Sharah- A Particular Incident

Chapter 8 : Hunting Her

Baraq came to the address he got from Abdul Chacha, their housekeeper from as long as he could remember. He stopped his car and saw the area he has just arrived at.

The area was looking like a typical underprivileged area would look, there were few old fashioned houses and quite a few buildings that were also in looks obsolete and rusty. He thanked Allah in his heart for all the privileges he has and his heart clenched in pain just thinking about her having all these kinds of troubles and difficulties in her life!

But not anymore.

He parked his car aside and looked down again at the address, it showed that she lives on the second floor in the B wing. He took steps towards the said wing there was a dusty and broken staircase, the walls had cracks on it. He very carefully ascend the stairs but the stares he was earning from people around him made him somewhat nervous.

They were staring at him as if he had grown two horns on his head, ignoring all that looks and reminding himself that why he was here in the first place, he moved forward.

He reached the second floor which had a narrow corridor and rooms were lined up on the left side while on the right side had a staircase. Now the main problem was, he didn't know in which flat she lives! There were at least 7-8 room's doors in front of him.

He felt nervous all of a sudden, he could feel his heart beating erratically in his chest wall, the sweat beads forming on his forehead, and the slight shivers in his palms. Gathering all the courage he had in himself and reminding himself about all the motivational thoughts he could assemble at the time, he knocked on the first door he could find in front of him.

"Kaun hai?" A feminine voice came from inside, what should he tell? Who was he? No, he didn't suffer from amnesia suddenly. He didn't know what he should answer, so he knocked again on the door.

This time a female around in her mid-twenties came out, her head was wrapped in a dupatta, and she corrected her dupatta once again as she looked at him.

"Kiska kaam he??" The lady asked him giving him a stink eye.

"Maaysaa kaha rehti he?" He asked without stuttering and in a firm voice, concealing all his nervousness.

"Aage se teesra kamra" She said to him and made a gesture in a direction.

"Shukriya" Saying he sprinted off in the said direction.

Coming to a halt on the fourth door, he could feel all the nervousness coming back in full force. He again gave himself a pap talk and gave a hard knock on the door.

"Kaun hai?" He could make out an older woman's voice from the other side, praying in his heart that he could meet Maaysaa here, he said "Maaysaa" and after a moment the door creaked open making a screeching sound revealing an older lady, probably the one who questioned him a few seconds ago.

"Jee, Aap kaun?" The older lady questioned him and he inwardly sighed in relief upon finding her room finally. He cleared his throat and spoke confidently this time.

"Me unka boss hu, meri company me kaam karti he Maaysaa. Me kuch zaroori kaam ke chalte milna chahta hu unse!" He said and he could sense the older woman's facial expression getting softer.

"Darasal Maaysaa ki tabiyat kafi kharab he, Wo abhi kisi bhi kaam ko karne hi haalat me nahi he. Ummeed karti hu aap samajh sakenge" She said to him who frowned in concern about her but he didn't let his facial expression show it to her.

"Mera unse baat karna bahut zaruri he! Mujhe thodi dair baat karne de, please." He pleaded to her as he knew if today he went back without talking with her then maybe he would never be able to gather this bravery.

"Thik hai par sirf kuch dair ke liye" She huffed out not being able to refuse his polite request and entered inside giving him an idea to follow her.

He entered inside the room and the emotions he felt at the moment taking in his surroundings, he just couldn't describe. There was a small room with only a broken chair where an older lady took a seat and Maaysaa was laying on the floor, on thin chatai, covered with a blanket that had different clothes stitched over it. And he could see an even smaller kitchen from there.

He felt immense pride in her at that moment, then empathy and then his liking towards her took altogether a different direction, maybe now it started turning into Mohabbat! He didn't know that about it at that moment is a different thing.

He looked at her, who was looking so small wrapped up in that blanket, so small, so innocent, so precious, just like a caterpillar wrapped in a cocoon before turning into a butterfly, His caterpillar!

If he had any doubt regarding his decision before coming here then at this moment, he was never this confident in his entire life to make any decision than he was in this moment.

"Maaysaa, baccha, utho to dekho tumse milne koi aaya he" The older woman said caressing her head, after a few moments, she blinked her eyes and then opened.

Baraq took that moment to observe her, her face was pale, her lips dried up and when she opened her eyes, her eyes were bloodshot red. He visibly scowled at her condition, in concern and worry,  she was alright till yesterday. What could have supposedly happened to her in one day?

Maaysaa took a minute to comprehend the situation, she glanced at him and frowned for a moment, then the occurrence of yesterday's events flashed in front of her eyes and she felt overwhelmed by the number of emotions running through her.

She was too weak to handle this topic now, what she should do? Should she let her Amma know about the whole situation? No, she can't burden her with her problems.

She has handled all her problems by herself till now and today also she will do the same. She sat up on the floor with a considerable amount of trouble due to weakness and adjusted her Dupatta on her chest and head, he looked away from her at that period to give her privacy and showed her his back.

"Aap yaha kyu aaye he?" She asked with difficulty as even speaking felt like tedious work right now to her.

And before he could reply to her question, three of them heard the commotion outside the room and a few moments later, a few people came rushing inside her room.

What the hell just happened?

~*~

Hey Guys!

I know I am telling from a few chapters that a big twist in the next one, but honestly next one will have a big twist!

I would say life-changing twist!

I hope you liked the update, let me know if you did.

Till then the next time, Allah Hafiz!