You're My Home | Complete ✔

Chapter 14

Flowers. Everywhere. It seemed like the wedding preparations were going on quite well, and knowing Zeba khaala, this work was most definitely not done by her. She preferred to keep things simple, and that was what Samara was expecting. But the decorations said otherwise. She stood there for a little while before she rang the bell. She wasn't sure how things were going to go between her and Armaan, but she didn't want her personal differences to interfere with the wedding or her relation to Zeba.

"Samara! What a delight to see you see you. I've been telling Armaan how much I missed you all this while."

"I'm so sorry khaala. I wish I could be here earlier but something important came up all of a sudden and I-"

"Oh it's okay. I can understand. Doctor's routines are quite tough I know. Anyhow, now that you are here, I've got so much to catch up on with you. Why are you still standing there? Come inside."

Both women walked inside as they chatted along. Samara complimented on how beautiful everything was looking, especially Zeba herself. It was the bridal glow, the happiness that reflected on her face, and it made her look far more beautiful than any makeup could ever.

"Come let me introduce you to everyone. After all you're soon going to be a part of this family." Samara tried to hide her emotions that came surging through behind her smile. They stepped out into the lawn. She could see a lot of people, some were working on the lights hanging from the trees, some were setting up the stage and some were just walking around and chatting with each other. The ambience literally screamed wedding. Among all the unknown faces, her eyes were looking for one familiar face in particular, but it was no where to be seen in the crowd.

Zeba called everyone present around and they all gathered one by one, eager to welcome the new member in their family, as she introduced Samara as Armaan's fiancée. The introductions took quite a while, as there were many to be done, but she was more than happy doing it. Everyone seemed to warm up to her instantly and it felt like they've known each other for a long time. She hadn't been around such a big family ever since she moved away from home. For a little sometime, she forgot about everything that had happened and was beginning to look forward to being a part of it. Samara was smiling wholeheartedly, unaware of the set of eyes that were looking down at her from the balcony above.

Armaan couldn't take his eyes off the vision in white standing in the lawn in front of him. He didn't want to either. White was definitely her color. He wanted to go down and meet her, but couldn't bring himself to do it. Nevertheless, he was happy to see how well Samara was getting along with his family. He had been worried that her presence might make things more awkward and could possibly even hurt him further, but much to his relief nothing of that sort happened. Rather, it somehow made him happy in a way he couldn't comprehend.

Everybody dispersed back to work, and Samara too started to help the others with the stage decorations as she chatted with some of the girls. Her peripheral vision spotted a familiar figure. Turning towards the balcony, she saw him standing there, looking at her and beaming. A smile resonated on her face as well. It seems like a bridge was beginning to form,  one that would diminish their differences, but there was still, a long way to go.

*******

The living room was filled with cheerful faces and shades of mirth and glee. All the youngsters had gathered that evening to spend some time off the hectic wedding schedule and enjoy. Much to her delight, Samara had got along well with everyone, and the formality between them was close to negligible. A group of young girls, some of Armaan's friends and cousins, surrounded her as they bombarded her with questions about their 'love story'. She answered them simply, with a smile, revealing as less as possible.

"I didn't get the chance to ask you before. What do you do? I mean Armaan's a man with such high standards. You must be really special for him to be head-over-heels in love with you." One of the girls bantered.

Samara chuckled at the question. Before she could answer, another voice cut her off.

"She saves lives for a living. One of the best cardiothoracic surgeon in New York. She's way above my standards."

The whole crowd hooted as they playfully teased them when Armaan came in with a befitting reply. Samara looked up at him perplexed. Her cheeks were slightly flushed. She wasn't expecting him to speak up in such a manner. There was an unspoken sense of pride in his eyes, and it wasn't something she was seeing for the first time.

"Excuse me, I'll go get some water from the kitchen." She brushed past him, lowering her gaze as he stood there and grinned.

*******

In the kitchen, she spotted a familiar face. A woman, seemingly in her late fifties. Samara recalled seeing her somewhere before, but couldn't exactly place where. They exchanged salaams as she entered the kitchen. She was busy making something and Samara didn't want to bother her so she started to look around for a glass herself.

"Looking for something?" There was an authoritative tone to her voice.

"Um, yes. A glass."

"They're on the top shelf on the right. And there's a bottle in the fridge if you want cold water."

"Thank you." Samara took out a glass from the shelf and the bottle from the fridge and poured out a glass. She was slightly taken a back as the woman unexpectedly started to speak.

"I believe you're Armaan's fiancée if I'm not wrong. Right?"

"Yes. I'm Samara." She answered with a smile. Much to her surprise, the stern expression on the woman's face softened down as she laid down the spoon in her hand on the counter, and slightly turned towards her.

"It's good to finally meet you in person. Zeba told me a lot about you. I'm Maya, Armaan's mother."