HUMSAFAR

16~ Dawat

[ROOM]

Munawar sat on the couch glancing at his phone while Mannara set up the bed. She looked towards him.

'Suno..'

'Hmm?'

'Thank you..'

'Kis liye?' He asked keeping his phone aside.

'Aaj meray saath aane ke liye..aur hospital mein mera saath dene ke liye. Waise aap itne bure bhi nahi hai jitna maine socha tha.' she said changing the pillow cover.

'Aap? AAP??' He said dramatically walking towards her. 'Matlab mohabbat ho gayi?' he whispered taking the pillow from her hands. 

'Aisa kuch nahi hai. Main bas yeh keh rahi thi ki aap..ek acche insaan hai.'

'Hmmmm' he sighed.

'Waise yeh all of a sudden 'aap' kyun?'

He questioned with a little smirk.

'Woh..ehsaas ho gaya hai mujhay' 

'Kaisa ehsaas?'

'Ke aap umar mein mujhse itne bade hai aur bado ko izzat deni chahiye.'

Munawar slightly annoyed raised his eyebrows.

'Suno. Yeh aap keh ne ki koi zarurat nahi hai..'tum' keh ke bhi bula sakti ho'

'Lekin kyunn?' She asked teasingly.

'Bas keh diya' he said walking into the closet while Mannara chuckled.

[Aziz House] 10 days later Mannara

Amma baba had invited us on a dawat since a lot had happened during Eid and both the families couldn't meet. Baba was feeling a little better now but I was still angry because I had told them to not do so many preparations. But nobody listens to me in this house.

We exchange warm greetings as we enter the living room. I went to Amma to help her with the kitchen.

The dining table was adorned with an array of dishes.We all sat down talking and enjoying the feast.

[MANNARA'S ROOM]

Munawar stood there looking at one of the books kept at the shelf.

'Tumhe andar aane ki ijazat kisne di?' He turned to look at Mannara standing at the door.

'Apni biwi ka kamra hai..aa sakta hoon'

She gave him a look.

'Amma bula rahi hai..neeche aao' 

'Mujhay? Kyun?'

'Kheer banayi hai unhone! Apne ek laute damad ke liye. Aur jab tak aap aake nahi kha lete tab tak mujhay bhi nahi milegi! Isliye jaldi aao!'

He smiled.

[HALL]

Everyone sat in the hall as Zara and Mannara served the kheer. Mannara notices Munawar continuously smiling at her. She takes a bowl from the tray to hand it to him.

His smile was annoying her as if he found something amusing about her serving him kheer.

'Lijiye' she said with a fake smile.

'Thank you' he said in the most appealing way his eyes still on her while she rolled her eyes.

AMREEN