11. Exes and Land Usurpers

...

Dahlia Ahmad arrived at her grandmother's house straight from Little Stars Elementary School.

Four times a week, Dahlia and Ibrahim were entrusted to take care of their grandmother - the stubborn old lady who still refused to budge from her beloved property. Now working around the busy schedule of each family member, they had a routine with the title Who's Keeping the Dragon? (Lily's contribution, of course) that hung on the door of their refrigerator.

Dahlia paid the Uber driver and stepped out of the car. Placing her sunglasses over her eyes, she started texting her brother. Ibrahim was supposed to meet her straight at Nargis' house since he got caught up in something and failed to pick Dahlia up from school.

She brought out her phone from her purse and typed in her phone as she walked on the narrow, pebbled pathway that led to the doorsteps.

Reached Grandma's. Where are you?

On the way. Btw, I invited Kaveh again. Knowing him, he should be there already.

Dahlia lowered her phone, perched her sunglasses over her scarf-covered head and took a deep breath. As she faced the door, she felt grateful for being forewarned about his presence. Sure enough, as she pressed the bell, Kaveh Fayyad opened the door for her.

"Assalamu 'Alaikum," he was the one to greet her first this time.

A small smile appeared on her lips. "Walaikum Assalam."

Kaveh stepped aside to let her in. Everyone else in the house had grown used to Kaveh's adamancy of opening the door himself if he was the one closest to it, and carrying the tea cups to the kitchen himself despite everyone's protests. Openly rebelling to their ingrained customs - as always, and also determined to not depend on anyone for menial chores.

Their grandmother's living room was now slowly turning into Kaveh and Ibrahim's workspace. Their spare laptop chargers had now permanently found homes in the multi-plug snaking across the sofa set, and files and envelopes were at all times neatly stacked besides Nargis' crystal decoration pieces.

Dahlia paused by the door, as Kaveh sat on the sofa that was soon becoming his spot. She ran her eyes over his features for a brief second before looking away, as his gaze now stayed intently on his laptop screen.

He didn't stick out in their grandmother's old-fashioned décor, even with his expensively made clothes and sleek gadgets. He looked like he belonged there, like he did even when she saw him at the fancy restaurants they had been to together. A modern man with an old soul, Dahlia couldn't think of any other way to describe him at that moment.

There was moment of hesitation on her part, but she decided to spill the words that were itching to expel from her.

"I learned what you did to get Faizan Iqbal's family off my back," Dahlia spoke.

He looked up, his cold eyes settling on her, surprise flashing through them.

Dahlia swallowed before speaking. "I wanted to take the time to thank you."

"Please don't embarrass me by doing so," he answered. "I did what is right."

"Despite that, it couldn't have been an easy thing to do. Not in our society, and I know definitely not with the family you have. So I'm not taking it for granted."

The genuine warmth in her eyes took him back. That was not a look Kaveh was used to receiving from the youngest of the Ahmad sisters; and he didn't know how to respond to that. So he simply nodded.

Dahlia offered him a smile and stepped towards the narrow hallway leading to Nargis' room.

"Does it bother you?" he asked. "Knowing you can't be with Faizan?"

Dahlia stopped to look at him over her shoulder. She took a moment to ponder over his question. What a personal question, and he did not even hesitate to meet her eyes as he asked her that.

"It bothers me that someone I know is capable of doing the things he did," she said. Dahlia peered at him from beneath her lashes. "And no, it doesn't. I think I dodged a bullet with that one."

He didn't say anything else, but Dahlia could have swore she saw a hint of smile as she proceeded to walk away.

Dahlia found one of Nargis' nurses staring at her from the kitchen. It was the same woman who was in charge the night Faizan Iqbal had come over to fix the sink. The lady was struggling to keep her face free of emotions, the judgmental look in her eyes was too intense to ignore.

"He's here to meet my brother!" Dahlia cried out defensively.

"Of course, dear." The woman pursed her lips together.

Throwing her hands in the air hopelessly, Dahlia stepped into her grandmother's room.

"Has the young Fayyad returned?" Nargis hissed, her fragile voice barely holding its weight in the air.

Nargis burned in agony whenever she heard the men working from her room.

"Yes, Dadimaa," Dahlia replied, sitting down on the bed.

"Here to usurp my land, slowly and meticulously," she muttered viciously. "He's as cunning as a fox, that one, unlike his brute of a father."

"Nobody wants your land, Dadimaa," Dahlia had replied, rolling her eyes.

Nargis snapped her head towards her, the intensity of the gaze unhindered by her declining health. "What else does he keep coming back for? To ask for your hand in marriage?"

"Wha-" she clamped her mouth shut. "He's just working with Ibrahim!" she spat.

"That's how they start, you dense girl. Soon, he'll slip his slender fingers around my grandson's throat and take my land from me. Just working," she scoffed under her breath. "And your idiot buffoon of a brother is handing everything to him on a silver platter."

Dahlia let out a sigh. The woman was clearly growing delusional with each passing day. Not that she was ever completely sane to begin with.

It was the end of the day when Katrina Khan prepared for home.

The office was dimly lit, majority of the lights being turned off. In the shadows of the evening she could see the silhouette of the remaining employees passing by once in a while. The scrapings of the broom echoed against the nearly empty office as the janitor swept the floor at a distance.

Her muscles ached and her brain was clogged. Her day was spent with the HR interns. A couple more days of making them feel welcome, and then she could start delegating work - which was likely to bring forth new headaches.

Katrina's phone pinged. She reached out for it on her desk. The name flashing across dropped her heart to her stomach.

Ashiq.

The number was so frequently dialed by her phone that he was still one of her top contacts. Yet, seeing his name now felt wrong. So wrong. She could feel her blood curdling in her veins.

The ringing stopped before Katrina could hold rein of her senses and decide what to do. Her hammering heart began to decelerate, but picked up again as he texted,

Could you come by the lake? I'm waiting.

The familiar dread of pressure was pressing across her chest again. Her breathing was coming out ragged at the thought of having to face him. She got to her feet and ran to Tamara.

The cousins sat holding hands for a moment in the dimly lit room. Tamara offered to deal with him for her. Katrina shook her head, her heart scrambling to find some strength and determination. She had to face him, if she ever hoped to stop having panic attacks just from the mention of his name.

The cousins picked up their things and exited the office building for the day. Katrina's eyes found him in the spot he always waited for her.

He looked the same. He was standing the same way. He was wearing the clothes she had seen him in several times before. But the feelings his sight elicited in her were not the same.

Ashiq used to make her feel safety, comfort and love. Now as his eyes met hers across the busy street, what he made her feel was violent currents of pain knocking off her breath.

"How dare you?" Tamara snarled as they stood face to face with him. "How dare you show up after everything you've put her through?"

Ashiq's eyes were on Katrina instead. A million unspoken feelings passed between them, and for a moment she felt like a million seconds had passed too. The city around them had lit up, the roads were only starting to get busy as the offices started emptying.

"Tammy," Katrina sighed, shifting her gaze to her cousin.

Tamara, who was about ready to start attacking the man if need arose, relaxed her stance. She took a step back, her glowering eyes still on Ashiq.

Katrina lifted her face towards him again, her expression hardening. "Why are you here?" she simply asked.

"I'm sorry."

Tamara let out a ridiculed scoff.

He ran a hand through his hair, and then dejectedly let his arms drop to his side. "I screwed up. I don't know what else to tell you. I never intended to put you through this."

There was heavy silence between them for a moment. Katrina had her face turned in the other direction. Tears were beginning to prickle her eyes in a painful way.

"You knew your parents would never in a million years approve of me, didn't you?" She asked a question, yet it held no curiosity. Her voice was quiet, yet it was full of conviction. "You knew we would lose this battle. You chose to keep me in the dark."

"That's not true." His own turmoil was starting to become visible on his face. "I tried my level best to convince them. I gave my everything. You know that, you saw me try."

"I've been thinking about certain things for a while, wondering how they happened," she continued in the same tone. "Your wedding couldn't have just taken place overnight. Your wife couldn't have just walked into your life the day of the nikaah." Her accusing eyes found his guilty ones. "The talks of it must have been going for a while. Your parents must have arranged meetings, or tried to, for months."

His shoulders slumped as the truth of the words weighed him down. He darted his eyes towards the pavement. "We were so happy, I couldn't ruin that. I didn't know how to tell you. I didn't want to hurt you."

"And you thought the less hurtful way for me to find out would be via the 8 p.m. news?" Her voice was starting to strain now, fissures were appearing through her fragile composure. "If you'd told me beforehand, I would have had the time to console and prepare myself. I would have found a way to heal my broken heart."

Katrina started crying again, paying little heed to the fact she was having another meltdown in public. Tamara stepped up again and put a hand around her shoulder, shooting him the look of death over her shoulder.

"Katrina..." he started.

"Don't," Tamara hissed.

"Please just leave," Katrina sobbed.

Tears were starting to sparkling on his eyes too, he clenched his jaw in an effort to hold back the flood of emotions. Katrina hid her face on Tamara's shoulder, whose eyes were on narrowed dangerously. Katrina tugged on her hand as a plea to leave the scene.

"Just FYI, you took the toughest girl I know and did this to her. And for that, I will never forgive you," Tamara spat on his face.

With that, she held her cousin's hand and twirled on her feet. The sisters left the scene, leaving Ashiq with his guilt.