Khoj-e-ishq

Chapter VIII <secret>

One sunny afternoon, Aisha found herself engaged in a playful conversation with her cousin Aliya. They were discussing an upcoming wedding function and the urgency of finding the perfect outfit.

Aliya, with a hint of worry in her voice, said,

"Aisha, now that your health is better, let's go shopping. Ramadan will start after 6 days, no one will be able to find something so quickly."

Aisha, ever the optimist, replied, "Okay, but with one condition." She asked while a smirk appeared on her lips.

Aliya, curious, asked, "What? tell me."

Aisha revealed her secret wish, "Show me pictures of our childhood family gathering."

Aliya hesitated, "I-I don't know... Let's look at them sometime in the future."

Aisha smirked and turned around, saying, "Okay, but whatever you say, it will also happen sometime too."

Aliya, unable to resist the challenge, replied, "Alright."

Both of them went to the storeroom, and Aliya opened the door, saying, "Aisha, come in."

Aisha responded, "Turn on the lights first."

As Aliya turned on the lights, they entered the room and began their search for the elusive album.

Aisha and Aliya continued their search for the elusive family album. As they flipped through the pages, they stumbled upon a wedding album.

Aisha, curious, asked, "Is it the album?" She picked up an old album from a chest.

Aliya replied, "No, it's not this one. That one is green-colored." She put that album aside and continued searching.

Aisha, growing impatient, said, " where is that album? It's taking so long."

Aliya suggested, "Maybe Amii know. Let's ask her."

Aisha agreed, "Okay, let's go but wait leat check in this too ."

As they opened the album, they discovered pictures of a wedding. Aisha pointed at the images and asked Aliya, "Who are these people?"

Aliya admitted, "I don't know. I've never seen these pictures before."

Aisha realized, "These are pictures of our grandparents' wedding. The one we heard about from them."

Aliya was puzzled, "What's the big deal let's ask them?"

Together, they decided to confront their grandmother about the mysterious couple in the wedding pictures. They approached her, only to find her initially shocked and then evasive in her answers.

This led to Aisha becoming frustrated and raising her voice. The rest of the family gathered, including Aaraiz, who had arrived early due to his mother's request.

Yusuf tried to calm Aisha down, "Aisha, that's not the right way to ask someone. Listen to what I have to say."

Aisha explained, "I'm not just asking for myself and Aliya. We just want to know who these people are in the pictures."

Faraz, noticing Aisha's confusion, asked her to sit beside him. As everyone took their seats, he said,

"Alright, let me tell you what happened. When you were 6 years old your grandfather's health started deteriorating, he had a secret wish. All of us knew about it, but we kept it a secret. His wish was Aaraiz's marriage. At that time, there was no one in the family to marry Aaraiz. All the cousin's had gone abroad for high school studies, so we got you and Aaraiz married and your grandfather passed after few hours of Nikah."