I will

Arnaaz khan

When we arrived at the venue mom went to go see the bride while I sat in the place for the groom talking with my brother aditiya and a few clients of mine

After some time I saw mom walking towards me and dad was next to here both of their faces tense

"what happened mom" I said looking at mom

"Arnaaz, something happened, come with me" mom said I looked at her confused but followed her and we arrived in a room, she knocked and someone opened the door, it was Zahir, zaina’s older brother

"Come in" he said, i heard some sobs and when I looked to where it was coming from, it was from mrs rehman

"What's going on here" I asked my voice as always holding no emotion. no one said anything "what is going on?" I asked again my voice colder this time, mr rehman walked up to me handing me a note. As I read it looked up my eyes burning with annoyance and anger

"What will we do, our reputations will be destroyed if this marriage doesn't happen" mom says her voice filled with tension and almost breaking at the end, which increases my anger, I hate it when my mom is upset. from the moment this marriage was proposed, I never wanted it. I agreed only because it was for my business and for my family’s happiness

I was about to say something when a elderly voice spoke

"Your daughter always have been like this, so useless, she ran away, now what will we do huh, because of her our family's reputation will be ruined as well as the khan family's-" it was a elderly woman who was zania’s dadi, i interrupted her

"Enough!" I said loudly " I-" I was interrupted with a knock at the door , I was about to speak again but there was another knock and a voice came

"Di it’s me ishu" now who’s that?! There’s no one in this family named ishu, but zahir went and opened the door my back was facing the door but I didn't bother to turn

_____________________

Zaina running away, it's not just a personal insult, Lies and betrayal is something I have no patience for; I can feel the cold rage burning inside me,

If she told me she didn’t want this marriage or simply just declined then right now two families reputation wouldnt be at stake,because of zaina two families have to face discrimination

“Arnaaz” maa called my name, bringing me out of my thoughts as I started out the window with the unreadable expression I’ve mastered. Yet maa always somehow knew how to read me even if I had that undreadable expression on

Before maa could speak zaina’s dadi suddenly spoke “we are sorry for what zaina has done. But right our reputations are at stake. So I suggest ishra-“ she looks at the girl the Rehman youngest daughter who was right now in the balcony of the room with her friend “I suggest israh marry arnaaz” as she completed her sentence everyone started at her

“But dadi ishra is just a-“ aarav begun

“Aarav don’t talk, this is a matter for the adults to decide” zaina’s dadi interrupted

“Maa ishra sirf ek bachi hai, aur wo stress nahi le sakti, aur uske marzi ki bina main uski shaadi nahi karungi!” Mr rehman zaina’s dad said and mrs rehman nodded

“Main usse baat karungi, phir uski marzi wo Kya kare, wo toh kar sakti ho na?” Zaina’s dadi said with a slight irritation in her tone, mr rehman though for a while before looking at my dad, walking towards dad he put his hands together and dad held it shaking his head

“We are very sorry mr khan and are ashamed for what zaina did, please forgive us” mr rehman said

“This wasn’t anyone’s fault don’t ask for forgiveness aur haat jor kar mujhe sharminda mat karo” dad said offering a small smile to him

“If ishra agrees are you guys ok with what maa suggested” mr rehman said, mom and dad looked at me for a moment before nodding

“Aarav go bring ishra” dadi said Aarav hesitated but went to the balcony to get ishra

I stood there in silence listening to the conversation of everything, I didn’t know what to feel, first marriage proposal of zaina then she ran away and now they propose the idea of me marrying ishra a girl who doesn’t even know what’s about to happen

“Ishra,” her mother called out to her as she entered the back in the room, “ishu meri bachi, please tum arnaaz se shaadi karlo”

She took a step back, frozen shock all over her face

“Huh?” Was the only thing that came out after a moment of silence

Her father spoke “ishra, please marry arnaaz” I saw her gulp, confusion and shock evident on her face

My mother stepped forward,walking towards her and holding her hand “Beta, main arnaaz ki maa hu, haan, tum mujhe nahi janti, par main tumhe meri khud ki beti ki tarha kakhungi, tumhe humesha khush rakhne ki khoshish karenge” she stared at mom standing there probably processing everything

I watched her stand there, frozen and silent. Then her friend whose name I think is Trisha grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the balcony. Her dadi tried to stop her but her father interrupted

“Let her” her dadi looked at him a hint of irritation showing but stayed quiet

I saw trisha telling her something while she just stood there looking at trisha and suddenly engulfed trisha in a hug, trisha cupped her cheek and said something giving her a soft smile and came back inside

“Haat mujhe usse baat karna hai” dadi said moving trisha aside before she could say anything and went out to the balcony

“Trisha what did you say to her” ishra’s mother asked

“I didn’t say anything I just gave her what she needed” Trisha said and winked at zahir and aarav who were looking her with a worried expression, their faces calmed down and zahir mouthed a ‘thank you’ to Trisha And she smiled at him

Soon the door to the balcony opened and ishra came out she looked around before saying “I will”