Illicit Affairs ~A ZaiRa FF~

2. Two Engagements and a Reunion

The Society Whisperer- Personal Blog Section

August 10th, 2023.

Good afternoon, lovelies! How are we all doing? The weather's taken a turn for the worse again, in the midst of Karachi's unpredictable Monsoon.

Meanwhile, against all odds, things finally seem to be looking up for our queen bee- Mubashira Jaffar. A little anonymous birdie gave us a juicy bit of exclusive intel about some recent developments in MJ's personal life. It appears that it's not a knight in shining armor who has swept her off her feet, but a dynamic suitor who is a king in his own right.

Looks like MJ might've managed to save her kingdom after all! Now, the question is, what's her next move going to be? Will we hear wedding bells anytime soon?!

Keep following this space for more updates!

-Gupshup Rani

*****

Zaid Asif looked at the hordes of guests piling into the lawn of the Shahwani mansion and swallowed apprehensively. He wasn't an inherently social being and mostly displayed tendencies resembling that of an ambivert. He was friendly and mischievous with individuals he knew significantly well and shared a decent rapport with, but remained rather stiff and formal with most others. Consequently, when he observed the number of individuals at the gathering, he had a sudden urge to dodge the guests altogether and possibly go outside for a smoke. However, he knew that he couldn't remain isolated from them, because his father would surely want him to host the visitors as effectively as possible in his absence.

He looked into the dial of his watch and took note of the time. It was nearly eight-thirty, which was well past the stipulated arrival slot for the visitors.

Come on Baba, where are you?

Although his father did arrive fashionably late to most social gatherings on principle, Zaid hadn't expected that he would uphold this little tradition of his when he was the primary host of this grandiose celebration.

It had only been a couple hours since Zaid had reached Karachi. He'd hardly been able to contain his excitement at the thought of reuniting with his family and had wasted no time in returning home from the airport. Nevertheless, much to his dismay, it appeared that his father was still at work and Kashmala had gone out to meet with a friend, clearly failing to recall that Zaid would be arriving in the afternoon. Although Zaid had learned to manage his expectations when it came to Kashmala and his father's occasionally nonchalant behavior towards him, he couldn't help but feel a sliver of disappointment every time such an instance came about.

It had been the same old story ever since Zaid was a mere four year old, starting from the very day Kashmala was born. Even though Zaid was probably too little to remember intricate details, he had an extremely lucid memory of holding Kashmala for the first time, and falling in love with her almost instantaneously. Despite the joy that Kashmala had brought into their lives, her birth was quickly followed by a period of mourning for the Shahwani family as Zeenat- Asif Shahwani's wife of nearly seven years, passed away as a result of some complications that'd arisen during the delivery.

As the years progressed, Asif repeatedly showered Kashmala with extra affection as if to compensate for the fact she'd never known a mother's love. Asif was also extremely protective of her and tried to cocoon her from even the slightest discomfort, making her rather naive and oblivious to the harsh realities of the outside world. As a result, Zaid felt slightly neglected and made repeated attempts to win his father's attention and approval. He pushed himself to the best of his abilities in all spheres of life, in a bid to impress his dad. There was never a year that went by where Zaid hadn't secured the top most grades in his batch. He even worked extremely hard as an athlete and captained the school cricket team for a number of years. Even though Zaid's room was lined with glistening trophies and glowing medals as concrete evidence of his brilliance, somehow, his father always seemed to be happier whenever Kashmala received a mere consolation prize of any sort.