Zoya

THREE

TWO WEEKS TILL WEDDING

Marriage. Is a word that has changed lives of so many people. Love in a marriage makes it even more beautiful. When two people are getting married it is a union of two families. And both the Khan's and some of the Ahmed's were ecstatic to get their children married. Inside the Kahn's home there was a great deal of hustle and bustle. The relatives were arriving in bulks , the servants were rushing around cleaning the house while the decorators arrived to check out the place they would be decorating for the wedding. That was not all , Zayyad and his brothers were busy looking for their outfits for the wedding. They wanted to look nothing short of Prince's. Zayyad had a huge hand in raising his brothers so now that it was his time to tie the knot all his brothers wanted to give him a huge surprise. To them he deserved all that he had and much more. And even their sister in law to be was a wonderful person. In their eyes no one was better suited to Zayyad than Zoya. Hence they planned a secret gift and something special for them. While the brothers were busy planning , Zayyad was constantly going in and out of markets looking for the perfect outfit for his bride. He had seen so many dresses yet none seemed to be worth Zoya.

Zayyad entered a huge designer shop. One that was renowned for its bridal wear. This place was his last hope otherwise he would be going to Lahore to find a dress. Zoya's mehndi , walima dresses had already been selected and packed yet the dress for baraat / nikkah seemed to be hiding somewhere. Disheartened, Zayyad turned around and was about to walk out when his eyes fell on the perfect dress. It wasn't red. But it was beautiful.

The golden work on the dress was intricate. The sleeves long and had a very detailed work of gota done. The lehnga started an inch after the kameez ended. There was mirror work and tilla done on it. The folds in the lehnga allowed it to have a gracious flow that would surely be the cause of a small train to form at the back. The colour however was golden. Which was usually not what one would opt for the bride to wear on the day of the baraat. Yet, Zayyad knew deep in his bones that nothing about them was going to be like other pakistani couples. Hence he had the dress packed. And after paying for it ge exited the shop happy with his choice.

By the time he came back the household had been converted into a regal-looking mansion fit for the wedding of a king. He was proud of the work that had been done. There were tonnes of orange and yellow flowers covering the walls and lights in shades of blue,green,yellow and violet made the house more attractive. The heavy door made from oak wood was colored in a bright olive green shade and the stained glasswork was made more breathtaking with the addition of roses. The inside of the home looked so wondrous as if one had entered a fairytale.

Upon entering Zayyad saw his dadi having tea while his brothers sat with her fighting over who would get the last few French fries. Since Zain was the youngest, and saw Zayyad first he rushed up to him saying
"Look bhai they are not letting me eat the fries. Tell them to give it to me"
It was then that everyone diverted their attention to Zayyad and looking at his fatigued body they all smiled. Ruffling Zain's hair he took the plate and handed it over to the youngest of the bunch. Then sitting himself down he smiled at his dadi and laid his head in her lap.  Allowing her to massage his head which gave him heaps of comfort. His brothers were going through the bags like savages. Praising him for his choice after every few seconds.
His dadi questioned "Son what else is left to buy?" Smiling at his caring motherly figure he replied "only the jewelry is left which we will pick out tomorrow InshAllah. The jeweler will be coming to our place at 11:00 am".

The next morning
The jeweller rung the bell of the mansion telling the residents about his arrival. Zayyad and his dadi sat infront him as he opened the collection of jewels he had brought. Zayyad had asked for him to bring a range of artsy jewellery since he had learnt over the past week about Zoya's love for artsy things. Zayyad immediately fell in love with all of the sets. Each was more intricate than the other. But his heart stopped when he looked at two particular sets. And he knew those would be the ones.
The first one was a diamond set with the earrings and the bindia (a headpiece). The necklace was a heavy one. And it was a gold set. The kundan work was also mesmerising. The earrings and the headpiece were shaped like teardrops. And he knew this was the one for the baraat.

He then chose another diamond piece for the walima. This one was not as heavy as the first one but the twists and turns of the set made it more delicate. In the centre of it were two peacocks turned away from each other. The necklace so came with a pair of earrings. They had the same diamond work as the necklace accompanied with the miniature version of the peacocks. The bride had told everyone that on the mehndi she would be wearing jewellery made of flowers so there was no need to buy any jewels for that day.

The next task for Zayyad was to pick out the engagement ring. He wanted something different and unique. And after much searching he did find it.
It was a 14K Rose Gold petite twisted vine ring. With a princess cut blue nile , encrusted in the middle.

The jewellery was packed and the buyer was paid. And the began the packing of all these things and planning of when to give started.

Meanwhile at the Ahmed's mansion

Things were taking a rough turn for Zoya. Her cousins Zakariya and Razi were busy pampering her for her wedding while every passing day her step mothers mood worsened. Zoya felt lucky that someone as handsome as Zayyad wanted to marry her. Contrary to how Laiba was treated before her marriage , her work load instead of being ended was doubled. Her father was going with his first wife and their second born to England and would only return on the day of the mehndi. Hence there was no one she could share her feelings of anxiety with anyone. She was busy gripping the reigns of her grandfather's business. Each day she would fight a new battle. It was hard since no one took her serious.

Zoya was no longer afraid of being ignored. The time she had spent with Zayyad taught her that he was a kind and loving being.

AUTHORS NOTE
THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE SHORT AND CONTAIN A CUTE SCENE WITH OUR OTP YALL

IF MY HUSBAND AINT LIKE ZAYYAD IM SUING —