~ RIDA || The Cloak ~

باب ہشتم || اشارہ

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

اشارہ || A Sign

تھا انتظار ان دونوں کو اُس ایک اشارے کا

جیسے چاندنی راتوں کو انتظار اُس ایک ستارے کا

دھڑکنے ہوئیں تیز، جب ملا وہ پیغام

نئی امیدوں کی روشنی، بکھری ہر دام

~~~ < ♡ > ~~~

The morning of Valima is here. Everyone is up and bustling at Zafar's residence. The bride's family will be here for the morning ritual, where the bride's cousins and siblings come with breakfast to take the bride back home for Valima preparations. It's almost 10 a.m., and the preparations for receiving the guests are completed. With Aqsa's family on their way, everyone at Zafar's residence has rushed to freshen up and make themselves presentable before the guests arrive.

Rida is in her room dressing up while conversing with her mother and sister. She is wearing a simple rose pink cotton dress paired with the same colour hijab. Today she ditched the lenses, giving her eyes a break for a few hours, wearing her comfy lilac platforms.

The guests arrive with a feast for breakfast. Everybody enjoys the food while having a lighthearted conversation. Alisha notices how Zawar's eyes keep following her Rida Api when he thinks no one notices and how her Api avoids any interaction with Zawar. It wouldn't be unusual if she didn't go out of her way to call Alisha just to serve tea on the other side of the table where Zawar was.

Unbeknownst to Alisha, she wasn't the only one who noticed their behaviour; her mother had noticed it too. Shazia decided to leave the situation for the time being. She won't do anything until any indication is given from Rida, as she doesn't want a repeat of that fateful day that almost broke her daughter.

As today is Valima, not much has to be done. Rida just has to be ready on time and make sure she looks pretty for herself! The day goes by with everyone busy preparing for the night. After Asr, the elder ladies go to the parlour to get ready while Rida and Alisha stay back. Alisha takes the opportunity to find out what's going on between Rida and Zawar.

"Api, ek baat puchu?" Rida looks up at her sister's tone. "Puchu?" "Woh, kya aap Zawar bhai ko pasand karti hain?" Alisha whispers, fearing her sister might burst at such a direct question.

Rida is shocked! She hasn't given away anything regarding her feelings for Zawar. "Aapi, kya aap Zawar bhai ko pasand karti hain?" Alisha whispers again, sitting close to her. Rida contemplates whether she should acknowledge her feelings for Zawar. Taking a deep breath, she decides that maybe sharing her feelings will bring her relief.

"Pasand... Han karti hun," Rida says while holding Alisha's hand. Alisha is excited by her sister's confession and exclaims, "Toh phir dayr kis baat ki hai. Kal hum Ami se baat karain iss bare mein?" Rida has to calm down her enthusiastic sister; she doesn't want everybody to know about this delicate matter.

"Alisha! Chup karo tum. Yeh baat abhi kisi ko nahi pata chalni chahiye. Yeh baat meri taraf se nahi badh sakti. Kyun ke mujhe kuch confirm nahi ke woh mere bare mein aisay jazbaat rakhte hain ya nahi. Toh tum yeh baat ghalti se bhi kisi ko maloom nahi honay dena. Theek hai?" Rida warns her sister not to spill the beans.