A Pride & Prejudice and Little Women retelling
Farrah Hussain spent a lifetime hating Salman Bashir. At least that's what she liked to believe. When one fateful summer Salman changes his bad boy ways and comes back a new man, Farrah can't stop the l...
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Rani Hussain glanced at her daughter and her face contorted to that one of distaste.
"You look tanned."
Farrah sighed. Here we go.
"Didn't I ask you to get highlights in your hair?"
"Yes, mom. I forgot."
Rani clicked her tongue. "Your head looks like the top of a faded broom. Remind me to make an appointment for you with my parlour lady."
Farrah nodded but rolled her eyes once she looked the other way.
She glanced outside and prayed for patience. In an attempt to distract herself, Farrah watched the droplets of rain water roll down the window glass. It had rained earlier today and the sky was still grumbling.
Farrah initially had no intention of attending the Rahman family's annual dinner party. Even though the grand seven course garden dinner, hosted in one of the guest houses owned by the family, was often labelled a 'must attend event' by her peers, Farrah no longer felt any interest towards attending it.
She had the entire evening planned out. She would spend majority of her time editing the video and FaceTiming Malika, then she would spend a good solid thirty minutes reciting the Quran and listening to lectures, and then she planned to organize her closet and go to bed early.
Farrah was honestly excited for her evening. It wasn't everyday she got the house to herself and - as mean as she felt to admit it - free of Rani's reign. But her mother informed her they were going to the party tonight and she wanted to see her daughter's face at the door by seven.
"This is your time to go out, socialize and expose yourself to potential suitors!" Rani argued.
Farrah wanted to bang her head against the wall but her mother made her dress up and get in the car, giving her little choice in the matter.
She saw the Rahman's residence loom in the distance. Before the vehicle even properly came to a halt, Farrah opened the door of the car and placed one foot out. The close proximity with her mother was suffocating her and she did not know how long she could tolerate her criticisms without actually blowing up.
Farrah excused herself from Rani the moment they entered the venue and rushed off to find her friends. She searched the sea of faces and found herself smiling at several ex-classmates.
"Farrah, dear!" a voice called.
She turned to look. The woman embraced her before she could see her face, a waft of expensive perfume hitting her nostrils.
The aunty released her hold on Farrah and faced her. The woman gripped her shoulders tightly. "You look so grown up." She beamed. Farrah smiled, feeling bashful at being addressed as an adult by someone she had known since childhood.
