It has always been you!

Chapter 1

"Thank god, the semester has finally ended," I breathed out. It was our last exam, we were coming out of the examination hall. These exams have tired me, it has been a month since they started. But now, finally, they were over.

"Don't forget, we have one more semester to go, Al!" Anusha, one of my friends, reminded me.

"And then, we will be free from the studies forever...Yay!" Sohaina, my other friend, squealed.

"And what about the house job after that? We are studying medical, we can never be free from studies, Sona," I sighed, exasperated.

"Right," they both mumbled. "...But at least we can enjoy our end of the semester, let's go," Sona said, grabbing both of our hands, she dragged us out of the campus.

Sohaina aka Sona and Anusha aka Annu were my two best friends. We had a small group of three, it had been almost eight years of our friendship. We are more like sisters to each other. I love them both.

After having lunch, I received a call from mama reminding me about tonight's mayun.

"Okay girls, I have to leave. Its Zoha's mayun today and I have yet to decide what to wear...so Allah hafiz." Gathering my belongings, I stood up. I was about to walk away but Sona grabbed my hand.

I looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "Al, uh...uh...is he going to be there?" she asked hesitantly, looking at me. I froze. I never thought about it. It's his sister's wedding, he may be present but then when he didn't come in five years, why would he come now? But again, its Zoha's wedding, he will never miss her wedding maybe he...

"Al? Al? Al? ALLLLL?"
Realizing I zoned out, I looked at both of my friends' worried faces.

"I don't know," I told them honestly. "But don't worry. I'll manage." Seeing their concerned faces I further elaborated.

Standing up, they both hugged me. Giving them a reassuring smile, I walked out, after Annu warned me to Skype them every day. Knowing my month would be very busy, I promised them to Skype once a week. And after much argument, they both agreed.

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"Come on, Aleyha. We are getting late. We have to be there till 8 pm." I heard Mama's voice from downstairs.

"Coming mama," I yelled, putting on my earrings.

Satisfied with my makeup, which was not much, I had put on some mascara with light orange lipstick, which perfectly matches my angharka and had brushed some blush on my cheeks. Grabbing my heels, I rushed downstairs.

"Mama, I am here," I shouted streaming down the stairs.

"Finally," she sighed. Looking up from her purse, her eyes widen. "What happened? Am I looking that pretty mama?" I grinned, twirling around.

"Aleyha, where is your dupatta?" she glared at me.

this time my eyes widen, matching the reaction she had minutes ago as my hand instantly went towards my neck.

"I may have forgotten it in my room, mama," I said, smiling sheepishly at her. Putting a hand on her forehead, she told me to bring my dupatta. Nodding frantically, I rushed upstairs, picked up my dupatta and rushed back down.

I sat in the back seat of the car while mama in the passenger seat.

"You are looking beautiful, beta," my father said, looking at me through the rearview. Thanking him, I bent towards the driver seat and kissed his cheek.

It was eight past fifteen when we reached my cousin, Zoha's house. It was her mayun today. The house was decorated with golden lightning and yellow flowers. Looking around, I saw a stage at the far end of the garden which too was adorned with yellow flowers.

"Finally, you all are here. I was waiting for you all." I saw Safiya Mamuni sauntering towards me.

"Mumani Jaaaan!" I ran towards her and hugged her.

"Where have you been, Aleyha? Zoha had been waiting for you," she told me, hugging me back tightly.

"Sorry bhabhi that we are late, its all because of this girl. She takes much time getting ready," mama said, from behind me. I could feel her burning holes at my back.

"It's okay, Saba. Now don't scold my daughter," she said kissing my cheek. "You are looking beautiful, Aleyha, as always. Now go, Zoha is waiting for you." She shooed me away. Kissing her cheek, I whispered a thank you to her for saving me from my mother and almost ran from there towards Zoha's room.

"Hi, bride!" I yelled, barging into her room.

"Aleyhaaaaaa..." she shrieked, putting a hand over her heart. "You scared me."

Grinning, I walked towards her and twirled her around. "You look, stunning girl. Sami bhai will definitely have a hard time keeping his eyes away from you today." I said, winking at her.

"Aleyhaaa, language," she scolded me, slapping my arm. "And for your kind information, he will not be here. Did you forget nanna had strictly ordered that the dulha and dulhan cannot meet before rukhsati," she sighed, giving me a sad look.

"Oh, come on, cheer up girl. Only three days are left for that to happen," I tried to cheer her up, setting her dupatta on her head.

"Yeah, right. Acha, listen, pick up my bangles. It's at the top of my cupboard, in a box," she told me, wearing her jewellery.

Nodding, I moved towards her cupboard. Realizing, that I would not be able to reach the top of the cupboard, I looked around and found a stool at the corner. I picked up the stool, I thought it would be heavy but it weighed nothing, it was of plastic may be that's why. I place it in front of the cupboard and stood on it. Still not able to look on top of the cupboard, I started searching for the bangles with my hand.

I was busy searching for the bangles that I did not hear the door opening but did hear Zoha's squeal of excitement.

"Bhaiiii..."

Thinking it must be one of my cousins, I continued to search for the bangles that the edge of my fingers felt a box, a little further away. Standing on my tiptoes, I tried to reach for the box. Still not able to reach it, I moved a little more forward, not realizing I was at the very end of the stool.

It all happened so suddenly, the stool no longer able to balance my weight, slipped. Shutting my eyes, I was prepared for the fall but it never occurred. Instead, I felt two warm hands gripping my waist tightly. Breathing a sigh of relief, I opened my eyes about to thank the person for saving me but froze.

It was not anyone else who had saved me, it was not anyone else for whom Zoha squealed, it was him!

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NOTE:

So guys, thank you for giving my story a chance.

Let me tell you one thing, it's not edited.

This story is not at all spiritual. I am not teaching you about religion here. My characters may be Muslims but they are not perfect. So please don't start commenting on how wrong anything in my story is in Islamic point of view, nobody is perfect nor are my characters perfect and saint.

Secondly, it's my story. The ideas, the plot and the characters everything is made by me so please don't try to copy anything otherwise you wouldn't like the consequences.

Thank you once again.

Have a good read!

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