Surprise surprise!

Since most of you asked for this. Here you go. Enjoy reading!

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You won't ever find me behind you
Because I will be beside you
That way you know
You can always lean on me
As we walk this journey.

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Nysha's pov:

Oh Allah! I'm sure he must be waiting as I'm 5 minutes late. I started walking faster after asking the driver to go back home once I reached the cafe. I took a deep breath and released it slowly and fixed myself. I was wearing a bottle green maxi gown with a beige colour hijab. I fixed my dress and pushed the door of the cafe and entered and looked for him.

In the back of the cafe sat Zaroon in a dark green turtle neck, a silver watch on his left wrist. His black hair settled neatly on his head. He looked the most attractive man on earth. I looked around the cafe and noticed a lot of girls had their eyes on him and he was least bothered with their gaze. He looked up from his mobile and our eyes met. He immediately placed his phone on the table and stood up to greet me as j walked closer to him.

This is what I love about Zaroon, When he looked at me, it was only me, no one else in the room mattered.

This man just belonged to me. He was there for me in each and every step I took towards our success. And he won my heart eventually. I wouldn't be successful if I didn't have Zaroon by my side. He helped me a lot.

"How have you been Nysha?" he pulled out a chair for me and made me sit. He held my hand in his and asked while he gave me his breathtaking smile which always melted my heart.

"Alhamdulillah I'm doing great. All thanks to you" I replied with a smile on my face.

It was two years since our Nikah. The most awkward beginning I had to face in my life. Everything had just changed completely and I had my Nikah done to a completely different person instead of getting engaged.

It wasn't forced but it was something else. This new relation was something I could never imagine.

Just after we got nikahfied, the next day was my best friend Sana's wedding. I had informed her in what scenario our Nikah had taken place and she was happy for me. She too told me that Zaroon was a good guy and he would be the best choice for me. Sana was over the moon after hearing about my Nikah.

It was awkward for me when he tried stealing glances and wanting to talk to me during Sana's ruksati but I was still not convinced that, I was now a married woman. I needed time. I wanted to tell him that I was not yet ready for it but I would eventually get ready for it. I wanted to put forward my point, that I wanted to do something for my family. And when he came to talk to me I told him this.

"Zaroon you might be wanting the ruksati to be held as soon as possible but I need some time. I want to do something for my family. I've always dreamt about this and I want to give them the status they deserve"

"Nysha I'm no one to stop you from doing so. And I've told you before and I'm telling you this once again. I'm always with you in whatever you do. I will help you in this" he had told me calmly.

"I do not want to be a burden to you" I confessed.

"I never told that you're a burden to me. You are my life partner and don't ever say that you're a burden to me. We are now companions and we're supposed to walk together in this life. Your part of problems are mine to handle. I want to stay with you in every turn of life. Even if it's good or bad I don't care"

I don't know what is he made of. I mean I didn't know if he was real or was I dreaming. I mean how can someone be so generous and kind.

"Why are you doing this Zaroon? What do you need from me in return?" I mean, I knew nobody does anything in this world without wanting anything in return. I've always seen people doing things for their own benefit.

"All I want is for you to trust me Nysha, I know it's hard for you to trust anyone but I still want you to put your trust in me. I want you to hold my hand and with this we will win and succeed together" he forwarded his hand in front of me.

I thought for a while and all I could imagine was the time since we first met until now. I didn't find him sceptical. I could trust him. He hadn't done anything wrong with me and had held my hand and had helped me from those fraudsters. I nodded my head and held his hand and in return I was blessed with the most heartwarming smile.

He had helped me build my own company. I had told him, I didn't need his money and I would handle it on my own but he didn't listen and told me that he is giving me this money in the form of my Mehr. He supported me in everyway possible, either with handling clients, arranging new meeting and associating new business partners.

We did have a lot of off days where we would fail. I had seen clients not liking our offers, difficulty in finding new clients because our firm was new. I felt like I'd fail. It was all new for me and I didn't know how to handle such stuff but Zaroon had stood by my side as he had promised me. He helped me handle all of it.

My Ammi, Abbu and Waheeda mumma were proud of our success. Zaroon helped Abbu get back his rights and property from my uncles. They had been in great loss since Abbu left and were loosing every shareholder they had. Zaroon invested in the company and after a few months bought it under Abbu's name.

Abbu had broken down that day. He was sad seeing his siblings in this condition. He was happy with our achievements but he couldn't see his siblings like this. After all he had taken care of them from the start. They had come back asking for his forgiveness as they had realised their mistake. I was glad to have my whole family reunited.

Zaroon was my Aashnaa, the companion I always asked for from my Rabb. He stood by me through my thick and thin. He held my hand when I was falling. He always had my back in these past two years. I was grateful to my lord for blessing me with him.

In these two years, we had gone out on countless date nights and he treated me like I was his whole world. The very first time he held my hand, I had a different feeling. I had never felt it before. I'd always feel this tingling sensation everytime he held my hand or pecked my forehead or lips. He loved stealing kisses and expressing his love for me.

He reminded me of our first meeting and I was embarrassed again remembering that moment. I was shocked that he had searched for me and had waited this long to get back to me.

When ever my eyes cried, he would always wipe my tears with his hands. It was like a connection between my eyes and his hands. He'd always wipe my tears.

"I hope Aap mere he khayalon me gumm ho" he winked at me bringing me back to reality.

"In your dreams Zaroon" I turned my face away from his to hide my smile.

"I think you won't like listening about my dreams in public, Jaan-e-Zaroon" he winked again. Oh Allah! what is wrong with him.

And that statement had caused hues of red to form on my face and I couldn't stop choking on my spit. Zaroon threw his head back and laughed at my condition while I glared at him.

"Okay okay I'm sorry but seriously I'm glad you finally decided to have the ruksati function. I was dying staying away from you for almost 2 years. Finally I'll have you all for myself now" he had that huge grin again on his face.

I know I was being selfish for so long but ammi made me realise that Zaroon had always stayed by my side for these two years without complaining and it was my time to make him happy now. It was my time to stay with him and support him and be a better companion to him.

He forwarded a box to me which was placed on the chair next to his, which I hadn't noticed. It was a black gift box. He loved to pamper and spoil me with gifts everytime we meet.

"Zaroon! How many times I've told you to stop spoiling me with your gifts" I protested.

"Arre, I'm not spoiling you. It's just my right to make you happy with these little things. I love to see you smile everytime you open your gifts. Also I got this for you" and he forwarded me a rose bouquet. A black roses bouquet to be precise. I looked at him questioningly.

"These roses will remind you of the days we have to stay away from each other until our ruksati function"

Our ruksati was in a week and this was our last meeting before ruksati. Ammi and mumma wanted us to stay away till the ruksati and not even meet in office. I was not allowed to go to office for the upcoming month and was asked to rest and enjoy the wedding festivities.

Well how can a bride enjoy her own wedding. All I'm enjoying is wedding jitters.

I looked at the bouquet and it had 7 black roses in it, which were elegantly wrapped in black paper and ribbons. They looked amazing. I hadn't seen such beautiful black roses before.

(P. S: Imagine 7 roses in that bouquet)

After finishing our lunch, we were walking outside to the parking area and he held my hand again. I liked the way my hand for perfectly in his.

I noticed Zaroon suddenly stopping and I followed his gaze. He was looking at a mother and child who were sitting on the road. Their clothes were torn and it looked like they hadn't eaten from a long time.

Zaroon left my hand and asked me to wait and went inside the cafe. After about 15 minutes, he came out with a bag of food and then he went to the supermarket nearby. I kept observing his movements.

He came out with another bag, mostly filled with essentials and went towards the mother and child. He gave them the bags and I saw that women placing her hand on his head and giving him her blessings. I was happy seeing the scene in front of my eyes.

He came back to me and held my hand again and took me towards his car.

After we were settled in the car, I told him, "I like what you did outside. I'm soo blessed to have you Zaroon. I like the way you take care of everyone around you, including me"

"Nysha, you know, after Abbu expired, ammi and I had gone through a bad phase in life. We didn't have anything to eat for days. I had been in that woman's place a while ago and I know her pain Nysha.

Ammi has always told me that even if we move forward and reach great heights, we shouldn't forget our days of struggle and I just did that. I put myself in the shoes of that woman and her kid. I had a flashback of my life after abbu was gone. I couldn't see them suffer for food, like I had suffered back then. And now I'm happy after seeing that smile on their faces". I was glad that he shared something which was close to his heart. He hadn't shared much to me about his abbu and the life after his Abbu was gone. I was glad he was opening up. I was happy to see him happy like this.

He dropped me home and was a little sad that we couldn't meet for a week now. But he promised me that he would give me a surprise after our wedding.

As he had promised, I received a bouquet of roses everyday with the number of roses decreasing everyday as a countdown.

And then finally on the day of ruksati, he handed me a bouquet of white and red roses.

It was a hard time to leave my parents and live with my companion. I was not happy leaving them alone but Zaroon promised me that we would visit them every time I wished to see them.

I was sitting in Zaroon's room and my ghagra was encircled around my feet. I pulled my legs closer to my chest and placed my head on top of my folded legs. I was nervous and once I heard the door knob being twisted, I started to panic and held my breath.

I saw Zaroon walking towards the bed in his maroon sherwani which also matched my maroon ghagra. He greeted me with a salam and I shyly replied to it. He sat in front of me and forwarded a box to me. It was my wedding gift.

Once I opened the box, it had a beautiful pair of anklets. It were plain anklets without the Chan Chan sound and I was happy about it. Just the way I liked. I didn't know how was he familiar with my likes and dislikes whereas I hardly knew things about him.

"Masha Allah Aap bohot khoobsurat lagrahi ho" he said as soon as he lifted the veil. Making me blush again.

Making my heart go all 'Hayeeeee' with that 'Aap' from him. I found it cute when ever he called me Aap. It was really a blessing to hear a guy address a girl with Aap.

He lifted my face in both his hands and kissed the top portion of my head making me close my eyes. He slowly started leaving kisses on my face and got inches closer to my lips and pulled away.

"May I?" he asked as he looked from my eyes to my lips, making my lips to part on their own. I slowly nodded and his lips started drinking all the love I had for him from my lips and I kissed him back

And with that the moon hid behind the cloud to give us privacy, while the stars whispered among themselves in shyness as our bodies and souls intervened.

The next day after getting ready we went to have our breakfast. Mumma was waiting for us at the dining table. She smiled at us and engulfed both of us in a comfortable hug.

"Nysha I'm so happy to have you as my daughter" saying this she kissed my forehead with love. I was happy to have her as my mother too. She had always been like a mother to me.

Once we were seated and started having our breakfast, mumma asked Zaroon if he gave me her gift. I didn't know what they were talking about and I saw Zaroon face palming himself making me more clueless.

He pulled out an envelope from his suit and handed it over to me. I looked up at both of them, asking what it was and they asked me to open it.

After opening it, I noticed that it had two tickets to jeddah.

"Nysha beta, this is your wedding gift. I want both of you to visit the holy cities first and finish an umrah together. I hope you don't mind"

" Obviously I wouldn't mind mumma and this is the best gift I have received" I got up and hugged her again squealing like a kid.

I had always wished to visit this place with my companion when I had visited it before with my parents. It was such an amazing feeling to visit the holy kabah and bow in front of your lord with your companion in your side.

We were supposed to leave the next day and after finishing my breakfast, I started packing and Mumma told me all the things to be done in umrah. I was scared to go there without an elder's support with me but she told me it would be easy and I'd finish umrah without making any mistakes and she also told me that I would have Zaroon with me to help me out.

~The next day~

We reached the Jeddah airport and then travelled to Makkah by bus. As soon as we reached Makkah, my eyes were searching for the clock tower, it was closest to the kabah (the house of our lord). And then I saw the minarets and it increased my anticipation to see the Kabah. The feeling was pure joy and happiness as the view came in front of my eyes. I couldn't control my emotions and cried in front of my lord.

Such a feeling cannot be expressed it can only be felt and experienced. I've always wished to come to Masjid Al Haram and it felt surreal standing in front of it.

We went to our hotel and shifted to our bedroom. I felt a lot of tired and jet lagged. Zaroon kept all of our belongings in our room and asked me to freshen up. After finishing our Salah in the room and then eating our dinner, we slept after setting an alarm for fajr.

The fajr Azan blew in through the inbuilt speakers present in our room and I couldn't express how I felt listening to the Azan from the most holiest sight on this planet earth.

Zaroon asked me to quickly freshen up and get ready for the Fajr salah.

It was a beautiful feeling to offer salah(prayer) in front of the holy kabah. I had tears flowing down my eyes after seeing the beautiful house of Allah. I was happy to visit this place with my husband, my companion.

Then we went to Medina and visited the holy mosque of our prophet (may peace and blessing be upon him). We travelled and visited all the places and also bought gifts and dates and zamzam for everyone back at home.

After completing our stay in Makah and Medina, we landed in the Indian airport. We came out of the airport and were sitting in the cafeteria outside to grab a cup of coffee and were waiting for Sana and Usman bhai to come pick us up.

After waiting for sometime, I noticed Sana and Usman bhai coming towards us. Usman bhai was carrying a suitcase in one hand and he held Jabir, their son in another hand. Jabir was one year old and was a look alike of Usman bhai but he had Sana's beautiful grey eyes.

Sana ran towards me and held me in a tight embrace. We greeted each other and settled down on the chairs. I noticed Jabir playing with the suitcase and asked Sana, "Are you going somewhere Sana?"

"No and that's not my bag" she said after noticing my eyes on the bag.

"Then?" I questioned looking at Usman bhai and Zaroon.

"It's yours and Zaroon will tell you about it. Actually Usman is getting late and we will take your leave. Enjoy and have a great journey" she said standing up and giving me a hug. I was totally clueless with what was happening. Sana and Usman bhai walked away along with Jabir in their hands.

I looked at Zaroon and noticed a smirk on his face seeing my situation.

"Zaroon what's happening?" I asked him.

"You remember I had promised a surprise for you?" he asked me. And I thought for a while and remembered him telling me about this in the cafe. I nodded my head.

"This is your surprise" and he forwarded me an envelope.

I opened the envelope and squealed loudly and hugged him, totally ignoring all the people staring at me for acting crazy.

The envelope held two tickets for Paris. The city of love. My dream destination.

"Thank you thank you soo much Zaroon. I love you. I really love you for fulfilling my dream, my wish to visit Paris. Yaay I'll finally get to see the Eiffel Tower with you" and I hugged him tightly.

I was extremely happy and loved him from the bottom of my heart for fulfilling all my small and big wishes.

And with this we continued our journey towards my dream destination and Zaroon Mustafa, my Aashnaa, my companion held my hand and promised to walk with me by my side always.

If you find someone who always makes you smile and who checks on your often. Keep them close to your heart and don't ever let them go because it is always hard to find people like this. It is always hard to find out true companion like this but one day all of us will find our companions.

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Assalamu alaikum everyone.

I hope you're doing good.

I missed y'all sooooo much. I missed writing and reading your lovely comments.

I thought I'd surprise y'all with this long due epilogue and go back to my break.

I'm actually planing a new book of short stories and I will be adding the requested stories in it. I have some 2-3 requested stories and if anyone wants me to pen down something, just comment here or just send me a message and I will consider your requests.

Also I have some 2-3 stories of my own as well. I will be writing them soon and post it by April. In shaa Allah. Till then the other books will continue to be on hold.

Stay safe and keep smiling.

Huda Fatima.