Clash Of Cultures

Bonus chapter - Wedding day

Noor

There were 5 days left till my wedding day - again

Except this time I was not agonizing over another man. This time sparks were flying, the flowers were blooming, the birds were chirping...the world was a beautiful place, and I was marrying a man who loved me as much as I loved him.  

While my parents had met Salman the day after they had returned from Indiana, I had not yet met his parents. That was partly because they did not live in Chicago, but also because Salman was convinced that the two sides meeting would end up in a disaster. But today was the day that they and Sara's family were coming to Chicago, and we were all going to meet at a local desi restaurant. 

"What if your parents forbid you from marrying me after they meet my family?", Salman  whispered to me nervously as we sat together at noon conference. 

"They won't...trust me", I whispered back, "They love you"

And I wasn't just saying that to make him feel better. I am not sure whether it was because of the monologue that I had given the day I had told them about him, or the fact that I had never seen him be more open and sincere than he was when my dad had a 'talk' with him. 

Salman had come over for dinner at my place and after we all ate in an awkward silence, my dad had asked him to have chai with him in the living room. I had offered to make Salman a cup of coffee, since he had never really had chai before, but he refused. 

"If your dad wants to have chai with me, I am going to have chai with him. I am not messing this up over a hot beverage..."

I had never seen him nervous before, but I decided then that it was the most adorable version of him. 

I could only hear snippets of their conversation from my kitchen and dining area, but I could tell that dad was asking him about his childhood and his family. He even asked him about his drug and alcohol use and how he was doing in therapy, which made me very uneasy. But it seemed like the conversation had kept flowing...so I kept my fingers crossed. 

Then I heard what I think was a key statement in convincing my dad that he should allow our marriage to proceed. Dad had asked Salman, why he should trust him with his only daughter, and Salman's reply will forever tug at my heartstrings. 

"Uncle, I am not going to hide the fact that I have been in love with your daughter for a while. But I have always cared about her and respected her more. That is why I can promise you that no matter what happens, I will always keep her happiness and comfort above mine. And I will protect her at all costs. Because she deserves nothing less"

There was pin drop silence in my small apartment after that. I could see a smile appear on mom's face as she sat next to me on the dining table. Even my brother, who had been trying to ignore all of us, looked up from his Nintendo switch. Soon after Salman came and thanked my mom for dinner, said good bye to all of us and left. 

All my dad said was, "He has had a hard life, but he is a good boy", and then he went to his bedroom. But that time, for the first time since I had called off my wedding to Omar, he left the door open. 

Dinner with my future in-laws was not the complete disaster that Salman was worried about, at least not initially. And a lot of that was because of my mom's expert maneuvering of the topic of discussion. I had never really bothered learning these social skills growing up in Pakistan, because I was always buried in my books. But it was fascinating to watch how my mom kept bringing the discussion to the wedding event itself, and away from any potential awkwardness, such as my mother-in-law complaining about Salman not visiting them enough.