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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The scene at the Ahmad living room laid out just like a regular weekend at the household.
Clinking of metals were emerging from the open kitchen as Dahlia's mother worked in there. The twins cried and ran around the room as one of the Ahmad sisters tried to coax them to eat their lunch. Their father Murshid Ahmad, and the twins' mother and the eldest sister, Zinnia, was sitting on one of their dining chairs with a file sprawled open in front of them.
Dahlia Ahmad sat on one of the sofas facing their television. Poppy was snoring as she curled up besides her. Masterchef Australia was playing on TV. She could see Matt Preston's mouth moving but not hear a word leaving his mouth as the device was muted. Rose was reading Surah Al-Kahf in a loud melodious voice.
Dahlia's heart was filled with warmth and joy. She had started her morning with Fajr prayer and then followed by Quran recitation. She planned to repeat it after Asr prayer as well. She looked around the room, her family lost in their own mundane tasks.
It had been a while time since Dahlia followed her regular, simple everyday routine - and since the Angels found her in a state of worship while they changed shifts morning and night.
As much as she loved having her extended family over, Dahlia couldn't help but feel relieved at their chaotic departure. She needed to be reminded from time to time how much she depended on these small things to be content. Like having her family close, having time to read the Quran morning and evening, being able to leave the Fayyad residence and sleep in the comfort of her own bed... technically.
Her grandmother was still staying in her room and Dahlia occassionally had to camp in one of the living room sofas. But as long as she didn't have to awkwardly bump into Kaveh Fayyad at any corner of her house, Dahlia was happy.
She never appreciated her personal space more and was happy to be back to her regular life.
Lily plopped down on the seat besides her let out a sigh.
"Did you just wake up?" Dahlia asked, turning to look at her sister.
"Of course not," Lily responded. "I was stuck sending work-related emails all morning, By the way, I've been meaning to ask." Her eyes suddenly turned playful. "How do you know Faizan Iqbal?"
The question asked out of the blue took Dahlia aback. "Just from here and there." she replied, hoping to sound casual. "Why?"
"You know, because we all saw him looking at you during the Fayyad's iftaar party." she circled her hand exaggeratedly.
Dahlia let out a sigh. She should have expected this. Her sister wasn't anything if not observant, and every single person in her family was nosy and self-proclaimed detectives.
Dahlia thought she caught a glimpse of Faizan at the party sometime, but couldn't be sure as he had disappeared. She found him soon after, and then caught glances of him a couple times more throughout the evening, even though it didn't seem like the guy recognized her.
