Alan hopped off the bike, grasping the shopping bag before a large bungalow. Tracing the familiar yet a foreign sight of gardens, pavilions and a traditional constructed house in between, he stared for a while. "How long are you going to stand here?" Rauf asked locking his bike.
Alan smiled, "For a second I felt as if I remember everything here and at another it feels as if I am at an entirely unknown place."
"That's because you came back after a long time. Five years to be exact." Rauf said.
"Yeah…" Alan realized, "It's been long." "Moreover, did you call grandma and let her know we are here?" he stood before him restless.
"Why?" Rauf asked, "Was there a problem? I already called home and informed them I was coming."
"What!" Alan gasped, suddenly sinking low, "Why did you had to do that…?" "I wanted to give her a surprise…" he mumbled complaining.
Rauf narrowed his gaze, "I think you are mistaken, I told them I was coming not you." Alan perked up, "Really!?"
Rauf walked away. "
Yes!" Alan clenched his fists following behind.
After walking for a while, Rauf traced a pavilion in which an old woman sat. Her hairs covered with a scarf and her eyes closed she hummed, her voice stuttering,
"Oh, you who seizes the day and night~!
Dye the day and dye the evenings~
Dye every moment in multiple hues, O dyer!
Amid all that, just dye me now, dye me…"
Alan walking behind Rauf, listened stunned, remembering the familiar poetry he usually chants, his lips curved into a nostalgic loving smile. Walking before Rauf, he went inside the pavilion.
The maids standing beside the old woman stared surprised as Rauf kept his finger on his lips depicting them to stay silent. Alan sitting on the wall, from the pavilion's entrance swayed on the woman's hymn. As soon as she continued, Alan closed his eyes chanting,
"Dye my body and my soul~
Into finest of colors none ever witnessed before~
Mould me into my preeminent, ideal self, O my dyer!
Oh dyer, oh dyer…"
The old lady astonished turned around to find her two beloved figures standing before her, "Rauf… Alan?" she whispered. Trying to find her walking stand she tried to stand up as Alan rushed towards her, crouching before her knees.
Rauf walking slowly, sat beside her.
"Grandma." Alan beamed.
Tears welling up, the woman pulled both of them into an embrace. "My children…" she sobbed.
Rauf smiling patted her back, as Alan kept his head low, his expression unseen. "How pathetic am I, making her cry…" he thought full of guilt.
Looking at the two of them, the woman wiped her tears caressing their faces. "After so long…" she murmured looking at Alan, "You've grown up so much."
Alan nodded. "Yes I did. And, I am sorry for making you wait." he apologized.
The old woman shook her head, "No need to apologize, you were working hard were you not?" "Come on, don't sit before my knees. Sit beside me." she pulled Alan's hands up making him sit beside her.
Rauf standing up, sat on the chair before them.
"So what were you up to all this time?" Grandma asked, "Rauf came to visit a while ago but seeing you here bought me to tears. I can't believe this was my Alan whom I saw 5 years ago."
Alan grasped her wrinkled and fragile hands tight. "I am sorry…" he apologized again, "I was so occupied in finding that person that I forgot about the people beside me. I am ashamed of myself. In the end, I couldn't even find him."
"It's alright. Defeats are a part of success. Who knows, why god didn't wanted you to meet him or find him, maybe he has a befitting plan for you ahead." the old woman encouraged.
Alan agreed, "You're right…"
____
"Sir~!" wailed a voice.
"What is it~?" sang another voice teasingly.
"Please sign these documents already! I have been asking you since morning!!" he uttered tired.
"Haha!" the man laughed, unbuttoning his coat.
"And Sir Raees, you haven't attended the meeting with YB marketers as well. When are you going to do that? Moreover, what about the sponsorship for PSL this year? Srour family is already sighing the contract to side with Karachi kings today. When, will you do it?" asked a woman beside him turning the pages of her files annoyed.
"Come on~ Leave it already~" Raees replied dusting his hands and walking ahead. His dark brown hairs shining brightly with his yellow sun like eyes, he shoved his hands in his pockets saying, "Let me go and meet my son in peace for just once. This old man here is dying to see his face!"
The exasperated assistants on both his sides exhaled speechless.
"You know Raees, you have been making this same excuse since a week. I don't think I am convinced with it. I'll complain to the young boss about it now." The man closed the files determined.
"To Rauf~?" Raees asked slightly cautioned, however, swaying round and round he evaded even his warning laughing, "Haha, stop teasing this old man already…"
The two of them twitched their brows annoyed.
"After all, I don't have anyone else except for him and my mother beside me." Raees smiled serene yet dismayed at the same time.
The woman looked at the both of them clueless. "Rauf? Who is that? Is boss scared of him? Moreover, what did he meant by that?" she asked.
"Little Bubble, you are new in the company right? You see…" the man looked at Raees's back nostalgic, "That lazy boss of yours had once been so lazy that he wouldn't even get up from his bed, all thanks to his wife."
"As the daughter of a marquis from the royal family of Britain, she was a hardworking and a very kind woman. Though a little bit strict and fierce however, she had taken control of this entire business ever since her marriage. He didn't had to do a single thing, instead to just love her and take care of Rauf and his mother. He had that kind of leisure. Moreover, let me correct you, he isn't scared of Rauf. He's his only son. He dotes on him a lot that's why he is wary of me complaining to him."
"So, what did he meant by only his mother and Rauf? Brother Aram?" Bubble asked.
Aram smiled, "She passed away, when Rauf was six, his wife and our Lady Diana passed away. After that your boss's entire life changed. He started laughing a lot. Loving Rauf a lot, taking care of his mother a lot, missing his wife a lot and even hiding his pain a lot. That's how he has become."
Bubble exhaled, "You know everything about him."
Aram nodded, "I have been with him ever since we were in high school. I have witnessed his every single happiness and pain. And, whatever he is going through right now I know it very well."
Tracing Rauf, his mother and Alan seated in the pavilion, Raees walked over.
"What about the IPL final?" Alan asked curious.
Rauf scrolling his phone replied, "The match has already started, 32 runs with no outs, on the 4th over. Mumbai Indians are batting."
The old woman realizing asked, "You are going to be really busy from now on right?"
Rauf nodded, "Middle schoolers and highschoolers representatives have all been selected however we have to arrive at Islamabad by tomorrow afternoon for final registration. After that, we have to research on the current teams that we'll would be facing and make our teams as per the strategy for each match. Tactics and orders will all be discussed…" he told however, beside him he could sense a familiar presence staring at him lovingly with a mile wide smile.
Alan blinked at the figure, while the maids glanced at each other confused. The old lady sighed with Aram smiling awkwardly and Bubble serious. Raees hanging on the bench's back nodded on Rauf's every single word, grinning like a proud child.
Rauf glanced sideways, his pitch decreasing and decreasing by the passing second until stopping in the end. The moment he ended Raees clapped, "That's my boy! A strategist and a leader just like his mother from such a young age. How proud am I!" he adorned ruffling his hairs. (Hearts emitting from the background...)
Rauf looked at him silent unable to utter a single word. "And, here he comes this work thief." the old lady scolded.
"Oh come-on~ how can you say that mother! I worked so hard today!" Raees wailed.
"Ahem." Bubble cleared her throat interrupting, "These files don't depict the same scenario, boss."
Raees turned to her puffing his cheeks soon looking at Alan who waved, "Nice to see you again, Uncle Raees." Hearing his words arrows shot his heart. "How mean~" he cried again, "Rauf is your brother, my mother is your grandmother. How am I your uncle then?"
Alan smiled awkwardly... he wasn't wrong after all.
Alan shook his head correcting, "I am sorry, Nice to see you again, my second old man." he teased.
Rauf's lips curved into a light smile as Raees grinned, "This little…"
"How's your first old man doing then?" he asked.
Hearing him Alan rolled his eyes, "How can he be?"
"Pft! Haha!" Raees laughed, "I see, I see, if you are like this then I bet everything's fine."
Little Bubble looking at Aram who smiled at Alan asked, "And he is…?"
"Our little sunshine…" Aram replied, "When this family was in the depths of despair, this little angel appeared. Hiding behind Rauf and gazing at us awed and anxious at the same time. That was how we met him."