Hiraeth

Chapter 33

3rd Person's POV
It was morning and everyone was at the dining table for some breakfast.
"Where is hana?" Zarmina asked to no one in particular.
"She has gone on tour with her class fellows, dear!" Hiba replied softly with a smile.
Zarmina and Samman were the only ones who did not know that hana was on her trip to Naran-Kaghan as they were really busy with their hospital duties.
"Ahh, okay!" Zarmina replied with a nod and went back to her breakfast.
"Don't you think you guys are giving her a little too much freedom? She is all alone with so many males and what if something happened? There is nothing to do then!" Dadi jaan said this in a stern voice. She was addressing both of hana's parents.
"Ammi, Allah is with her! So, nothing is gonna happen to her, In Sha Allah! And she will be back by nightfall as this tour was a one day trip! And I have full trust in her, Ammi!" Asfand said in a polite way. Hiba nodded with her husband.
Dadi jaan just shook her head and went back to her food.
Rayaan was silently looking at this whole exchange and after he got to know that she will be back by night, he became a little relaxed. Zamid and Zayn were also relaxed after knowing about hana but they did not voiced their thoughts.
"Uncle Asfand and aunty hiba, if I may ask, have you talked to her so far!" Rayaan asked in a polite way.
Before hiba or Asfand can reply, daniyal, Samman and zarmina started teasing him.
"Aray wah! Barhi fikar ho rahi hai apni honay wali begham ki! (Oh wow! Are not you getting worried for your would-be wifey!)" Zarmina teasingly said while daniyal whistled with a smirk and Samman high fived zeeniya.
"Well, that's kinda cute!" Zeeniya chuckled and said.
Everyone softly laughed at Rayaan as the back of his neck and his ears started to get slightly pink in embarrassment but he remained silent. Only zamid and Zayn were not laughing but they were not looking angry. They were just annoyed. It seemed like something had changed in them (Zayn and Zamid) overnight because they were looking a little more relaxed with Rayaan since morning. It seems like they have made a truce with Rayaan and the three of them (Rayaan, zamid and Zayn) were back to the way they were before the marriage talks.
"Acha acha bas karo tm sab! Meray bachay ko tang krna band karo! (Okay okay, Now stop it all! Stop teasing my child!)" Dadi jaan said amusingly. Everyone just chuckled a little more and then nodded.
"Yes dear, Asfand just talked to her and she is absolutely fine and they have already reached their destination and they were just gonna stop for some breakfast when your uncle last talked to her!" Hiba replied softly to Rayaan's earlier question.
Rayaan just smiled and nodded.
"Okay!" He said back.
"We will be late if we are not gonna hurry! So speed up guys!" Rayaan said after 5 minutes. He was reffering to Zayn, zamid and daniyal as they have a meeting with Ibrahim Mustafa khan.
"okay let's go, then!" Zamid was the first one to stand up and the others followed soon and they bid everyone 'Allah Hafiz' and went out.
........
The whole day went like usual. Zeeniya was with the ladies at the villa. She helped her mother in law and other tayis in cooking and then she went out in lawn to water the plants.
Since she came in this villa, she is the one who is taking care of all the plants because she loves gardening.
The other ladies also did their normal routine work and then sat together to talk. All the ladies were really close to each other, just not hana. Zeeniya was also getting really close to everyone. She was a really good daughter-in-law and everyone was liking her a lot. She was humble, respectfully, caring, naughty and polite. She was a package for the house. The cousins were also getting close with each other. They have accepted her as one of their own in no time.
On the side of office work, all the males were there. They were having their meeting and it was a success. Everything was good but Zayn and Ibrahim were behaving really weird. It was like they knew each other. They were teasing each other with secret conversations. And everything that they knew about Ibrahim Mustafa Khan was really a rumor because he was a really decent, polite, humble, down to earth and a bit serious person. He was always politely smiling but very observant too of everyone. All the males liked his personality and they invited him for dinner but he politely declined. They had lunch together and had a small conversation from which they got to know that Ibrahim do have siblings and that too, twins. A sister and a brother, where the sister is 7 minutes younger that the brother. He did not said the names but he also said that his parents died in a car crash when he was only 11 years old. He was brought up by his uncle but now his uncle is also no more because he had a brain tumor and it was the last stage when they got to know about it. He also told them that he was thinking of settling in Pakistan now and was going to shift all of his business here.
From all this, they knew one thing and that was that all the rumors were wrong as Ibrahim Mustafa Khan is a really nice guy and a very down-to-earth person too.
.......
At dinner time, all the males of the shah family went back to their villa. At the dinner table, the girls were not there other than zeeniya. Both the doctors were running late due to an emergency at hospital so they had to take the night shift too. They will be back after fajar prayer.
"Kesa raha ap logo ka kaam aj? (How was the work for you guys, today?)" Zarmeena's mother asked to her husband. This got everyone's attention on hana's youngest uncle, zarmeena's father.
"It was good, alhamdullillah! We got the deal with the Jannat's group!" He smiled and said to his wife. All the females congratulated the males and mostly to the boys because they were the ones who had done all the hard work.
.....
Rayaan's POV
'How am I suppose to ask them now!' I was sweating with this uncomfortable feeling. I wanted to ask uncle Asfand and dadi about this but I am getting scared of zamid and Zayn's reaction. They really are scary when it comes to hana. They just got over with this marriage talk and now I am going to blast another bomb on them. I just hope they won't get me assassinated this time.
But, I have to do this as she at least needs to be comfortable with me before our marriage. And she does not even know about marriage.
'Oh well, here goes nothing' I thought and just asked dadi jaan and uncle Asfand what I wanted to.
"Um uncle and dadi jaan! I wanted to ask you guys something!" I said while looking at them. This got everyone's attention on me.
"Yes beta, what is it!" Dadi jaan encouraged me with a smile. Uncle Asfand also nodded at me to continue.
"I just wanted to ask if I can go and pick hana from her university?" I finally asked after a deep breath. There were a lot of reactions from everyone. Zamid and Zayn were looking angry as expected but daniyal was shocked and dadi jaan was just neutral. My parents and uncles and aunts were confused. But well, what is done is done and now I will just wait for their answer. Whatever they will say will be what I'll do after all they are my elders and they know better than I!
.................
So, here you go guys! Next chapter will be hana and Rayaan's, In Sha Allah! But don't worry, there is a really big twist coming soon that will take hana away from the family! So that they can at least know how much of an innocent soul she was or is!
Let's see what happens!