CHAPTER 23
AHAD POV:
Our wedding is starting in 2 weeks, and I'm kind of excited. I want to spend my life with her; she has become a part of my life without even my knowing.
"Bhai, kitna time lagaty ho, neachy chalo sab aa gaye hai," Ashar spoke while pulling me with him. He got some guts, I'll see him later… (Translation: Bro, you take a lot of time. Let's go downstairs, everyone's here already.)
"Aa giya dulha, kiya dhek kr tumhari ammi ne usko passand kiya hai? Itni pyari bhi nahi hai, pant shirt pehanti hai woh tou, Astagfirullah, sharam bhi nahi hai usmai," my paternal aunt said while gesturing to the people around her… (Translation: Here's the groom, what did your mother think while arranging the marriage with her? She isn't even beautiful, and she wears pants and a shirt regularly. Oh my, my, she has no shame.)
"Oh, my beloved aunt. You do not need to think about her; I'm her groom. She is going to marry me, not my family, and what I think is all she needs to care about, and you, my dear aunt, look at your son and daughter. I heard your son was caught last week drinking and harassing a girl. Shouldn't you be more ashamed about such an act by your beloved son?" I fired back in front of all the people who were there for my marriage… I can stay silent when they are talking about me, but my Hayat! I won't leave anyone.
Does she think she will get away after insulting my wife? NEVER.
"Oh, yeah, Aunt, I have some pictures of your daughter from her college. She was smoking, Oh, my, my… How did you give birth to such a disgraceful daughter, Aunt? I would suggest you lock her down!" Ashar said dramatically while passing his phone towards the people sitting in the lounge. I looked at Ashar to find him showing his 32 teeth to me, hence proving, we both share the same DNA.
Today, my parents and relatives are going to give bari (meaning: all the presents given to the bride before the wedding) to my soon-to-be wife, and here I'm getting anxious to know how she will react seeing all the gifts I have gotten for her.
I have sent gifts with Ashar, especially hoping she would love them. A notification was heard in my silent room. I looked at it and saw a video… a video of her holding one of the presents; she was looking so happy yet nervous.
Ashar was insisting she open all of them, but she chose to open only one, a sapphire necklace. It wasn't a big stone, but a small piece that wasn't visible to anyone unless they came closer to see it. Seeing her expression, I could tell she liked it a lot. My heart felt at ease now, watching her eyes shine as she looked at it…
Just as the video ended, I found a message from Hayat, "Thank you for all the gifts, I love the necklace the most since I haven't opened the others yet, hehehe." Her words instantly put a smile back on my dull face.
I replied instantly, "Anytime, my soon-to-be wife."
I love calling her my soon-to-be wife till I make her officially mine to call her my wife in front of the world.
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The meet-up at Do Darya before our wedding has to be memorable for my wifey, right? And so, I have been practicing continuously every night just to be able to make her shy and remember this night forever…
Parking my bike at the side of the road, I got down with the guitar backpack, making my way towards the crowd, who were singing songs loudly. The bonfire in the middle of the place had everyone sitting around it.
I looked around to find Hayat being hit on her head by Ashar. Looking at the scene, I got furious. How dare he?
Hurrying towards him, I stood in front of Hayat and grabbed his wrist. My voice came out sharper than I intended, "Are you freaking crazy, Ashar?"
"You don't even know what she did, and you are angry at me, bhai?" Questioned Ashar. He looked furious, too.
"Whatever the reason is, you are not allowed to hit her, or even anyone. If I ever saw you doing this act again, I'll not think twice before chopping your hands off, got that?" he nodded his head, turning around, sipping his drink.
I looked at her, and she took a seat on the bench near her, "Hayat, are you okay? What happened?" I crouched down in front of her, noticing how small and vulnerable she looked with her wide, nervous eyes.
"Little cat, what's wrong?" The nickname slipped out before I could stop myself.
"Well, Ahad-" Before she could say a word more, Ashar interpreted, "What time is it bhai?" Asking me a dumb question, even though he had his phone in his hand.
"Ashar, you have a phone in your hand. Can't you check the time yourself?" I snapped, irritation dripping down my tone, "Or did you forget how to use it anymore?"
"Bhai, I'm trying to make you understand what Hayat might tell you now, so tell me what time it is right now?" He glared at Hayat, who looked everywhere else, just not at Ashar.
"It's 2 a.m.," dumbfounded, I replied.
"Exactly, Hayat, 2 am, now you can continue," he walked off, taking a cigarette out of his pocket.
"So, yeah, what exactly happened is, Ahad, I came here in Chachu's civic, you know, I wanted to drive it, so, well, you know… just-" she kept fumbling with words instead of speaking clearly.
"Don't be nervous, I'm not going to eat you alive," I joked, but my voice softened when I felt Ashar leaning his head on my shoulder, glaring at Hayat again.
"Speak up like you dared to do a stupid act, Hayat, or if I did, just know Bhai will be so angry that he'll turn red like a cherry tomato," they both glared at each other, like they were playing a game.
"So, Ahad, as I drove down the underpass, I found a man on the ground near the other side with his bike lying beside him, I thought he got into an accident, and I was worried, so I got out to help, just as I went near him, some people came from out of nowhere and surrounded me, they were creepy, my first reaction was to shout, but someone held me back, " her eyes looked down at her dupatta, like she was trying to control the visible tears.
"But you know a girl on her bike was crossing the underpass, came to help me, and started to beat the men, and she saved me." My heart clenched as she spoke. I couldn't bear the thought of her being in such danger, let alone her handling it all alone. Knowing the sensitivity of the topic, I tried to calm myself to speak softly to her.
"No, she's not being truthful to you. What exactly happened is, she, this lady, right here, told that girl to let them go instead of filing an FIR or calling any of us! Is she a kid or something that she let them go?" Ashar's angry and hyper behavior makes sense, but that still doesn't justify the hitting part.
"Hayat, why didn't you call any of us? Didn't you have our numbers on speed dial? Didn't I tell you to call me any time, any moment?" I asked softly, keeping Ashar at my side before he burst out again.
"I don't want to disturb you both," she whispered, and it offended me… very much!
"Look at his face, Hayat, he is as much offended as I now," said Ashar. I don't know how to keep him quiet now… but he's correct.
"You good?"
"Yes, I am."
"You sure, okay?"
"I'm good… but not the girl who saved me" Her eyes flickered to mine briefly, her voice barely above a whisper, fidgeting with her sleeves she continued, "She got hurt because of me, I was so scared, Ahad, there were many men, I-" she swallowed hard, "I panicked and messed up the situation, I hit her instead of the man behind her, and I didn't realize it until it was over."
I reached out and passed her the water bottle as she took a sip, "It's okay, Janam, you were scared, that's okay, and you were really brave too, hmm." (Translation: darling)
"No, Ahad- I'm stupid, I shouldn't have moved out, I always mess up, even 4 years ago and today too, I even let them go, I should have called you or Ashar, I'm so stupid." She was panicking, and I couldn't do more but comfort her.
"Listen to me carefully, Janam." My voice softened, but the intensity of emotions came through, "You are never alone, you have me, Ashar, call us, no matter what, day or night, I'll drop everything to be there for you. But please… promise me you'll think twice before helping anyone in dangerous places like underpasses, empty roads, or highways. If your instinct says otherwise, trust it…" I tried to make her understand the situation.
"I said the same, didn't I, you stupid?" Ashar interpreted.
"Can you shut up, Ashar, and let us talk for a moment?" I know he's concerned, but he needs to understand the situation too.
"Come to the bonfire area after your chit-chat," he walked away grumpily before continuing, "You are lucky this time, Hayat, but next time you might not walk away this easily, and do you think I would forgive bhai or even myself if something worse happens to you?"
"I'll make sure to keep it in my mind," she whispered, guilt could be heard in her voice. How can Ashar scold her? My heart stops when she gets a little sad, like right now… after calming down a little, she looked up at me again.
"Should we move to the bonfire? I don't know how Ashar knew I love bonfires on a winter night. Maybe he wanted to enjoy it, so he arranged it," said Hayat, walking side by side with me. She forgot that she posted a story on her Instagram two weeks ago about a bonfire with twinkling hearts, and I, as her fiancé, will fulfill her every desire…
The whole underpass setting doesn't sit right with me… random thugs don't usually hang around underpasses like that. It felt… planned, my gut feeling says it's not as simple as it looks…
As I sat near Ashar and saw Hayat directly in front of me, she looked up at us now and then. I could tell how her mind might be making sense of the situation; she was probably overthinking, and to lighten the mood, I wanted to do something… something to distract her.
Oh yeah, I have my guitar here. Why not do what I came here to do… I stood up and moved towards the area where I had placed the guitar. Picking it up, I walked up to the guys.
Suddenly, Hayat looked up, and her expression gave away the feeling of excitement. Her sparkly eyes gave away the feeling of excitement, boosting my confidence to play the guitar.
I sat on my spot, taking the guitar out of the bag, and heard people hoot in joy and eagerness, "Oh, Bhai, you got some plans, that's why you made me arrange a bonfire here, hmm?" Ashar teased, glancing time to time at Hayat as she looked dumbfounded.
"Shut up, Ashar, and let people enjoy the moment." he's going through some mood swing phase, I bet.
"People or just Hayat, Bhai?" Not wanting to make the whole scene awkward, I hit him lightly and started playing guitar.
My fingers moved gently across the strings, but my eyes never left her. Hayat tried to steal glances at me, but each one felt like she was silently telling me her secrets. The connection at that moment felt too deep and strong.
The soft, melodic strumming of "Still with you" could be heard around our silent surroundings. The urge to let her know the feelings and emotions I feel for her without expressing words, through the unspoken words, connection, and longing, urged me to move forward with her.
Her captivated hazel eyes locked with mine, and it felt like we were speaking the language that no one else could understand.
The moment was broken when everyone started to clap, but we still held eye contact, "that's how I feel, darling" I mouthed, the light smile that was on my lips seeing her figuring out what I said, and then looking surprised as she pointed at herself, flustered she stood up, leaving me to laugh and enjoy the heartfelt moment.
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It's my bachelor party, arranged by Ashar. I've been calling my friends to be here, but they're all busy. Ashar is a great company, but I still miss those dumb idiots.
"Where are you lost bhai, let's go, aren't you excited, your nikkah will be happening 2 days from now, and here you are like a dead wish." He gave me his favorite duh look, "I miss the idiots, they can't come." I looked at my phone again…
Shaking my head, we drove to Do Darya. Today, we are going to end the night with a race, just between the two brothers.
I was wearing my helmet when someone tapped my shoulder, turning around. I saw my friends, all of them there, "Hammad, Sahil, Samir, you all here! Didn't you guys say you were busy? What a great way to surprise," rolling my eyes, I hugged them.
"So, how's our sister-in-law?" Sahil asked.
"You are head over heels for her, right?" Samir asked.
"You are excited for the marriage, right?" Hammad joined them even though he knows everything...
All of them were trying to tease me, huh, dumb people.
"Yeah, I like her. She's just amazing, and I'm ready to be known as her man," I spoke proudly, putting my hand on my heart, making it look like I'm in love, which I am… and I am not complaining, okay!
"You, shameless man," Sahil gave me his famous disgusting look.
"What's disgusting about it?" I asked keenly.
"Nothing, let's go for a ride. Since we are here, why don't we go out of the city for a night ride? It's been a long time since we enjoyed it together," I heard Hammad say. I looked at him, surprisingly, such a great liar he is.
"Bro, we have been going to the charity house every week together, well, just leave it and let's go to my house first, let's grab our backpack and ride the night out," I responded and gestured towards their bike.
Ashar brought bikes for Sahil and Samir, so we could enjoy ourselves together. While riding back home, I got a notification. I took the phone out of my pocket to check it.
An unknown smile made its way to my lips. "Soon-to-be wifey" was written on my screen.
"You haven't sent me the audiobook in the last 4 days. May I ask why?" I read her text and smiled. I knew she would say this when she realized I had been skipping days.
"Well, I figured you wouldn't need the audiobook anymore… since pretty soon, you'll have me to listen to every day."
"1 bachelor down, 4 to go…" I heard from behind. Turning around, I found Sahil looking at me with mischievous eyes as he nodded his head toward others.
"Give us your phone, no chat with your fiancé, till tomorrow morning!" Hammad snatched my phone, dropping it in his backpack.
"Hey, you can't do that," I protested. What if she called me? Well, we never called before, but what if…
"You can't tell us what to do and what not to do!" Samir joked as he folded his hands together.
"You guys are being too much. It's not like I can't go and see my bride if I want to," I said proudly, imagining the Bollywood scene I wanted to recreate by climbing her window.
Soon, we got inside the house, after everyone got ready and filled their tummies, as we moved towards our destination.
"Bhai, I'm leaving." I heard Ashar from downstairs. I went to him and asked where he was going. It was odd to think that he'd ditch me on my bachelor party day.
"Well, I'm going to meet Hayat, you got your friends here with you, and she got none if not for me, so I would prefer to ditch my brother to join my girlfriend tonight." He walked out without hearing my response.
Shaking my head a little, I made my way towards my guys, after a while we rode off, and Ashar was on his way to Hayat, my brother does love his best friend, yet he does irritates her a lot but as I see they take care of each other too, I might get added into the group officially after the marriage too.