Inevitable Destiny- Mayi Ri

(17)

The sun had set now, the sky dark and the air mixed with a blend of warmth and coolness. Aini was standing near the stove waiting for the milk to boil and in the other hand, she had her textbook open, through which she was revising.

Fakhir entered, his steps heavy with exhaustion after a long and tiring day at office. The first view which came in front of his eyes was of Aini in the kitchen, her back towards him and he scoffed at the way she was holding her book and working as well...  'Padaku'... but then he decided it was the perfect time for a little mischief.

He tiptoed into the kitchen, attempting to be as stealthy as possible. With his hands pressed to lips to stifle a chuckle, he crept closer to her.

Aini was engrossed in her revision when she jumped in fright as she heard, a loud "KYA HO RAHA HAI!!" near her ear.

Startled, she turned around, and in her haste, her notebook slipped from her hand and tumbled to the floor. To her shock, she found Fakhir standing there and laughing at her shocked state.

"Kya hai!" she asked, her hand on her chest "What are you doing here?" her voice laced with irritation.

Fakhir chuckled at her reaction, and said "Darpoak" making Aini's brows furrowed

"Main kisi se nahi darti, samjhe" she retorted back.

Fakhir raised an eyebrow at that and then bend down to pick up her notebook.

"Why don't you do one thing at a time? Studying like this will not really help, you know" Fakhir said, while filling his glass with water.

"Do you always have to be so nosy? Tum apne kaam se kaam rakho." she asked, cleared irritated.

Aini was already upset because she was not allowed to attend school right now, and whatever notes she could get from her friend, she tries to cover all of that in the little time she gets.

"It's an advice, which obviously, always bounces off from you." He replied

She groaned and said "Don't have any other work? Mera dimag kyun kharab kar rahe ho"

"Wo pehle se hi kharab hai, samjhi... isliye usspe zayada zor mat diya karo" his reply making Aini's temper rise, but without giving any reply to him, she turned around in time and switched off the stove, before the milk could be spilled.

But Fakhir was not done... he kept his empty glass on the table and while pretending to get a snack from the shelves installed above the platform, he had at once grasped Aini's pony and slyly giving a tug on it... ran towards their room.

The last thing which he heard when he closed the door was a loud and irritated call of his name, echoing from the kitchen.

________________________________________________________________________________

Amma was sitting on the swing, along with Sameena who was looking livid and Aayesha on the verge of collapsing because of the shock... A shock given by Habib when he entered the house with his second wife, Raheela... and that too with the pretext of her living here from now on.

"Habib, are you even in your senses? I didn't say anything at that time because everyone was sitting... but, what is all this?" Amma asked her son

"Amma... what's wrong in this? Raheela is my wife; she has the same right as any bahu of this family." He said with no ounce of shame in his voice

"SHE IS NOT" Amma shouted back "Did you forget what Zaheer had said? And ... look at you, doing the same thing which your brother didn't like and that too on his chaliswa."