☀︎︎ love o'clock ☀︎︎

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"I'm starting to get jealous of your work now." The words left his mouth and Zuha wouldn't have ever believed in her lifetime that she'll get to hear this man say this to her ever. She chuckled, shaking her head.

"Karma." She stuck out her chin, giving him a proud look. Zuha had officially launched her fashion designs under her brand name after renewing her rejected ideas over and over again. Her designs were finally going to be show-cased in a modelling show hosted by a famous company. She was especially sponsored by the CEO, Abuzar Shoaib, who recognized her as a 'future talented designer' so why not be the first one to give her the golden opportunity, for which she was so very grateful. So now she was choosing her best designs.

"I didn't ignore you at home like this, though." He complained making her roll her eyes.

"You barely showed up at home, doctor Momin. My whole day would go like, why am I here? What am I doing here? This is not where I belong!" She dramatically exaggerated each question, holding up the design papers in her hand. He gave her a bored look so she continued.

"I was jealous of your patients because you gave them more time than me and that sometimes made me want to become a patient too." She cringed thinking back on the beginning days of their marriage.

"I mean, I did. Ussky baad saari jealousy nikal gai mery system sy." Putting up her hands, she shuddered at the memory. Then getting closer to her husband, she grabbed his nose and chuckled at his deadpanned expression.

"Good. I never hope to see you as one again. Ever." He said in all seriousness before leaning towards her face and just when she got distracted by the closeness, he snatched the papers from her hand and their usual tom & jerry fight begun.

Zuha ended up kicking him out of their room to work in peace, to later find him sleeping on the sofa in the hall. He was cradling the pillow, his long legs hanging over the edge of the sofa. She felt tad bit bad about kicking him out and didn't want to disturb his slumber. He looked extremely tired and peaceful.

The next day, she woke up early to prepare breakfast for him only to find him next to her on the bed, deep in dreamland, with a hand over her waist. After admiring him for some time, she got up to get ready and left after putting his breakfast in the microwave.

The hospital had now hired surgeons and it's financial position had improved, thus Momin didn't have to worry about going on shifts day or night. He only performed difficult surgeries now, not for the ER patients. So his shifts didn't follow a routine, only special schedule for when he had set the surgery dates for his patients. He had two surgeries in the afternoon so he could sleep through the morning.

For Zuha's life had become busy now with her office hours being morning to evening. She was working on her design when she received a text from him and a huge grin made it's way on her face. God, he still thanked her for making breakfast for him and she bit on her lip before typing out her reply.

Zuha:

Thank you for being by my side always. You've been my biggest supporter and for you to be next to me in life has been one of Allah's greatest gifts for me.

Have a great day at the hospital, bloody surgeries are counting on you. ツ

8:20 AM

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|3 years later|

"Ah, so embarrassing." She gasped covering her mouth, letting go of the warmth of his hand to step away and clear out the tangled mess of discarded papers on the floor. They were currently walking through the lobby of her workplace. She was a famous fashion designer now carrying an established successful brand forward.

"Don't you dare. I'm not some chief guest or an outsider." He joined her in picking them up and discarded them in the nearby bin.

"I swear we're very professional and tidy when working. I don't know wh-"

"I know. I've seen you grow this brand into what it is today. And I'm saying this with my whole heart that you've made me so proud, Zuh." He held her hand again as they walked through towards her personal office.

"You know what? Half the credit goes to you, Dr. Momin. If you wouldn't have questioned my 'passion', I would've taken it slow or probably just kept wondering if I should go for it or not." She chuckled, thinking back to the first time she had the thought and had talked to him about it which ended up with them arguing.

"Everytime I failed and was on the verge of giving up," coming face to face with him, she placed her hand on his chest, "you're the one who didn't let me give up, meri jaan." She stared at his brown orbs, her high heels making it easier for her. She grinned up at him as he held her by the waist, his neck craned to draw their faces closer to one another.

"Thank you for pushing me, for repeating those affirmations that don't mean anything in inspirational films but mean everything when someone who cares about you says them." She expressed, hugging him closer. Momin knew words wouldn't do justice to how much the woman in his arms meant to him. Caressing the sides of her face, he placed a kiss on her forehead.

"These forehead kisses will be the end of me." She muttered, eyes closed. A knock on the door made them spin their heads, but instead of separating from one another, she kept her hold affirm, letting out a 'come in'.

"Finally! The time has arrived. The reason I called you here." She clapped her hands together in excitement when Amen, her secretary, entered with something huge covered in black and hung it.

"I've a special gift for you. Close your eyes." Zuha dragged him forward, covering his eyes with her hands hurriedly.

"Ta-da." She uncovered them when the black cloth was taken off and Momin's mouth turned into an 'O' shape looking at the surprise. It was a grey coloured men suit, designed with double-breasted buttons, pockets and a slim-fit cut. It was slick, and definitely his size.

"Do you like it?" She asked with anticipation.

"Absolutely. I love it." He grinned, going to touch the suit's soft wool material.

"I thought of you when making this design, so it has a special place in my heart." She held the suit's cuff. She was finally going to launch men wear and expand her brand.

"I cannot appreciate enough, the gift I have in you. Saying that you're special is an understatement." He tucked the strands of her hair behind her right ear, fingers brushing her cheek.

A crying voice echoed in the room as the door was pulled open and the nanny entered straddling the whining child in her arm, while pushing the baby stroller with her free hand. Zuha hurried forward, holding the crying child in her arms who immediately quietened upon embracing the familiar scent of his mom.

Moiz and Zoya. Their children. Moiz was two years old now, while it had been three months since Zoya's birth.

Momin bent to check on Zoya who was peacefully sleeping in the trolley. She was the complete opposite of her older brother who was a loud crier.

"Next will be these babies." The words slipped out of her mouth as she cooed at Moiz in her arms who was attached to his mother like a koala.

"You're planning to launch a corner for babies as well?" He asked and she nodded. She had been thinking about expanding her brand for all types people. Be it women, men, children. Gradually, she will get to it. Step by step.

"You're fantastic." He grinned so wide, planting a soft kiss on her cheek. He'd always tell her that and she'd blush grinning like an idiot each time.

"We need to leave for dinner with the newly wed couple." She suddenly remembered looking at the time on the wall clock, still patting moiz on the back who was slowly dozing off in her embrace.

Match-maker Zuha had been victorious in getting their best friends, Aneel and Eshal, to confess their feelings to each other and finally get married, since their families got along better than the couple themself. It took time to get them both together, but she had worked hard to arrange 'accidental meetings' between them two every time Eshal visited her and now she took credit for them being together today as a lovely couple, rightfully so.

"I assure you, Aneel is never going to be on time." Momin said with a shake of his head.

"Eshal is an extremely punctual person, she's gonna drag him by the ear if she has to."

"Wo banda yahi deserve karta hai." Momin felt pleasure in imagining the scenario and Zuha chuckled. "Acha? Aur aap kya deserve karty hein?"

"Mein aap jesi naram-dil aur khoobsoorat biwi deserve karta hun." He smugly responded, looking at her with their son in her arms, adorable sight for him. "Ahan."

Zoya noticed her secretary leave the room with her head hung low which was not at all like her usual enthusiastic nature. "I'll be right back." She passed Moiz to his father who carried him with ease.

"Amen?" She called out upon finding her sitting on the bench near the water dispenser. Sitting on the space next to her, Zuha cleared her throat. "What's the matter, my hype girl?"

"Nothing." She sighed, letting a small smile play on her lips. "You know you can share anything with me." Zuha assured.

"I envy you guys." She looked down at her hands, as if ashamed to admit it out aloud. Zuha gently placed a hand over her hands.

"Do you think it is possible to have a long and healthy relationship like yours in today's world?" She looked up at her and Zuha's lips curved into a genuine smile.

"It's rare but it's possible. We as a generation fail to understand that a healthy love and long-lasting relationship comes with a lot. There will be arguments, there will be boring days, there will be mistakes here and there, there will be nights ended with slamming doors and days followed by being annoyed at every little thing they're doing, but it's those days where you hold on patiently, and you make it work. In the end, all such hard days will be worth it if you're with the right person."

//♥︎♥︎♥︎//

/Author's Note\

oh, how the tables have turned !

my akalmand babies 🤧💗

the way Zuha grew & the way Momin was her support throughout & the way their bond & relationship turned out-

cryinggg ☹️

i had an extra cooking scene planned in this chap where Momin cooks to lift up a moody Zuha's mood lmao but oh well ,, keeping that private cuz this is all you'll get of them now shoo shoo away 😭

i felt like changing the name of the book in the midst thinking it might not be a perfect name , cuz as the book was based on the phrase

" time only makes sense when you're at a loss for the right one "

yes , it pointed at a kinda sad ending 😔 but i CANT physically & mentally & emotionally & spiritually & literally do that to my babies 😫🧍‍♀️ dil ko kuch kuch hota hai ok 😭

but then again , my stupid plots always turn out to be unexpected than the originally planned ones-

its like i've no control but i do have control-

idk what im saying anymore , but i feel like it still makes sense , cuz they both struggled w time & love in their relation 🤓

also my guy abuzar was mentioned here as a CEO 😳 fun fact; i had originally planned that abura would make an appearance in this story w ayla as a family but then "jab they met" happened & the idea dissolved into thin air & we only ended up w a glimpse of his name in this story lmao 😭

but i love when my characters collide in their world, they all be mingling together meeting coincidentally you see 😌

( dropping hints )

so hope y'all enjoyed this lovely ride 💗

but buckle up for the next one ,, its gonna be more thrilling & bouncy & adventurous & mysterious & a pinch of stupidity is a must !

*wink wink*

will be up soon in sha Allah,

until then , take care 🌹

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