who didn't attend her engagement. Yumna was the only person from Aaliyah's side - her biological sister. Other than her Zoha didn't know if her mother had any brother. Nobody ever mentioned about it. Not even Yumna. Then perhaps she hadn't had any. Zoha wanted to hold on tight to her mother's relatives. She didn't want to lose them, just like she lost her mother.

Recumbent on the bed, Zoha reached for her phone and decided to call her Khala. She felt like talking to her and listening to her sweet voice. She sometimes reminded Zoha of her dadi who always devoted her time praying and reading Quran.

"Assalamalaikum, Khala," Zoha said, as Yumna picked up the call. "How are you?"

"Walaikum-Salam, beta," Yumna sniffled her nose and raspily coughed. "I am good. How are you?" Her voice sounded low.

"Khala, are you okay? What happened to your voice?" Zoha concerned.

"Nothing, beta. I have a minor cold."

"Did you you go to the doctor?"

"I went two days ago. Doctor said there is nothing serious to worry about. It will go away if I take the medicine consistently."

"Khala, please take care of your health. Don't do work until you feel better."

"Yeah. There is nothing much to do. Whatever there is Fariqa and Shaheen do it for me." Yumna coughed again.

"I missed that you couldn't come to my engagement. I looked for you. At first I thought you might've been late. But when you didn't come, I told Bari ammi."

"Yeah, she invited me. Hopefully she didn't mind that I couldn't come."

"She was worried if everything was okay," Zoha said. "You should've send Fariqa and Shaheen baji at least. They probably would had a good time."

Yumna cleared the phlegm down her throat and sniffled her runny nose. "Shaheen didn't want to leave me at home. I told Fariqa to go, but she wasn't sure."

"I was waiting for them," Zoha zoned out to some distant thought.

"I really wanted to come. I even readied my clothes two days before. But the next day when I woke up my throat was dry and the nose was blocked from the high speed fan."

"The weather is getting cooler. There is less need of fans. I've already stopped turning on AC." Zoha looked at the inky, starless sky view from the window.

"Don't even mention AC. It makes me feel more sick," Yumna chuckled.

Light smile kissed Zoha's lips.

"By the way what were you doing?"

"Nothing."

"Did your exams end? Fariqa's already did. Poor girl is scared about her results."

"Mines ended three days ago. Bas Allah karay achay number aa jayein. (Hopefully I get good grades) I worked hard till last minute."

"In Shaa Allah In Shaa Allah you will get great marks."

Silence pressed in the air. Zoha couldn't find the words to continue the conversation. She had just called to ask about Yumna and why she couldn't attend the engagement.

"What are your plans for the future? When have they kept the Nikah?" Yumna said.

"Nikah?" Zoha said as if she needed sometime to let that word sink in her.

"Ma Shaa Allah you are done with your college. And engaged recently. Saliha and Zafar must have planned the Nikah." Yumna's curiosity gradually increased as there was less for Zoha to say.

"Khala, I indeed have finished college, but I haven't stopped studying."

"How much more do you want to study?"

"I want to do Masters in architect."

"You can also further study after marriage too, right?"

Zoha thought. "I can. But after marriage Shehryaar said he is gonna take me to California. He wants me to complete my studies over there."

"Oh...well that's great," Yumna said. "You must be really happy."

"But I don't want to go that far away. I have my everything here."

"Aren't you happy that Shehryaar wants to take you there?"

Zoha was getting mixed feelings. She couldn't quite assure herself of what she wanted and what was right for her.

"Khala, I don't want to go there is not because I don't want to. It's just hard for me to leave everything behind. I am attached to everything around me. The house. My room. My things." Despondency crept in her voice. "I will greatly miss everything."

"I know, beta. But sometimes you have to sacrifice to get better things. As you said Shehryaar wants you to do Masters in America. He is giving you so much support to achieve your dream. What more could you ask for, my dear?"

Zoha quietly listened. She felt like Yumna wasn't really empathizing with her. She made her feel guilty for complaining and thinking one sided.

"After all what not girls have to sacrifice? One day they have to leave their family, their belongings, their attachments behind to start a new life with their husband. You are lucky that you don't have to go far away from the family that you grew up with. You have instead created double relationship with them," Yumna encouraged. "My dear, don't think it as a negative thing."

Zoha's unmoved lips were dried from the barely felt breeze. Her mind was fixated on Yumna's words.

"Don't turn away from this beautiful moment of your life. If you have seen sad days, so you will also see the happiest days," Yumna said.

Zoha nodded as if Yumna could see her. "Jee, Khala," she whispered.

"You will adjust with time. I know it's not easy."

"Jee," Zoha agreed to everything Yumna said to show that she was listening.

"You have to embrace the change. Believe me when you do that, everything will look beautiful."

"Jee, Khala."

"It's your choice what you choose for yourself. Do you want to live a happy life with Shehryaar? Or live away from him?"

Zoha had come so far that she couldn't think to live without Shehryaar. He was her hope, courage, support and love. He was so close to her heart that it was impossible for her to stay away from him.

"You are like my own daughter. I want you to be really happy."

"Jee, Khala. I need your good wishes."

"I pray for all my three daughters. Who would do this if a mother doesn't? You are a special gift of my sister. I always pray that you don't have to go through what your mother had to go through."

"Khala, Bari ammi isn't like how she used to be. She has accepted me and Shehryaar together. She is happy with our relationship."

"That is good. Sooner or later one always learns a lesson. And Saliha probably have realized that what she had done was bad."

"She has changed a lot."

"Hopefully she always stays that way."

Zoha had seen the difference in Saliha that Yumna hadn't. Saliha had accepted Zoha unlike ever before.

"Anyway what were you doing?" Zoha asked.

"We just had dinner. Girls are in the kitchen washing the dishes and putting the food away. I am sitting in the living room watching news. What else is in a life?"

"What did you eat?" Zoha said, shifting her tone.

"Today I cooked daal gosht."

"Really? I love daal."

"Shaheen made carrot pickle. It made the food even more tastier."

"I can't get the bite of daal chawal down my throat without pickle. It's the best." Zoha could taste the savor of spicy sour mango pickle dipped in oil. It made her mouth gush with water. She clucked her tongue.

"Whenever I listen to you, you remind me so much of your mother. She was like that too. She loved spicy and chat pati things." Yumna laughed.

***********

When Zoha went down, it was 11:15pm. She half expected everyone to be in their rooms since they already had dinner and there wasn't much to do. But in the living area she saw Manal and Shehryaar reclining on the sofa, watching tv.

They are still up? Zoha thought. She was about to go to sleep, thinking that they would have been asleep too. But it seemed like they had some night plans.

Before going to the kitchen to drink some water, she walked over to the living area.

"You guys are watching tv?" she asked, looking at the bright screen that had the advertisement of home security alarm running on HBO channel.

"I thought you fell alseep," Shehryaar said. He was lounging with his one leg crossed on the sofa and dark brown fluffy cushion on his lap. "I was kind of bored in the room. So thought to watch tv. And Manal was up too."

"Oh," Zoha said. She sat down on the separate sofa. "Just watching? Or there is a show or movie coming?"

"There wasn't anything interesting at first. Then I flipped to HBO and there was a movie coming." Shehryaar had the remote control resting on his side, as if he might change the channel if the movie got boring.

"Why don't you sit with us and watch?" Manal offered. "Probably you are getting bored too that's why you're still up." She was wearing loose half sleeves baby pink stripped top, with black Capri tights and her hair were messily wrapped in a high bun.

"I was talking to my Khala. Then I prayed. Just now I was about to go to sleep," Zoha briefly explained.

"If you want you can sit with us. It will be fun."

The lights of living area were dimmed to keep a soothing environment.

"Okay," Zoha said, knowing that if she went back to the room, she would be bored and her incessant random thoughts wouldn't let her sleep. "I will go drink water and be back."

"Yeah," Manal said.

Zoha went to the kitchen, opened the fridge, pulled out the water bottle and filled half a glass of water. When she returned to the living area, on the tv screen the unknown movie that Shehryaar and Manal were watching was back on. Zoha took a seat on the same sofa she sat before and watched along.

"What movie is this?" she asked.

"It's called The Haunting in Connecticut 2," Shehryaar said. The volume of the tv was at 75. "Never watched it before."

In the movie there was a little girl with wavy, blond hair, wearing black gray stripped long sleeves top with mini turquoise shorts, walking towards the forest of tall, cryptic trees, with quiet, eerie music accompanying in the background.

"Is it a horror movie or something?" Zoha conjectured.

"Yeah," Manal said. Her eyes were taped at the intriguing, suspenseful scene. "I love watching horror movies that has the haunting and possession aspect to it."

Zoha was not a fan of horror movies. In fact she barely watched anything on tv. All she ever did was invest her time in studies, chores and other side work. The entertainment existed very little in her life.

"Do you like horror movies?" Shehryaar asked, glimpsing at Zoha.

"Not really."

"I love them. In fact when you watch them many times, they are not even that scary anymore. It just gets exciting."

"I don't watch any movies so I don't know much about them."

"Then you should watch this one. You might like it."

Zoha regained her attention on the tv and got comfortable on the sofa. She didn't feel like sleeping and there wasn't anything better to do at this hour, so she decided to watch the movie.

"Do you want the cushion?" Manal asked. "I have extra one."

"It's fine," Zoha said.

"Take it anyway." Manal tossed the cushion at Zoha. "It's comfortable."

Zoha caught it on her face. "I really didn't need it."

Shehryaar increased the volume to drown the distraction.

"Keep it," Manal said.

Zoha placed the cushion on her lap just like Shehryaar and crossed both her legs on the sofa.

"Is Bari ammi sleeping?" she asked.

"I don't know. Maybe," Manal said.

Zoha wasn't much interested in the movie. But it seemed like Manal didn't want to talk. She wanted to watch. So Zoha kept quiet and clutched the cushion against her lower abdomen.

For a while as she watched the movie, she began to understand the story and learned the names of the characters. It seemed little interesting and scary whenever the mom of the little girl, who walked in the haunted forest all alone enticed by the eccentric lights and shadows in there, experienced nightmares and woke up to find apparitions of dead black women at the window or sometimes standing, facing the wall.

Zoha could feel the goosebumps prickle on her skin. Her hands went slightly cold and clammy.

Later when the advertisement popped in the middle, Shehryaar got up and took a break. He stretched a little and sauntered off to the kitchen. Manal shifted in her stilled position and relaxed her back.

"Isn't it interesting?" Manal said.

"It is," Zoha said.

"It's been after so many days I am watching a movie."

"For how long were you guys watching?"

"We came fifteen twenty minutes before you came."

Zoha stole a glance at the antique style wall clock. It was 11:40.

"It was good you joined us," Manal added.

"Yeah. My exams are over already so there is nothing much to do," Zoha said. "I get bored sometimes."

"Now have fun. No tension."

"Yeah."

Shehryaar returned from the kitchen, bringing a bag of lays classic chips. He sat on the sofa, in the same seat and offered them to Manal and Zoha. Manal took handful of chips and munched on it without reaching for it every time. While Zoha took little bit.

"Was there barbecue lays in the pantry?" Manal asked. She picked a tiny chip from the lap that fell while eating.

"I checked. There was this one and tomato flavor kurleez. No barbecue." Shehryaar kept making the wrapper noise as he took chips from the bag. "Is that one your favorite?"

The advertisement about air freshener was coming on the tv. There was a lady wearing casual Summer clothes, crouched down in the front yard by the soil and was smelling the breeze with her eyes closed and smiling to show how good the fragrance was. The volume was kept low since nobody really cared about ads. They were boring and repetitive.

"The classic ones are too salty. I prefer flavored ones," Manal said.

"Do you want kurleez?" Shehryaar said.

"It's fine. We can save that one for some other day."

"I can bring it. Don't worry about saving. Mummy will get more of them."

"Zoha, do you want to eat kurleez? If you want to, I will eat with you," Manal said. She was done with the handful of chips.

"Okay," Zoha said.

Shehryaar got up once again and rushed to the kitchen before the ads finished. When he came back, the movie was already up. He opened the kurleez chips bag and offered it to Manal since she couldn't move to get it herself. Then gave it to Zoha.

Zoha liked the tomato flavor more than the plain, salty one. They weren't even that spicy, nor they were bland. She took some in her hand and sat back on the sofa to continue watching the movie where it was left off with a cliff hanger.

As the time passed and night drew late, Zoha started to feel sleepy. She laid her head on the sofa and let her ponytail rest on her shoulder below. Her eyes became heavier the longer she strained them open.

Shehryaar and Manal were actively watching. It seemed like they weren't going to sleep anytime soon. Zoha was tired. She couldn't stay anymore. She closed her eyes and gave her mind some rest. Her head was already beginning to hurt. She massaged her temples in circular motion for a while, then did backwards circular motion. It was really soothing.

As she did that, slowly afterwards she fell asleep. The hand that was massaging her head, it slipped in her lap and the noise of the tv fainted in her ears.

'Zoha, are you done packing?' Shehryaar asked, as he zipped the suitcase.

Zoha stood quietly in the middle of her room, gazing at the good old furniture around her.

'Zoha?' Shehryaar called.

'Shehryaar, I can't leave my home' Zoha said. 'I grew up in this place. I have so many memories here.' Her eyes teared.

Shehryaar sauntered over to her and stood in front of her, holding the sides of her shoulder. 'Come on, Zoha. In life everything is not always the same. You move on and go to new places. You aren't always meant to live here.' He looked in her eyes.

'But I don't want to go far away. This is my home." Tears trailed down her innocent cheeks.

'You have a new home to go to, where we are meant to live together forever.'

Zoha shook her head. 'I want to live here forever,' she said. 'This is my home, my home, my home.'

Shehryaar unclasped her shoulders and breathed exasperatedly. He went over to the bed, picked his suitcase.

'I don't have to go where you have to go,' Zoha cried. Her face was glistening with tears. 'I am going to live here forever no matter what happens.'

'Okay then.' Shehryaar put the suitcase down on the floor. 'I am gonna go. The flight is at three o' clock. You live here. I am not gonna force you.' He headed to the door.

'Why is it so necessary to go to California? Isn't this your home?' Zoha begged.

'I have lived most of my life alone in California and that is my home. I never came to Pakistan to settle permanently.' He opened the door and dragged his suitcase out of the room with a scowl.

'Please, Shehryaar, don't leave me.'

But Shehryaar didn't listen to her. He hoisted the suitcase and clambered down the stairs.

'Please, Shehryaar. Don't leave me. I can't live all alone,' Zoha beseeched, desperate for him. 'Don't do this to me.'

'If you want to come, then get your things and come,' Shehryaar said. He didn't even turn to look back at her.

'Please, Shehryaar. You can't do this to me. Don't you know how attached I am to this house? Don't you know what I am going through?' Zoha sobbed.

'I already told you. If you want to come, then come. No one is stopping you, but you yourself," Shehryaar irked.

Zoha halted midway on the stairs, shocked at how ruthless, cold-hearted Shehryaar had become. How could he leave her like that, when he loved her so much? How could he turn away from her like that's? Was his love not real for her? Did his necklace not mean anything?

Just as Shehryaar reached the driveway, he loaded his suitcase in the truck and ordered Sajjid to drive him to the airport.

'Please, Shehryaar. Stop. Don't leave me.' Zoha ran down the stairs and went after him.

But by the time she got to the driveway, the car was gone. Zoha clutched her chest, breaking in heavy tears, screaming, 'Shehryaar!'

"Shehryaar!" Zoha mumbled. Her hand gestured for him to come back. "Please don't leave me. Please." The side of her body that was leaning against the sofa, was slightly damp with cold sweat and her arm was numb. "Please, Shehryaar, don't do this to me."

"Zoha."

"Don't leave me." Zoha's eyes were still closed.

"Zoha. I am here. Wake up." Shehryaar softly shook her.

Zoha blinked her eyes open and lifted her head in flinch.

"Zoha, what happened?" Shehryaar was bend down over her, directly looking at her.

Zoha's heart hammered within against her chest. She was breathing harder from terror.

"What happened? Why were you calling me?" he asked, appearing normal like nothing had happened to him.