Sadqay Humare.

One.

Aaina

The first lady crossed her legs as she sat on the grand stage, her right leg sprawled over the left one, her face inched into a polite smile, her eyes shone as she looked through the crowd. Young girls, girls as young as her own self when she had started off. Girls, who had ambitions and dreams but didn't know how to achieve them.

She spoke through the microphone, her own voice echoing across the large seminar hall.

"There is always going to be someone who would not want you to succeed, there is always going to be someone who might pull you back to the position that you were in before and it's all a big lie that someone can not destroy your life if you don't allow them to destroy your life."

Aaina never wanted to tell people fake ideological things, she wanted to be dreamy, hell..she had always been a little dreamy, filled with hope and optimism. But she had seen the real world as well, the world which was slightly unforgiving, cruel and downright dramatic.

"More than half of the times we don't even know who our enemies are, we don't know if they are our friends or relatives or lovers, we don't know if they would stab us in the back or in the chest, we never know stuff like that."

There was so much serenity and peace in the seminar hall, as hundreds of women absorbed her words.

"What I am trying to say is that people will try to walk all over you, they will try to destroy you, they might even destroy you but the important part is getting back up and going for it again. How many times can one destroy you if the more you get destroyed the more you come back stronger? It's all about not losing hope, not giving up."

For Aaina, not giving up was what had made her reach the point where she was at today. She never gave up on her hope of love, of a happy married life, on her foundation. She waited and she also took a stand for herself when she needed to.

Optimism, hope and strength walked side by side for her. One could never be strong without hope and hope could never succumb to anything good without strength.

"It's not just about us women but it's for human beings in general I think. I am not someone who actually did something to be at the position where I am today. I did not work hard to be a first lady but I did work hard to be known for my work and not just my position. I mean working hard and actually doing something that is making a difference, it is incredible. My hardwork is mine and mine only, no one can take that away from me.."

She explained.

She couldn't deny that she was at a position of power because of her man but that didn't mean that she couldn't work hard and reach greater heights.

"My husband, the Prime Minister he always told me that 'you have to own upto who you are for people to actually accept you. If you will sit at home and come to an event with me and then go back home again, nobody is going to care about what you have to say even if you want to make a difference, you actually have to do things to make yourself influential.'"

"It is so important. Collectively if us women start working towards our goals, we can achieve amazing things. Today I am a mother, a wife, a first lady, I am running a very successful foundation and I am Pakistan's representative at the United Nations. At the same time I just finished another diploma. It's not easy, actually it is very hard but seeing people appreciate that, it is the most rewarding feeling in the entire world."

Aaina had an Mphil degree in international relations and a diploma in Humanity, communication and education. She had only recently represented Pakistan at the United nations, her foundation had helped countless women and children in the country, the common people, they actually liked her.

Her visits at orphanages, hospitals, shelter homes, street shops..it had caused an impact among the common people as well.

Khatoon E Awal (First lady) was not just a title in Pakistan anymore. It actually meant something. 

"My advice to everyone would be very cliche but it is to work hard and to be smart about it. If you act dumb and you work hard your entire life, you can't succeed, if you are being smart about things, being intelligent, being open to new challenges, working hard and knowing your actual priorities in life, that is what will make a difference."

She spoke through the microphone and the audience whole heartedly clapped.

Aaina stood up from her sitting position.

"Once again I would like to thank everybody for calling me here and making me feel so honoured and I hope that my words impacted you just a bit."

"I really want to say more but I have a toddler waiting at home so thank you so much."

Finally, the first lady got out of the seminar, done with the picture taking ceremony.

She reached back home in an hour, the house was still in utter chaos. With the cleaning going on in the Prime Minister House and the workers scattered all around, Aaina could only help but stare.

She stopped Sana, one of the house maids.

"Good morning. Is Zayla awake?" She greeted, Sana greeted her back with a smile. No matter how tired the girl felt, she always greeted people with the most beautiful smile.

It was a quality that Aaina truly admired.

"She's still upstairs." Sana told her first lady, Aaina nodded..patting her shoulder.

"Okay." She let out a sigh, knowing that she was still so hungry but she had to go see her daughter first.

"Do you want something?" Sana questioned out. She shook her head.

"No, thank you. Has mama left already?"

"Yes, she left right after you did. Idrees Sir is in the study with Ahad Sahab and Noora madam left for work early morning too." Sana told her in detail.

Aaina nodded, thanking the woman. She turned around to look at Shayla, another worker at the Prime Minister House.

Shayla dealt with the management of the entire house.

"Did someone call?" Aaina enquired, knowing that there were several people who called directly at the Prime Minister House, knowing that they could contact her in a much easier way.

"Yes. Senator Faisal called, he said that you must call him whenever you are free, he wants to talk to you about a project." Aaina nodded.

"Thank you, Shayla. Tell Raima to come upstairs when she arrives." Shayla understood, murmuring an okay as Aaina started to walk upstairs.

She went straight to Zayla's room. The one right beside hers. If Zaydaan or Aaina were not present in the house, no one was allowed to enter their bedroom. Even if Zayla was at home with the help.

She entered the room, spotting her daughter happily playing with a hijabi doll.

She walked upto her, laughing as she realised her daughter was trying really hard to imitate the doll.

"Ah ah, good morning! Look at my baby. Are you ready?" She picked her up in her arms, holding her waist and placing a kiss on her cheek.

"Yes, mama." Zayla replied.

"Good girl. Did she eat?" She pointed her question at the nanny. She shook her head.

"No. I tried to give her some cereal but she didn't want any." Aaina kissed her daughter's cheek again, opening the door and leaving for outside.

"Okay, I didn't eat either. We can have breakfast together. Hmm?"

Aaina sat in the living room, the same one outside her own bedroom. The one that she had made some fond memories in. The one where she had found her best friend in Ahad, the place where she had watched countless of movies with her best friend, the place where she had sat and drank tea cozily with her husband. She loved the living room and all the memories attached with it.

She put Zayla on the sofa, putting some cereal in her mouth. She munched on her toast as her daughter ate her cereal, happy to be spending time with her.

They were halfway through breakfast when she spotted Ahad entering the living room, a big grin on his face as he wore a suit and held a file in his hand.

"Here's my darling, is she eating breakfast?" He kissed the top of Zayla's head, then moved on to greet Aaina.

"Hey."

"Why are you so dressed at this time?"

"Maybe because I had a seminar to attend." She replied. Ahad nodded.

"Oh acha. Went well?"

"Yeah, it was nice. Mhmm, no Zayla. Don't do that." She removed her daughter's hands from her face, as she had smudged some cereal on her chin and cheeks.

She stared at Ahad again, noticing that he had come straight from the study and not his bedroom. Had he really spent so much time with his father? Something felt off.

"Everything alright? You were in the study for quite a long time." She asked him directly, Ahad sat down on the sofa as he rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, it's just that baba still wants to play games and Zaydaan bhai won't budge." Aaina understood what he was talking about.

"Is he still insistent about reappointing the Sindh chief minister?" She questioned her brother in law who merely shrugged but agreed anyway.

"Yes. Bhai doesn't agree with him at all and at the end of the day it's not even bhai's independent decision, ya know? Ofcourse, we can play with power and do what we want but it won't be right." He rambled on and on.

Aaina let out a dry chuckle.

"Your brother hates Ehsan Chaudhry. He's literally Awan chaudhry's uncle." Step uncle to be precise but uncle nonetheless. The chaudhrys had been back on track lately.

"Uncle of the brother sister duo that we hate the most. Bhai would never want that to happen." Ahad remarked.

"Then why is your father so insistent on it?" She couldn't understand it at all. What she did understand was that his father would do anything to protect his kids, to make sure that they remain on top, even when it meant sacrificing their relationships.

"As I said, he's just playing games. Allah Allah karne ki Umar ho gayi hai un ki lekin harkatein wohi hain."

He joked, Aaina let out a laugh.

"Anyway, I have to go as well, I have a meeting." He kissed Zayla's head yet again, she let out a giggle.

"Bye Zayla!" He exclaimed.

"Bye Chachu." She muttered, pronouncing the cha as the ta.

"See you." Aaina waved him off, eating her sandwich yet again. She put another spoon in Zayla's mouth, she whined.

"Ah ah, okay one more bite and I promise I won't give you more. Open up, baby." She coaxed the girl into opening up, Zayla shook her head.

"No." Sometimes, she was just as stubborn as her father.

"Zayla, come on. Open your mouth and then we'll call baba, okay?" Upon hearing the mention of her father's name, Aaina finally felt her daughter loosen up as she opened her mouth.

Her mother put another bite in her mouth.

"Very good, let's call him now." She gushed, opening her cell phone and dialling his number.

The phone rang twice before it got picked up.

"Hello." Aaina frowned. It clearly wasn't Zaydaan.

"Who is this?" She replied as a greeting.

"It's Ferhat, ma'am. Prime Minister Sahab is in a meeting right now, can I take a message?" She hummed.

It was so much like Zaydaan to leave his personal cell phone with his team too.

"No, it's alright. Just tell him I called." She told him back.

"Okay, have a good day."

"You too, Ferhat."

She ended the phone call, looking at her daughter almost happy that she had found a new interest in the crystal balls placed in front of the table. 

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Aaina hadn't even put the phone away when it rang once again in her own hands.

"Hello?" She looked at Noora's name on the caller ID. Wasn't she at work?

"Salam, bhabhi. How are you?"

"Good, what's up?"

She felt her groan.

"Mama called me just now and she basically harassed me about not giving her any grandchildren. I'm so pissed, I swear. I didn't do any badtameezi since Ahad loves her but that woman got on my nerves today."

Since Noora had lived in the US for a few years, the word badtameez rolled off her tongue in such a funny way that Aaina really had to control herself from laughing out loud.

"You have to be patient with her, yaar. Ahad is her favourite child so she just wants his grandchildren too." Aaina explained.

She heard Noora's loud sigh over the phone.

"She already has Zayla, what else does she want?"

"And how many times have you seen her even pulling Zayla on her lap?" Aaina retorted.

Her mother in law loved Zayla, she showed her affection but there was a limit to it.

"I never understand this bias." Noora replied, understanding where Aaina was coming from.

The two women had really became the best of friends in the past few years.

"Me too. Anyway, when will you be home?"

"I still have to overlook a few matters." Noora told her.

She was good with Zayla. Aaina trusted her with her daughter's responsibility.

"Alright, I thought I'd leave Zayla with you since I have to go to a house for condolence and it's gonna be crowded. She doesn't like being with her nanny and no one else is home." Aaina explained, standing up from the sofa to go to the living room.

She picked Zayla up too.

"Baba is home." Noora teased.

"Yeah, not doing that. The next thing I know my daughter is planning and plotting too. No thanks."

"Just take her with you, there's no other option."

She knew there was not going to be any other way. Aaina nodded, even though no one could see her.

"Hmm. Okay then, see you at home."

"Bye Aaina."

Since it had been an hour or so since the last call, she decided to call her husband yet again. It was quite typical of him to ghost out during work and Aaina was the one always ready to call him up and demand his whereabouts.

"Hello?" Once again, it was Ferhat who picked up the phone call.

She let out a sigh.

"Is the Prime Minister still in the meeting?" She enquired.

"No, ma'am. The meeting got over an hour ago, now he's gone on a visit to the dam construction site." He answered.

Why wouldn't he take his damn phone with him?

"Did you tell him I called?"

"I did, ma'am. PM Sahab said that he might call you later." She raised her eyes at that.

Might?

"He said might?" She asked with a small chuckle.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Did he take his other phone with him?"

"No."

She stood up from her current seat and walked towards the closet, taking out a dress to wear.

"Okay, when he comes back, tell him I went to Aasia Bibi's house for condolence and took Zayla with me." She told him over the phone.

"Alright, ma'am. Have a good day."

"You too."

Finally, she put her phone away and quickly changed into a white shalwar kameez, knowing that wearing loud colors to a funeral house wouldn't be so appropriate.

--

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---

They reached the suburbs of Rawalpindi in about half an hour, she got out of the car first and then took Zayla out.

It was a hot summer day in the city, a security team was scattered around her and an official camera man was behind her, capturing a few pictures.

Sometimes, Aaina felt slightly disgusted at the display of such things. To take pictures of a visit to a place that had lost a life. But she also knew that it was necessary. It was needed.

She kneeled slightly down to look at her daughter.

"Come, baby. Just hold onto my hand, okay?" Zayla held onto her hand.

"Good girl." She whispered.

Both the mother and the daughter started to walk towards a small, almost broken house.

Aaina entered the house first, ushering her daughter inside.

A few chairs were placed at the entrance, with an old woman and a few young girls sitting around each other.

Aaina hugged the frail old woman first, then said her Salam to all the ones present there before she finally sat down on the chair adjacent to them.

She pulled Zayla onto her lap.

"Salam alaikum, kese hain aap log?" She greeted them yet again, asking how they were. It was said in a way that was polite. She still felt awkward asking it. How can one be okay after losing a family member because the police couldn't differentiate between a criminal and a common man?

"Sab se pehle to mujhe bauhat afsos hai aap ke Bete ka, Allah usay Jannat main jaga day. InshaAllah."

(First of all, I'm extremely upset about your son. May God give him peace. "

She started off, embracing the silence that followed.

"I understand what it takes to lose someone you love and its heartbreaking that you had to go through it, that too..because of the so called protectors of the nation."

She admitted next. Just like Zaydaan had told her to do.

"I assure you that the government will not let this pass, the people responsible will be punished. The Prime Minister has strictly taken a notice of this." Her daughter shuffled on her lap, trying to get off and letting out a whine as Aaina tightened her grip on her.

"Zayla, stop." She whispered in her ear, tightening her grip and shaking the little girl just slightly.

"It's okay, meri jaan. We're leaving in a while." She said again, whispering sweet things in her daughter's ear to keep her from crying out loud.

She turned her attention back on the woman.

"Having said that, the government will also aid you in every single way. A monthly income will be right at your doorstep, your daughters will go to school and your younger son will go to university when the time comes." She reassured them, then stood up from her seat.

"Thank you."

Aaina hugged the frail woman once again.

"Allah aap ko bauhat sabar day. Apna khayal rakhein aur ye muzammil ka number le lain, koi bhi masla ko to isko call kar dain. Theek hai?"

(May God give you patience, please take care of yourself and take this number. If there's any problem, just call him. Okay?")

The woman gladly obliged, taking the number from a man beside the first lady.

"May Allah make it easy for you." She uttered before leaving the house.

She dragged Zayla towards the car, holding her bag in one hand and her phone in another.

Her phone started to vibrate the moment she sat inside the car.

Zaydaan.

She smiled upon seeing the caller I'd and picked it up.

"Hello. Salam." She greeted but sensing his hurry, she realised that he didn't even greet her back.

"Where are you?" He questioned in a rush, there was so much shuffling and sounds around him that she could hardly understand him.

"Just left that woman's house. Why?" Aaina replied, a frown appearing on her forehead.

"Come straight to my office." Zaydaan said, repeating himself as the voices around him got loud.

"Zaydaan, what happened?" Aaina enquired, stressed out at his sudden weird behaviour.

"I said come straight to my office, Aaina."

He insisted.

"Fine, I'm coming."

With a worried heart, Aaina asked the car to turn towards the Prime Minister's office.