You, Me & the Alter(cations) - Farmeed AU

12.

"So am I. Khush khush hai wo, acha lag raha hai ye nayi khushi dekh kar. Time laga baat to absorb hone mein, but I'm happy now." Farjaad spoke truthfully. It was not the easiest thing to adjust to.

His friend, sharing feelings with Umeed's friend, it was bizarre. And it would have been even more bizarre if he had found this out a month ago. But now, for some odd reason, it made him happier. It made him even more excitement. And he couldn't put a finger to what it was.

"Same." Umeed agreed. If was the same for her, but she wouldn't have reacted even if she had found that out before. So her takeaway was more emotional than his, she felt a little disappointed in herself for presenting herself in such a way that her friend had to hide something because she feared Umeed's reaction. There was a small takeaway from the situation.

"Tumhara kya plan hai for the next two weeks?" Farjaad asked her. They had a two week break now. Things were in place, the pending things were to be dealt with later, and it was time for both of them to breathe. He had, after thorough thinking, planned a short trip back home to test the waters.

"Aik bridal shower aur aik dholki." Umeed answered instantly. Unlike him, she did not have any plans. She could not decide on what to do. Going back was a completely different story. But she had many people request for events, and had managed to get her hands on two different events. It was good. It would keep her busy and distracted. Not that she needed something to distract her.

"Ab tou bohot asaan lagta hoye ga." He commented, referring to the ease she would experience after the turmoil he witnessed. It made him a little proud to see that she learned and evolved, there was a ray of ease she admitted, an improvement from the anxiousness she felt through the initial decision-making.

"Compared to the chaos I experience over the last two months? Definitely." She nodded and smiled. "Tumhara kya plan hai?"

"I'm gonna go to Karachi, family se mil lun, bohot time ho gaya hai." He sighed, stretching. Umeed's eyes widened.

"Aik minute... you're from Karachi?" Her whole body swiftly turned to face him, legs now crossed, full focus on him and the statement.

"Haan..." He looked at her weirdly, unfamiliar with hoe stunned she appeared.

"Jhoot!" Umeed exclaimed. "Mein Karachi se hun, aur mein dur dur se pehchaan leti hun." She proudly informed him. This time it was Farjaad who was stunned. Umeed, from Karachi. The same Karachi he was from.

"You're from Karachi?" He pointed to her, and she nodded aggressively, the unveiling dawning on both of them. Two months spent working together and they had just learned something new. But it was adding up, now that he thought of it. "It makes sense." She lived on her own, her mode of transport is taxi. And her aura was all-round independent and self-reliant. It made sense to him. "To tum yahan kyun ho?"

The infamous follow-up question. The first person who had asked her this question was her employer from the retail store she worked in. Then it was the lady who came to buy a dress from the retail store, ask Umeed about about her interests and insisted that she planned her daughter's birthday party. It was what started Umeed's journey to what she did now. Four months in Lahore, she looked for apartments that she could afford.

There were close to none. And where she was living was in poor condition and unsafe to walk around after sunset.

Until she contacted an estate agent who told her he could look something for her. Out of embarrassment Umeed described the ideal studio she would prefer rather than her budget, since it was abysmal.

And that was where things eased out for her. The third studio she visited, the most spacious of them all, the brightest and finest one, the one that she only stepped a foot in and instantly realised that it was way over her budget, that was where she ended up.