Stranger on Flight

Chapter 12✔

Meena's Nikkah

At half five that morning, Zoya entertained the thoughts of falling dreadfully ill. At quarter to eight, she refined it to having an interview. But at quarter to 12, she got out of her bed, squared her shoulders and walked into the bathroom to get showered.

Bish Irtaza and her stupid mind that had been dreaming about him didn't let her sleep. Actually, she would have been sleeping if Irtaza hadn't appeared in her dreams. And that was the moment she knew she ducked up. That the crush was getting out of control. If the guy you crush on, starts appearing in your dreams, recurringly than my sister its not just a 'crush'. And if she didn't put herself in order, she was going to be heart broken. So, she wanted to avoid him!

But she wasn't a coward.
And she wasn't going to act like one. She hadn't done anything wrong. But....
She was going to be there for Meena who was waiting for her at the parlor.
Wese bhi, bus nikkah ho jae ga ajj. Sham ko ruksati. Baat khatam. Ek din main kon si qayamat ajae ge Zoya? (Just have to attend nikkah and then rukshati in evening. After that we are done. It can't be that bad. )
Itna bardasht kiya hai. Thora aur kar lo... (You tolerated him for days, just a little more.)
Thora aur he tu nai ho raha. (I can't do a little more)
I think I like him......
Bezati karwa k bhi 'like him'. Ghadi he rehna sari zindagi .... (He insults you and you still like him. Stupid, since forever)
We going to barat! That is, it! You can do it!

I am going to be there for Meena. Besides, he is going to be busy with all the elder brotherly responsibility. It not that I am going to bump into him or something. Asa tu ho ga he nai. Bilkul bhi. (Its not going to happen. NO!)

She didn't want to think "is say bura kya ho ga(how much worse it could be)" because last time she had said, it a stranger who knew her secrets had showed up at the wedding.

Truth be told, she didn't even know what could go wrong. Suffice it to say, she had this feeling in her gut that it something was going to go wrong. It had something to do with that mehndi night. Something had changed between her and the stuck up suit. Something was different. And it frightened her.

Normal people feared what they don't understand. And Zoya didn't get him. At all. But there were times when she thought she understood him when no one did. His obsession for being in control, his fetish with independent women! His fear of dying. He hadn't said it out loud but after a month of being a text buddy with him she had figured that out. All of that was because of his father's early death leaving a young widow with two children and zero source of income. And so, Irtaza Haider Awan tried to make best of his time. Invested all of it to earn money. Never pausing his workaholics life. Never stopping and appreciating it, enjoying it. She did respect him for all he had done and how far he had come. She was sure his father if he had been here would have been proud of him. But that didn't mean, she agreed with his way of life. He needed to rest a little and enjoy life.

Later that evening after helping Meena get inside the bridal room, Zoya left for the main Marquee. She wasn't paying attention to where she was headed as she was busy calling her mother. Her parents had still not arrived, and she was getting anxious. Why? She didn't know.

Zoya bumped into a young woman and recognized her instantly as Iman Sultan, Meena's family friend. After losing her parents to an accident and her brother, an anchor person shifting to Islamabad Iman used to live alone in Lahore and come to Karachi to attend the wedding.

Zoya liked Iman. She was the shy reserved girl in her 4th year of MBBS. The two had formed a bond during the Alizey-Hashim wedding. With a sigh, Zoya noticed the poor girl's faded complexion and soul less eyes. It was a pity. Because the girl was beautiful if people allowed her to breathe. She had a pleasing face and dark hair which were hidden under neath her hijab. And her eyes that light shade of grey. She would have looked pretty in the greyish blue she was wearing, if only she allowed herself to break free from the cage. Cage of "log kya kahinay gaye"(What are people going to say)