"Why don't you call Bhai?" Bilal said, ruffling Anaam's golden-brown hair as he sat at his feet, drooling over the toy car clenched in his tiny hands while Yahya and Amaan raced with them.
"Why didn't you bring him with you, baba?" Munizeh looked at her father with complaining eyes.
"He told me he'd be on time," Her father shrugged, flipping the pages of The Daily Bulletin as he avoided his daughter's furious eyes all the while relishing the anger directed at him. She rarely if ever got angry.
"It's okay. You know, how traffic is. I am sure he'll be here, soon." Bilal tried to appease her as he placed a jug of water on the table between the food getting cold by the second.
"I am going to call him, "Munizeh announced, following her husband's advice.
"Bhai, why haven't you reached, yet?" His younger sister inquired, angrily over the phone, he held in the crook of his neck. "Please, tell me you have at least left the office."
"The meeting dragged on longer than expected. I have left the office. Don't worry, I am on my way."
"I don't trust you."
He pinched the bridge of his nose, "Your problem, not mine, Munizeh." He heard her sigh. "You can scold me, later, over the table. Okay?"
Munizeh clicked her tongue, "No."
Like mother, like sons.
"Your boys will exhaust me with their incessant shouting. Let me rest my ears for a bit before the torture?" Hamza said as Munizeh chuckled, shaking her head.
"You won't miss dinner?"
"No."
"Okay, then. I will see you, later." Hamza was relieved when his sister cut the call. "Why did you stop?" The permanent frown on his face deepened as he addressed his driver when the car halted. He was already late as it was, his ears couldn't afford any further delays.
"Sir, I think it's Mehboob and he needs help. Shall I check on him?" His driver asked, meeting his eyes in the rearview mirror as he pointed to the black Corolla parked a few feet away from them.
"Go on," he told him, leaning back against the seat.
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His driver returned, shortly with a knock on his window, drenched from head to toe in the heavy rain and Hamza took the time to berate him for forgetting the umbrella.
