The Real Destination [ Completed ]

Chapter 3

Ayan woke up with contentment written all over his face. It was a bright sunny morning. He got up from his bed and moved near the window. He moved the curtain towards the side. The sun shone brightly.

The dazzling rays of the sun peeped through the window and entered his room. These rays of light instilled hope in him, they assured him that everything will be fine in the forthcoming days.

Ayan walked towards his dressing room and gazed at his reflection in the mirror. Overgrown beard, messy hair, dirty clothes and what not. But not anymore. He had decided to let go of what happened in the past two weeks. Forgetting his mother was impossible, but he accepted the fact that she had to go so she did and he could just pray for her now.

PRAY.

Two weeks ago, he never thought he'd pray to Allah for anything ever. He didn't need to and he didn't want to. But fate has its own plans. It had been quite a long time since he was standing in front of the mirror thinking about all these things. He gathered all his thoughts and opened his cupboard and selected an off-white Kurta to wear. A dress which he had never worn, never in his life.

He went straight to the bathroom and bathed himself. He cleaned every impurity from his mind and cleansed his soul. He combed his hair and perhaps he was liking his overgrown beard, or perhaps he wanted to keep it that way. A ray of positivity was evident in his grey eyes. He had made a decision.

He heaved a deep sigh and went out of his room, for the first time in two weeks, assuring himself that everything is going to be okay but he was also aware of the fact that the path he had chosen was not a cakewalk, nothing close to it.

' Sabeen, take this breakfast to Ayan's room, he might have woken..' Ayan's father was instructing the maid when a voice interrupted, ' No need to, i'll have the breakfast with you, Abbu.' Ayan's father was shocked at this was an understatement, moreover the word ' Abbu' made him even more surprised , in a pleasant way of course because he never thought someday his son would call him something apart from 'Dad'.

Ayan's father was over the moon with happiness to see him out of his room, that too dressed up in a Kurta Shalwar. He led him towards the dining table. Both of them were seated.

' You must be wondering what has happened to me. Well i'll explain it to you. Last night when you came into my room and talked to me, it must've looked like that I was least interested in what you were saying and each and every word you uttered groped my attention. The last thing you said about turning to my creator for peace clicked me. I began to ponder over that. I decided to turn to my creator. I decided to give all this a shot. All these years, i've been living a life of ignorance. It's time that I put a stop to all this. I'm starting to discover myself in all this, and i have a long long way ahead of me.'

Ayan ended and a heavy sigh escaped his mouth. His father looked at him with tear-filled eyes. ' I'm so proud of you son, I'm with you in whatever you do.'

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' Hey Shehroze, try calling Ayan please, it feels like an eternity since he has not stepped out of his house. I'm worried for him and the engagement is just around the corner too.' said Sara while relaxing on her couch with Shehroze sitting next to her. ' Sara, I'm worried for him too, let's hope he does not have a long lasting effect on him of what has happened two weeks earlier!' Exclaimed Shehroze in a heavy voice. Both of them took a sip of their coffee and gazed at the ceiling, hoping for Rayan to be okay.

The bell rang. The servant opened the door and Ayan came in. The servant rushed to Sara's room and knocked at the door. ' Who's it?' came Sara's voice. ' Ma'am, Ayan Sir has come. He wants to see you. I've made him sit in the drawing room.' said the servant.

Sara and Shehroze got up from their places with a jerk upon hearing Ayan's name. They barged out of the room in a fraction of a second and ran towards the drawing room. ' Goodness Ayan, thank god we got to see you after an eternity. How're you and..' said Sara all at once to which Ayan replied, ' Assalamo Alikum, i'm very good Alhamdulillah. How are you guys?'

' Assalamo Alaikum?! Alhamdulillah?! Lol Ayan what are you even saying. Do you even have a track of what you're saying? And Sara, just look at these ridiculous clothes. My dear Ayan, did you hit your head hard somewhere.' said Shehroze in a very sarcastic manner and him and Sara let out a good laugh.

' Umm.. no, it might seem very weird and somehow ridiculous to the two of you, but i've decided to try changing myself for once, for myself and for my contentment.' said Ayan in a rather serious tone.

' You're joking, right?' Asked Sara.

' I'm not joking and such talks are not a joke too.' said Ayan in a very serious tone.

There was complete silence in the drawing room for a good two minutes. No body uttered a single word. All three of them looked in a state of shock at each other. No one was ready to digest what had happened in the last five minutes. No one was even ready to recall what had happened. The only audible sound was birds chirping at a distance.

' Ayan, are you in your freaking senses. Do you even have an idea what you're saying.' The silence was finally broken by Sara who was now bursting with anger and had stood up from the sofa.

Ayan stood up too and replied, ' Sara please calm down. We can sit down and talk. Shehroze please make her calm down.' ' How on earth do i calm her down, you're acting ridiculous. I'm sorry but I cannot help you out in this matter.'

' What do you expect that you'd come to me after two weeks and that too, in the form of a wannabe mullah. Are you even serious? And furthermore, you have the audacity to tell me to calm down after all this rubbish?' Sara shouted at the top of her voice, yet again.

' Look Sara, i've finally started to figure my life out somehow. And i want my life partner to-be to support me. After all the path I've chosen is not easy.' pleaded Ayan.

' Were you not the one who hated all this stuff? Were you not the one who even hated the idea of turning to God? Were you not the one who called himself a liberal? Were you not the one who always refrained from such things?!' stated Sara.

' Look, i accept that i've done all these things in the past and I'm extremely sorry for this. I'm extremely sorry for the ignorant life i've been living. But it's never too late to turn to your god. It's never too late because he, the merciful, accepts the apology of his servants till their last breath.' Said Ayan.

There was pin drop silence in the room when Sara's voice interrupted it.

' It's over.'

' What do you mean by it's over. What is over.'

' Look Ayan, whatever shitty excuse you have to defend yourself but i can see that the change you have in yourself is irreversible. And i can't imagine myself to spend my whole life with a man like you. I'm sorry but you can leave now.' declared Sara.

Sara's words ripped Ayan from within. A lone tear rolled down his cheek but no one really cared. He was taken aback by his best friend's words. Her cruel words echoed in his mind. Without saying a word, Ayan got up from the sofa without saying a single word.

He moved towards the exit door. He had anticipated that the path he had chosen was difficult, but it would be this difficult, he never thought this. Sara and Shehroze looked at his retreating back with absolutely no regrets.

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Note: So finally Chapter 3 is here, do let me know your thoughts about it and don't forget to tap the ⭐️.

Happy Reading :)