05. Masha'Allah bhi bolde

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"Aa gaye nawab zade?"

Marwan bit his tongue in absolute restraint, trying not to spit anything unwanted in the presence of Ziah who seemed the least bit interested in witnessing a heated family drama.

Marwan could only utter a silent salam to his father's mocking words and Waheed Qureshi chuckled in a cold tone before replying to his son's greetings.

"Dimaag badal gaya hai ki abhi bhi banduk pakde rakhne ka irada hai?"

"Aap kya-"

Madiha tried to intervene since the tension in the room kept rising second after second but was silenced when Waheed gave a not-so subtle glare to his wife.

Marwan fisted his hands as he looked at the scene. The numerous occasions from the past year kept resurfacing as memory after memory hit him hard but alas, when did his father care?

"Banduk toh haal filhal mein nahi chutne wali. Aap bataye, paiso se dimaag hat gaya hai ya nahi?"

Waheed clenched his jaw at the blatant disrespect and Marwan could only smirk knowing very well that he hit a nerve. Waheed took a step forward to put some sense in his son's mind but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the small female clutching onto Marwan's sleeves.

Marwan followed his father's gaze and his stiff body froze the very second. Ziah's eyes were lowered as she tried to hide behind him. The rage on Waheed's face might have disturbed her to an extent that she didn't realise when her hands fisted Marwan's sleeves in an attempt to calm her anxiety filled state.

Marwan's eyes softened considerably on seeing her frightened expression and he could only sigh before caressing the back of her palm with a gentle smile.

"Kuch nahi hua hai. Tum mama ke saath jao, main abhi thodi der mein aatu hu. Hmm?"

Ziah looked at him for a nanosecond, the clear conflict in her eyes didn't settle well with him as he looked at his mother for help. Madiha nodded her head in assurance and gently took Ziah's hands in hers.

"Thak gayi hogi safar ke dawraan. Thoda araam karlo, uske baad main tumhe ghar ka tour de dungi. Chale?"

Madiha's voice held a motherly love to it and Ziah gulped down the tsunami of emotions within her. This was all getting too much for her to handle and giving one last look to Marwan who was already smiling at her, she followed Madiha silently as the elder woman led her away from the tension-filled scene.

"Toh ab duty ke dawraan yeh sab karne lage ho? Kisi bhi ladki ko ghar mein-"

"Duty hai isiliye use yaha laya hu. Agli baar kisi aur ke character pe ungli uthane se pehle khudki taraf dekh li jiyega. Main bahot thak gaya hu. Please don't annoy me at the moment."

Saying that, he walked past a fuming Waheed and Marwan very well knew that it wasn't over. He could only hope that the headquarters would soon be ready to take in Ziah with them because his family- more like his father was already messed up as it is.

*****

Ziah watched silently as Madiha fussed over the room and about how the young lady needed to take care of her health. She was sitting in one of the guest rooms on the first floor with Madiha Qureshi talking to the servants and arranging stuff that Ziah didn't even need.

"Ziah, beta kya khaogi lunch mein?"

Ziah froze for a while, completely stunned at the concerned yet soft question that Madiha had directed her way. It was ages ago since someone had made the effort to ask her about what she wanted and looking at the elderly woman now, she didn't know what to say.

"Marwan ne khas taur par biryani ki sifarish ki hai. Tum batao, tumhare liye kya banao?"

Ziah shook her head almost instantly. She knew it took time and effort to make that delicious delicacy and didn't want to add on more work on Madiha's shoulders even though there were a good number of servants to help with the work.

"M-main b-bhi wahi kh-khalungi."

Madiha looked a little unsure for a while but seeing the soft smile on the young maiden's face, she relaxed a little and patted Ziah's head with a motherly affection that the latter had yearned for since the demise of her own mother.

"Theek hai. Yeh lo, abhi ke liye toh yahi kapde hai mere pass lekin shaam ko hum shopping par chalenge. I need to get my daugh- I mean, new guest the clothes she needs. Jao, jaldi se fresh ho jao aur phir kuch der ke liye so jaana. The jet lag might kick in anytime now."

With one last smile towards Ziah, Madiha walked out of the room, leaving behind a mustard colour kurti with scattered flowers on it paired with the same coloured cigarette pants.

Ziah breathed in and out a few times before quickly entering the washroom that had her gulping due to the sheer elegance and elite touch that it had to it. The Qureshi's were rich if it were to be put in simple words. As quickly as possible, Ziah took a shower, the cold water dripping down her tired body as she felt herself relaxing under the soft caresses of the water droplets.

Once outside the washroom, Ziah squinted her eyes and looked around the room. Now that she felt much better, she took her sweet time to take in the design of the place she would be staying at for the next few days.

The room screamed the word 'rich' way too loudly and Ziah winced once she realised how much care she should take when being in here, to be honest, she felt as though she would have to put feathery steps when walking in this mansion, because Allah, if she were to damage something in here, it would take ages by the time she had finally collected enough money to repay.

Shaking her head at her racing thoughts, she carefully pulled the duvet up and got in under it. The soft and silk like material touched her with an eerie softness and Ziah could only sigh in happiness when the remnants of her sleep finally came to existence.

*****

Marwan paced around his room with a worried look smearing his features. It was 1 in the afternoon but the closed blinds in his room stopped the harsh sun rays from entering his comfort zone. Running a hand for the nth time through his already messy hair, Marwan sat on the bed with a tired groan.

A knock on the door made him grumble like a displeased child and before Marwan could tell the person to walk away, the door's of his dim room were thrown open and walked in a brightly smiling Madiha.

Now, Marwan loved his mother to the moon and back but right now, all he needed was to sleep like a log.

"Marwan , yeh kya holya bana rakha hai? Jaldi se thode shareef kapde pehno aur neeche aao. Khana lag gaya hai."

Madiha ruffled his hair and Marwan scowled before swatting her hands gently.

"Mama, na kare."

"Toh thode insaan jaisi shakal bana lo. Paanch minute mein neeche aao warna jo biryani bani hai na, woh saare mulazimo mein baant dungi."

Marwan's eyes widened at the visible threat and frowning at his mother's successful attempt to annoy him, he covered his shirtless form with a black hoodie and changed from the comfortable pyjamas to fitting denim jeans. Combing his hair with his fingers a few times, he walked out of his room in a hurry.

He needed his sleep but the thoughts of how the aromatic thin tender grains that are not too mushy with layers of savoury chicken, garnished with thin coriander leaves, black peppercorn, cinnamon and fiery red and green chillies- in short, biryani, made his mouth salvate in anticipation.

Entering the dining room, the first thing that he noticed was the head chair that was empty.

Of course.

His conscience mocked and no matter how usual it was, the light prick in his heart always bothered Marwan. The only times that they had eaten as a family were countable ones and most of them were occasions on which they were invited by others.

"Marwan, aao na, udhar kya khade ho?"

Madiha called out to her son softly and couldn't help but feel the sense of defeat when he covered his crestfallen expression with a smile. A smile that Madiha knew didn't reach his eyes.

Ziah looked up from her spotless plate and found Marwan walking towards the dining table. Now looking at him in his casual outfit, Ziah could not help but let her thoughts wander to how he looked way too different when he was in his commando dress code. The confident and powerful aura that oozed from him when she had first met him was now replaced by a calm and relaxed one.

But his mischievous eyes had already shown enough of him to Ziah to know that his tough exterior was only for when he was on-duty or else, Marwan Qureshi was a man of more than a few words, uncountable dad jokes and dramatics along with the happiness of a child.

Someone coughed beside Ziah and she shook her head only to find Marwan watching her with a raised eyebrow and a teasing smirk and Ziah scolded her heart for skipping a beat but the rising blush on her cheeks made her want to go back to her room and sleep till what might feel like eternity.

"Ab jab itni der tak dekh hi liya hai toh Masha'Allah bhi bolde."

Marwan whispered to her as she sat on the seat across Ziah and the latter didn't have enough courage to meet his eyes that were glowing with mirth and a mischievous glee.

Madiha watched the interaction with a small smile and chuckled at her son's antics before serving a generous amount of the delicacy in the two of their plates.

"A-aunty, b-bas kare-"

"Bas, itna sa?"

Madiha frowned and shook her head before rejecting Ziah's words with a stern look and served more in the young lady's plate. Marwan looked at the two with a smile but instantly looked down at his plate and then scowled at his mother.

"Mama, thoda pyar apne bete ko bhi de de."

The sarcasm in his tone made Ziah giggle while Madiha just rolled her eyes at him.

"Thoda sabr kar le beta ji. Itne saal tak meri undivided attention payi hai, ab thoda sa ise bhi dene ka mauka de."

Ziah bit the insides of her cheek in an attempt to stop the hues of red from occupying her cheeks once again but the attempt turned out to be futile when Madiha pinched her cheeks with a soft smile.

"Chalo, ab jaldi se itna finish karo phir main aur dungi."

Ziah looked at her plate and gulped when she found it filled to the brim. Her eyes looked up and met Marwan's, who was controlling his laugh on seeing the nervous look on the maiden's pyari shakal.

"Miss. Ziah, aise kya dekh rahi hai? Trust me, itna bhi bura nahi hai."

And throwing a wink towards Ziah, Marwan dug in the tasty invites on his plate, completely disregarding the pout on the dainty female's face who sat staring at her plate with a troubled look.

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Maafi poeple!! I know I didn't update for what feels like an eternity but trust me, sab mere academic schedule ki galti hai. My exams got over like this week and they dropped the bomb about another exam that will be conducted in a few weeks from now.

Ahhh! How do you escape an exam without failing? Do give me a generous amount of tips if you have any.

P.S. Your thoughts about the chapter? Waheed Qureshi doesn't seem like the most appealing father, yeah? Ziah seems to be having too much on her memory lane but nothing that wouldn't be revealed in the future, Insha'Allah. Marwan seems to be the guy with a smile masking his scars but the happy feeling of what it feels like to be a complete family seems to be missing from his plate. Madiha appears like that sweet khala who is hell bent on making you increase your weight when you visit her home after more than a few weeks, doesn't she?

Do leave your love for the chapter in the form of votes and comments.

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