Chapter 11: The Wedding

For a small wedding, it had turned out to be quite a spectacular event. It had also turned out to be quite replete with drama. Traditionally, in their society, the wedding party was thrown by the brides family, while the waleemah was given by the groom. Ahmed and his bride, Aadila, had however decided to abandon cultural traditions. They had insisted that they only wanted the compulsory nikah, and the Sunnah waleema. For this reason the families had decided to hold the function together.

The morning started with a hysterical bride. Aadila had insisted that she wanted to keep things as simple as possible but her mother had gone out of the way to turn the small garden into a breathtaking sight. Aadila kept crying, insisting that this was not how she wanted it. In the end her mother had won, and she had to give in to all the decorations and fanciness that her family had prepared.

Zahraa had to admit that the venue was truly beautiful. Nobody would have imagined that this was an ordinary garden. The tables were decked with elegant cloths and the floors were streamed with the most beautiful petals. The nearby trees and leaves were spray painted gold and the garden flowers were perfectly manicured. The families had even hired a marquee that was perfectly placed around the set garden. The place looked stunning.

Aadila and Ahmed both had to contain their frustration. They had insisted on a small private wedding for the simple reason that they didn’t want it to be extravagant. After a while their parents had eventually given in. Yet now, even though they had managed to convince their families to throw the waleemah in a backyard, the families had still managed to turn it into a spectacular extravaganza.

Zahraa had arrived earlier, before the waleemah actually began, in order to help Miriam’s family with the food and serving. She wore a sleek and stylish elegant long black dress with a long scarf draped around her shoulders. The blue in her dress complimented the blue scarf that she draped around her head. Though she tried her utmost to remain calm, she contemplated Zaheer throughout the day.

Zaheer, not bothered by what he would wear, went to his wardrobe five minutes before he left and hastily threw together an outfit. He opted to wear one of his fancier kurtas for this small and intimate gathering. He threw it over quickly, before heading out the door.
He had spent the morning contemplating how he would deal with Zahraa. What would he say to her? How would he react? He hadn’t really thought that Zahraa would actually wait around for him to get his act together, but somehow he never imagined her ending up with anyone other than him. He was disappointed, yet he knew that all of this was inevitable. Of course Zahraa would have to get married, he kept on telling himself. In the end he had just decided that he would simply wing it. He would simply, he told himself, deal with Zahraa if and when he saw her. It was really no use worrying over it now!

The nikkah was performed, before Zohr, at the Masjid closest to Aadila’s house. The waleemah began a few hours after the nikkah had ended.
Everybody unanimously agreed that the function was truly beautiful. From the families little talks, to the joy and happiness of the bride and groom; from the beautiful intimate affair that it was, to the stunning and superb decor; everybody seemed to be having a truly wonderful time. For the most part, Zahraa remained busy- helping Miriam and her family with whatever she could. It was only after a long while that she actually managed to grab a seat, and prepared to have something to eat.

The crowd of people were all gathered near the bride and groom in the front, so Zahraa made her way to one of the empty back tables in order to eat in peace.

In the meantime, Zaheer had been spending the past few hours amidst the crowds of people and he had had just about enough. He didn’t have anything against anybody, but the noise and buzz of the constant chatter permeated his mind and he decided to find a spot where he could be free from the surrounding people. Just then he spotted Zahraa, only a few tables away from the direction in which he was headed. He was about to turn around and walk away, avoiding her and the inevitable confrontation that would follow. But somehow, as if his legs had a life of their own, he continued walking until he found himself right by her table.

Zahraa hadn’t seen him approaching. She had just finished eating, and was waiting for Miriam to come and join her. She was preoccupied by her thoughts; wondering whether her joy for Miriam’s brother and the happiness he now felt, over weighed her sadness for the fact that she too longed to feel that very happiness. It was only after Zaheer actually sat down across her that she noticed his arrival.