It was mid-April when Maha Photography approached Yumna and Wahaj for a bridal shoot. Wahaj called Yumna over lunch to discuss if they wanted to do it. Being the owner of renowned bridal wear and a photographer herself, Maha had a huge name in the market, so it was a good opportunity, and they decided to go for it. The shoot was to be done in Lahore, and it was scheduled for three days from now as they both cleared their schedules for the day. They discussed all the necessary details and were meant to meet at the location in Lahore directly.
Two days later, Yumna reached the airport. She wanted to go to Lahore early so that she could surprise her family and spend some quality time with them. Her plane boarded off at 7:00. She had just informed her driver to pick her up from the airport and told him not to tell anyone else that she was coming. As she was waiting for the driver, while she was scrolling through Instagram to kill time, someone tapped on her head as if knocking on a door. She instantly looked up to see who had the audacity to tap her like that. And she saw Wahaj standing in front of her, his legs almost touching hers.
“Hey” she said, with surprise evident in her voice.
“Hey yourself. Do you want me to drop you somewhere?” he asked.
“No, my driver will be here any minute. Thanks for asking, and when was your flight?”
“Ms. Zaidi If you had looked around in the plane instead of being engrossed in your phone, you would’ve seen me sitting quite near, keeping my eyes on you the whole time.”
“Really? Then why didn’t you tell me earlier that we had the same flight?” She pouted.
“You rarely remain silent when we are together, so I just felt like staring at you and how you change expressions while whatever you were watching on your phone.” He teased.
“Really Wahaj? It’s you who can’t shut up whenever we are together” she huffed, whacking his arm. He laughed, as he loved making her riled up.
“Acha sorry bhai, don’t get angry now, and I think you should come with me. Just tell your driver you’ll come by yourself. I want you to meet someone,” he offered his hand.
“But I wanted to spend some time with my family,” she said.
“But you can spend some time with mine. Now come on, don’t be a burst bubble. I want you to meet my daughter.”
She placed her hand in his, and he pulled her up. As they started walking, he put one arm around her shoulders while dragging their suitcases towards his car. He placed their bags in the trunk of his car and then opened the passenger door for her. Making sure that she was comfortably settled, he closed the door and moved to the driver’s seat. Meanwhile, she called her driver to inform him of the change of plans. He ignited the engine and drove towards their destination.
Wahaj’s place was almost a 15 minutes’ drive from the airport. But as they were so preoccupied with each other’s company, it felt like just a minute, and they were already parked outside his house. He wanted Yumna to meet with his wife, Sana, and daughter, Amirah, a cute, bubbly 5-year-old. He parked the car outside, as he had to later drop Yumna off at her place. They went inside.
Wahaj asked the housemaid about his family, who told him that his wife was out, his mother was sleeping in her room, and his daughter was in her room playing with her toys. He asked her to call his daughter downstairs, not to tell her that he was here, as he wanted to surprise her. He checked his phone and saw the messages that his wife sent. She went out to have dinner with her friends.
Yumna was nervous, which was unusual for a 33-year-old woman who had nieces who considered her their favorite khala. Yet here she was, anxious to make a good first impression on his daughter. As he looked toward her, he realized how stiff she was. He held her hand and said,
