~Hooriyah

The melodious duet danced through my ears as a pair of beautiful sparrows sang affectionately while sitting on the window pane of my bedroom. The long white drapes played with the cool breeze coming from outside and the bright sun rays entered the room like an unwanted guest, piercing through my tightly shut eyes.

I sluggishly moved the heavy blanket away from my body trying to recognize my surroundings and recall my name. That's what I usually do when I wake up from a long, very long nap and it takes approximately 53 seconds to bring me back to my senses!

Very peacefully, I grabbed my phone from the side table to have a glance of the time only to jump out of the bed with extreme horror. SHIT!!!

It was 4 pm already and I had been sleeping since 17 hours! What the.......? Oh God,my fajr prayers? And Zuhr?

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!

Oh my God! I wanted to cry out loud. Why didn't anyone wake me up?

A polite knock on the door immediately gained my attention while I rubbed my swollen eyes to clear up my vision and quickly tied up my long silky hair into a messy bun.

"Up already cutie?" A feminine melodious voice welcomed me with a sweet gesture.

"Assalam u alaikum aunty!" I smiled while being half successful in opening my eyes wide.

"Wakaikumassalam princess! Don't be worried dear, the medicines you took last night are the reason you woke up late, they were a bit heavy! I came here to remind you that today is Alizeh's bridal shower. And I desperately want you to wear this in the evening. I hope you won't refuse." Mrs. Shehroze smiled ear to ear while gently placing a huge shopping bag on my bed.

Alizeh's bridal shower! I totally forgot it.

"What's this?" I asked with perplexity.

She opened the bag and took out a beautiful beige colored outfit which dazzled with extremely splendid and stunning fawn colored stonework.

"It's a saree! And I had bought it for you from an Indian boutique in UK with lots and lots of hopes!" Her eyes twinkled with joy.

A saree? I gulped.

I was immensely grateful but nervous too, simultaneously.

"But aunty... There wasn't any need to buy this, I already had...."

"Beta, actually Alizeh's cousins and friends had already decided the dress code for her bridal shower, and that was a saree! So I crazily wanted to buy one for you too as I wanted you to
look the most beautiful out of all!" Mrs. Shehroze interrupted.

"But....." I was speechless.

"No, ifs and buts!! You have to wear this today or else I won't talk to you!" Mrs. Shehroze folded her arms and pouted like a child at which I giggled.

How I wish I could tell her that never in my life I had worn a Saree. I didn't even know how to wear it! But it was so hard to refuse her now as she had already came with so many hopes.

"Okay aunty!" I smiled to which she hugged me tightly and kissed my forehead.

"Now quickly freshen up yourself, I had already asked the maid to fill the Jacuzzi with the rose petals, jasmine and lavender oil. It will be really relaxing and will definitely help in soothing the headache which you were complaining about last night! Trust me, you are gonna radiate that divinely fragrance all day, and that is the reason its one of my favorite beauty tips!" She chuckled.

What an extremely charming and caring lady she was!

"Once you freshen up, you have to wear this saree and get ready as the event is going to start within an hour or two. I will ask someone to bring your breakfast ....oops your lunch over here, okay sweetie?" She smiled.

I nodded as she turned to leave the room.

"Aunty...!" I stopped her.

"Yes dear?"

"Thank you so much!"

"For what?" She asked

"For doing everything which a mother does for her daughter! I love you" I smiled.

"Love you too sweetheart! Now quickly get ready as I am dying to see you in this beautiful outfit!" She giggled and left.

People like these are the most purest and beautiful blessings of Allah, and she was one of them. Her motherly fragrance, welcoming personality and million dollar smile was enough for anyone to fall in love with her.

She was pure, elegant and graceful! She was loveeeee!!!!

Coming out of my trance, I finally decided to get ready as I sluggishly dragged my feet towards the bathroom.

The sight was so tranquil and welcoming that all of my laziness swept away in a blink of an eye. Everything was professionally and perfectly arranged, which gave uncountable vibes of a melodious, soothing and a beautiful spa!

After having a detailed, beautiful and relaxing bath, I started getting ready for the evening.

Wearing a saree was not that difficult as I had expected. Not in a mood to ask for help from anyone, I had already decided to watch a tutorial of wearing a saree on YouTube, and luckily, it helped a lot!

Thank God.

Absolutely not being a fan of heavy makeup, I opted for a light and natural look. A little bit of mascara, few strokes of kohl in my eyes and application of a light colored lipstick on my naturally pink lips was enough for me to feel beautiful and simple.

After applying a light, floral and heavenly mist and curling a few strands of my hair, and wearing my favorite golden earrings, I nervously came in front of the full length cheval mirror to have a single and complete glance of my trembling form.

I looked different! Really different.

Simple but elegant, and most of all, I looked modest and that was the best thing indeed!

Alhumdulillah, I have never felt like this before in my life.

All thanks to aunty for this beautiful gift.

Within few minutes, the maid came in my room with a trolley and placed the tray decorated with the fruit salad and a delicious lunch on the side table.

"Once you finish the lunch, you are requested by madam, to come downstairs."

I thanked her as she turned to leave and after having few morsels of the scrumptious lunch as I wasn't much hungry, I offered my qaza prayers and braced myself to leave my room.

I started feeling extremely nervous. I didn't have that audacity to face anyone right now. I recited some prayers and blew them on myself in order to save myself from an evil eye or any sort of humiliation.

It felt much better afterwards.

Half nervously and half excitedly, I carefully walked down the stairs, to avoid tripping off due to the huge flair of my saree.

The elegant hall was completely silent and empty as everyone was busy in decorating the garden outside. So I decided to head off towards the kitchen to help aunty in preparing the snacks and dishes for tonight.

Just when I was about to turn towards the long corridor which was supposed to be leading towards the kitchen, a notification of an SMS appeared on my mobile. The text was from my dearest sister.

'Hope you are enjoying sissy! I miss you... And can't wait to come and meet you....
With love, Iman'

I smiled like an idiot as my heart enlightened upon seeing her name. Apparently someone was coming in a hurry from the opposite end of the corridor.

Unaware of who he was, my gaze was still glued on the screen as I typed a beautiful reply for my sister and that's when my head bumped into someone's with a loud, painful thud!

"Ouchhh!" Both of us groaned in unison.

And that's when my heart immediately skipped a beat, making my body numb all of a sudden.
.
.
.
.
.
.

~Shahveer

The preparations were almost done. The catering, decorations, music system, everything was perfectly organized.

I wanted each and every single event of my sister's wedding to be 100 percent flawless. I couldn't bear even a single unorganized shit!

Not at all!

Finally I decided to come inside the house and pay a visit to my bedroom in order to freshen my tired self up and have a hot shower and lay down flat on my bed afterwards, as this back pain was going to kill me very soon. I wasn't habitual of working this much!

But for your beloved sister, you don't have any chance to back off. You have to make sure that every single thing is perfect in her case!

Heading my steps briskly towards the hall, I quickly ran my glance through the kitchen to make sure everything was cooked perfectly.
Satisfied with the progress, I hurriedly walked along the corridor as I was dying to get fresh now.

Due to my hurriedness, I failed to notice someone who was also coming from the opposite side...!

And ..........

BANGG!!!

Unfortunately, my head bumped into hers with a loud and painful thud due to which, I unintentionally held her milky white, soft and delicate wrist with my hand in order to avoid tripping off and maintain balance!

"Ouchhh!!" We both groaned in unison.

Both of us rubbed our foreheads with frustration and anger as the pain was extremely disgusting!

And that's when my gaze slowly landed on her but what happened next was extremely unexpected!
My body stiffened with captivation and fascination as if someone had pathetically hypnotized me!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
It's not that I haven't seen anyone more beautiful than her in my entire life. There were millions of them, who were more elegant, more sassy and more charming than her.

But there was something different in her eyes!

Purity? Piousness?Or Pudency?

I couldn't feel anything existing in my surroundings.

I was lost!

All I could see were those large hazel brown kohl filled scared eyes enveloped by thick, long, attractive and black eyelashes.

She immediately lowered them as I held her trembling icy cold wrist even more tightly this time.

I don't even know why!

But it was happening. It was automatically happening!

My piercing gaze averted from her glamorous eyes to her pink beautiful and delicate nose.

The same nose which she used to scrunch angrily when I would tease her mishcheiviously back then.

She bit her lower lip with nervousness, the same way as she used to do when I bought a more delicious flavor of ice cream for myself than hers.

She smelled like heavens, roses and jasmine. Her fragrance was enough to drive anyone insane.

Slowly and gradually, my gaze started to shift towards those long curled dark brown hair strands which kissed her peachy cheeks beautifully which were interestingly turning crimson now, as if she was blushing.

Her long silky and beautifully scented hair were just the same as they were eighteen years ago.

The pair of long sparkling golden earrings dangled peacefully in her ears, while her gaze was still lowered and glued to the floor.

Why the hell she doesn't look in my eyes for once??

WHY???????????
.
.
.

She got nervous after every passing second as I tried to examine more of her simply mesmerizing facial features with my deadly gaze.

She was different! Extremely different.

I haven't seen this much purity, chastity and modesty in any girl before.

This girl, was surely from another world.

Her lowered gaze was absolutely driving me crazy.

What was happening to me?

Why was this trance not breaking?

What was she doing to me?

Why wasn't I able to move an inch?

Why God Why??????

Without wasting any more seconds, she slowly and politely released her soft wrist from my tight grip while her eyelashes were still drowned due to nervousness.

She slowly took few steps back and apologized.

"I'm sorry!" She almost whispered.
.
.
.
What a humble soul she had!

"Oh my God, Hooriyah, my princess, you look extremely beautiful!" My Mom's voice brought me back to my senses.

Mom quickly hugged her tightly and kissed her forehead with extreme happiness.

"Shavi? Isn't she looking amazing?" Mom asked in what seemed like a teasing manner.

"Excuse me, I have an important call to attend!" I came up with an excuse to save myself from that awkward moment and left the corridor trying to forget what had just happened a few seconds ago.

.....................................................................................

~Hooriyah

It was a magical evening. The hues of teal and pink were scattered everywhere. The shiny mist of the half orange and half yellow horizon along with the cool tranquil breeze was enough to drive me crazy. The perfectly mowed grass, which kissed my feet with immense affection, was still shimmering with some rain drops from last night.

Alizeh's cousins and friends had already gathered in the exquisitely decorated garden which was dazzling with beautiful golden fairy lights, long bails of charming white roses and off white drapes.

Still being extremely nervous, I bit my lower lip while finally deciding to pay a visit to the main garden where Alizeh was waiting for me.

God! It was so difficult to walk in a saree. All I wished was to avoid tripping and make a fool of myself in front of others like a total maniac!

"Here comes my cupcake!" Alizeh grinned from ear to ear while walking towards me with extreme excitement.

The sunset seemed to be very beautiful. But not more than Alizeh. Every tit and bit of her extra charming personality flawed exquisitely today!
Her creamy skin tone dazzled beautifully along with her adorable silver gown.

She looked absolutely amazing!!!!

She came forward and gave me a tight hug.

"You look extremely stunning Hooriyah! Come, let me introduce you to my cousins!" She ushered me towards the area where the main bridal shower was organized.

What I saw next, was something I wasn't expecting at all!

Loud deafening music, backless gowns, sleeveless sarees , bare and naked arms and long V-neck blouses!

Astaghfirullah!!

Lots of ladies were gathered in small groups while gossiping about the most expensive brands and hottest guys in the town.

Eww!

Some of the young ladies had worn skin tight gowns which boldly exposed their figures while some of the others continuously twirled their hair strands with their fingers while batting their long eyelashes and pouting their dark red lips, trying to pose for pathetic selfies.

"Ladies Ladies Ladies.... Wanna introduce the most special person of the evening... Meet Hooriyah, my childhood best buddy and the piece of my heart!" Alizeh announced happily.

Soon ,all of those sassy gazes fell upon me, making me feel extremely nervous!

One by one, everyone came and greeted me with their brief and slightly arrogant introduction.
But something which I did not fail to notice, were their continuous strange gazes filled with superiority complex, as if trying to prove that I was not one of them and was just an ordinary outsider which made me feel a bit inferior.

For them, I was probably someone who could never compete with their classy statuses!

As the tiny waves of disappointment started to disturb the rhythms of my innocey heart, I tried to find an excuse to go back to my room as such gatherings were truly not meant to be attended by me.

One of the most beautiful thought ran across my mind at that moment.

The gatherings where there is more discussion about worldly things, luxuries, money and statuses rather than the discussion about Allah and His Mercy, are indeed the worst gatherings of all.

Alizeh was busy taking pictures with her cousins. Although she kept on insisting me to join her squad, but reluctant to do so, I excused.

"Uh Alizeh, if you don't mind, I would like to go and sit there at the bench as I'm having a bit headache and I'm feeling tired too!" I pointed towards a bench not too far from here.

"Sure girl! Do tell me if you need anything." Alizeh smiled as I nodded.

Phew!

Being in a state in which your heart feels extremely uncomfortable when exposed to a not so religious environment, is itself one of the blessings.

Alhumdulillah.

Sitting on the bench quietly, I eyed those awfully dressed ladies with disappointment, who were now boldly dancing at the beats of the loud music.

It wasn't that I didn't listen to songs! I confess that I do. But this was something highly disturbing.
The only fear which had insisted me to excuse myself from that gathering was,

Allah's wrath!

How can I be a part of something which wasn't even close to be pleasing Him?

Lost in my thoughts, I failed to notice the sudden interference of that arrogant person who had mistakenly bumped his head into mine just a few hours ago!

"Seems like someone is enjoying their personal space and that too , in the middle of nowhere! Huh?"

He snapped his fingers in front of my gloomy eyes while trying to bring me back to my senses.

I jerked upon the click of his fingers and averted my gaze from the dancing ladies towards the person sitting next to me.

There he sat!

Shamelessly!

Cunningly!

And confidently!

As if nothing had happened.

Badtameez...!

His piercing satanic gaze on my face made me fidget nervously and before I could realize that his shoulders were about to touch mine, I quickly dragged myself towards the extreme end of the bench.

He laughed while noticing this abrupt and angry act of mine.

One should sit at least five feet away from someone who is a non-mehram for you! But this man, right here, neither knew any morals nor any ethics!

Unintentionally, my gaze fell upon my wrist, which was still slightly red due to that tight grip by his strong hand, few hours ago.

My heartbeat started to race wildly as I slowly glanced at his charming figure again. What a flawless and handsome creation of Allah, he was. If only his deeds were as beautiful as his charming olive green eyes were.

I couldn't help myself but stare him blankly.

"What are you looking at? My eyes? I have asked you something Ms. Angry Bird!"

Shahveer eventually broke the silence, making me giggle at the way he called me an angry bird.

"Why on Earth would I stare your eyes? There are more beautiful things out there." I pursed my lips.

"Duh! Whatever. Why are you sitting here alone anyway?" He asked with much concern which seemed to be extremely fake.

"Gatherings like these don't fascinate me much." I responded straightforwardly.

"Don't you like dancing?"

"No.."

"Songs?"

"Not much!"

"Gossiping?"

"Not at all!"

"Strange! Very strange!" Shahveer shook his head with amazement.

"Strange for you, but not for the Almighty!" I fired back.

He remained silent for a while.

"Tum khud ko bohat jannati samajhti ho?" He asked sarcastically.

(Do you think you belong to Jannah?)

"No I don't. I am more sinful than you can imagine!" I smiled.

"Really? I thought I was the only one here!" He smirked.

"You can always repent, Shahveer!" I almost whispered.

He laughed.

"Don't laugh Shahveer, the gates of forgiveness are always open!" I eyed him with disappointment.

"Not for me, at least!" He laughed again.

"Are your sins bigger than Allah's Mercy?" I smiled.

Slowly and gradually his laughter started to fade.

He stared me blankly.

His eyes twinkled with unexplained expressions as if he was understanding each and every word said by me.

His expressions slowly started to change from being calm, to being serious and then finally disappointed and a bit gloomy.

He was speechless. He didn't know what to say as if he was realizing what he had done.

But no! I was wrong .

It seemed as if Satan was his eternal companion.

"Anyways, I came to apologize for my misbehavior that day! I shouldn't have been disrespectful with your gift like that!" He changed the topic quickly.

"It was Allah's Book! Ask for His forgiveness, not mine!" I chuckled

"Hmmm... May I ask you that why did you give me a Quran as a gift?" He asked with a serious tone.

"Because it is the most beautiful gift of the heavens and the Earth. It is the biggest miracle that occurred to the Holy Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him. And it contains Allah's only words till date which had been witnessed, recited and listened or learned by a Believer!" I smiled politely.

He remained silent for a while.

"And why would someone like you would want someone like me to have Allah's Book?"
He asked again, badly determined to confuse me!

"Because there wasn't anything more precious in my eyes than the Quran itself! And the most precious gifts are given to only those who are the most belov______"

I paused while trying to hide my nervousness.

"Who are the most____?" He smirked.

I started panicking.

"Come on I'm waiting??" He laughed politely while raising one of his eyebrows.

I still remained silent.

"Who are the most...... What????" He asked again.

Arrrgggghhh!!!! This man, right here, was extremely annoying!

"Uhh!!! Nothing, just leave it. I must go now, or else Alizeh would be disappointed."

I hurriedly excused myself and got up from the bench and left this person alone who was still busy laughing hysterically, because he knew that he had succeeded in roasting me once again!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

IDIOT.......!!!!!!!