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We were in a suite at The Marriot Hotel, where my husband was sitting at the very far end, smoking his second cigarette of the day. Exactly, a few miles from the hotel, I could see the lights of the Prime Minister House. The same house I had got married in, the same house we had to leave four months ago and the same house that was one of the many reasons of sitting here tonight.
All of the televisions inside the suite were set on different news channels, where the anchors continued reporting on the ballot count as results started to pour in.
The names of the candidates who were leading the vote, the party they were affiliated with, which party was leading so far, everything was being announced.
The son of an ex- Prime Minister and at barely thirty four, the youngest contender in history of Pakistan for the position of the Prime Minister. The man who was also my husband and the man who was confident that he was going to win.
My legs ached from standing for so long, I had been with the family since morning, all of us had gathered in this very suite, there were close friends, close political allies, Zaydaan's advisors, assistants, photographers, and so many more people.
Even though the suite was large, it was still crowded.
Zaydaan had been working so hard since the past three months, constant processions, campaigns, going from city to city, it wasn't an easy task.
I couldn't remember the last time we actually had the time to even sleep peacefully by each other.
While he was busy with his campaign, I had been busy with my semester assignments and finals. Studying at home was much harder than studying at the University.
I was sat by my mother in law's side, Ahad standing opposite to us.
The air was pretty much thick with tension, the anticipation of knowing the results, of losing or winning, of being in position of power or not, it was stressful.
The atmosphere changed even more when my husband walked inside the living room after taking a cigarette break.
His tall, wide shouldered frame loomed in the doorway, as he stood there for a while, I observed him as he had his back turned to our side.
He talked to his father for a while, who frowned for a moment before nodding. I understood that it was a huge moment for them as well.
He had given up his entire position of power for his son, resigning as the party chairman and giving it over to Zaydaan, it was huge.
Finally, after having a prolonged conversation, his father turned away and Zaydaan entered the living room.
The men in the room stood up, the women straightened.
