"You have been mine since the moment I saw you, and nothing can change that. Nothing." He said it through his teeth as his voice shook with rage.
Zahra (The Depressed), who doesn't want anything to do with anyone but just mind her business, gets for...
To begin the game on the marble chessboard, I moved my white glossy yet dull with time soldier to E4, followed by Qais, who moved his once upon a time black soldier to E5, while Asad sat on another chair next to us reading a newspaper.
"Asha Maa!" I heard Ziya's quiet cry from my left, where she sat cross-legged on the living room carpet with Kainaat and Ahana. I moved my knight to F3.
"Ji, beta." She responded from the opposite side of the living room, where she, Maa, and Badi Maa were playing cards on the sofa. Qais moved his knight to C6.
I felt Asad's gaze on me for a moment, but I didn't glance up; instead, I moved my bishop to C4 and waited for Qais to move his other knight to F6.
"Bhabhi kab tak ayengi?" Ziya inquired softly, but the tinge of impatience in her voice was clear. Already Bhabhi?
Qais paused midway through his already evident manoeuvre and turned in their direction, his knight between his fingers.
I followed his attention to them and found Kainaat and Ahana staring at Asha Maa, just as she responded, "She'll be here in no time, Beta. Have patience!" These three and patience cannot coexist in the same sentence, Asha Maa.
They all grumbled in unison before Qais refocused on the game and dropped his knight at F6. Why isn't he paying attention? He knows my next move. I placed my knight on G5 and kept my gaze fixed on the board, waiting for him to move his soldier to D5. If he did exactly what I expected him to do, I'd know his mind was somewhere else.
"Mumma, you gave Bhabhi the right address, didn't you?" I heard Kainaat right before Qais did precisely as I expected, and then he looked back at them. So, despite the fact that he offered it in the first place, he isn't interested in playing.
"Call karke puchlay teri Bhabhi ko!" Maa responded by slapping a card loudly on the coffee table, and Asha Maa and Badi Maa followed suit. I moved my soldier from E4 to D5, then took his soldier.
"Karu?" Ahana inquired as she grabbed her phone from under the dark oak coffee table.
"Ahana, they're supposed to come here for dinner." Badi Maa took a drink of her wine. "You can't expect them before it's 6 in the evening."
"6?" Ahana looked at the grandfather clock on our side of the living room. 4:39 p.m. Her eyes widened as she turned abruptly to exchange surprised looks with Ziya and Kainaat before returning her gaze to Badi Maa. "Itna time kya karenge hum log?" Do what you do best. Waste it.
But no one bothered to answer. Maa, Badi Maa, and Asha Maa just kept playing cards and drinking wine as if no one was around. I gave them a smile before returning my attention to Qais. He was now looking between the two trios on either side of the vast living area with a thoughtful expression while the game sat abandoned between us.
