*Sehrish's POV*
I can't wait to see Manha's face. She's gonna be so shocked and happy when she sees me. After speaking to her yesterday, I realized that she might need me with her. She might not say it but I could feel it. So, I decided to go over to her place and help her in anyway I can. I'll be leaving tonight so that when Malik's family comes over tomorrow I'll have Manha's back. In sha Allah.
I don't know how but I managed to convince my dad to let me go for a few days. I not even staying for a complete week but it's okay I'll make it up to Manha later. She will kick me out of her house if she knows that I'm not staying for long. But I have my ways to keep her not mad at me ;)
No one at Manha's home knows that I'm coming except for Uncle Ahad. I didn't let mom tell aunt because then the whole surprise would be spoiled. So I'll leave be leaving after dinner and then in an hour or so I'll be in Dubai. This is the very first time I'm traveling all by myself. I hope I don't embarrass myself in front of other people. Well anyways I just pray I don't.
*At Manha's Home*
Now, I am in Manha's home and she is sleeping as uncle said but I doubt it because I know how tensed she gets with all this. I don't want to disturb her if she really is sleeping. I'm just gonna wait till it's Fajr time so that I can go wake her up and see her reaction. I might as well take a picture of her when she sees me. That would be fun to blackmail her or tease her until she gets annoyed.
There's still like 4-5 hours for Fajr and I don't have anything to do so I'll just catch some sleep till then.
*Friday, Fajr time.*
I asked Aunt Mahnoor to wake me up for Fajr and she did. I walked into the washroom, freshened up, did Wudu and went towards Manha's room.
Now it's SHOWTIME. I barged into Manha's room without knocking and with a bit of noise. No not a bit but a lot of noise. I just did that to wake her up and she did move a little at the sound but didn't fully wake up. I went towards the side where she was facing and calmly said her name a few times "Manha. Hey Manha. Assalaamualaikum look at me. It's me Sehrish. I'm here." To that I got reply like "Mamma stop lying. If you want me to wake up just say the words and I will. But Sehrish...She can't be here. I-I wish she was but..." She didn't even finish the sentence and continued her beauty sleep. Ya Allah! How I want to throw a bucket of water at her but I'm not so cruel. I just shook the organs out her until she opened her eyes and had a look at me. She just sat up quickly and there she was sitting with a mouth hung open like she had seen a ghost. I said "Assalaamualaikum. I'm Sehrish and I AM REALLY HERE FOR YOU. " She just came out of her bed and hugged the life out of me. But I did the same with her so it's okay.
Later we offered our prayers and I read Quran while Manha and Samrah Bhabhi were helping their mom in the kitchen with the preparations of breakfast. I was going to help them but then I thought of reading Quran so I did. I'll help them when it's time to set the table for breakfast, In sha Allah.
I finished reading Quran and went to kitchen. There I saw Aunt Mahnoor and Manha doing stuff together just like me and mom do. Then I remembered that I had to call me and decided to do so after the breakfast. I helped them set the table and then we had some delicious Daal and chapatis that both of them cooked. It was simply mouthwatering and delicious.
*Zuhr Time*
I was helping Manha select a dress for today, something decent and pretty. I made her try about 20-25 dresses. Evil me. But I was finding it hard to find a dress which was perfect for today. She was getting annoyed and said "I feel tired already because of this. I might even sleep when Malik's mom talks to me and it will be all because of you." I replied "Okay fine just this last one and I promise I will not bother you after this." She sighed and tried this deep pink coloured Salwar Kameez that I chose. It had some light pink flowers on it and it looked beautiful on her. She changed into it and I must say she looked stunning. I said "PERFECT." She smiled brightly and started to tie her hair into a bun and then she would wrap a Hijab on. It took her almost 45 minutes to get ready. She did a bit of make up. Just a bit of lipstick some Kohl and that was it. While she got ready I offered my Zuhr prayer and after that she did the same.
Uncle Ahad came back from the prayer and now we were all keenly waiting for the guests to arrive. I helped Aunt Mahnoor to prepare the lunch and set the table for the men and women separately. We both restricted Manha from entering the kitchen. She just sat in the living room reading Quran.
*2:30 pm*
We all heard the bell ring and I was super excited so I just ran to the door before anyone else could and opened the door wide open for the guests to enter. A lady and three men entered the home and upon their entering I quickly moved aside and hid myself behind the door while lowering my gaze. I face palmed myself for having so much of excitement in me which makes me look like an 8 year old -.-
The lady, Aunt Mahnoor, Samrah Bhabhi and I were seated in the guest room and the men were in the living room. Malik's mom said "Can I meet my to be daughter?" I nodded while smiling and got up to bring Manha. I went to Manha's room and said "Come let's go meet your to be Mother in law. Don't be so nervous it's going to be fine. She's a sweet and kind woman. She called you her "to be daughter". She's eager to meet you. Let's not keep her waiting. Come on." We were now in the guest room. As soon as Malik's mom saw us she got up and hugged Manha and said "Assalaamualaikum. Masha'Allah you are so beautiful. May Allah bless you my dear one." Manha said "WalaikumAssalaam. Jazak'Allahu Khairan and Ameen."
Aunt Mahnoor and Samrah Bhabhi were now in the kitchen serving lunch to the men. I was with Manha and Malik's mom in the guest room. I secretly took a picture of Manha a while she was seated with so much patience and silence. She should see how she looked like so why not show her this picture.
After everyone had lunch Uncle Ahad decided to take Manha to the living room where Malik and his father were. There was some other guy as well so he was going to be in the garden with Adam and Saleh. Manha was dying out of nervousness I could see her looking at me with eyes saying *please come with me* but I couldn't go. They are all Non-Mahram to me so it's really not okay to go. I wish I could. I mouthed an "It will al be okay" to her and smiled widely and she returned a weak smile. I hope everything goes well, In sha Allah.
*Manha's POV*
I think I'll pass out because of this much nervousness. Ya Allah, please help me. I was now in the living room where my to be husband and to be father in law were. I am pretty sure I look like a tomato now. What's wrong with me?I tried to keep myself calm and kept my gaze locked on the floor. I sat down opposite to Malik. It was all quiet for a moment when I heard a deep voice saying "Assalaamualaikum Wa Rahmatullah." I shyly replied "WalaikumAssalaam Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu." It was getting awkward by each second. I still had my gaze locked on the floor but I could feel that someone was gazing at me but then after a few seconds I didn't feel it so I just tried to have a look at him and I almost succeeded. All I could think of was MASHA'ALLAH. I quickly lowered my gaze and thought to myself that 'We are not halal yet.' Both mine and Malik's father were talking and after probably 5-10 minutes later which felt like eternity to me, his father asked Abbu "So when do you want the Nikah to be?" Abbu replied "Frankly speaking, it's upto you all." They both chuckled at that and then his father said "How about on 23rd of September, I guess it's a Friday?" 'WHAT?! 23RD AS IN THIS MONTH'S 23RD. IT'S LIKE 20 DAYS AWAY! NOOOO!' I wanted to say all of this but I didn't want to spoil anyone's happiness and honestly I was just being the nervous me. Even tomorrow would be fine if that's what written for me. I can't believe I just said that. It has been decided that the Nikah was going to be on the 23rd of September, In sha Allah. I was happy, Alhamdulillah. I left the room silently and went back to my own room where I found Sehrish seated. I ran and hugged her for a long time. She's my stress buster. I released her from the hug and said "It's on 23rd of September." She asked "What is?" I said "My Nikah with Malik Rahman." She pulled me in a it hug and said "Masha'Allah that's such a great news. I am really happy for you. May Allah bless you." I could feel the joy in her voice.
It was now time for Malik and his family to leave. We said our salaams and they were gone. 20 days. That's all I am left with. Hopefully everything turns out good, In sha Allah.
That's all for this chapter guys. Hope you like it. Please do vote, comment and share this story. I would really appreciate it. Jazak'Allahu Khairan & Stay blessed :)
