𝟑. 𝐙𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐠𝐢 𝐄𝐤 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐇𝐚𝐢 𝐒𝐮𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐚

"Assalamalaikum, beautiful people!" I announced to whoever was present in the living and dining area.

"Arey, careful, bete. You might topple over and fall." Dada Jaan says, seeing me balance the phone between my ear and shoulder and thrust the laptop into my bag with one hand while rushing down the stairs.

"I'll be fine, Dada Jaan, don't worry about me." I wave a hand, brushing his worries away with a muskaan. "Has Dadi taken her post-breakfast tablets yet?"

"No," He answered, leaning back against the couch. "She's still fast asleep."

Dadi sleeping in late was generally unusual. But I guess, old age brings a set of changes in routines with itself.

"Alright, I'll give Sadia a heads up. Sadia!" I yell, jogging into the dining area.

"Yes, baji?" She yells in response, making her way out of the kitchen.

"Pack my Breakfast, please. I have to leave in 10 minutes. And bring me my bottle of water from the fridge." I request while helping myself with a banana from the fruit basket. "How is Zarina bi doing?"

"Ammi doing fine. Doctor come, give her medicine, make her sleep, and go." A smile made its way to my face, and I couldn't help the chuckle that left my mouth. I close the distance between us and squish her cheeks.

"You are a cutie," I tell her at which she blushes and dashes into the kitchen with the excuse of working on my breakfast.

"Going early today?"

"Yes, Machi." I plop down on the chair and start to peel the banana. "Tammy has called an early meeting for some reason."

Machi, in other words, Maryam Chachi nods her head, continuing to study the stack of papers she had laid before her on the table. I noticed she too was dressed in her work clothes, a beige cotton suit, the signature white band around her neck, and her advocates' black gown neatly draped over the chair next to her.

"Do you have a hearing today, Machi?" I inquire, shoving the fruit into my mouth.

"I do, doll. A very important one at that. Dua karo ke aaj judge sahab ke dil me zara sa bhi rehem na aaye aur sakht se sakht saza as verdict sunaye. I am sick of this case and really just want it to end today." She sighs, running a hand over her face.

"Inshallah, it will end on a good note for you. Mera aashirwaad aapke saath hai." I say like a renowned pundit, blessing her with the invisible ray of light coming from my raised right palm.

"Chalo begum, let's go," Ranchu calls, striding towards us, with his head lowered in the phone.

"Assalamalaikum!" I greet Ranchu, Im-ran cha-chu, with a smile, gaining his attention and buying some time for Machi to put her files back in the folder.

"Walaikumsalam, mera bacha. Leaving early today?" He detours in my direction and plants a kiss on the crown of my head.

"Yup! I'm being called for an early meeting." I respond, passing him his all-time favorite fruit. An Apple.

"How are you going to go?" He asks, wasting no time in biting into it. "Is Karamat here?"

"No Karamat Uncle today. Dani is on her way to--" A shrill beeping sound interrupted me that belonged to Daniya, my best friend's purple scooty. "Oops! She's here." I shove the last bite of the leftover banana in my mouth and swallow it down my throat with a sip of water.

"Sadia!" I call out again.

"Ready! Ready!" She hands me a tiffin box and my strawberry-infused bottle of water. I thank her, thrusting the box into my already full tote, grabbing the hijab that I bought downstairs with me, and heading for the front door.

"Allah hafiz!" I yell to my beautiful family, flashing them my best smile before joining Daniya on the front porch.

We exchange our greetings, and without wasting too much time, hit the road. We had 45 minutes to spare, but seeing the jam-packed roads, I couldn't help but worry about two things. The traffic in the city only seemed to be growing every day. That, and whatever news Tamanna, our manager, was to break to us.

We were currently waiting at a red light, and I didn't miss the opportunity to explore all the possible things she would tell us.

Was it a new project?

Was a current one being shelved?

Are we getting a new partner? Guess only time will tell. But I don't see any harm in discussing the possibilities.

"What do you think Tamanna is going to say to us?" I yelled over the sound of all types of vehicles our two-wheeler was surrounded with.

"No clue, to be honest. It could be anything between starting a new project to ending one that might be underway. What do you think?" She asks, glancing at me through the side pods.

"Yeah." I bounce my shoulders. "Just hope we don't get fired."

"Fired?!" Daniya exclaims, turning her head to look at me. "Why would we get fired?"

"I don't know. Wo stree hai. Kuch bhi karsakti hai."

"You still need to give a reason to fire employees."

"They'll hand out an apology in the name of reason and also thank us for our service if they're trying to be nice. Kuch nahi milta usse zyada."

"Why are you so pessimistic?"

"I am naturally practical." I defend myself like I always do. "Pessimistic is a strong word."

"A word that describes you effortlessly, that's for sure."

"Ha!" I roll my eyes, not bothered a bit by her calling me a pessimist. I sigh in the polluted air, shielding my eyes from the scorching sun. Bored, and still stuck in traffic, I look around spotting a creepy mai-ka-laal (MKL) ogling at us.

"Kiya ghoor ra, saale?" I bark at him. "Picture chalri yaha?"

"Muskaan!" Daniya hisses, attempting to shut me up like it's her job.

"Samne dekh, signal khul gaya." He blinks, kickstarting his khatara, and jerks forward only to bump into the grey Activa that was in front of him.

Pfftt.

"Andha hai kiya re?" The man who was speaking with someone over the phone spins on his seat, after feeling the collision.

"Signal khul gaya--" The MKL  answered but squinted at the light in the far distance through all the smoke.

"Ab to pakka andha hai."

The creepster looks at me shocked, while I flash him a wicked smile. Daniya, who was watching the event shot me a pointed look.

"Itne stupid log hai." I roll my eyes. "And it wasn't that big of a crash. Crash ka sirf  'C' hua. Itna chirdne wali kiya baat hai isme?"

"He was just looking. Harmlessly."

"When you're supposed to be lowering your gaze," I add.

"He is a Hindu. How would he know that?" Dani retorted.

"At least he would know that staring is not polite. Basic knowledge, Dani."

"Allah rehem kare, bus."

I stretch my lips at an ugly angle. "Sab pe kare rahem, mere ilawa. This is why I prefer Karamat Uncle's car to your beloved scooty. At least I don't have to deal with drivers like him. Have you looked at the amount of smoke in the air? I can't breathe if it were not for this!" I say, pointing to the end of the beige hijab I had wrapped around my nose and mouth.

Daniya shoots me a bored look, refusing to say a word. This was her way of asking me to shut up.

"Stop with that look! Saara mood kharab kardiyea." I grumble.

"Mood to aapka 10th se kharab hai. Kuch nahi hosakta uska."

The signal turned green this time for real. I settle with regarding Dani with a glare as we begin to move. The creepy guy was a bit slow to react, and as he drove past us, I didn't let him go without showing him the finger.

When I hear Dani sigh, I ask. "Now what?"

"I saw that."

"It wasn't meant to be a secret, Dani. And he deserved it."

We continue driving to work, making small talk here and there. On reaching our office, we drive into the basement parking, park the scooter, and step into the lift. We said our hello's to whoever met us on the way and rushed into the meeting room.

It was when a good 10 minutes had passed when Tammy appeared on the other side of the glass door. "Thank you, everyone, for making it on time on such small notice," She says, walking into the room, and setting down her things on the table when all of us were already seated and waiting for her.

"Look who's talking about making it on time," I mutter in a low voice, sitting upright in my chair. Beside me, Dani snorts at my comment, pressing her lips together so she doesn't burst out.

"First things first," Tamanna starts after settling down a little. "Let's congratulate Karan on his first European deal."

The crowd breaks into applause, as he gets to his feet, takes a dramatic bow, and beams at us all.

"Thanks to him, we will have our very first international client working on a project with us here, in Hyderabad." Another round of cheers erupted.

"I and our boss have been in touch with HSA Ltd, and we are very excited to announce that we will be starting on project Heritage as soon as in 2 weeks." Before we broke into another set of cheers, Tamanna held up a finger to stop us all. "Before anything else, let me announce the head of this project."

There was a dramatic pause. All 7 of us present in the room looked at each other with buzzing anticipation and exciting smiles.

"Muskaan."

Someone hooted and the sounds of claps resonated around me. Masking my surprise with a graceful smile, I get to my feet, meeting everyone's gaze.

"I want you to lead this project, on behalf of us all." Tamanna smiles.

Heat rushed to my cheeks, as the cheers boomed. I grinned at her, taking in her proud expression.

"I won't let you down," I promised.

⚜️

And Diha hopes not to let her readers down 💓

Peace out, lovelies  🫡✌🏻