Ittefaq

7. Time

Zubiya stared outside at the pouring rain from where she stood as she sipped at her tea.

There was a sense of serenity creeping up her chest, which she had been longing since forever that made her sigh with relief and smile softly.

"Can I get the privelege of knowing the reason to that beautiful smile on your face?"

She turned as she heard her father's voice and greeted him with a wider smile.

"You're home early."

"Yes. Yes, I've finally realized I have more important places to be than only at my ol' boring desk." Her father said as he chuckled softly which made her laugh.

"I'm really glad about that then." She said.

"So.. have you um.. decided on what you want? I am not telling you to accept the proposal. I won't repeat my mistakes again.. I just want you to choose wisely, that's all, Zubiya." Her father said carefully, almost as if he was scared of her answer.

Zubiya gave her father a small smile to put him at ease, before she nodded slowly. Looking at her feet below - almost blushing, she spoke softly.

"I have, actually. But what I feel is that we need to give each other some time off. I mean, what if he realizes that I'm not good enough for him? Yes, we have travelled a month together, spent some time alone together, not romantically.. but! What I mean to say is.. after a month that we have spent together we all of a sudden come to realize that we are betrothed to each other... Dad, I don't want to step into a forced relationship and nor do I want him to just because I like him. I want both of us to be sure that this is what we want.. that we see us being together in the future.. you get it right?" Zubiya tried to explain what she felt about this situation.

But before she could get in another word her father cut her off with a small grin on his face, "So you like him, huh?"

"What? No! I mean.. ok. Yes, I do- I do like him. He is.. different. He is not what I had assumed him to be." Zubiya answered softly, staring down at her feet.

"My child, I trust you. I know, Asfand is what I would love to choose for you as well. He is a good man and I respect him for how well so far he has come in his life after struggling all by himself. But it all depends on you. Your choice. Okay?" Her father said as he rested his right hand on her head as if giving her his blessing and support for whatever decision she took.

She nodded at him and wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

As her father held her, she shut her eyes and smiled.

This is exactly what she needed time for. To mend her broken relationships before even contemplating about starting a new one. And she was glad that she had chosen this path, which unknowingly Asfand had pushed her into. If it wasn't for him, she wouldn't be here at all. In her father's arms, after years.

Forgiving and seeking forgiveness had given her another chance to a beautiful relationship with her father.

But now there was another person that she still needed to work on mending severed ties with. She could only hope that she would be successful.

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"Can I help with something?" Zubiya asked hesitantly as she watched her mother work on preparing sehri for their first fasting that year.

Every year, her mother would prepare sehri alone and leave for everyone, whenever they decided to eat or if they ever planned to eat.

Zubiya felt completely out of the sorts, currently standing in her kitchen, where she had hardly stepped foot in for years. Because she finally realized that what her family was lacking with, it was actually routine. Communication. And now it felt sort of weird, trying to add routine after many years. But Zubiya was determined to achieve her goal. Which was to go back to how it was before. Before miscommunication had crept into her family.

"Yes. You can start on preparing the tea and I'll do the rest." Her mother said.

Zubiya smiled happily at her mother's turned back.

Maybe with time everything will fall into it's own place.

Maybe with time she could put a fullstop to her waiting period and give Asfand a chance.

Maybe. Yes, maybe.

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