery.

He looked hopelessly at Inhal who only gave him a sweet smile that melted his heart.

He again looked at Ahmed, "if you have been straightforward then maybe we could have our first date in peace."

"Dumb dumb dumber!" Ahmed sang in a high-pitched sound.

Zarrar huffed and shook his head at him.

Just then Ahmed's wife - Zainab, and his mother entered the house. They both were carrying huge shopping bags filled with groceries.

Both gentlemen came forward and held the bags from the ladies

"You two came early, seeing Zarrar's excitement, I thought he won't leave you till midnight.

Farzana smiled at both of them.

Zarrar opened his mouth to tell her about Inhal's condition but stoped when Inhal placed a hand on his arm.

"Yeah, I wanted to come home early, I had a meeting tomorrow at the office, I had to prepare it."

She smiled while telling her reason.

Ahmed also stayed silent because he knew that Inhal didn't want to make his mother worry.

His mother loved her like her own daughter and her sickness always used to distress her.

She nodded politely at them.

"Zari boy, you can leave now." After some time, Ahmed spoke as he saw Zarrar was trying to have a moment alone with his wife.

"Shut up!" He looked at him with his poker face.

Inhal went into the kitchen with Ahmed's wife and his mother to set the groceries.

"Raima, princess, would you please go and ask Inhal aunty that uncle Zarrar is calling her." He kneeled in front of the little girl who was indulged in playing with her doll.

The four-year-old innocent girl blinked at him and then she looked at her father.

"I have chocolate which I especially bought for my beautiful niece." He waved a large red packet bar of chocolate in front of her and at that the little kid's mouth watered instantly.

"Stop bribing my kid." Ahmed punched  his shoulder and tried to stop his daughter but the little girl snatched the chocolate bar from her uncle's hand and ran towards the kitchen.

Zarrar laughed at the innocence of her and Ahmed narrowed his eyes at him.

After two minutes, Inhal came while holding Raima's little fingers.

"I don't want to corrupt my daughter's innocent eyes, we are taking our leave." he held his daughter who was devouring the chocolate, and left the two of them alone.

Inhal led him towards the lawn.

He sat on the wooden table and held the fingers of his wife.

The weather was pleasant as the slow cool breeze was playing with their hair.

"Are you feeling well now?"

"I'm fine, it's nothing serious, I just can't intake seafood." She chuckled lightly.

"I'm sorry, it's my fault." He lowered his eyes and sighed deeply.

"Zarrar, it's fine, you didn't know."

"But I should know, I say confidently that I know every habit of yours but today I-I-"

He stuttered but Inhal cut him.

She sat beside him, he still had his head lowered like he was in shame.

She spoke lightly, "Zarrar, it's not the end of the world, you made a small mistake that to unconsciously."

He shook his head.

"But I wanted everything perfect today."

She laughed again.

"You made everything perfect for me, Zarrar, think for a second if we had a perfect dinner, if things didn't happen like they did happen today, won't it be boring, I mean after this we have some funny memory and our children won't think us as a boring couple, you can tell them that how their mother was making a funny face while eating the seafood."

They both chuckled softly.

She tried to lift his mood and it happened.

"And there I thought that you loved that food that's why you are making those faces."

They both laughed wholeheartedly.

*******

Finally, his wait was over, the six months passed, and eventually, she bid farewell to Ahmed's house and officially came to his house.

She was wiping her tears when Zarrar entered the room.

Seeing her wife crying broke his heart coming forward to sit beside him, he uttered,

"Why are you crying, honey?" Concern  filled his voice.

"I'm just missing Ammi and Baba."

He held her soft henna-clad hand and kissed her palm.

"Do you want to talk about them?"

She bit her lips and looked at him with bloodshot eyes, her nose and cheeks were rosy because of constant sobbing.

"Ammi died while giving birth to me, I was fifteen when Baba also died, w-we were coming from the market when the truck hit him, he saved me by pushing, he took the pain on himself."

She clenched his shirt in her small fists. Toady she wanted everything out, she wanted to tell him everything.

"Uzair - my brother hated me from the beginning, he thought because of me my mother died, and Baba only loved me and ignore him." she was hiccupping now.

"After Baba's death, he tolerated me only six years, I was still studying but he made me marry his illiterate friend."

Zarrar clenched his fist and the vein-popping in his temple indicated his anger.

"We married only on papers, in our one-week marriage, he didn't come home and after a week he too died because of overdose, Uzair told me that he didn't have a place for me in his home, the illiterate people used to beat me Zarrar, they used to torture me with their words until two months later Mumani came to meet me, she saw my condition and instantly took me with her, Mamo was ashamed he said that if they knew that I was treated bitterly they would have never left me there."

She was crying loudly, placing her face on his chest.

Zarrar couldn't stop his own tears and they harshly fell on her red cheeks.

He held her tightly close to his heart.

"I rejected your proposal because I thought I was a bad luck, I believed that everyone dies, whoever associates with themselves with me eventually dies, I thought I was incapable of love...but I was wrong, you came into my life, you were the light to my darkness Zarrar, despite my flaws you loved me utterly and deeply."

She stooped crying and rubbed her forehead in his chest softy.

Zarrar held her with her shoulders and gazed at her eyes.

"You have no flaws in you Inhal, you're a precious jewel, which people defied because they didn't know your worth, that bastards will rot in hell to give you so much pain, I loved you, I love you and I will always love you till my last breath and whoever dares to snatch you away from me he won't live to see next day."

He caressed her cheeks with his thumb.

"No one would think to harm you, I will make sure of it, I promise honey, I'll give so much happiness that you won't remember anything from your past."

He wiped her tears and kissed her forehead.

Inhal smiled for the first time that night.

*********

"Affan, make your toast by yourself!" Zara yelled loudly and punched Affan on his shoulder.

"Ammi look at your daughter now, she's a bully."

Affan narrowed his eyes at her.

Inhal laughed at both of them, last night went away in crying and making new promises, she was glowing with happiness now.

"Then why are you eating her toast!?" His mother shook her head at her younger son.

"Have some shame in front of my wife." Zarrar siped his tea and look at the teenagers with his poker face.

They were seated at the breakfast table, having breakfast, unfortunately, Zarrar's father was absent due to his urgent meeting.

"Why? they should behave as they do I'm a part of the family now, I don't want anybody to treat me as a guest."

Pacing her hand on his, she uttered those words woth determination.

Zarrar's mother smiled gently and caressed her head, "my daughter is more intelligent than you Zarrar."

They all gleamed, "I know she is."

Zara and Affan again indulged in the banter.

Inhal took a deep breath and smiled again.

Her smile couldn't leave her face, it was because of the man sitting beside him.

She remembered her Lord's promise as he said in Quran that with every hardship comes ease, her ease was finally here.

She smiled while mumbling Alhumdulliah.

"The End"

The fourth story ends here!

I was just thinking do you guys want to read Affan and Zara's story!

It will also have Inhal and Zarrar's scenes.

Tell me your thoughts regarding it.

Which story was your favorite from all four of them,

And lastly, thank all of you for your supports it honestly motivates me to write.

Until next time,

Take care Allah Hafiz❤