Colliding Fates (On Hold)

Chapter 6: Games of Identity

Raza brushed his hair and gazed at the mirror, content with his appearance. He strolled down to Imtiaz and his mom, who were having breakfast. Imtiaz and Aisha wore looks of astonishment. As usual, Raza greeted Aisha with a good morning and took a seat beside her. Imtiaz and Aisha exchanged glances.

Aisha initiated the conversation, "Raza, are you heading somewhere?"

"Yes," Raza replied, pouring milk into a bowl of oats.

"You didn't inform us?" Imtiaz interjected, pausing between his words, and continued, "Where are you off to this time?" Imtiaz resumed his breakfast.

"Just a restaurant," Raza answered nonchalantly

"Wait! You're not going abroad? Just to a restaurant?" Aisha exclaimed, pouring coffee for herself

"Yeah, why is that so surprising?" Raza said, making eye contact

"It's only 8 in the morning. When you're home, you usually wake up at 11," Aisha remarked in a subdued tone

"I turned in early yesterday," Raza explained, shifting his focus back to his breakfast. Imtiaz and Aisha exchanged suspicious looks

"It's nothing," Raza whined, his face flushed, as he picked up the dirty dishes to put them away

Aisha laughed, and Imtiaz shook his head with a small smile, focusing on his breakfast

"What do you think is happening?" Aisha whispered to Imtiaz, to which Imtiaz smiled and shrugged

"I swear it's nothing," Raza said as he walked past the dining table. "I'll be back soon," he added before leaving.

Imtiaz got up to leave when Aisha said, "Imi, I asked Ryan to set up a blind date with a girl I met at the engagement yesterday"

"What? Mom, without asking me?" Imtiaz asked, still standing with a tinge of frustration. "Imi, she's nice and runs a restaurant. Please meet her. If you don't like her, I'll never bring it up again," Aisha said, getting up with a sweet tone in her voice

"Mom, it'll just be a waste of time," Imtiaz said, picking up his laptop bag and starting to walk towards the car

"And if you do like her, it won't be a waste of time," she said, walking after him. Imtiaz sighed and looked at her

"But Ma—" "But nothing," Aisha interrupted, handing him a coffee mug. "You'll meet her, and then you can decide"

"Okay, fine," Imtiaz agreed, and he got into the driver's seat, closing the door and rolling down the window

"Thank you," Aisha said, smiling through the window. "Mhmm," he hummed and zoomed away.

________

"Dua, where's your mind?" Sara asked as Dua was seasoning the biryani

Dua looked at Sara confused and Sara prompted "I was talking about the feature item"

"Right" Dua said "you bring it to the front" with that Dua left the kitchen.

"What is wrong with me?" Dua mumbled cleaning the counters. She was thinking about Raza and the way he talked about her work apart from Sara nobody has appreciated her work. It made her feel valued and seen.

"Maybe it's just the way he looks at things," Dua thought, her mind still on Raza. She couldn't help but replay yesterday's recent conversations in her mind. The way he complimented her attention to detail in the dishes, the genuine interest he showed in culinary experiments – it was all so different from what she was used to.

The aroma of the biryani filled the air, and she couldn't help but feel a sense of pride in their restaurant.

Sara's voice interrupted her reverie with a tray of their featured snacks. "Dua, are you okay? You seem a bit distracted today."