Part 222- Extra Masala Marinated Drama

As narrated by Nemo :

I sat in my balcony and stared into the sky. Alone. My hands wrapped around a mug of hot coffee, a mug that Aara had gifted me. And I held onto it despite the fact that my hands were burning and trembling. A tear rolled down my cheek as a date played over and over in my head. 22nd October. ..her wedding date. The day that I would lose her forever. More tears started pouring out of my eyes…and I let out a muffled cry…I knew that this wasn’t going to be easy, I knew it, but that it would be this difficult, that I didn’t know!

How do I live? How do I replace her? What do I do with all the memories, the feelings..what do I do with it? ?? How do I move on from here? ?

I went back into my apartment and took out an album of ours..and looking at all these pictures, I let myself break down and crumble. I cried until I had no tears left .I cried until my heart was tired and I fell asleep right there on the couch, clutching onto the album.

I awoke to the continuous ringing of my doorbell. I quickly got up looked at my face in the mirror, I looked terrible! My eyes looked like…as Aara would say, a lizard on a high. Well she would say that whenever she cried herself to sleep and I always asked her why would anyone want to do that and she would shrug it off as “soul therapy”…but now I knew…

“I’m coming ” ,I mumbled as the ringing persisted

“It’s 5 am for crying out loud! “, I said as I opened the door

“So? Should I go back and wait in my car then? ” , the doofus at my door said smugly

“That would have been a good idea except that you clearly had no intention of doing that in the first place Ziyaad now did you” , I mumbled

“Well good to see you too sunshine! “, he said as he barged into my apartment with his bags and then proceeded to dump them haphazardly on the floor

I actually forgot that he was coming today and that he was going to be staying with me….

“Fajr boy fajr..go get your ass ready so we can go to the masjid “, Zee said as his eyes moved from the album to me

And so I showered, changed and we made our way to the masjid , in silence. What would I hide from Ziyaad anyway, he knew how I felt.

We met up with the guys at the masjid and Zee ‘s coldness towards Zoheb was so damn evident. This wasn’t on at all. We were bigger than this!

“You need to drop the attitude please Zee, what’s done is done okay ” , I said as we drove out

“No, not okay and I don’t care what you say, I cannot hide the way that I feel “, Zee said, his voice thick with irritation , “you can be a sacrificial moron if you must and even buy a wedding present for them too!”

As much as I was pained, I couldn’t help but laugh at Zee “I’ve already started actually, I bought her some pots yesterday..We have a good contact you know, you should get some too”

“Get some pots??”, he asked in disbelief, ” you really have lost your bloody mind, what the hell must I do with a damn pot!”

“I don’t know..bath with it maybe? ” ,I laughed

“Bath with a frikking pot! Loon! Why didn’t you get some casseroles or whatever the heck they are called too!”

“That’s a good idea thanks Zee “, I answered, irking him further

“Nemo ”

“Ziyaad ”

“Nemo! ”

“It’s Aara Zee…”, I said softly, ”

“I know… and that’s what makes it harder Nemo, you two are made for each other, anyone can see that! ”

I just smiled. Perhaps we were made for each other, made for each other to be friends.

“Promise me that you will behave? “, I said

“Am I a dog or a monkey that you’re asking me to behave !”

“Both !” , I laughed as Ziyaad let out a string of foul words at me , but I didn’t mind. It was good having him around after all!

I needed to pull myself together and hide my broken heart in the best way that I possibly could. My friend’s were getting married…6 of them…and I wasn’t going to spoil it, nor was I going to allow anyone else to either:)

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As narrated by Arshad :

“Why do we need that?….But this is being hosted by us!….What do you mean that my mother is fine with it?…. My aunt will throw a fit!” , I said all at once into my phone, to Zainab

“Well your mother agrees with me that it has to be perfect! “, she said calmly

“Will you stop trying to control everything for once!”

I was angry! I was so, so angry!

“Fine then use paper plates and trestle paper for all I care!”

“You know that it won’t be like that! ”

“Do whatever you want! , she said angrily and then cut the call

Uuuuuurrrrrgggggghhhhhhhhhh! !!!

And within seconds, even before I could process anything…my mother came barging into my room.

“Why do you do this Arshad? “, she said, her hands on her hips

“Why did I do what mummy..? ”

” Zainab only wants to help why do you insist on being so stubborn! ”

“She doesn’t want to help she wants everything to be her way” , I said as calmly as I could

“And what is wrong with that? ”

“Mummy are you listening to yourself? ” , I asked in disbelief

“You have such a beautiful and wonderful fiance and you should be grateful and happy that she goes this extra mile for you and for us!”

“Ok Mummy you and daughter in law rather just do whatever you both want because my opinion clearly doesn’t count ”

I love Zainab but she needs to stop this. Did she have no faith that we wouldn’t do the Seafood Night properly? My aunts and cousins were so excited about this supper and they had their own plans for everything and now Zainab has to meddle in that too. And using my mother against me is just wrong! My mother adored Zai and was on cloud nine because she was getting such a lovely daughter in law, but Zainab was just abusing this in my opinion. Even if that wasn’t her intention it certainly came across as that!

We had spoken about this extensively but no she never listens!

“So I heard that your bride is sending her wedding planners here to help us”, my Aunt Fahima said sarcastically as I walked into the lounge

I just nodded.

“What, Zainab doesn’t think that we’re capable of pulling off a function as smart as hers? ” , she prodded on

“Leave it Fahima , you are thinking wrong, Zainab is such a sweet girl and she’s only trying to help ” , my mother smiled

“Put her more on your head Sawleha and then don’t cry when she refuses to move from there!”, Aunty Fahima snapped

“Just because your daughter in law gives you beans it doesn’t mean that my daughter in law will” , my mother argued as she shifted into “Zainab defence mode”

“You must never treat a daughter in law like a daughter because she will never be your daughter!” , Aunty Fahima shouted

“Well I don’t have any daughters so I WILL treat Zainab like a daughter and I don’t care about what anyone says!” , my mother said with tears in her eyes

See..This is exactly what I didn’t want! It wasn’t just us in the house, so many of my other aunts and cousins were there to witness this fiasco too, and more guests were scheduled to arrive and they too would hear about all this nonsense! I hated dramatic moments like this with a passion! And it seems to be a part of every (Shoot me) Indian function!

I held my head with both my hands and just closed my eyes as this argument intensified by the second…..I needed a way out or a savior or a frikking miracle!!

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As narrated By Sabeeha:

The Wedding of the Year…well that’s what the vibe surrounding it was! I didn’t particularly like weddings…that’s putting mildly anyway. But I had to be here for this one! Arshoo, my oldest buddy from school was getting hitched! He was a little older than me but who’s counting right?

I landed not so long ago, and managed to get my dad to drop me off at Arshad’s house before he headed off to sort whatever it was that he needed to sort out. All the excitement that I had inside me was on the verge of fizzling out when I realised that I had to carry ALL my luggage by myself and I ended up cursing myself every third second (because every second second wouldn’t make sense:-p) for carrying so much of stuff! Buuuut as luck would have it, I wasn’t the only one! I chuckled to myself as I watched this girl who had arrived just a few seconds after I had arrived, also struggle with her luggage!

She looks up at me and laughed, ” I would offer you a help but I kinda need help myself”. To this, I burst out laughing – I already liked her!

“Well this idiot Arshad should have hired a porter man!”, I said as I shook my head, “By the way, I’m Sabeeha”

“I’m hungry…but you can call me Nasley”, she laughs again and I know that I have found my partner in crime for the next few days! ” And before you ask, I’m Arshad’s ex neighbour…it has been a long while since I’ve seen him but I wouldn’t miss this for the world”, she continues

“Arshad and I were in school together, but the truth be told…I’m just here for the food” , I laughed as pictures of heavenly desserts, kebabs and chicken tikka masala flashed through my mind!

“Well along with the food, you should probably be prepared for a good dose of typical indian aunties and their extra masala marinated drama”, Nasley said as she dragged her bag behind her

I had to agree. No Indian wedding was ever complete without some crazy woman throwing a crazy fit over some crazy little issue…driving everyone crazy in the process!

And as we stepped into the house…a crazy lady drama was already waiting for us! Whew! Did World War 3 begin and nobody bothered telling me???? Aunty Sawleha was in tears and a mad lady was going pah pah pah one way…and Arshad stood silently with his hands over his head! What the….

I looked at Nasley, and she was equally shocked!

” Hello?”, Nasley said before clearing her throat

But do you think that anyone heard her in this fish market???

“Hello Salaams…”, she said a little louder

I was now really offended! Here we are, two pretty ladies, and guests and instead this coconut head woman is fighting with my aunt so loudly that no one could hear my new friend Nasley! Both of us now highly irritated, looked at each other knowingly…and on the count of three, we shouted and boy did we shout!

“Stoooooooopppppppppp iiiiiiiiiitttttttttt!!!!!”

Everything came to a silent standstill. Good. Just the way that I like it.

Arshad walked up to us quickly and hugged both of us together

“Get me out of here!”, He pleaded and I could see that he looked as though he was beyond fed up!

“No Arshad…what’s going on?”, Nasley asked firmly

‘Awkkkkkkwaaaaarrrrdddd”, I hummed as I listened to Arshad tell us about what had just happened

“That’s it?” , Nasley smiled

I raised my eyebrow…what does she mean that’s it…that’s alot..of crap…and we should probably go before we start unpacking our bags because I mean really…

“Listen Arshoo…you’re getting married okay, and these things happen at weddings, it isn’t the end of the world! And besides..we’re here now, we’ll make sure that everything goes smoothly okay…won’t we Sabeeha?”

I was standing behind Arshad now so this was easy…I shook my head frantically as my eyes almost popped out of their sockets! What is she getting me into???

“See, even Sabeeha agrees “, Nasley said as she winked at me, ” stop stressing you’re the groom!”

“I was actually hoping for a miracle…”,Arshoo smiled as he patted Nasley on her head, “Since when did you become so smart?”…’and you…”, he said as he turned towards me, ” since when did you become so…so…like this?”

I wanted to laugh so hard!

“Just about now”, I grinned

Nasley and I walked over to Aunty Sawleha, hugged her and reassured her that she was right and that everything would be okay, but the killer Aunty Fahima was giving us daggers!!

“It’s true what they say..”, Aunty Fahima said sarcastically…”A son is a son until he gets a wife, but a daughter is a daughter for life”

“And that’s exactly what’s going to happen here”, Nasley said, much to everyone’s surprise…” Arshad isn’t only getting a wife, Aunty Sawleha is also getting the daughter that she always longed for”

Hah take that ! And I was dancing inside my head and suddenly very, very excited to be a part of this!

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Author’s Note

Salaams…

I promised too many people a post this Friday, so just for the record, it’s still Friday in my world;)

A HUGE WELCOME to Nasley (Journey To Changes) and Sabeeha (Surti Diaries) to LLD!
I am so excited and over the moon because it’s the very first time that I have written a post with two authors and I really hope that all of you enjoyed this “3 Author” post as much as we enjoyed writing it!
Both of you, the wonderful authors of these blogs, were an absolute pleasure to write with and I mean that from the bottom of my heart *tight hugz*

The Wedding posts are quite time consuming to put together so I humbly ask that you, my dear reader, please be patient with me and everyone else involved…I promise you, each and every one will be worth the wait:)

Much love….

Shazia

https://journeytochanges.wordpress.com
https://surtidiaries.wordpress.com