Fasaana

FORTY EIGHT

Say my name
and everything just stops.

********

"Zoya?" Mariam stopped her after they were done with the breakfast on Saturday morning.

Zoya halted her steps, and so did Shahveer.

"Why did you stop?" Mariam asked Shahveer. "Weren’t you going to play with Saahir and Sehrish? Go on."

"Umm.." He looked between Zoya and Mariam.

"I am not going to eat her up." She said and shooed him away, before looking at Zoya. "Do you know how to make tea?"

Zoya nodded immediately.

"Make two cups and bring them to the terrace." With that, she padded off.

Zoya looked at the housemaid who was cleaning the table and nervously asked, "Can you please show me the kitchen?"

The maid nodded with a smile and led the way.

"Here, ma'am," She also kept all the ingredients she'd need on the counter.

Zoya switched on the stove and started after muttering a small Bismillah.

Twenty minutes later, she walked into the terrace with the same maid following her with a tray in her hands. Zoya insisted that she could carry it herself, but the maid didn't let her. She placed it on the table and left Mariam and Zoya alone.

"What do your parents do?" Marian asked, keeping aside the novel she was reading.

"Umm, my father works as a peon in a bank and my mother is a housewife." Zoya replied with her fingers entwined on her lap.

Mariam nodded. "Any sibling?"

"Two younger sisters. One got married recently and the other is in college."

Silence prevailed between them for a while as they both watched the two grown-up men playing football with Sehrish in the lawn.

"I have never seen Shahveer this happy." Mariam spoke, "He has always been a full-of-life person, but with you and Sehrish, he glows different."

This made Zoya's heart flutter. "He makes Sehrish and I glow as well."

Mariam gestured to her to serve the tea. Zoya poured it from the teapot into two cups.

Picking up her cup with saucer, Mariam took a sip. All this while, Zoya stared at her like a hawk, wondering if she'd even like the tea.

And her fear came true. Mariam made a displeased expression as soon as the liquid hit her tastebuds. "No offense, but this is not the best tea I've had."

Zoya knowingly nodded. "I know. Cooking is not really my fortè."

"That is fine. One person doesn't have to be good at everything." Mariam shrugged it off. "And anyway, Ruhani and I have given Shahveer some great cooking skills. You can hand him the kitchen responsibilities."

Zoya, for a second, couldn't believe that Mariam Khan was actually passing casual, funny remarks with her. Guess her outer, rough exterior was coming off slowly.

They sat on the terrace for quite some time. Mariam told Zoya about Shahveer's childhood, and Zoya discussed her job and work responsibilities with her. She was pleasantly surprised to find out Mariam knew quite a lot about the corporate world.

After having lunch, Zoya, Shahveer and Saahir went to their respective rooms to pack their luggage. All of them had flights in the night.

"It was lovely meeting you." Ruhani said as she hugged Zoya. Everyone was standing on the porch, saying goodbye.

"Thank you for having us over." Zoya replied. Ruhani also hugged Sehrish before giving her a big box of chocolates. Salah Khan also came forward to say bye to them. He kept a hand on top of Zoya's head, and kissed Sehrish's forehead.

At the end, Zoya stood in front of Mariam. "I'll take your leave now, Nawab Begum."

Mariam kept one hand on Zoya's left cheek. "You can call me Amma."

Zoya's lips curled into a beautiful smile, and so did everyone else's. Before Zoya knew, she had hugged Mariam. "Thank you, Amma!"

Mariam then hugged Sehrish and kissed her cheek. "Come back soon."

The boys then said goodbye to their family as well, before all of them leave for the airport.

"That's me," Saahir said as his flight was announced.

"Take care, brother." Shahveer hugged him.

"We couldn't spend enough time together. So plan a trip to Delhi soon." Zoya said to him.

"Done, bhabhi. As soon as my semester exams get over, I'll be standing at your doorstep." He promised.

She laughed at him before stepping forward to hug him.

"And you, my princess, miss me. Okay?" He told Sehrish. She had gotten close to him in the past days.

After exchanging a few more words of goodbye, he left to board his flight to Ahmedabad, while the rest three got on theirs to Delhi.

They were traveling in business class, obviously. The seats were so comfortable, but still Sehrish opted to sit on Shahveer's lap the entire time. Zoya tried to get her off, but she adamant. And it was not like he minded it. In fact, he loved how his princess had started to find comfort in him. Everytime she'd rest herself on his chest, his heart felt like it'd burst out of happiness.

He asked for a blanket from the air hostess. Wrapping Sehrish with the blanket, he kissed her temple and cuddled her close while she watched a movie on the screen in front of her.

Upon reaching Delhi, they booked a cab and went home. Everyone was tired, so Shahveer kissed both his girls goodnight outside their home instead of coming inside.

Malti opened the door and welcomed them back. Sehrish's eyes were drooping, so Zoya wasted no time in putting her to bed. They had already had her dinner on the plane. Then she talked to Malti about the events that happened in the past three days before going to bed herself.

The trip to Bhopal might have not had a very smooth start, but it sure ended on a good note. Zoya was so happy to have got approved by Shahveer's family.

And now, the next step was to tell her parents.

▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️

It was a small chapter, but it was all I could manage today.

Happy reading.