تیرے دل کے شہر میں گھر میرا ہـو گیــا

Tere dil ke shehar mein ghar mera ho gaya

***

Lunch was an affair of laughter and chatter but when it was time for dinner, a wholesome problem emerged. The dining table, having the capacity to hold twenty people, wasn't enough for all of the gharana.

"Now what do we do?" Sara questioned, running her eyes around the people in the kitchen. Except for her brother and cousins nobody looked worried,like it was another normal thing for them.

"We can get more chairs." Ahad suggested, taking a bite in the cucumber Rameesha was slicing.

"And where do we get space to keep it?" Saman asked, rolling her eyes as she slapped his arm away from taking another slice.

"Stop it kids, Ahad go and remove the furniture from the living room and put out dastarkhwan." Munazza spoke in her usual calm manner, it wasn't the first time she was dealing with this situation.

"Yeah this sounds better." Rameesha agreed.

"Oh my god, like we used to eat in childhood!" Saman exclaimed, turning towards Mansha who looked confused. Clearly not remembering it.

"Oh god you goldfish, you don't remember it don't you?" Saman narrowed her eyes at her, making the poor girl look away nervously.

"Girls, go help Ahad we can handle it here." Munazza addressed them, making them nod and leave.

They might have taken a few steps behind him when he abruptly stopped and spinned around, facing them with a frown."Kis khushi mein peeche peeche aa rahi ho?" He asked eyeing them with disdain.

"To help you." Saman spoke with her chin up.

Ahad scoffed," Can you even lift a chair?" Saman scowled at his snide tone.

"We can even lift you and also throw you out of the house!" Sara fumed, pointing her finger towards him.

"As if.." He laughed.

"Anyways," he again stopped, making them bump into him one by one. He groaned, throwing his hands up.

"What the fu-"

"Saman language!"

"What is wrong with you? Nashe mein ho?" Saman yelled,rubbing her head, even though it didn't hurt.

"Tum nashe mein ho? Dikhta kam hai?"

"Guys!" Sara pushed the two away. "Please,stop!" She was so done with the two. She always gets anxious every time they come together, fully aware of their tendency to fight at everything. And they say they are older than her and Mansha.

"Can we please get done with the work first?" she asked, looking between them who were busy glaring at each other.

"Bhai, Saman,stop it." she yelled. Saman looked away and sobered up while Ahad kept on throwing daggers from his eyes.

Sara sighed with dejection and before she could say anything they heard someone coming towards them.

"What's going on here?" It was Armaan. He was greeted with the four huddled together in the middle of the room and it did not take him a second to comprehend what they were doing. Undoubtedly fighting.

"Nothing bhai-" Ahad started only to get interrupted by Saman.

"He was teasing us." She complained, pointing towards Ahad.

"Again, Ahad?" Armaan didn't know whether to laugh at them or face palm. All of them could be in their sixties but will still not behave of their ages.

"I wasn't! I said they wouldn't be able to lift the furniture." Ahad reasoned, making an innocent face.

"Kaash itne polite sach me hote tum." Saman shook her head slowly, with a frown and her arms crossed. Armaan looked away from hee,suppressing his smile.

"Bhai,leave them," Sara spoke, sensing the start of another rage battle." You must be tired, we will handle them." She spoke looking at Mansha who nodded, agreeing to her point.

"Oi, who's the elder one here?" Ahad asked, turning towards his sister now.

"Right now it's me and I want you two to stop fighting like kids." Armaan said, giving them a stern look.

"By the way, why were you removing the furniture?" he asked, putting his work-bag on one of the couches.

"Dinner table-"
"Ammi said-"

Saman and Ahad spoke together only to stop hearing each other.

"Dining table is not enough for all of us so badi ammi asked us to put out dastarkhwan in the living room and so we're going to remove the furniture." She spoke in a breath.

"Oh." Armaan could only say that, trying to process what Mansha had rambled.

"Fine then, I will help you." He spoke, removing his wrist watch. Ahad nodded and walked ahead with Sara and Mansha while he looked around to keep his watch.

"Here, give it to me." Saman said, making him stop and look at her with confusion.

"The watch," she forwarded her palm."I will keep that away."

"Can you please keep my bag too?" he asked with a hesitant smile. Saman nodded vaguely and took his things from him.

"Saman," he called before she could leave."Are you maybe upset?"

"No." she grumbled, without looking at him.

"You are." Armaan smiled to himself and stepped forward.

"What did I do?" he asked, tilting his head to look at her lowered face.

"Why do you think you did something?" She asked, squinting her eyes at him. Armaan grinned, the side of his eyes crinkling.

"I know you." it was a mere whisper, that disappeared as soon as it was spoken,yet she knew it would be engraved in her soul.

"Is it because I scolded you?" he asked, making her shake her head slowly. It was exactly that but Saman couldn't let him know. She didn't want him to think of her as a petulant child. But Saman might have forgotten that the person standing before her could read her like an open book, and perhaps had already memorized each and every page.

"It is, isn't it?" he chuckled through his words. Amused at her reaction to say the least.

"No it isn't." she spoke hurriedly and turned around, not wanting to expose herself more. She could feel her cheeks burning as she walked away, his laughter following her all the way.

___________________

"This one?" Ahad asked showing the bowl of egg curry to his mother.

"That side." Munazza pointed.

After a lot of nagging, fighting and yelling the dinner was finally being set on the dastarkhwan. Most of the elders were already seated waiting, as they chatted amongst themselves while the rest brought the pots and dishes of delicacies out.

"Sambhal ke." Armaan whispered handing the casserole to Saman who was still avoiding his gaze. He didn't know about her but he was having so much fun in teasing her and making her already flushed cheeks get redder.

"Ahem ahem...elders in vicinity." Ahad spoke walking past them making the two scurry away from each other. Armaan went back to the kitchen while Saman could hardly focus on taking the poor casserole to the living room. He had been teasing her all evening, either with his eyes or with words that might sound normal to others but she knew better.

However frustrating it was to hear his teasing, she wouldn't deny that it stirred her heart in all the right places. He would smile at her irritation or laugh quietly and each time, she took pride in bringing that reaction out of him. It was nothing less than a treasure for her.

Saman snatched her gaze away from him who was conversing with Mazhar. Luckily or maybe deliberately she happened to sit in front of him.

"This is so lit dude?" Omair nudged his twin and whispered with his mouth full. Sadly, loud enough for almost everybody to hear, making them laugh at his expense.

"What's so lit in this?" Ahad asked, clearly annoyed. His eyes went towards the far end where Nadia was busy devouring food.

He narrowed his eyes at every couple's seating arrangements, either they were side by side or face to face. So evil, of them. Armaan was smiling, and he so knew what that smile meant while Saman shyly avoided his gaze who happens to sit directly in front of him. Fahad was filling up Mahi's plate and he could swear he saw even his own father pass a secretive smile to his mother. He wanted to smack his head on the nearest wall.

He did signal Nadia to sit in front of him, but her usual smart self proved to be an extremely idiot one in sign language. So here he was,stuck with the twin.

"Everything is lit Ahad bhai, the food, ambiance and us." Omair answered with his hands in a gesture that Italian would do when praising something.

"Chup karao ise warna yeh handi de marunga iske sar par." He looked at Ozair, grumbling under his breath.

"What did I do?" Omair spoke, moving away from his reach.

"Old people tend to get angry without any reason, ignore him." Ozair replied stuffing his mouth.

Ahad might have experienced a different kind of rage there but he controlled for the sake of his elders. He couldn't help but glance at her again and luckily caught her gaze. Narrowing his eyes,he tried to scowl at her.

In return, Nadia just blinked at him, her gaze unsure.

_________________

"Listen to me first." Farha clapped her hands, trying to get their attention. The youngsters were gathered outside for a quick dessert break while the elders had made their own groups inside.

"Tum, tum aur tum..." She spoke pointing towards Ahad, Armaan and Saman one by one." Get married before my trip comes to end."

"What?" The three all but shouted.

"What, what?" Farha rolled her eyes.

"See, this time I am here for freaking three months so the three of you have to get married, better together because after these months I will leave with my husband and my next trip won't be soon. So get married ASAP!" She sighed after her rambling and looked at them whose mouths were almost touching the ground.

"What?" She asked, confused at their shock as if she hadn't just asked the most random and shocking thing from them.

"Ab koi bomb to nahi giraya hai maine jo itne hairaan ho sab." She spoke innocently.

"Aapi, bigger than just a bomb, it's an atom bomb." Ozair chuckled, giving a high-five to Omair.

"Ahad and Armaan search your brides fast and you-" she looked at Saman who was still too shocked to even say anything."Tumse to apni cheezein na khoji jaye, I will look for your groom, don't worry." She smiled proudly, unaware of what had happened in the past.

Mansha and Sara exchanged worried glances and looked at Saman to gauge her reaction, while Ahad too watched her with a passive face. Armaan pretended not to pay much attention but he could hear his increasing heart beat. All of their breaths seemed to get stuck for a while but then Saman reacted in such an unbelievable way that all of them were rendered speechless.

She laughed, throwing her head back. She laughed like she used to once, and hearing her was nothing but a balm to their worries.

"Zaroor api, I will be waiting." She spoke through her chuckle .

_________________

Saman peeked over the banister of her floor and took a breath in relief. Haveli was silent, and nobody was in sight. Returning to her room she picked up her phone and after quickly glancing at Mansha who was deep in her slumber, Saman made her way downstairs as quietly as possible. Once reaching the living room she looked around again for surety and then made her way to the kitchen.

She smiled, feeling proud of herself. This had been going on for weeks now and thankfully or luckily nobody found them. It was their secret and it felt so warm and so intimate to even think about something as 'theirs'.

Waiting for the food to be heated she moved around the kitchen, looking at anything and everything. Farha had shown her a recipe of brownies she had baked for Muneer bhai, her husband, which Saman wanted to make as well. She hadn't felt the need to bake or cook before at all, sure she did help around whenever someone asked but doing it just for the sake of it,wasn't her forte. But then, people change,don't they?

She could have this urge to make things for everyone or perhaps for a certain someone.

"Assalamualaikum." She heard his serene voice and grinned.

"Walekum asslam." She replied facing him. "You got late today." She stated making him sigh through his smile and nod. He was fifteen minutes late, trust her to keep track of his timing so strictly.

"Go wash your hands." She commanded as she made her way to dish out his meal. Armaan gazed at her for a long moment with a fluttering heart.

How did he get this fortunate? He remembered how he had forbidden himself to even think of her. He had done every possible thing to avoid and forget her yet, here he was, defeated and so in love.  He wouldn't lie, there was perhaps a concealed desire to have her near him,as his, not as a distant dream. And here she was, wholeheartedly his,and him? There wasn't even a question, he was already hers.

"Why are you standing there, I have to sleep too" she frowned at him, making him look away.

"You know you don't have to wait for me if it gets late." He spoke as he sat infront of her.

"You know I want to wait, there aren't many chances to talk to you." She whispered, lowering her eyes. Her voice was quiet, making him glance at her briefly.

"Saman," he called after a fleeting silence, he knew she was upset, as usually she would be talking nonstop when he ate.

"Hmm." She didn't look up.

"Can I ask something?" He asked, making her finally lift her head.

"Kya?" She watched as his eyes scanned her for a few seconds as if contemplating.

"Leave it " he shook his head and got up to put his plate away.

"No, tell me." She followed him.

"You have to tell the truth and not hesitate at all okay?" He said facing her, making her nod enthusiastically.

"What Farha told you that day, about you know, getting married?" He gulped. "Are you actually ready for it?"

It might have shocked her alot as her eyes widened with surprise. She took a step back unconsciously with her eyes still on him.

"I...I shouldn't have asked-"

"Wait, let me think first." She whispered, looking sideways. For a long moment she didn't speak and with each passing second, Armaan's heart was dropping.

"Saman don't worry we can wait, you don't-"

"Bhut bolte hain aap," she snapped, making him shut up.

"Honestly speaking, I was scared after last time." Her voice wavered as she spoke, looking at him with hesitant eyes.

"But-" she sighed. "I did think about it after that night." Armaan could hardly inhale, feeling a prick in his throat hearing her.

"I thought about the things that made me say no last time ." She pinched her eyes, pained at the mere mention of those memories. Armaan quietly reached for her hand,making her quickly grab it, as if seeking for some sort of strength.

"I am sure that guy and his family were great, but the only thing troubling me was the prospect of being so far away from my family. Other than that, I had no objections, see Armaan-" Saman stepped towards him making him do the same.

"It never was a foreign topic for me, in fact I was aware that sooner or later I had to get married but what I didn't know was that my rejection would lead to such a mishap."

"It wasn't your fault things went that way." Armaan gently pressed her hands.

"I know it was not my fault but I was the reason though-"she forced a smile. "What I am trying to say is that I am ready, there is nothing more to it, but I am afraid too."

"There are so many what ifs in my mind, and it's making it hard for me to think properly. I could get suggestions from the people around me but the decision has to be mine."

"And what have you decided?" Armaan questioned, his eyes scanning her face, while she averted her gaze. "If I-" he tightened his grip on her hands.

"Ask you to marry me, what will your decision be?" Saman's head snapped towards him.

"Armaan, I am aware of the pressure that you might be feeling but that does not mean I want you to hurry." She spoke shaking her head.

"I am not hurrying Saman." He spoke calmly. "I might have taken a lot of time to accept my feelings for you but that doesn't mean I am not serious about you."

"I don't want to waste any more time, now that I know what's in your heart but-" he paused, observing her for a fraction of a second.

"I also don't want to pressurize you. So I want you to decide carefully."

Saman was at a loss for words,for a few moments, perhaps minutes. He had gone back to keeping the food away and only when he walked to wash the dirty plates, did Saman snap out of her reverie.

"What if I-" she walked towards him.

"If I say no then?" Armaan's hands stopped hearing her.

"What will you do?" She asked, her voice breathy and shaky. Smiling to himself, Armaan turned towards her.

"I will respect your decision." He replied.

"And if I say yes?" She lowered her gaze.

"Then be prepared to be mine, as soon as possible."

He went back to completing his task leaving her stunned and rooted to her spot.She wondered how could he be so calm and confident when she was on the edge of losing her sanity, but then this is how it has always been. She was chaos personified while he was an image of the quiet sea shore.

Her mind went to the countless occasions where his placid and composed nature had rescued her from her own craziness. Sometimes it would be as silly as helping her choose a dress and sometimes helping her to stay afloat when the waves of life were too hard on her.

Perhaps this is how it was meant to be. Him being the calm to her chaos and her tides of emotions needing his shore to stay afloat.

Saman could feel her erratically beating heart calm down instantly. Her cold hands felt warmer now, and her hazy mind felt as clear as the summer sky. She chuckled to herself, making him look at her with narrowed eyes.

"Saman-"

"I don't know about Ahad, but Farha aapi will attend our wedding during this stay," She looked straight in his eyes, her face holding the serenity of the moon and her eyes shining brighter than stars.

Taking a slow step towards him she whispered, "and you will make that happen." And then she was gone, leaving him stunned and speechless yet again.

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Assalamualaikum everyone.

How are you all?

So, our beloved ArSam are going to get married.

And NaAhad have to gear up too.

Do tell me how you guys are feeling?

Vote and comment.