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...
Chapter dedicated to abdofRahman. If you haven't read her book In Your Love (have you been living under a rock?), please do so and thank me later!
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Kaveh Fayyad glanced up at the modern single-storey building, illuminated by fairy lights glittering under the moon.
Bracing himself, Kaveh entered. The party itself was overly crowded. The sea of faces stared at him, all so familiar, which time and distance had now turned into strangers. Spiced aroma awoken his senses, and a warm feeling of familiarity quenched his stomach uncomfortably.
Kaveh spent more than half the evening shaking hands with his father's business associates, smiling at his clients' jokes, and watching as his father's eyes beamed with pride every time he mentioned to someone that Kaveh had finally joined the family business.
It was late when a small man with salt and pepper hair, which had visibly thinned at the crown, caught Arshad Fayyad's sight.
Salman had left Kaveh's side hours ago. The smell of food was barely lingering in the air and more people were heading towards the exit.
The man sent a tight-lipped smile their way and Kaveh's father, for the first time that evening, got up from his seat and gestured for his son to do the same.
Kaveh left his seat and followed. He noticed a younger man standing nearby, the two laughing over something the older man said. The son - at least he assumed it was the man's son due to the similarity in their facial features - loomed over everyone at the party with his incredible height.
"That's Murshid Ahmad of Ahmad Textiles." His father leaned in and spoke close to his ear. "We're trying to get chummy with him."
Kaveh nodded in response. He watched the son with scrutinising eyes, wondering who he was. He carefully dissected the face. Small eyes that shimmered with life when he laughed, the bottom half of his face covered in thick beard. He was positive he had ran his eyes over those features before.
Kaveh didn't have to wait too long to learn his identity. "That's Ibrahim Ahmad, Murshid's nephew," his father mentioned as soon as the four were within hearing range.
The two younger men shook hands, polite smiles adorning their faces.
Murshid Ahmad glanced at him, eyes inquisitive. "Is that the son you've been hiding, Arshad?" he asked playfully.
"He's been hiding from me, Ahmad Bhai." The men chuckled. "But he's here now," his father boasted. "Back to where he belongs, with an Oxford degree under his belt."
The look in Murshid's eyes turned to one of admiration after that. "It's a pleasure to meet you, young man."
"The pleasure's all mine."
The fathers got wrapped in a riveting conversation about the current weather, leaving the sons to linger by their sides.
Ibrahim glanced at him, that smile appearing on his face again. "I heard you arrived a couple days ago," he stated, attempting to start a conversation. "Are you liking your stay so far?"
