Play of Fate

Chapter 1

آپ ویسے بھی کہاں بات کیاں کرتے تھے
ہم نے سوچا کہ چلو بات بگاڑی جا ئے
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The honks of cars and the shrill beeps of motor bikes were easy to ignore under the soulful trance of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

I rested my head gainst the seat, closing my lids as his voice pulled on my heart strings.

Hoye dade dilgeer
khichi yaadan ne lakeer
Sanu chann maahi
Gheereya-e - tereyan khayalan

I opened my eyes again. I looked through window pane of my back seat. The traffic was still full swing on the road. Our car was behind a long lane of cars.

The sky was rumbling with loud angry black clouds thundering again again. It looked like that it would rain anytime.

"Khan baba, kiya howa hai?"
(Khan baba, what happend?)

I was tired, waiting for so long. It had been fifteen minute but we were still waiting on road for the traffic to move. It was two pm. The off time for school student which made the traffic worse. Mummy wanted me home earlier so I kind of rushed from university. She didn't tell me the reason but she sounded quite elated on the phone.

"Bibi ji, koi jhagra howa hai."
(Bhabi ji, there is some quarrel.)

I placed my hand on my head. A quarrel in between Lahories. It was going to last longer and the traffic was not going to move any time soon. These kind of issues on roads was not an unusual occurrence in Lahore but today, It rattled me more.

An hour later, I reached the Sikander villa. I walked straight in to kitchen scenting the sizzling aroma of many desi dishes. To my surprise, I found mummy cooking on the stove while giving Gul Bano our servant instructions.

She looked at me and smiled. Her face was lit up with excitement and happiness.

"Finally, you are here. Aao. (Come) Give me a hand."

I washed my hands in the sink nearby and placed my duppata on the chair. She asked me to prepare mutton pilau with kababs. I immediately started doing the work. I was almost done with Kababs. I asked Gul Bano to take the tray of kabab and place it in freezer so that they could be fried at dinner.

"Did you invite some guest for dinner?"

Her lips pulled in to a large smiled as she beamed at me.

"Jahan araha hai. (Jahan is coming.). His flight is on board. He would be here at evening."

I didn't hear her after first sentence. The first sentence was the only one that I could focus on. The glass filled with water slid from my hand crashing on the floor breaking in to number of pieces. Jahan was coming. Why?

"Noor chanda."

I noticed that she was calling my name for long. "Ji mummy."

"Step away from glass." Now I noticed that Gul Bano was down there collecting the broken pieces in a bin.

"And hurry up get ready. Wear something nice."

"Ji."

I walked out of the Kitchen, upstairs in to my room. After three years, why was he coming now? Maybe it was for better. Now I could finally ask him for what I intented to for so long.