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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Dahlia reached Acid Survivor's Foundation a little before nine.
Last week, she decided to reach out to them through social media and asked if she could volunteer, something she had been meaning to for a while. They told her they had an opening, arranged a meeting, and within a week she was asked to join from the week after.
When she broke the news to her family, Ibrahim shot her a smug smile. "I see you're taking my advice," he said.
"At least you won't be sitting around the house anymore," her mother muttered.
Dahlia turned a deaf ear and pretended she didn't hear either of them.
The office was situated in a small flat of a tall building. The interior was grey and dreary, however the people were anything but. She was welcomed warmly.
As days passed, Dahlia started getting busier. She worked mostly with Administration, but occasionally assisted with the legal cases of the victims. The papers were starting to pile on her desk, and her hours getting longer, but what made her work truly enjoyable were the people she met.
Shifa and Anokhi were the two girls she spent most of her time with. Anokhi was quiet and shy, Shifa was just the opposite.
They were spending another typical evening shift in the office, the place quiet like it was always at this hour. Through the girl's giggle, Dahlia saw a familiar face in the hallway.
Her heart leapt in her chest. She heard Shifa gasp.
"Look who's back," Shifa whispered to Anokhi as she beckoned at him.
"He works here?" Dahlia asked, voice laced with surprise.
"He volunteers from time to time. His family is a regular donor of the foundation."
Dahlia quietly watched as Faizan Iqbal chatted with one of her colleagues and laughed, unaware of her presence.
"I had no idea."
"Wait, you know Faizan Iqbal?" Shifa asked, furrowing her brows.
Before she could reply, Faizan walked in their direction. He briefly halted when he noticed Dahlia and did that head nodding thing and then continued on his way.
Shifa's jaw dropped as she snapped her neck to look at Dahlia again. "And he knows you, too?"
"We don't know each other but I might have ran into him a few times," she said, trying to act nonchalant.
"You just casually run into him all the time?" she asked with bewilderment.
"We have common friends, I guess," she said, shrugging.
The two girls exchanged looks, and no doubt would start whispering the moment she left.
"It's nothing like that," Dahlia said before their speculations got out of control. "We literally had like two conversations, just like I told you."
