CHAPTER 34
HAYAT POV:
Things between us are going better than I expected. We have started to spend time together, giving each other the space we needed, while the kidnapping, assault, and sickness made the trip kind of sorrowful, yet more memorable.
I can't forget how Ahad beat the person who touched me without thinking about Zain being his cousin, him being so thoughtful in taking care of me while I was all whiny and sick for days, and him being there to deal with my father for me; nevertheless, I developed a great bond with him.
On the other hand, Ashar, my mannerless best friend, was there with me too. Ahad comforted me all the time, my best friend tried to cheer me up, it's amazing to know that someone is there for you… There were times I wanted to run away from everything, and I couldn't think about the people and love I'm getting.
"You woke up already?" I heard Ahad as he walked inside the room with a tray in hand, "Bubba" I called him, keeping the tray on the side table, he took a seat beside me, "Do you even know what you do to me when you call me bubba?" he started to caress my head while correcting my hair which I promise looks like a bird nest.
"Do I make your heartbeat rise?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. He just smiled and nodded his head while his hand held mine.
"Do you like me calling you Bubba?" I asked again, and he responded with a yes.
"Do you want me to stop calling you Bubba, or should I stop giving you nicknames?" I got his hand out of my hair and kept it to his side, while turning around to get down from the bed and brush my teeth.
I felt a hand gripping my upper arm and making me sit in my place again. I smiled, knowing he got upset with my question, the side he had started to show me. I just can't complain about it.
"Who told you to stop, hmm, I didn't! Why do you think that? Why would I stop you from calling me anything? Aren't you, my wife? Don't I give nicknames, too? Why would you say such a thing? I'm hurt now, you are going to make it up to me for what you said," him being all whinny in the morning, and throwing tantrums, turning around, the one I met the first time, kind of reserved, turned into all whinny little kid.
I took his left arm in my hand, clinging to him, "Is my baby upset?" Looking up, I found a big smile on his face, laughing at his reaction, I kept looking at him, trying to take in the handsomeness of my man.
"Where's your mind wandering off, my love?" Asked Ahad as he held my hand, which I placed on his cheek, "In you, darling." his ears turned a deep shade of red, telling me he liked how I flirted with him.
I laughed at his reaction before moving towards the washroom to get ready for the day, planting a peck on his cheek and forehead.
My university has finally started, and it's hectic. Studying after so long is quite irritating; I'm not able to make time for Ahad, nor am I able to call Chachu and Chachi…
Getting inside the house after coming from the university, I went directly inside the room to take some rest when I found a note on the side table with some flowers and snacks.
I took the note in my hand and read it, "My pretty lady, I had to urgently leave for Chicago, Sahil is in great problem and he needs us, and after that I need to go to China to meet our new client, it'll take 2 weeks the least for me to come back home to you, I did called you many times but you didn't pick up so I left, I'm sorry okay, I took the first flight I could to be there for him..."
I suddenly got upset thinking about him not being here with me for weeks now, but it's alright, his friend needed him too. Placing the note in the drawer, I picked up the flowers and found another note.
"I brought these for you on my way home, please smile for me hmm, take care of yourself while I'm away, I also brought some of your recently favorite snacks so you can enjoy them, hmm, and I did cook pasta for you, eat it and see if you liked it" I smiled reading his note, placing it too in my drawer, I moved towards the cupboard to take my clothes to change into.
Moving inside the washroom, I found another note stuck on the wall, "Call me when you are done freshening up." I smiled to myself as I freshened up and went to charge my phone,
"My flight will take off at 11 am while you come from the university by 3 or 4 and it will take a maximum of 15 to 16 hours to get in Chicago so please don't worry about me and have your day move forward" reading this another note I thought to myself about how many more notes are hiding here and there, and how much observant he is too know which places of the house I roam around.
Leaving a text on his mobile phone, I went to have the pasta that my husband had cooked for me, taking the utensils out, I found another note on the side.
"Drink a lot of water! And eat the whole pasta I cooked for you! Do not skip dinner since I'm not here!" His notes are making me miss him more than I ever thought I could miss him.
Hearing the sudden doorbell, I went to the door to open it, finding Ashar standing there with some boxes in hand, "Won't you welcome your brother-in-law inside your house! You mannerless woman!" I smiled, getting a side as he got in and placed the box on the dining table.
"What are these?" I asked curiously as the box looked so heavy, "Your husband gave me a list of books that were on your TBR list to buy for you, so I went to the library and got these for you as per his command."
Opening the box, I looked at the books; some were Urdu novels that I wanted him to read to me, while others were English novels that I wanted but didn't get time to buy.
I smiled and told him to keep the box in my room as I went into the kitchen again to get pasta for both of us with some soft drinks on the side.
"My love, wait till I come back to read you these Urdu novels, until then, read some English ones, hmm." I heard Ashar from behind, and as I turned around, I found him with my note in his hand, which he was waving in the air.
"Give it back to me right now, Ashar!" I said as I moved towards him.
"No! Why would I? I found the note! Now it's mine! I'm going to keep it to myself now," he said, running away with the note in the lounge. I kept following him, yet he dodged me skillfully.
"Give it back to me, or else I'll tell Sana that you're single and ready to mingle with her."
He stopped in the middle and crumbled the letter, throwing it at me as he grumbled while making a disgusting face, "You know already that me in love with someone else, then why did you talk about your sister here! Do you even know how hard it was for me to make up with her after she found out about Sana being clingy to me? Hayat, don't you want to have a sister-in-law soon? Don't you want me to be happy?" I felt bad for him, but who told him to crumble my hubby's handwritten note?
"So, you are chasing her? I'm happy someone is making you work hard. Anyway, I'll tell Mama about this behavior of yours and Ahad too about how you crumbled his note!" I said, folding my hands to my chest, giving him a look.
"Don't you feel sympathy for me, Miss Hayat?" He asked innocently, as he took slow steps towards me.
"NO, I DON'T! Now come, let's have lunch together." I moved towards the kitchen with him trailing behind me, after having lunch and arranging all the books, I went to sleep…
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I felt the phone buzzing, I picked it up and answered the call without looking at the number, "Are you still sleeping, my baby?" Hearing my Ammi, I replied with a simple hmm in return after greeting her.
"Do you want me to come over to your house, or are you coming here, huh?" Ammi asked as I was confused about why she would want me there. Like I can visit her and stay too, but this suddenly had me thinking about what would happen if something happened.
"Is there anything going on, Ammi?" I asked politely as she instantly replied, "No, baby. Ahad told me in the morning about his trip and told me to take care of his baby, so I called you now to ask about where you're going to stay."
Hearing Ahad's name, I once again started missing him. Why does he need to take care of me like this? "Ammi, I want to stay here for some time. You take care of yourself and Baba, don't worry about me, I'll come to you if I feel lonely."
After having some chit-chat with Ammi, I went to freshen up and have dinner. I made myself some Maggie and ate it, but it did not taste good like what Ahad used to make for me; it's just that I was missing him too much.
Waking up in the morning now has been boring. When Ahad was here with me, he would wake me up, cook me a nice breakfast, and make me eat it, and sometimes he would braid my hair too, since I tangle up my hair whenever I do it myself.
He would make sure I ate my breakfast before planting a kiss on my forehead, the most interesting part was us going out of the house together, while I would go towards my car he would go for his bike, and we both would drive out of the garage together while being on call, we would go on the same speed till we reach the road which separates our way, my way to university and his way to his office.
Every time he would say on the call, "My dear, take care of yourself, your husband will miss you," as we go our separate ways to our destination… it always brightened up my day.
I woke up in my bed alone, and I found my phone buzzing. Picking it up, I heard the voice of the person I had missed the whole time, "Wakey wakey, my beautiful darling baby, and get ready for university, it's 6 am already." Rubbing my eyes, I stared at his face as he smiled, his eyes on me.
"You are finally here. Do you even know how much I missed you? And your notes!" I said, still looking at him, who's smiling widely.
"Well, I wrote those notes to remind you about me again and again, though." I stared at him in pure disbelief.
"You're too much, Ahad," I got up from my bed with my phone in hand.
"I know my love, but you're the one and only I'm being extra with, you can't complain though," he replied as he studied his file.
"Like I would!" I rolled my eyes, hearing his laugh. I smiled and put the phone on the nightstand as I went to do ablution and pray salah. Coming back, I picked up the phone and asked him the time.
"It's 8:30 pm here, sweetheart. We will meet Sahil in the morning at our place," I saw him taking clothes out of his wardrobe and going to change into them, making my way to the kitchen.
I heard the doorbell ringing, and it startled me, since it was 6:30 in the morning and I was alone inside the house. I waited for Ahad to come back, and as I saw him coming towards the phone, I went to open the door too.
"You take a lot of time doing a single thing, Miss Hayat." I let out a sigh of relief as I found the dumb Ashar, his eyes red, maybe from the lack of sleep, or maybe something else… I don't know.
"I called him to get you breakfast today," I heard Ahad say. I saw him rubbing his wet hair.
"Take it and let me go to sleep, I'm so sleepy, I don't even know how I came here without getting in an accident." Ashar went to his room to fall asleep after chatting with Ahad for a while and having breakfast, as Ahad had his dinner.
Just as the alarm rang for the second time, I picked up my bag and ran out of the house. Soon I reached the university, and Ahad cut the call since he had a meeting.
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As Ahad was out of town, and Ashar was here with me today, we both decided to host a gathering at my place. Ammi and Abbu came in the evening, while we all were having some fun, teasing Ashar about one grey hair I found on his head, he started to fight me.
And to save himself, he connected his phone to the television and let us read the messages they had on our trip. The name of the group made me crack up, "Gossip Men."
I can bet the name was set by Ashar.
Ashar: "You all know Bhai slowed down his bike speed when Hayat was hungry and was going to munch on some snacks while driving?"
Hammad: "WAIT, YOU NOTICED THAT TOO???"
Sahil: "Hold up, hold up! So, you mean the time Hayat enters the chat, our boy suddenly drives like an uncle in a Corolla???" (There were crying emojis attached.)
Ashar: "I SWEAR, BRO YES!! Last race before the all-wedding thing, he raced like, What's life? I don't know this man! And now! Meme gif attached. (Ek dum se waqt badal gaya Jazbaat badal gaye.)
Samir: WE. LOST. OUR. MAN.
Ashar: Like we had him before! (A yawned emoji was attached.)
We all three were laughing at the way these men were so interested in our mine and Ahad's story, scrolling down, Ashar said from behind, "Look, who enters our chat now?"
Loverboy bhai of Hayat: ...?
Loverboy bhai of Hayat: "WHAT IN THE ACTUAL HELL IS THIS? YOU GUYS ARE GOSSIPING ABOUT MY LOVE LIFE?"
Ashar: "Word to be noted, my people, LOVE LIFE, I was right from the start :)"
Hammad: "Oh hell, bro, we thought you wouldn't show up. Were you too busy, writing a poem on our sissy's Hazel eyes?"
Sahil: "Bro was probably standing in front of the mirror practicing how to say 'I love you, Hayat, in different tones, with different fonts." (A Titanic pose GIF was attached.)
Loverboy bhai of Hayat: "I WILL END ALL OF YOU."
"Loverboy bhai of Hayat removed Sahil from the group."
"Loverboy bhai of Hayat removed Hammad from the group."
"Loverboy bhai of Hayat removed Samir from the group."
"Loverboy bhai of Hayat removed Ashar from the group."
It was hilarious how Ahad was hyped up with such conversation, "Don't you worry, my girl, I created another group just after he removed us, and we still gossiped about our lover-boy." Ashar winked at last before he turned off the television.
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Days have been moving so slowly. Ahad has been with his work, but he always tries to call me when he's less busy. Looking at his dull face, I could see how little he sleeps.
I still remember the time I, for the first time, witnessed trembling and crying in his sleep, whispering about how much it hurts him to see her eyes on him, but he couldn't save her.
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"Eira, Eira, don't look at me like that, don't please your brother is not strong enough." I heard him as I took his head on my lap, trying to wake him up.
"Ahad, it's alright, look, I'm here, shush, look, your wife is here with you." I tried to speak while not tearing up, "Eira, my baby sister."
I heard him sobbing, caressing his head. I tried to speak sweet nothings to him. Finally, he woke up and saw me sitting with his head on my lap. Ahad's eyes stayed on me for a long time, his hand held mine, my hand rubbing the tears off his cheeks.
He raised his left hand and caressed my cheek as he spoke, "I'm sorry, Hayat, I'm so sorry, you have to see this, this pathetic side of mine," holding the hand which was stroking my cheek, I uttered, "Aren't we married? We need to be there for each other. I won't mind if you ever come to me crying about what's hurting you, you, my love is too precious to me, don't think nonsense."
I kissed the back of his hand, and we started to talk about our day till we got tired and fell asleep.
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Sometimes when he isn't able to fall asleep, I just stay on the call with him, taking my classes, as he sleeps calmly. Just two days ago, he woke up in the middle of the night and watched me taking classes and cut the call by himself, which irritated me a lot, at last, and I scolded him for such a trick… but him being him, he made up with me in just some minutes.
It's already been 2 weeks since he went on his trip. He told me about how he needs to be in China for some more days before he comes back home to me, but today, I have been feeling unwell, and I want to eat Daal Chawal, which my Chachi used to cook for me when I felt sick.
It's my most comforting food, it's 4 am right now, and I can't call her to ask about the recipe. I miss her so much. At this point, I feel so lonely at home alone. I should have gone to Ammi's home; it would have been so good to have them by my side, but right now… this has made me so emotional, I couldn't help but tear up.
I dialed Ahad's number, "So sorry Meri Jaan I was getting ready for the meeting so I couldn't stay on the call with-" he suddenly shut up when a sudden sob left my mouth, "What happened, Jaan?" his voice soft, as he asked… his question broke the barn of tears to which I started crying more harder, thinking about how much of a baby I turned into with Ahad, he has started to heal my heart.
"Ahad, I want to eat Daal Chawal right now, but Chachi would be sleeping, and I'm not feeling sick. I ate a lot of ice cream last night," I complained about my actions to him and looked at him with teary eyes. His eyes softened up and a smile formed on his face.
"Do you want me to call Ashar and ask him to cook some for you, hmm?" he asked, to which I shook my head no… I don't want to trouble him; he has been delivering food day and night, from Chachi's and Ammi's place.
"You teach me if you are free, please," I rubbed my eyes, trying to erase the sudden itchiness.
"Don't you feel bad for me, my love? Do you know how much it hurts me to see you cry while I'm here and not able to comfort you?" I looked at him without saying anything, "Come on, get up, meri jaan, wash your face, and go to the kitchen." I started to do as he instructed.
"Do you think these are the lentils I need to cook?" I asked as I showed him the container, "No, not this one, the other one that was kept with this container, love," he said as I replied with an okay and moved forward to find the lentils.
"How much rice do I need to cook for myself only?" I asked curiously as I looked at him, who was working on his laptop while helping me out.
I felt guilty for disturbing him but he was the only one I could call and talk to right now, and knowing he wouldn't judge me for it, I shook the thought off my head as I heard Ahad, "Where are you lost, love? Are you okay? Did you change your mind?" looking at me concerning, I smiled as I started to work.
"Love, you've got to slow down, hmm, don't panic, nothing bad will happen, you just need to drain the water and cook the rice a little more," he said as I looked at the rice that was boiling so much that the water started to drop down on the stove.
I thought for some time thinking how much water I needed to drain while keeping the rice in the pot. I took a cup from the kitchen cabinet and started to take water out of the pot with the cup slowly, trying my best to keep the rice out of the cup and not burn my hand.
I concentrated on my work as I successfully took out two cups of water and gently tried to do it again when I heard a muffled laugh. I looked up at the phone to see him holding back his laugh with a hand on his mouth, the other hand had his other phone right in my direction, like he was capturing a video.
I was dumbfounded, "What happened?" to which he started to laugh loudly, like I had given him permission to laugh, not asked a question. His melodic laugh made me smile as he held his stomach with the hand that was once on his mouth.
He spoke, nah, he tried to speak while containing his laugh, but failed repeatedly, "My pretty innocent baby, what are you trying to do, you are just too cute, how much concentration do you need to get the water out of the pot, I just want to hug you tightly right now, my baby bear."
He looked at me like he was admiring the world's most beautiful scenery. I smiled as he instructed, "Take the kitchen cloth, and drain the water through the strainer, but be careful, hmm," nodding my head a little, I did as I was told...
"Ahh, this Tarka is really angry at me. Why is it getting all fired up?" I stood a feat apart, since the oil was scaring me, as Ahad laughed and said, "It's the hot oil in which you put the garlic, cumin, and other spices which have made it all fired up."
He's been laughing for the last half an hour, like I was doing some stand-up comedy, I'm pretty innocent cooking daal chawal, and I couldn't help but smile; he didn't stop complimenting and making me shy with his words.
After serving daal chawal to myself, I sat at the dining area with my plate and a glass of water as I set the phone beside me, my eyes glancing up at the wall clock, and I found it was 5 am already, which meant it was 8 am in China.
I looked at Ahad and remembered he was talking about the meeting when he stopped suddenly as I was crying. He had a meeting, yet he was helping me out here. I took more time than I should have. "What happened, Mera bacha?"
"You had a meeting early morning, and I took up your time. What about your meeting and preparation?" I asked, looking down.
"Don't worry about it, Meri Jaan, it's alright, you don't need to think about my work if you want me, I'll be right there, didn't I say it before, too? The meeting has been attended by my assistant already, and the results of project collaborations will be emailed to us by evening, so there's nothing for you to worry about. Hmm, now enjoy your meal, darling."
I nodded my head and heard him excusing himself moving towards the door and brought the food tray inside, I told him to eat with me which he did without declining it, we ate out food and talked, mostly I said and he listened like always… something hurt me while talking to him, that was… his stay in China for two more weeks… and maybe more… he needs to be there to finalize everything before coming back home to me... but I miss him.