WASHMA
"What did you just say???"
Washma and Rozina's mouths fell open. They simply couldn't process what they had just heard.
"Why are you so stunned? She's been stalking you for the whole past year..." Saima retorted, astonished at Washma's innocence.
"You can't be serious. No way... how can a girl...." Washma murmured, her brows knitting in confusion and shock.
"Look, Washma, this is something very serious. That girl is a maniac. Once she sets her eyes on someone, it's only a matter of time before they fall into her trap. She's done this to many girls in this hostel. They warned me too, but I didn't listen... and I ended up falling under her spell."
Saima's voice broke, her eyes glistening with tears. It was obvious her wounds weren't only on the outside....something inside her was shattered as well.
"First tell us....why did you steal Washma's assignment?"
Rozina couldn't hide the anger in her voice. They had been searching for it like maniacs all day.
"Come on, Rozina... don't be so naïve. Don't you get it? I was jealous. I mattered to her once. We were roommates... she poured all her love on me. We weren't physically involved, but still, we lived like a couple. And then... these past three months, she's been avoiding me completely.....because of you. She even went so far as to change her room."
Washma felt as if she was drowning in bewilderment. Could this really be possible? She had always sensed something strange....something obsessively dark about Tamanna. But hearing Saima's story was beyond sanity.
"When I joined this dorm, I left behind a family that always loved and supported me... and a fiancé whose eyes held nothing but love for me. At first, I felt the same shock you're feeling now....'How can a girl fall for a girl?' But then... I noticed her eyes on me. Everywhere I went, she was watching... the same way she watches you now.
Slowly, she pulled me in. Her tactics were powerful, impossible to resist. Any girl could have fallen into her trap. I was drawn to her like a magnet, as if she'd cast a spell over me. Soon, I began avoiding home, preferring to stay here with her. I never once saw her leave for vacations... she never spoke of a family....except when it was about basketball matches.
I stopped answering my fiancé's calls. One day, I pushed everyone away....my parents, my siblings, even the man who loved me. I left them all... just for her. And now, look what she's done to me."
Her voice cracked as she lifted her sleeve, revealing dark bruises. Tears spilled over, turning into sobs.
Washma and Rozina stood frozen, horrified by her irrational yet heartbreakingly sad story.
"I'm sorry to ask, but... what did you think would happen...did you ever think about the future of this relationship?" Washma pressed, her voice sharp.
"Did you really believe she'd stay with you forever? That she wouldn't abandon you like she did the others?"
"Don't tell me you crossed all limits with her..." Warda asked skeptically, her eyes narrowed in warning.
"What? How could I do such a thing? I know my limits. "
"I'm glad you at least remembered that," she thought.
"And besides... she never tried to cross any limits. But even without that, everything still felt so real. I mean... the feelings."
"Oh, madam," Washma snapped, her fury blazing through her voice, "even if you didn't cross the limits, you still shattered countless hearts.....your parents', your siblings', the girls she abandoned for you... and, most of all, that innocent boy you ruined and left behind."
"Washma, don't take this lightly," Rozina's voice trembled with urgency. "That girl is a maniac. Whenever I even tried to get close to another girl, she would lose control... completely. She's not normal....she needs therapy."
"You're right. I not only have to protect myself, but also the other girls." Washma said, lost in thought. Then, suddenly, something struck her.
"Stand up. Come with me," she ordered Saima.
There was something in Washma's gaze that left Saima utterly transfixed. Just hours ago, she had despised her.....wanted her expelled, even ruined. But now, she trailed after her like a helpless chick following a hen, not knowing where she was being led... yet trusting her all the same.
"You too," Washma called to Rozina.
Rozina was still buried in her sports magazine, her eyes locked on Zain's picture....his fierce almond-shaped eyes, his racket frozen mid-swing. Washma had to scream her name to pull her back from "Zainland."
Annoyed, Rozina carefully placed the magazine on the top shelf of her cupboard, alongside her growing collection, and turned to follow.
""Rozina, give me your calling card. Mine is finished...my calls outside the country have used it up."
Rozina hesitated. She rarely used her calling card, saving money wherever she could....except when it came to Zain. But one look at Washma's stern expression and she handed it over without protest.
They reached the dorm's phone booth. Washma slid in the card.
"Dial your home's number," she instructed Saima.
"Don't tell me you've forgotten it," Washma said in disbelief.
"No... I remember. But I'm scared. What if they don't want to hear me? It's been a year since I went home or spoke to them..." Saima's voice trembled.
Washma sensed the fear radiating from the girl. She stood frozen, pale as if the world had suddenly gone cold. Washma let out a long sigh, her eyes softening as she looked at her.
"Look, Saima... I know you've never felt it, but you can never measure a parent's love," she said, her voice low but steady. "It's relentless... unconditional. Maybe they've been waiting all this time....hoping, praying....for you to come back."
For the first time, Washma's tone carried warmth and genuine sympathy, breaking through the girl's walls of fear.
With shaking hands, Saima dialed the number. She pressed the receiver to her ear, leaning back against the booth as her heart raced. Cold sweat beaded her forehead.
What if they had disowned her? What if they refused to recognize her voice?
Suddenly, everything about Tamanna faded....her obsession, her jealousy, even her rage toward Washma. The only thing that mattered now was home. Her parents. Her siblings. And the man whose love she had betrayed.
The phone rang once. Twice.
And then, on the second ring, the call was answered.