RAABTA : A collection of short stories

HUMRAAHI

A man entered the wedding venue with a dead pan look on his face. His dark eyes screamed danger which most of the people present there were aware of.

Taking a seat, he took out his mobile and started going through his emails when he heard a commotion

"Hamari beti ke bare me ek baar bhi nahin socha aapke bete ne....is tarah bhagne se pehle" a man was shouting

"Anwar bhai...humein zara bhi ilm nahin tha is baat ka.....wo toh bahut khush tha" The man supposedly the groom's father was blank

"Khushi ka toh pata chal raha hai bhaisahab........hamari beti ko is manzdaar par chhod diya" the loud sound of the woman made him cringe and he closed his eyes trying to shoo it off

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Between the chaos, a man and a woman walked towards the man who was seated at a corner seat with ear plugs in his ears. His head was resting on the back of the chair with eyes closed.

"Shahzain"

No response

"Shahzain "

Again no response

Finally feeling a foreign touch on his hand, the man opened his eyes and raised his brows.

"Shahzain ... Akram ghar se bhaag gaya"

"Kaun Akram.." Shahzain frowned

"Arre........Wahi jisse Raima ki shaadi hone wali thi...." The woman scrunched her nose.

"Acha.........toh "

"Arre ghar ka hone wala damaad bhaag gaya aur tumhe koi fark hi nahin pad raha"

"Toh maine thode hi bhagwaya" Shahzain shrugged  closing his eyes again

"Humara wo matlab nahi nai Shahzain.......lekin ab kya karein" The man who had come with the woman sounded helpless

"Karna kya hai...function end karein ghar chalte hain" Shahzain stood up picking his coat from the chair

"Aur Raima....uske bare me socha hai..." The woman rose her voice.

"Nahi.....aur bhi bahut kaam hai mujhe"

"Dekh lein...aapke sahabzade ke toh tewar hi alag hain..............." The woman griamaced looking  at her husband and then turned towards Shahzain "Hum chahte hain ki tum Raima se shaadi kar lo"

Instead of any answer, a dry laugh erupted from Shahzain's mouth "Come again..."

"Haan Shahzain ......... ab bas tum hi is ghar ki izzat bacha sakte ho......" The man pleaded...

"Hmmm.............ab aap itni guzarish kar rahein hain toh sochte hain......15 minute dein mujhe aa raha hun main"

The woman's lips curved up into a big smile seeing Shahzain walk out of the hall...probably to get ready.

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Fifteen minutes passed and the people in the hall were now getting anxious..."15 minute bol kar gaya tha"

"Wo Shahzain aa gaya"

"Lekin ye kya haal banaya hua hai....mujhe laga taiyyar ho kar aayega" Hania made a face

"Aa gaya bahut hai" Hania's sister in law whispered

Anwar and Hania frowned seeing Shahzain stop at the entrance of the hall and beckoning someone...and next second all the eyes were widened seeing the figure standing next to him.

The original groom could be seen standing  in all his glory at the entrance of the hall. He along with Shahzain walked inside and stood infront of both the families.

"Akram......kahaan the tum....aur wo message kya tha" Akram's father came to him and asked with aggression.

"Kaun sa message Abbu..mera toh phone hi aaj chori ho gaya...aur upar se aaj hi kuch gundon ko bhi mujhse bhidna tha.......pata nahin kahaan band kar diya tha mujhe unlogon ne........wo toh shukra hai Shahzain bhai ka....jinhone mujhe bacha liya" Akram sighed thanking Shahzain

"Acha ab jaldi nikaah shuru karein...bahut waqt aise hi nikal chuka hai......." Shahzain announced and took a seat at a corner again plugging in the ear pods.

Hania and her sister in law were just seeing everything with wide open mouth at Shahzain who was busy in himself......

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"Token tumhari teen thi...do kaise ho gayi achanak se" Amara narrowed her eyes at Aamir who started shaking his head vigorously "Do hi thi..do hi thi"

"Acha.......kab home huyi?"

"Abhi toh huyi thi...kaise zadti kar rahe ho mere sath" Aamir's overdramatic behaviour made it all the more clear that he had cheated

"Sharafat se rakh de andar" Ahil showed his eyes.

"Shahzan bhai aa rahe hain...."  Aliya who was looking at the door turned around and whisper yelled making all her cousins and siblings quiet at once.

Shahzain entered the room giving a damn to anybody but then his eyes caught a figure and his lips instantly  curved up into a smile which was only reserved for that person........

Seeing Shahzain come towards them, Ahil frowned but then realized the presence of a certain someone who could pull the cold man to hell too.

Reaching the table, Shahzain hugged Amara from her shoulders and dropped a long kiss on her head "Kaisi ho?"

Amara who was sitting on the floor lifted her head with a smile "Theek hun bhaijaan"

"Hostel se kab aai?"

"Bas ek ghante pehle bhaijaan"

"Aaj tak hume pyaar se dekha tak nahin...aur Amara aayi nahi ki andar se pata nahin kitne barson ka pyaar umad aata hai inka" Ahil mumbled

"Kya hua tumlog lad kyun rahe the?"

"Ye cheating kar raha tha.." Amara whined pointing at Aamir.

Before Shahzain could even turn his head towards Aamir kept all his 4 tokens inside "Mere sare andar hain...saare"

"Acha khelo....mai fresh ho kar aata hun..." Shahzain ruffled Amara's hair affectionately without even throwing a glance at others.

"Mujhe toh samajh me nahin aata ki hum inki sagi behenein hain ya yeh Amara.........humse toh aaj tak seedhe muh baat bhi nahin ki" Asma twitched her lips looking at Aliya who waved off her hand focussing on the game.

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Note

"Cousin marriage" "Cousin marriage"
  Bahut requests aaye mujhe....so here comes another story which is based on cousin marriage but has a twist.

Cousins hain..toh dher sara maza toh hoga hi😃😃😃😃

P.S. - The twist is not Childhood nikaah 😊