Farmeed / One-shot Series

~ one ring is all it takes ~

"Asal mein, hua kuch yunn tha ke...."

He trailed off as his other hand went into the pocket of his kurta.

"Mein buhat time se aap ke qaabil kisi gift ki talaash mein tha. Par kuch aisa mil hi nahi raha tha jo meri Umeed ki tarah ho - anmol. Sab kuch buhat riwayati tha, buhat typical."

He finally pulled out a tiny little box, but Umeed couldn't even function any of that, her eyes didn't move an inch away from his. 

"Phir aik din, mein aisay hi randomly kaheen kisi kaam se gaya, aur meri nazar is par pari, is ki chammak bilkul tumhari ankhon ki chammak jesi thi. Jesi tum yunhi chaltay chaltay mili thi, wese hi ye bhi yunhi chaltay chaltay mil gayi."

He opened the box to reveal the most beautiful ring Umeed had ever laid her eyes on. With a large sapphire in the middle, surrounded by a number of diamond cutouts, the ring did shine bright in the dim lights of the room. Umeed gasped as she kept looking at it. 

"Mene jesay hi is ko dekha tha, tumhari ankhein yaad aa gayein, to phir leni pari, kya karta. Tumhari ankhon ko kabhi mana nahi kar sakta mein"

He gently held Umeed's left hand in his before slipping on the ring into her finger. He did not let go of the hand, simply gave it a tight squeeze, before bringing it up to his lips. 

Umeed was brought back to the present as Farjaad parked the car in the office parking lot, still staring at her intently. She ran a finger over her bare ring finger one last time before sighing and getting out of the car. The ring finger felt strangely exposed and she just wanted to cry non stop over it. There was no way she lost that ring. She vowed to care for it more than anything in the world. 

"Umeed, agar koi baat tang kar rahi hai to mujhe batao na. Fikar ho rahi hai mujhe buhat"

Farjaad pleaded yet again as he held her by the arm gently, turning her around to face him. 

"Nahi kuch bhi nahi hai, bas thora sir mein dard hai."

"Umeed! Subah se tum pareshan ho, I know something is bothering you."

"Bataya to tha, aik necklace nahi mil raha"

"Aur aik necklace ke peeche tum itnaa pareshan ho rahi ho? Please."

"Jee, mera favourite necklace tha. Upar se sir mein bhi dard hai."

"Agar zyada dard hai to ghar chali jao, chutti le lo aaj?"

"Nahi, thora kaam hai aaj, chutti possible nahi hai. Chalein, dair ho rahi hai."

And with that, she did what she had been doing all morning - avoiding meeting his gaze and running away. Farjaad sighed as he followed her. He really had to uncover whatever the problem was. 

~ 

Throughout the day, Umeed's behaviour kept confusing Farjaad even more. She did not come into his office even once for some 'work discussions'. An excuse that she made daily to see him time and again. Something they both knew was a lie, but a lie they always went along with. Checking the time on his watch, he realised that she didn't even ask him for lunch today. 

With a sigh he picked up the intercom and asked Mehak to order lunch for them and asked for two cup of chai to be sent to his office. He realised Umeed wouldn't have had chai today either - something that she did when she was the most annoyed or worried. 

He walked out of his office, taking quick steps as he made his way towards Umeed's desk and saw her staring at the laptop screen with a bored expression on her face. He leaned against the wall and stared at her intently for a while, and it took Umeed some time to realise that soemone had been looking at her.