Humsafar .

Four

Yeh maana keh ankhoon mei ansoon hai.

Dilo may basi bey basi.

Chalo yeh bhi mana ke apno say

behtar hain ajnabi.

It's admitted that there's tears in the eyes,

In hearts stuck hopelessness.

Okay fine it's admitted that better than your own

Are strangers.

Chapter 4

You were always there, in my heart. I was just too vain to realise that.

--

The engagement party was in it's full swing, music echoed across the marquee as Anaaya sat on the stage while Hassan sat beside her.

All their friends, families and relatives were either done with dinner or were leaving already.

Anaaya didn't have many friends, just some close university or school fellows that were invited. A few of them had bothered to come and had left after congratulating her. Ahmad was the only one she had been close to and he hadn't even arrived yet.

His flight from karachi had gotten delayed.

She was dressed in a plain off white Zara Shahjahan dress, for someone who was about to engaged, she was rather dressed simply. But it didn't matter because she liked what she wore.

And Hassan did too.

He was so engrossed in his work that he hadn't even paid attention to the fact that he was getting married.

But the past week, realisation had hit him. And today, when he was about to put that ring on her finger, he had realised it completely.

He was getting married.

He would have to adjust his life for someone else. Someone who was leaving her family, her home, her city. All for him.

He didn't understand how time had passed by so quickly and a part of him regretted not talking to Anaaya much but at the same time, he knew she must be feeling the same way.

"This is moving pretty fast, yeah?" Hassan questioned her softly.

She looked at him with her brown eyes and smiled.

"Well, yeah." She replied, playing with the diamond ring.

"That's how arranged marriages work, don't they?" She questioned with a chuckle.

He nodded and stayed silent for a while.

"Did you like your gift?" He asked.

At first, Anaaya thought he was talking about the ring but it struck to her that he was talking about something more meaningful.

Since he could not come at her birthday party, he had sent her a gift instead. A hand written autograph of Khaled Hossaini attached with original copies of his latest books.

He knew she liked to read and she had once mentioned her love towards the Afghani writer.

Anaaya hadn't expected a gift from him so she had been ecstatic when she had received the gift.

She was sat among all her friends when the parcel man arrived and gave her the gift.

All her friends had guessed it to be some jewellery or maybe some perfume set or something expensive. They didn't understand the whole book thing but Anaaya did and she felt glad that he sent her a gift that was different.

"It was very thoughtful. I loved it." She responded and he nodded.

"I mean I was expecting some branded bag or jewellery but I'm glad that you gave me something that I could cherish more." She explained.

Hassan chuckled. "Well, all thanks to Samantha. She made it possible." He murmured.

Anaaya didn't ask who Samantha was. She guessed Samantha might be his friend or work partner.

"Bhai, chalo bus karo ab. Bhabhi, aap ka dress bauhat acha hai. (Brother, come on stop talking now, Anaaya I love your dress)" 

Rania, arrived at the stage stopping his brother from talking to his fiance and instead got engaged in a conversation with Anaaya.

"Thankyou. Honestly, nobody liked it, not even my mama but I like it so I wore it." Anaaya told her sister in law.

Hassan knew she was right. They wanted the future bride to wear something bright and radiant, to put on heaps of jewellery. But Anaaya was specific about what she wore.

Rania got joined by Hiba.

"Yeah, my mom doesn't like your dress either," She rambled and Anaaya bit her lip at the confession.

So her future mother in law had already stated that she didn't like the dress.

Anaaya wanted to say the same thing to Rania that she had said to her own mother when they went dress shopping. 'I don't care if you don't like it'

But she decided against it. There was no point. She didn't want to be called out for her bad manners. She had to be respectful.

She turned to Hassan.

"Hassan?"

He looked at Anaaya.

"Do you like my dress?" She bluntly asked, in front of his sisters.

Hassan hummed.

"Yes, you look good in it." He stated truthfully.

He could have said beautiful but then again, good was good enough.

She turned back to her sisters in law. 

"See, your brother likes it." She told them with a chuckle.

Hiba smiled. "And that's what matters."

Anaaya wanted to say that it didn't. What matters is if you like the dress you're wearing or not. But she chose against it and decided to remain quiet.

The only reason she had asked Hassan about her dress was because she wanted to know if his thoughts were the same as his mother.

And he had passed that test. He had his own mind and his own perspective.

It was almost an hour later, the couple was chatting away with their respective relatives. Anaaya was being introduced to Hassan's relatives while Hassan was being introduced to Anaaya's.

He peeked at her as their father announced it was time to go.

First, Uncle Shafqat came forward to meet Anaaya.

"Next time I come to Islamabad, you're going back with us." He reminded her, three days later they would be in Islamabad again for the Baraat ceremony.

"Yes, uncle. Take care." Hassan's father patted her head and moved towards his car.

His sisters surrounded Anaaya, hugging her one by one and bidding their goodbyes.

Azlaan came next, pulling Anaaya in a side hug.

"Okay bhabhi, see you soon." He whispered. She smiled back in return.

Her eyes were droopy and tired which was clearly understandable. She had been awake since ten in the morning.

Her mother in law was next. She air kissed her cheeks.

"Next time when I see you, wear a bride's colour." She advised. She didn't like the off white dress but chose not to say much about it.

Anaaya nodded, not saying anything further and just smiling untill her cheeks hurt.

All the families sat in their respective cars and drove away.

Only Hassan and Azlaan were left. They chose to take a flight to Lahore instead of going by road.

The car waited at the pavement to take them towards the airport as the future groom walked towards his future bride.

Anaaya stood near the door, she waited for him to reach her and as he did, she stood by the pillar.

"Ready to leave?" She questioned, half heartedly.

He nodded.

"Yeah, flight's in an hour." He informed. Anaaya inhaled a deep breath as he started to speak.

"Anaaya, I know we should talk more. I mean; we're engaged but you see the situation around us." He tried to explain.

She smiled. "We should but I understand. It's alright." She responded.

"I'm sure you have so many things you want to ask, so many questions that I want to ask you." He spoke, Anaaya sighed.

"Yes, but we have time." She mumbled.

She saw Hassan's blank face and understood he was having a hard time with all of this.

She wanted to know what was going on in his mind but had to hold onto whatever he was saying.

She couldn't read his heart or mind right now and had to learn his words to decipher the meaning.

"I mean, we have a whole marriage waiting for us. And alot of time, too." She added, and he finally nodded.

"Yeah, I'll see you in three days..then."

"Goodbye, Hassan." She bid him goodbye, he put his hand on her cheek, as if cupping the side of her face..for just a few moments.

And then, with a mumble of good night, he left.

She knew they had to go through some awkward conversations before getting completely comfortable with each other.

It was okay, though.

She was happy to wait.

She was about to go back to her room when she heard her phone buzz. A text message.

Coming to pick you up. Be ready. 

--

Another day, another update. When I'm excited for a story, i just wanna keep writing haha!