Author's POV:

It's been a week since Neha returned from Bangalore, and she was totally engrossed in her projects. The client that Ayesha recommended earlier, was a resourceful person, and she received a few orders already due to the client and later after the Client wore their outfits she received few more orders from others.

Meanwhile, in Bangalore, Arshiya has discussed her interest in Neha with Sumaiyya and Afsha. Sumaiyya liked Neha as a person, and she thought to discuss it with Raza first and later with Adil.

Raza went to Mumbai for an important meeting and was returning today to Bangalore. Sumaiyya thought to discuss it during lunch with Raza and Khalid, as Adil is present in the office.

As everyone sat on the dining table, "So," Arshiya started, which made Raza and Khalid turn faces towards her while Sumaiyya was glancing towards Raza and Khalid to check their expressions.

"We think it's time to think about Adil's marriage," Sumaiyya hesitatedly told, "and we think Neha, Danish's sister from Hyderabad, can be a good match for Adil," Arshiya continued. and then, at last, both the sister-in-law looked at each other.

"MashaAllah, I am shocked. You guys met her for the first time, and you liked her for Adil in such a short time. Maybe something is nice about her. I was not there to meet her last time, but I would like to meet her," Raza voiced out, and then the two ladies looked at Khalid for his opinion.

Khalid didn't reply, just started to eat his lunch making everyone curious about his opinion. The main thing was Neha's encounter with Khalid, both the time poor Neha had an unpleasant experience with him, familiar with the encounter, Arshiya and Sumaiyya were curious to know about his opinion but Khalid just concentrated on eating while the ladies forget to eat their lunch.

As Khalid was about to complete his lunch, "When are we going to Hyderabad then?" Khalid replied which made everyone widen their eyes even Raza was shocked to hear the answer.

Composing herself, " we haven't talked with Adil yet", Sumaiyya replied.

" Then what is the delay talk with him, Saniya is in Hyderabad itself we can also go with Afsha next week ", Khalid uttered amusing others about his plan.

"Ji Bhaisaab we will talk with him", Sumaiyya answered and gestured 'yay' sign slowly with Arshiya. It was obviously a shocking statement from Khalid, it means he liked Neha as daughter in law of the house. The girl liked by Khalid must be very special, Raza got excited to meet his soon to be daughter in law.

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Finally wrapping up today's work, Neha locked her studio and started her journey to her house.

When she entered the house, the whole house was in chaos; everyone was running here and there, hurriedly arranging things. She went near her mother and asked, "Ammi, what happened?"

"Oh, Alhamdulillah, you came on time. Ayesha, take Neha and make her ready," Ruksana told Ayesha, and she resumed her work.

"Come come, I will tell you everything," Ayesha dragged confused Neha to her room.

When Neha entered the room, there was an outfit already placed on the bed along with some jewelry accessories, which made Neha understand the context to some extent, and she turned towards Ayesha. "Is it what I am thinking?" she asked. Nodding her head, Ayesha took the dress from the bed and handed it to Neha.

Neha was startled by this situation . She knew this day would come soon, but she didn't know that day was today. Was she ready?- No idea. Trusting someone for life and making them their companion is a big commitment for her. It's not like she never thought about it. Neha from six years ago had many plans for her marriage and life partner but now she didn't have any, she is fully focused on her career and she never had time to think about it. She knew she had to become someone's life partner and complete her half deen but being an overthinker it always frightened her to think about it and now when the first phase of the marriage has begun she was overwhelmed.

After wearing the outfit, she sat at the vanity table, and Ayesha started to do her hair and light makeup. Coming out of her zone, Neha asked, "Why didn't you guys tell me earlier about all these"

"I didn't know too, but Aunty was planning all these from few months. You remember when she used to tell you to wear Indian clothes and take photos? It was for this reason." Ayesha spilled out, making Neha dubstuck.

"What? I didn't know about it, and how did you get to know?" Neha shrieked out on new revelation.

"Yes, she was planning for that long, and you were so busy that you didn't observe anything. I was having doubts for a long time but got it confirmed on Eid day." Ayesha spilled everything; Neha didn't understand how to react to all this information.

"Leave everything; you tell me how you feel," Ayesha asked pausing her actions, sitting in front of her.

"I don't know, Ayesha; everything is happening so fast. I didn't think of marrying till now, and today all of a sudden I was told to get ready to sit in front of strangers who could be my in-laws in the future," Neha blurted, and unknowingly, a tear slipped from her eyes. Everything was new and overwhelming to her.

Ayesha squeezed Neha's hand to comfort her, and unknowingly, a thought stuck in Ayesha's mind—to think about her reaction if she were in Neha's place. A shiver ran through her body, placing herself in Neha's place, and she shook her head. This gesture was noticeable to Neha, who slightly smiled at her.

"At least you smiled. Don't worry, they are just coming to see you. Just see, if you think you are ready you can proceed; otherwise, I will talk with others to not proceed."  Ayesha tried to comfort her, to which Neha nodded her head and continued to wear the jewellery placed.

Meanwhile, downstairs, everyone was arranging everything as instructed by Salma Dadi to make sure everything was on point. Ruksana was frying some snacks when Ali entered the kitchen with a few fruits in hand.

"These are the fruits as instructed by Ammi; I bought them; have a check," Ali said in a dull tone.

"Why are you dull? They are coming to see Neha; that's it; it is the day every girl has to face." Ruksana was trying to boost Ali, who had been off since he heard the arrival of the family to see Neha.

"I know it, but I feel like something is not correct. This sudden arrangement and all. I don't feel it's right. I just accepted them as they are known ones of Ammi," Ali replied in a disapproval state.

This morning, after Neha left for the studio, Salma Dadi received a call from her distant friend for the proposal of Neha for her grandson all of a sudden, and Dadi got overly excited and called them today itself, as they are in the city, for dinner, which obviously alerted both Ali and Ruksana, but Ruksana brushed it off and started to do preparation while Ali didn't get a good vibe. Getting his daughter married is already a rough topic for him, and all of a sudden, in a short notice period. He felt as if he was betraying his daughter's trust; he knew Neha was an overthinker, and she may get disturbed by this sudden unannounced invite.

After an hour, the anticipated guests arrived after a few greetings. By looking at them, Ali got more disappointed looking at the family. They were 7 members: a man aged around 30-35 years, his parents, mother and father, a lady around Neha's age with a 1-year-old child on her waist, a 3-year-old girl, and an old lady, Zehra, a friend of Salma Dadi, and the perspective groom's grandmother. Salma Dadi came forward and greeted Zehra Dadi, and later everyone greeted each other with a little introduction. It came to an attention that Ashfaq, the prospective groom, is an engineer working for a company in KSA.

As everyone got comfortable and freshened up, Ruksana got up to call Neha, who was sitting in a room with Ayesha. "Come, Beta, let's go." Ruksana took Neha and came downstairs.

Saying Salam to everyone, Neha sat beside Salma Dadi. "MashaAllah, my Neha is very talented; she worked in America, and now she has started her own boutique in Hyderabad." Salma Dadi started to praise Neha in front of the guests.

"Nice Nicee. Alhamdulillah, my son earns very well to feed his family, and ladies job is to take care of home. Beta, can you cook everything?" Asfaq's father voiced out, which trigerred everyone in the family. Ali and Asif looked at each other. Ruksana and Anjum bent their heads down, as they knew the societal expectations for ladies already. Ayesha widened her eyes at the sudden statement while Neha's face became pale, this was the last point of her patience.

Understanding the situation, Salma Dadi avoided the situation and told, "Ruksana, let's have dinner; arrange the table." Dadi diverted the topic and started to talk about her childhood days with Zehra Dadi.

Dinner was a silent affair, and later, "Ammi I will go up," Neha told her mother, and she quickly went upstairs to her room to avoid the guests.

The last statement of Asfaq's father hit Neha like a painful arrow. No matter, how fast the World has grown, but still, the society wishes for a woman to be surrounded by the four walls. Everyone wants a woman as a homemaker, and they only wish the girl should be beautiful and should know all the house chores so she can feed her son and their family. These norms are still in practice —the only thing people say is, "Ladies job is to look after their house."

After dinner, the family left, and Ali started to burst out in anger. He was just controlling his anger from the start. "Ammi, why did you call them today itself? Did you look at the boy, He was nowhere suitable, and the audacity of the boy's father to tell about the lady's place at home? What do they think of themselves?".

"Calm down; they just came to see Neha. We haven't agreed right; Ammi Ji got excited as it was the proposal from her friend." Ruksana tried to calm Ali, but it was of no use.

Listening to the voices, Neha came downstairs. "Ammi, why didn't you tell me that you were looking for a groom for my marriage?" Neha asked disapprovingly.

"I told you before that you should tell her. Now answer this," Ali bursted on Ruksana, who held her face down. Both Salma Dadi and Ruksana felt guilty about the whole situation.

"Ammi Baba, Are you guys also looking for a groom for me? Tell me now to avoid this situation, and I am telling you beforehand, I won't quit my work and will work after marriage." Ayesha all of a sudden jumped into the conversation and looked at Asif and Anjum, to which everyone except Neha looked at the couple with wide eyes as all the elders knew something related to the past.

"I am sorry, Beta; from next time onwards, we will discuss with you and call the prospective family." Ruksana diverted Ayesha's topic and apologized for her mistake. "I am also sorry for today; it won't happen again." Salma Dadi also apologized for her mistake.

Later, with some apology sessions, everyone started to clean up the mess that was around with the arrival of not-so-inviting guests. Meanwhile, Salma sat on the sofa and was thinking about today's event. Due to her excitement, she was about to marry her precious granddaughter to a conservative family. She felt guilty and decided to never talk with her friend, Zehra, again. Ali and Ruksana were not facing each other, one with anger and the other with guilt. Neha was blank throughout the whole phase, while Ayesha was cursing and making fun of the whole family by mimicking them. On the other hand, Asif and Anjum were in their own zone. When Ayesha told them about her marriage, they remembered some arrangements that took place during Ayesha's childhood and were worried about the outcome of them.

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