Saajnaa - A FarMeed Fic

Part 2

She thought for while and nodded grudgingly and he couldn't help but smile at her.

"Please ainda jo kuch bhi ho, mujhe bata dena. Confide in me, Umeed. I promise I'll never let you down" he promised her and she let out a smile through her tears.

If only things were that easy.

***

"Farjaad beta, its been so long, my dear. MashaAllah you've grown up to be a very handsome man"

Salma Aziz was overjoyed. Farjaad was a young boy when she last saw him before they moved to Islamabad. Seeing him grow into a smart, handsome man filled her heart with warmth.

Farjaad smiled as the old petite woman hugged him as he hugged her back. He remembered as the aunt who gave him chocolates and ruffled his hair whenever she visited.

"How are you Auntie?" He asked, once he broke the hug.

"Beautiful and fresh as always" she spoke haughtily and they shared a laugh and moved inside the living room.

"I'm so happy to see you here. How's Niggo?" She enquired.

"She's good" he replied.

"He had plans of running away" Aziz interjected from behind, "But I threatened him to stay"

"Chalein kuch tou accha kia aapne" Salma taunted in good humor as Farjaad smiled at their banter.

"Go and freshen up beta, lunch is almost ready. Shakeel!" She called the househelp. Once he arrived, she ordered him to show Farjaad his room and told him to come down for dinner once he's changed.

The event was supposed to take place at the convention hall, there was a hotel just a beside the hall where the whole team, participants, students were being accomodated.

Farjaad was keen on staying in the hotel but Aziz was not having it. On his insistence, he had already moved his necessary stuff here.

Once he freshened up, he rushed downstairs and saw the couple already settled for dinner. As he was sitting down as well, he heard Salma speak,

"Umeed ko bula lein, mujhe pata hai usne subah se kuch nahi khaya hai"

"Umeed?" Farjaad coughed.

"Oh she's our paying guest and also, Aziz's event manager. You must've met her" She dropped another bomb on Farjaad. Another coincidence. Another chance. But he didn't know what to make out of it.

"Yeah I did" he barely replied.

"Bas abhi aayi hai thodi der pehle, she seemed tired. Shakeel, Umeed baji ko bula lo" She ordered as Shakeel nodded and moved out. After a while, he walked down saying,

"She's saying she's tired, she'll eat later"

"You make her work so hard, Aziz. Bechari bachi" Salma sighed.

"She overworks herself. Itni dafa kaha hai to take it easy but she frets over everything so much. Kehti hai galtiyon ki gunjaish khatam ho gayi hai" Aziz quoted Umeed's words, shrugging himself.

Something pinched his heart. His Umeed, who was never afraid of making mistakes had no place left for them in her life. And he knew who was to blame for that.

Kitni galtiyan karogi tum Umeed??

His harsh words and Umeed's teary face reverbated in his head and he closed his eyes.

***

"She's still at the hall, some issue came up, says she'll be late, aap log khaa lein" Aziz spoke, quoting Umeed again, settling down at the dinner table making Salma frown who had asked Aziz to call Umeed, worried for her since she rushed out in the evening on the pretext of work.

"Phir late? Mujhe iss ladki ki class leni padegi. Aziz aap isse kuch kehte kyun nahi" she complained. It was very unlike Umeed to stay out the whole day and

"I'll talk to her tomorrow" Aziz pondered. He could feel there was something wrong but wanted to confirm it before sharing it with Salma, knowing she would fret over it.

By now Farjaad had gauged that she was avoiding him, not that he had expected anything else but it was not sitting well with him, specially when she wasn't returning home because of him.

***

Umeed tiptoed inside quietly, careful to not stumble over and break something in the darkness. Slowly, latching the main door shut and locking it, she moved gingerly towards the kitchen, feeling hungry since she hadn't eaten all day and overworked herself to madness.

Opening the door to the fridge, she saw the dinner wrapped in a bowl, ready to heat. Salma Auntie was a sweetheart. Whenever Umeed was supposed to be late, she wrapped the leftover dinner for her to only heat it and gobble it down.

But she was too hungry to heat it, she took a spoon and devoured the rice in the bowl, feeling her hunger pangs simmer down. Once she was satiated, she placed the bowl in the sink and picked up the glass of water. Before she could take a sip, she heard a voice she could recognize in her sleep from behind her back,

"If you're done playing hide n seek, can we talk?"

***

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