Hirz-e-Jaan

Chahat 3

As Hoorain knocked on the door, she heard shuffling from the other side and soon after her mom opened the door. She went in and saw her dad sitting on the couch while her mom gestured inside and later sat beside her father. Hoorain sat opposite to her parents and she could already feel the tension in the room.

Mrs. Alam started the conversation, "How was your exam beta?" To which Hoorain replied, "It was good mama. You and baba wanted to talk to me?" Hoorain could feel the air in the room shift. Mr. and Mrs. Alam shared a look, which made Hoorain worried and she quickly asked, "Is everything ok?"

Mr. Alam sighed and said, "Yes Hoor, everything is fine. We wanted to talk about something really important, you have to think about this calmly and not panic." At this point, Hoorain was fully worried and nodded with a frown.

Mr. Alam continued, "Hoor beta, as you know that your grandfather was really close with the elder Mir and they were so close as if they were brothers." Hoorain hummed having no idea what her dad was hinting towards. "Well, your grandfather and Akbar Mir made an alliance to strengthen our business and family friendship." Mr. Alam hesitated

"That's amazing! But why are you telling me this?" Hoorain asked, really confused because her dad never talks about business in the house or at least not in front of her or her mother.

Mr. Alam was about to continue but Mrs. Alam beat him to it, "The alliance was for you to marry the grandson of the Mirs, Asfandyar Akbar Mir."

Hoorain stilled, she didn't know how to react at all. Mr. and Mrs. Alam were gawking at her to see how she would react. They knew that she was really close with her grandfather so she wouldn't deny his decision but they wanted to be aware of how she felt towards this alliance.

"Jee theek he" Hoorain muttered lowly in a meek voice and got up to leave with teary eyes. Her parents didn't follow her or pester her because they knew she needed space and time to think over it.

Hoorain rushed up the stairs to her room and started sobbing as soon as she entered her room. She was very overwhelmed with emotion and it was hard on her. After a while of sobbing, she got up and went to wash her face. She did not expect her day to take such a drastic turn. She didn't have a problem with marriage but all the times she has met Asfandyar, he was always cold and reserved, so they didn't get along the best. On top of that, he didn't like cookies and cream ice cream which is just absurd.

Hoorain came back to her room and sat on her bed, zoned out, deep in thought. Her thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of her phone. She saw an unknown number calling. She shakily answered the phone and brought it to her ear and whispered a meek, "Hello"

"Assalamualaikum meri jaan." She heard a deep, husky voice making her heartbeat extremely fast. "Ap kon?" Hoorain asked, extremely scared. (Who are you?)

"Meri jaan, pehle salam ka jawab dete hain aur phir kuch aur baat karte hein." The deep, husky voice rasped out making Hoorain even more scared. (My love, You have to return my greetings first and then ask something else.)

"Wa.... Wa Alaikum Assalam, mere khayal se apke paas wrong number aa gaya he." Hoorain's voice just above a whisper, she didn't have such conversations in the past with any boys, so it was really scary and nerve-wracking to her. (Wa.... Wa Alaikum Assalam, I think you got the wrong number.)

"Nahi janaan, I have the right number. After all, I believe your parents told you about me. I'm Asfandyar." Hoorain was stunned to say the least. If her heart wasn't beating fast enough before, it was running a marathon now.

"Apko mera number kaise mila?" Hoorain oddly felt safe but her heart still felt like it would come out of her chest any moment now. (Where did you get my number?)

"Kia mere paas apni hone wali biwi ka number nahi hona chahiye?" Asfandyar asked calmly, he knew he was making her nervous but he found amusement in it. On the other end, someone's heart skipped a beat by being called to-be-wife. (Should I not have the number of my to-be-wife?)

"Nahi aisi baat nahi he. Wo bas..." Hoorain trailed off not knowing what to say, what could she say? The woman was too stunned to speak, he was the last person she was expecting to talk to right now. (No it's not like that. It's just that....)

"Wo bas kiya Meri Jaan?" Asfandyar hummed deeply urging her to tell him what it was when he very well knew that she was just nervous all the while having a big smile on his face. (Just what, my love?)

"Kuch nahi" Hoorain replied simply.(Nothing)

"Anyways I didn't call you for this, your parents told me that you rushed off to your room after knowing about the alliance. Why? Are you not happy?" Asfandyar's voice reached Hoorain's ears and she stilled, her eyes got watery remembering the alliance.

It was silent for a few moments after which Asfandyar interjected, "Ain, are you there?"

"Uh... yes I am, and uh no it's not that I am not happy, it's just uhh I can't tell you on the phone." Hoorain snapped out of her daze and replied hurriedly, she had to come up with an excuse.

"Ok, your family is coming tomorrow to the Mir mansion, so you can tell me there." Asfandyar replied in order to not pressure her and he could wait another day of course, after all he waited for a lot of years, another day shouldn't be that hard.

"Okay" Hoorain said meekly and was about to hang up when she heard Asfandyar's voice, "Oh and meri jaan your reason better be legit or else you don't want to know what I would do." Asfandyar was trying to scare her for fun and it worked, she did not have a good reason but she will have to come up with something soon.

She immediately hung up the phone and placed a hand on her beating heart. Well it was going to be hard convincing the Mir heir.

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Assalamualaikum!!

Sorry I updated after a long time but here is the new chapter. If you have any concerns, please do comment or reach out to me privately. My school has started so the updates might not be regular. I'll update the next part soon till then Allah Hafiz my lovely readers! <3