A Human after all

Unplanned encounter (8)

  '˹ O Prophet!˺ Tell the believing men to lower their gaze and guard their chastity. That is purer for them. Surely Allah is All-Aware of what they do.'
-(Surah Al-Nur, 24, verse no. 30)

                          Azlan's POV

After meeting with Sarim, catching up for about an hour and two cups of espresso. I was finally done. It was 6:36pm and I'm sure if I'm late to the wedding of her only  sister, to say the least, Aafiya baji will not be in a good mood.

So, I quickly went home, took a shower and changed into a black three piece suit along with a black tie, but without the vest because my friends, especially Azlan have called me a waiter in it, a number of times.

I quickly grabbed one of the silver seiko watches lying on the dresser and put it on. As I left for the wedding. Phew I'm not late.

                             Aariz's fit
   
  

I was here at Aafiya baji's house. The wedding hadn't started yet, people were arriving. Azlan wasn't here too. The house was decorated with roses and beige coloured tents. The male and female sections were separated by those tents. The entrance was the only common place for them all.

I was sitting on one of the chairs, talking to a few elder people there. Who seemed to know me Allah knows how. I saw Azlan coming through the entrance. He came and greeted me and the other people on our table. "Assalamualaikum"

"Wa'alaikum assalam, where were you?" I asked him

"Yaar office ka ek kaam pending pe tha, had to do it, (There was some pending work at office, had to do it) and my little sister is also here today, Aafiya baji wanted me to bring her along with me, kher m dulha se milke aata hun, tm mil liye? (well I'm going to go meet the groom, have you met him?)" He asked, getting up from his chair.

"Oh good. Yeah I've just met him, you go" I said as he went to meet him.

I was sitting at my table when I heard some females talking loudly right behind me. Although this was the male's side, I could hear them talk, they were very loud, or maybe they were too close?

Well then I heard another voice, coming from the entrance "Zunaira aapi? You're here too?" Sounded like a girl, she squealed, her voice sounded excited.

I tried not to look at the back. Maybe she's talking about that distant relative of Ammi, she had the same name, but that didn't convince me to look at them. The girl said something else too, but I couldn't make it out, since the voice became a bit low now.

Now I could hear the girls at the back say "Why's she covering her head even on a wedding? Does she think she looks good with it?" One of them said.

Ugh I get it. People judge, I do too sometimes. But keep it to yourself, why say it out loud? You're telling others that it's okay to judge and say shit about others without having any knowledge about it.

I rolled my eyes as anger took over me. I looked behind me and I could see Sara, one of the co-ordinators and Zunaira there, so it is them. They were literally standing in the male's side and gossiping about a girl covering her head. How pathetic of them.

I looked towards the girl they were talking about. She looked to be younger than them. I kept looking, I couldn't take my eyes off her. Her simple look, innocent eyes, and the excitement on her face, made me smile unknowingly. She was standing there probably waiting for them to reply.

"Yes I am here." Zunaira said, probably. Her tone of voice was really weird, it showed some arrogance, as if she thinks of her lower than herself.

What's wrong with me, why do I keep looking at her, Ya Allah forgive me. And just then, she looked at me, probably after feeling my gaze on her for so long. As her eyes widened and she ran into the female's side. It looked as if she just realized there were men here. I looked to my back again. And the two girls still stood there shamelessly. Like okay, I won't judge but what are they doing here? Can't they go and gossip on the female's side? I won't say they're seeking attention but their actions say it.

And let's say they don't want it or mean it, they're still getting the disgusting attention from men. I looked around and found many guys looking back at them. What else do I expect. I wanted to get up and tell them. But then decided against it when Azlan came back to me. "Hey bro, what happened? Why's your face red like a tomato?" He questioned with a huge grin on his face.

"What took you so long?" I said, ignoring his question.

"Yar the groom made me meet his parents and everyone in the way. It would've been a shame if I refused" he said sitting on the chair next to me.
"So what's with your face? Did something happen?"

                            
                          Aisha's POV

Bhai just left me here, I didn't know where to go, just going inside won't be okay, I don't know who I'm going to meet, will Aafiya baji's mother be there? I don't even know who to expect, there were so many people there, which made me feel anxious. All the ladies were talking to each other, some girls were getting ready. There was no sign of Aafiya baji, she was the only person I knew here. After deciding to just head inside, I looked around, and found Zunaira aapi. Oh yess! Finally someone I know. She's Azlan bhai's co-worker, she visited us regarding some work a few days ago. She looked pretty. She was standing a little far from me. There were some tents on that side, which prevented me from looking in there, no idea for what.

I called her and waited for her to reply, which she did after some time, I felt someone looking at me from the side, I gathered all my courage to see and found a man looking into my direction. My eyes widened after realizing this was the Male's side and I was looking in there like a creep. I immediately took off from there. But why was Zunaira aapi at the male's side? She must be busy.

I sat there on the couch all embarrassed for the longest time, I kept thinking of how weird it would've been for them. Imagine a guy looking at the female's side. We'd be so uncomfortable. And he'd probably get beaten up. That man must've been so pissed at me that he looked at me for so long. Ya Allah I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. I didn't even know.

Just then Aafiya baji found me and took me out of my thoughts by engulfing me into a bone crushing hug. I'm not a hug person, but when it's Aafiya baji's love, I just can't refuse.

"You look so prettyy. Why're you so late, Where were you? How's your Ammi? I was waiting for so long, where's Azlan?" She bombarded me with questions. I managed to process the last one.

"I don't know, bhai left me at the entrance." I replied.

"Ohh he must be with Aariz, he's been waiting for him for so long." She said laughing a little. "Okay then, have a seat here, talk to the girls, make some friends. I'll be back in a minute" she said, and I, ofcourse wasn't going to talk to anyone after she had left.

I guess Aafiya baji read my mind as she shook her head and called a group of girls and said "Hey girls, this is Aisha, can you guys accompany her for sometime?" I stood there embarrassed, not knowing what to do now. As she pushed me towards them and they started talking to me. Asking me my name, my college, my class, and about my friends. I have no idea how I managed to talk to them for so long.

Most of the time went with me smiling forcefully for no reason at all, trying to be polite. And replying to their questions. They were quite nice and kept telling me to say something as well, but when I tried to engage in conversations with them, I ended up getting talked over since I spoke so low, they of course couldn't hear me. So I stopped trying and listened to them with full concentration.
I was totally occupied that I couldn't think of the embarrassing moments of before.