Tantalizing Hopes

1. The Unsteady Hunt

"And indeed We created man and We know what his ownself whispers to him. And We are nearer to him than his jugular vein (by Our Knowledge)."

[ Qaf : 16 ]

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Ibrahim's shoulders were tensed, his jaw tight. The sleeves of his neatly pressed shirt which had hastily been rolled up a few inches a while ago gave a clear view of his hands that were fisted tightly. His lips too were pursed but other than that his face was wiped clean of all sort emotions giving no clue as to what was running in his mind.

With each step he took forward, Ibrahim could feel his brother's eyes boring into his back trying to assess his every move. His brother was trying to gauge his line of thinking, trying to read the slightest hint of reaction he could notice. And from what one could make out, he was failing miserably at it.

From his peripheral vision Ibrahim could even see his sister standing at the entrance of the room, her child in her arms, waiting to peek into his head and to know what he was thinking.

He headed to the couch ignoring the way both the husband and wife seem to have had made him the subject of their scrutiny. He could already see the gears shifting in his sister Eshaal's head, could already imagine Tanvir calming her down but all of that came later. At present he had to break it to them and it was harder than what he had earlier thought of it to be.

"This is the twentieth meeting and I'm intending on making it my last." Ibrahim announced noisily slumping on the couch and choosing to make himself comfortable. He closed his eyes before moving his right arm and placing it over them. "This is the last one."

"I don't get it." He heard Tanvir say. "In the sense you are okay with this proposal and are planning to go ahead with it?"

Ibrahim shifted his hand a little to see his sister standing a few feet from him. His eyes then flickered to her husband who seemed as anxious as her. He could practically smell the apprehension in the atmosphere and he hated it. Even the stench of planning and plotting that seemed to float in the air was too hard to ignore. He hated that they were waiting to know what he was thinking, he hated that they were waiting for his decision with hopeful expressions while all he could do was sulk at how things had gone just a while ago. He had disliked the man. Moreso, he had disliked how he had made him feel.

"I mean to say this cannot go on. I mean to say I'm fed up of having people look me up and down as if I'm not worth anything. And I mean to say I hate their guts. This guy was the last straw. I am not and will never be wanting to meet anyone regarding this matter again."

"Bhai-", Eshaal started.

"Period." Ibrahim shut her up leaving no room for argument.

Eshaal's cheeks tinged pink with anger. Her face scrunched up. The only thing which seemed missing in order to make her look like a real angry figure was the smoke from her ears. She shook her head at him muttering a few things under her breath before handing over her kid to her husband. "Take her." She then turned around and marched off inside the house making sure she let her brother know she didn't like what he was doing in the least.

Just as Eshaal disappeared inside the house, her daughter stirred in her husband's arms and he turned all his attention towards her, cooing over her, rocking her back and forth with such care and with so much love that Ibrahim was left no choice but to smile at the scene ahead. His foul mood left him in an instant. Just like a deflated balloon all his pent up frustration left him and he quickly sat up from the couch beckoning his brother to take a seat so his niece could be comfortable again.

He waited until he thought it was safe to speak again. "Has she fallen asleep?"

"Yes, she has. She didn't sleep yesterday, stayed awake the whole night so nothing would wake her up now." Tanvir smiled at the little bundle in his arms and took a seat across Ibrahim. "Look how she sleeps with such a sweet smile on her face after having yelled her lungs out the night before." He chuckled softly.