Chapter 48 #2
He silently offered an apology to every scientist whose soul had probably been offended by his ridiculous explanation.
[A/N: Look near the buffet, y'all will find me. Main science ki taraf se aayi hoon. ??????]
"Dekho toh zara... love birds shuru bhi ho gaye.",Adira's teasing voice instantly broke the little bubble the two of them had unknowingly created around themselves.
(Would you look at that... the love birds have already started.)
"Newsflash," Ahaan announced dramatically while tugging at Adira's ear. "Yahan aur bhi log maujood hain. Aur hamare kaan bilkul theek kaam karte hain."
(Newsflash. There are other people around too. And our ears work perfectly fine.)
"Ab samajh aaya, Jeeju finance mein kyun hain.", ahaan laughed. Safiya sighed, already knowing exactly where this conversation was headed.
(Now I understand why brother-in-law works in finance.)
"Aur tum bade scientist bane phirte ho?", Adira shot back before elbowing Ahaan in the stomach, earning a groan from him.
(And you act like you're some great scientist?)
She then turned towards Zaviyar with a mischievous grin.
"Waise Jeeju... aapne abhi tak bataya hi nahi. Kaisi lag rahi hain aapki biwi?", Zaviyar didn't even spare a second to think.
(By the way, brother-in-law... you still haven't told us. How does your wife look today?)
"Meri lag rahi hain.", Safiya simply looked at him.
(She looks like she's mine.)
She mentally made a note to check whether he had secretly started reading her romance novels again, because there was absolutely no way he was coming up with lines like these on his own.
"Oho... aap log baatein kijiye. Mere puchke restock ho gaye hain. Main chalti hoon.", Adira waved dramatically before disappearing towards the food stalls without waiting for anyone's response.
(Alright then... you two carry on. My favourite puchkas have been restocked. I'm leaving.)
" Baby ruko, mein bhi aata hu. Tumhara purse kon pakrega. ", Ahaan ran behind her.
( Baby wait, I'll come too. Otherwise who will hold your purse. )
Safiya relaxed, finally she would get some time to talk to him.
"Zaviyar."
The familiar voice made both of them turn around. Wajahat and Rabiya were walking towards them. Zaviyar instinctively straightened himself.
Hatred could remain buried deep inside his heart. For tonight, appearances mattered more than emotions.
"Assalamualaikum.", He greeted them politely despite every instinct telling him otherwise.
(Peace be upon you.)
"Wa Alaikum Assalam.", Wajahat returned the greeting before extending his hand. Zaviyar accepted the handshake without letting even the slightest hint of his resentment show on his face.
(And peace be upon you too.)
"Tumne bataya hi nahi ke aaj aa rahe ho.", Wajahat inquired, surprise laced in his tone.
(You never told us you were coming today.)
"I came to take Safiya home.", he replied simply.
Then, from somewhere near the-
"...Mr. Khan?"
The voice cut through the silence. Zaviyar turned, and his eyes widened. He turned to look for Waqas who was nowhere near him.
Just then he spotted Waqas and his men near the buffet. The aunties had hijacked them after seeing them with Zaviyar and realised that they were from the groom's family.
[ Ab dulhe ke ghar ke logo ki khatir touh karni paregi na ?????? ]
A man in his late fifties stood staring at him with widened eyes, disbelief written across every line of his face. It took him a few hesitant steps before recognition completely dawned on him.
"Mr. Mehra," Zaviyar greeted with his usual composed nod. The older man let out an incredulous laugh.
"I knew you looked familiar the moment you walked in, but... no..." He shook his head as though convincing himself this couldn't be real. "I never imagined I would find you here.", He looked at Safiya, then back at Zaviyar.
" Uncle. ", Safiya smiled at Mr. mehra who placed his hand on her head affectionately.
"So..." he smiled warmly, "...this is your wife?"
For the first time that evening, Zaviyar glanced at Safiya before replying with quiet certainty.
"Yes.", Mr. Mehra's smile grew even wider.
"What a small world..." he chuckled. "Your wife happens to be the daughter of one of my closest friends.", Safiya frowned slightly.
"You...", she turned to Zaviyar, " know him, Uncle?", Mr. Mehra laughed.
" Yes. I've been circling around his schedule a lot these days. ", Safiya tilted her head.
"I must say..." he laughed softly, "...life truly is unpredictable.", He looked back at Zaviyar with genuine admiration.
Flashback
( A few days ago )
Zaviyar and Mr. Mehra were seated in one of the farm houses that Zaviyar owned and solely used for business deals. Mr Mehra examined every detail of the contract, reading it carefully.
"I've met architects from Europe and Singapore," he admitted. "None of them understood my vision the way your team did."
Across from him, Zaviyar calmly adjusted one of the papers, simply nodding.
" I've noticed you don't speak that much. Others have tried convincing us to consider them for this project but you. ", Mr. mehra added, " don't seem that passionate "
" My work speaks better than i do. If you liked the others, you wouldn't be sitting here across me. ", Zaviyar said taking a sip of his coffee. He missed the coffee his wife made him sometimes, which was rare, because she only made coffee when she took had to work very late.
"I'm a very skeptical man. I believe in diving into every sort of water before I know which one suits me best," Mr. Mehra said.
"Then you should be wary of the high tides," Zaviyar said with a shrug.
Just then, Mr. Mehra's phone vibrated. He excused himself with an apologetic smile.
"One moment.", He answered immediately.
"hello beta!"
A cheerful feminine voice spoke from the other end.
"Uncle, main kab se aapko call kar rahi hoon. Main personally invitation dene aayi thi, lekin aap office mein the hi nahi.", Mr. Mehra smiled affectionately.
( Uncle I've been trying to reach you. I came to your office personally to invite you but you werent present. )
"Sorry, beta. Meeting mein phansa hua tha."
( Sorry my child I was busy with a meeting )
"Koi baat nahi. Parso raat Ammi-Abbu ki anniversary hai. Aapko zaroor aana hai. Aap mana nahi kar sakte.", He laughed.
( No problem. The day after tomorrow is my parents anniversary. You have to come. You cannot say no. )
"Bilkul aaunga."
(I'll definitely be there )
After exchanging a few more words, he disconnected.
"It was an important friend's daughter," he said fondly as he slipped the phone back into his pocket. " Sorry for the interference."
He gathered his files before extending a hand.
" So what do you think? "
Zaviyar shook his hand politely.
" I'll have to revise the project properly before i give you an answer. My team will answer you back in a few days. ", Mr Mehra was shocked because he liked Zaviyar's proposal a lot. He thought Zaviyar would accept it at once.
Nowz Mr Mehra understood why Al-zahari was in such demanded. Because zaviyar made sure to keep it's access and availability minimum.
He never thought he would get the chance to meet Zaviyar again, that too like this.
Back in the present...
Mr. Mehra looked at Safiya with astonishment before laughing in complete disbelief.
"So it was you!", Zaviyar asked as Safiya nodded. Mr. Mehta shook his head.
"I spent an hour with your husband discussing a hotel project, and that very afternoon you called me to invite me here.", He looked from one to the other, smiling at the absurdity of it all.
"I spent months trying to convince the founder of Al-Zahari Architects to take on my hotel project.", Mr Mehra said.
"And now I discover that the same man is standing here as my friend's son-in-law.", Zaviyar smiled politely, but inside he wanted to bang his head on the wall.
The last thing he wanted was for everyone to find it out this way. He glanced at Safiya from the corner of his eyes, and he immediately shuddered at the glare she gave him.
'can i still run away?', he glanced at Waqas who was now waiving off the aunties asking whether he was married. He was boasting about his beautiful wife.
'Aur yaha mujhe meri biwi ke saath ek minute bhi romance karne ka vakt nhi milta.', Zaviyar lowered his head, when he felt Safiya's grip on his arm tightening.
(And here I am not irritating a minute to romance my wife. )
" I must tell you Safiya, your husband is a very stubborn man when it comes to business ethics. ", Safiya knew that part, " I wonder whether he listens to you or not. "
" I think they both balance each other out perfectly. Both are stubborn if you ask me", Wajahat added making Mr Mehra nod.
But Safiya's mind was diverted elsewhere, because Zaviyar fingers were shamelessly circling on her bare waist, over the dupatta drape. He was playing with her waist chain, and she couldn't help but glare at him while he acted non-chalant.
" Al-Zahari? But the owner of that was named Raza Khan. ", Wajahat said, and then the dots finally connected.
The smile on his face slowly disappeared. He didn't want anyone to find out about the company, and the last person he wanted to tell was the one to know about it.
" Mr Bhuyan, he's the one I wanted you to meet. Mr Khan, the owner of Al-Zahari. ", Zaviyar shook hands with the man, " It's great to meet you here, Mr Khan "
" Same here, Mr. bhuyan. ", Zaviyar greeted.
" Mr Mehra, why don't we talk about business tomorrow at the office. ", Mr Mehra nodded, proud of himself for bagging another meeting to convince Zaviyar to accept his project.
" I have the evening reserved with my wife. It was a pleasure to meet you both here. ", Mr Mehra nodded and Mr Bhuyan also smiled at the couple.
Zaviyar looked down, only to see Safiya avert her eyes. He knew his wife was angry at him. But when he looked up, he noticed that every single person in the hall had gone completely still.
Confused, he looked around.