At times life gets you at an unexpected juncture. Two marriage proposals in two days. This was really something unusual. I needed some time to recollect myself. We both went to Dadar Station from where I left to office and Rabia to her home. We hardly interacted with each other when we both left for Railway Station. While leaving she said, “I will be waiting for your reply to my proposal”. I said fine and started my bike. While driving I was wondering what would be next and never would have thought about Dubai Calling.
Since it was a Monday whole day I was occupied with the work. However, once I reached home I started thinking about what should I reply to Rabia. Shraddha was the one with whom I wanted to spend my life but there was something that was forcing me to continue my relationship with Rabia. So I decided to go ahead with Rabia and called her. She was excited as well as nervous once she received my call. I immediately told Rabia “I also like you a lot and want to marry you”. After hearing this her happiness knew no bounds. She was crying on the phone and said to me “You don’t know how happy I am. I am the happiest person in the world right now. Spending my entire life with you was a dream and from tonight I am going to live that dream. Thanks a lot for accepting me”. She further said “Listen, as I told you earlier, I would be needing the permission of my Dad for marriage. So you should come to Iraq with me to meet my Dad. Just a day or so and we will be back. But going to Iraq from India at this moment can be a bit dicey, so I suggest we first go to Dubai and from there we will go to Iraq”
I replied, “Ifs fine with me but from Iraq, we will come back to India and will meet my Mom and Dad. If they agree we will marry and stay in India or else we will decide over the next course of action”. She said “Fine” & replied “My Dad is an influential personality in Iraq and has many contacts in Dubai. So he will arrange everything even our flight ticket from Mumbai to Dubai. In the next 15 days, we will be going to Dubai. Flight & stay arrangement I will share with you shortly.” All this was happening too quickly for my liking but I had to follow her instructions. I assumed it would take around a week to ten days to go to Iraq en route to Dubai and come back to Mumbai. So I should convince my parents and Shraddha that for those days I will be going out of Mumbai & even won’t be accessible over the phone. One good thing was Shraddha and my parents trusted me a lot and since I was into Cyber Crime I had these types of assignments where I was out of station for a few days with no mobile range as well.
I immediately called Shraddha and told her that I would be on a project shortly and we would be out of touch for a week or so. I will let her know the exact dates shortly. She said fine & told me to take care and completely focus on the work. The next morning I told my parents about the assignment to which my father objected a bit by saying “Now it’s time to get married & get settled in life instead of disappearing for these secret tasks”. I replied, “This might be the last secret assignment before my marriage and laughed loudly”. There was a happiness and adventure of “Dubai Calling” but at the same time, there was fear of losing Shraddha from my life. But currently, it was Rabia and I wanted to stay with her as a part of my duty.
The next afternoon I got a call from Rabia that everything had been arranged and after seven days we will be leaving for Dubai. In seven days I wrapped up my work and was ready. So the day arrived finally and it was Dubai Calling to me and Rabia. I said goodbye to my parents and Shraddha & immediately took an OLA to Mumbai Airport. I met Rabia near the departure and on seeing me she immediately hugged me. I was also happy seeing her & a bit nervous as well. The flight was at 13:20 IST and will be reaching Dubai at 15:10 IST. We boarded the flight and Rabia was very happy after the take-off. She had a big smile on her face which expressed her happiness and satisfaction. For the next few minutes she was busy adoring me & she finally fell asleep.
We reached Dubai Airport at around 3:30 PM. Rabia had booked a stay for both of us at one of the best five-star properties in Dubai. The itinerary was to do some local sightseeing, stay overnight at the Hotel, and leave for Iraq the next morning. The “Dubai Calling” in the last few days was now “Dubai happening”. However, I noticed a change in Rabia’s behavior, a calm & innocent Iraqi girl living in India was now looking in full control of herself. When we reached the Hotel, I saw Hotel Staff gathering around her the way they gathered around some VIP. Rabia had booked a suite for us on the top floor & said something in Arabic to the Hotel Staff. We went upstairs & suddenly I noticed Rabia looking very serious. She said to me “Instead of going for sightseeing how about relaxing in our room for a few hours after that I want to tell you something very important about my life & my father and our freedom struggle.
Here is the 6th Part in case you missed it.