Mornings, a time of the day where we try to find out answers to our where, why and what. Then we slowly gain consciousness and everything is vibrant again. Most of us hate mornings, a) because we are reminded of our worries. b) We do not wish to face those worries c) we want to finish our lacking sleep. There are various reasons for hating mornings but the feeling remains constant for all.

Haajar woke up feeling tired, just as she had felt yesterday, the day before yesterday, the day before, before yesterday, and before that as well. She had forgotten what it was like to wake up feeling fresh. She dragged herself out of the room, brushed her teeth, then took a shower, later got dressed and around seven-thirty she entered the kitchen and found a stranger on her chair. It took her a moment to identify him and then another moment later she remembered why she disliked him. Rahemat was the first one to talk, he introduced Haajar to his nephew and then the nephew started to talk. 

"I think we met at Mamu's wedding. You were very young.  I am sure you remember me. Everyone speaks of how remarkable I looked that day. They still remember it." Haajar slowly looked at her mother and raised her eyebrows. "It was a great evening. The decorations were spectacular. The flowers were the highlight, how could they not be? I was the one in charge of them." Sufiyan talked, and talked, and talked and talked for twenty minutes before a call took him back to the guest room. Haajar, who had her eyebrows raised higher than ever, blinked as she asked, "Why is he not jetlagged?"

"I have been wondering the same," Her mother said as she sipped her coffee. "Rahemat is staying at home to accompany his nephew, so I will drive us to work. Wait for a second, I will get my purse, then we will leave." 

"We are planning to have dinner out tonight,"Rahemat said as his wife left, "I hope you will join us." Haajar smiled and replied with InshaAllah while hoping to find a way to find herself busy at that time. The ride to work was filled with chatter about the new visitor, his words, his behaviour and the reaction that he would create around them. They were not the only ones, everyone in their family had something to talk about this new character and his history.

"I do not believe he is here!" Noor exclaimed throwing her hands in the air. "Sufyaan bhai is going to flip out! He hates him. None of us is a big fan of him so imagine Sufyaan bhai. Zyva must be vexed as well, more because of her husband, less because of her cousin. It is a bad situation, no one should be in one."

"Why is it so bad?" Zeeshan looked up from the newspaper. "It was a long time ago and you said they weren't technically engaged. Then what is the problem? Okay, he had feelings for Zyva but she did not have any. Problem solved. I am sure Sufyaan is mature enough to handle it."

"It is not as easy as you say it. Getting married to Zyva was not easy and The two sufyaans actually had a mini world war. Sufyaan bhai sure is mature but when it comes to this he is the childish child on earth. He is not going to take it well. There is going to be another war." 

As Zeeshan dismissed her overreaction, Kehara, in her kitchen, was expressing her reaction. "Bhai must be angry and he is not going to hide it. This is the first time they are meeting after their encounter in India. It would be a little rocky."

"A little?" Aman chuckled. "You are very sweet. Sufyaan is not that nice or patient. Her cousin says one word that crosses him and he would not let it be. Man does not fear to fight."

"He won't fight or do you mean to argue? Of course, that is going to happen. Even if not a big one, but surely a few minor ones. Bhaijan won't let it be and even her cousin isn't that noble."

"He is not. They both are short-tempered and would not think once before overreacting. Zyva is the only one who would be stressed. Poor her. This is a bad situation for her."

"Bad? Worst! My poor bhabhijaan."

Kehara was a little worried for her brother, her sisterly heart was not at rest but there was another sister who found the situation fascinating. "Why is he even here?" Gulfisha said as she looked out of her window. 

"He has some work Chachu said," Zynah said before lifting the bowl of ice cream in her hand. "I am sure it was not necessary for him to come but we know him, he got a chance to come, why would he not? It actually is surprising that he did not come earlier. That is not very much like him." She chuckled as she looked at her mother. "This would be fun. Haven't met our lovely cousin in a long time."

"Lovely? He is just like his mother. He is going to make it so difficult for my little girl. Why is he even here? When is he leaving?"

"That would be my first question, do not worry." Her mother narrowed her eyes making her smile. "It would be fine. They are all adults, they can handle it. and if they cannot, then we will finally have some entertainment in life." As Zynah tried to hide her smile from her mother, There was Afzal who could not stop laughing. 

"Sufyaan must be ready to burst into flames. This is the highlight of the year."

"You are mean," Yamina said shaking her head. "He is your best friend. He needs your support."

"He needs some tolerance and anger management class. How long is he going to act like a kid? He is her cousin, they are bound to cross paths some or the other day. They got lucky that they didn't get a ticket when her grandmother died and her father died here so they didn't meet each other. But this was going to happen one or the other day." He chuckled. "Finally universe listened to me." 

"You are a terrible friend." Afzal started to laugh once again but his best friend had his arms cross as he tried his best to keep his mouth shut. "What!?" Zyva exclaimed abruptly. 

"What? I did not say a word." 

"Your face said a thousand."

"I am still proud of myself for my calm." 

Zyva chuckled as she sat next to him. "He will be gone in a few days. Do not think a lot. We won't even meet him much. Of course a few times, so be prepared. Even if you avoid him, I might cross paths with him, so be prepared for that as well. Your aunt will spend a lot of her time with him because he is living in her house, so be prepared for that.  And he will be at the lunch on Sunday so be prepared for that too."

"That is a lot of prepare and I am just one."

"Too bad. You will have to deal with it."

"There are hundreds of countries, thousands of cities, millions of neighbourhoods. Why is he here? Out of seven continents, this is where he had work. Why?"

"Because that is how it is. Nothing can be done now."

"Do we have to attend the lunch?" Zyva shook her head in a yes. "Maybe, Rahemat chacha will cancel the party. Now, he has a guest. He must be busy hosting him."

"He might, that is why you do not have to think so much. It is not going to be that bad."

"Yeah, not at all," Sufyaan whispered as he rolled his eyes. 

That morning was different, it was active for they all had something to talk about and wonder about the future, some even got a chance to script a fight in their minds. It was an unusual morning. Haajar was the one who got over the fact the fastest as her boss had a new task for her. Haajar was confused for most of the day but got a hang of it towards the end of it. Before leaving for home, there were two meetings they had to attend, one was short with just a few words exchanged, the other one was a long one with an in-depth detail about the case. 

"Thank you for coming again. I think it was important to go through all the papers and details about all the property that your father owned. It will help us prove that it belongs to you after the death of your father and then your brother." Alessia ended the sentence with a smile.

Raiyan shook his head in a yes. "But remember I only case about this property. I do not wish to take anything else from them. We are fine the way we are."

"I am not going to lie," Alessia said, "It is suspicious. Why are you so interested in this property? Why not any other? We need to have a meeting regarding it. But for now, it is okay. Things are going a little slow at the court, so when the hearing approaches we will do it. You do not have to stress when you don't have to." 

Raiyan smiled and shook his head again. Willam had been in the flat for the past fifteen minutes but a call kept him at the window. When he was done, he greeted Raiyan and bid him goodbye. Then the three of them sat together and started to discuss the situation. 

"So, as you know my Sister's ex is suing me. It is a simple story. I never wanted to work with him but my sister insisted. She, of course, wanted to help him and why I said yes? Because I wanted to distract my mind from my personal life. The man, I never liked him. He is a businessman but he was failing terribly. He needed a way to handle everything so my sister urged that I help him, So I did. He sold his old business, paid the creditors and invested the leftover in my company. Now the company is doing great, he is making a lot but my sister broke up with him. hence he is removing me. I am just an extra burden that he does not want. We rarely agree on the same things. I do not like the way he works or thinks. We need to know our limits. Anyway, I did everything for the company, I took it to the height it is now and I even invested money. He cannot just throw me. He can not!" 

Alessia consoled him for some time before they started to work again. Alessia always took a few minutes to console and cheer the clients. It was her style or maybe her heart that decided the course and that was the reason for her success and also her downfall.

Surprisingly, despite work and meetings that day they were able to leave work earlier than usual. Haajar, unlike Alessia, was not very delighted about it. That week she was ready to work overtime, she was ready to give her all to stay away from her house but when that could not be achieved She called her mother to get some update about their visitor. Her mother was not the one who answered the call, but that worked in her favour. Rahemat was casually talking when he mentioned they needed to go grocery shopping for the upcoming Lunch at their house, that gave Haajar an idea and she convinced him that it was the best time to go for it. In ten minutes Rahemat and Valiqa picked Haajar and they all went shopping. 

As they reached their destination, Valiqa told them the names of all the things that she needed and asked them to spread in different directions for quick service but Haajar and Rahemat walked behind her, with no intention of following the order. Valiqa was doing all the searching and picking while the other two walked in silence until Rahemat decided to break the ice. 

"How are your friends, Lizzy and Reema? I haven't heard of them in a while."

"They are good. Busy with work and life."

"Okay. Did you make any new friends? Maybe someone at work?"

"I have a boss at work who takes my whole time and we cannot afford anyone else." Haajar frowned and tilted her head as she said, "We cannot afford us. Yet we are somehow on an adventure." 

"It is always fun to be on an adventure. Even if you don't know how it will turn out. It is still fun. When I first came to America, I didn't know what would become of me. Luckily, I was too heartbroken to think of my future. I just took up whatever work came to me and in the process found what I like and what I am actually good at. Life has a way of bringing to us what we need. Maybe not what we desire but let me tell you, our desires are nothing but our thoughts. Sometimes they are our enemies, rarely they serve happiness. So if a desire is not fulfilled never be disheartened. Your lord has a plan for it all." 

Haajar smiled and shook her head making Rahemat keep his hand on her head, making her heart rate increase and to add in that Valiqa suddenly started to scold them making them run to the frozen alley. Rahemet started to look for what his wife had asked him to but he forgot what it was so he kept looking around hoping to remember the object. Haajar on the other hand found cheese which was on her mother's list but was not sure of the brand. So she picked up two different brands and started to walk back to her mother when she saw Raiyan walking towards her. Initially, Raiyan did not notice her but as he slowly walked closer he recognised her. 

"Oh, hi. How are you?" Raiyan politely asked but before an answer could be shared Valiqa came looking for her daughter. 

"Raiyan, right?" Raiyan softly nodded his head to Valiqa's question. "How are you? We haven't seen you in a long time."

"We really haven't," Rahemat said walking towards them. 

Raiyan smiled as he replied, "I have been busy with a few things. How have you both been? How is everything?"

"Everything is fine, except that these two have been wasting our time. We have a guest at home and they don't want to help me."

"He is having dinner with a friend. He would be late. Late, " Rahemat said with a shake of his head.

"It still is not right to waste time. We need to go home as well."

"Okay, okay. I will leave now son but wait. We are having lunch on Sunday at our house. You must come. Everyone will be there. I am sure you will like it. Haajar is making her famous cake." Haajar smiled at him before looking down at her shoes. 

"You should come, " Valiqa said, "Bring your mother as well."

Raiyan smiled once more, "I cannot say about my mother but I will surely come. Thank you for the invite."

A few more minutes were invested before Valiqa and Rahemat excused themselves to finish their list and head home. Haajar wished to leave as well, but without a bye seemed rude, and a bye seemed awkward. She was stuck in a loop that had no exist. 

"It is good to see that you and your father are on good terms again," Raiyan said making Haajar frown immediately. "I mean, " he shook his head, "you were having an argument with your father the other day, so. I am sorry, I should have not said anything about it. It is just awkward."

Haajar shook her head in a no, "It's okay," she chuckled, "I understand. I actually got confused when you said father. For a moment I thought he was here." Now was the time for Raiyan to frown and look at her questioningly. She stared at him blankly before she understood the situation. "He is not my father, " she said motioning towards Rahemat, "He is my mother's second husband. My father is in India."

"Oh! I am so sorry. I did not know. I am really sorry." 

"It's okay. It is nothing big. "

Raiyan apologised again and she calmed him again, then a goodbye was shared and they went their separate ways. Raiyan wrinkled his nose as he walked towards the billing counter. It was awkward, it was embarrassing and it stayed in his mind for long. He kept thinking of how embarrassing it was and of what Haajar must be thinking of him......

***

I hope you all like it!

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Now, I will leave. Have a great week. Take care<3