Dur-e-Shehwar | Completed ✔️

IX

*Happy Reading*

Chapter IX

It had been nearly a week since the news of Ozhan breaking the engagement. It had been nearly a week since they all saw him last. No one in the house knew about his whereabouts. It had been three days since her step-mother was discharged from the hospital and came back home.

She dropped the pen on the desk and rubbed her temples sighing.

'Trouble in Paradise?'

Shehwar looked up to see Wajdan beside the photo-copying machine. He always seemed to be copying something, and so Shehwar was now used to his behaviour of interfering in her business or helping her in between her work.

'What's it this time? Need help?'

'No,' she sighed and picked up her pen before she let her itching eyes skim the document before signing it and placed it on the growing pile of files which were later supposed to be checked by her superior. 'Thanks.'

'You seem disturbed,' he observed. She smiled timidly and shook her head. 'I am fine.' she tried to assure him.

'You can talk to me about anything, I am a good listener.'

'It's nothing really,' she couldn't just tell him that her sister's engagement was called off and that her whole house had been disturbed since.

'If it's anything ask me, I'll try to do what I can.' he smiled. He was so caring and understanding that any girl who married him would be lucky. He was what girls dreamed their husbands to be like.

'I'll remember.' she thanked him once again and he left to his remaining work.

*

He took a lung-ful of the lit cigarette and puffed out smoke from his nostrils. He continued the process until there was no more left to smoke. He let the cigarette fall on the ground and put his foot on it before pressing it with his shoe.

Without him realising, his hand reached in his pant pocket and retrieved a pack of cigarettes. He took one out before tossing the pack on the table his feet were propped up on, he lit it and placed it between his lips.

'You are polluting my house's air.' Omer said as he came to sit on the couch opposite to him fixing his cuff buttons as he prepared for the meeting he had in an hour.

'Sorry,' he gave a tired smile to his friend and flicked the ash.

'How much did you have? Have you had anything in your system beside this death machine?'

Ozhan shrugged as he looked away from his friend's piercing gaze. He was smoking a lot this past week to divert his mind from the questions his subconscious kept asking. What he did, was it the right thing to do? Did Mehar deserved to be treated like this? He had lost count after the fifth packet.

'I hate seeing you like this Ozhan.' He nodded absentmindly at Omer and took another puff.

Omer sighed shaking his head. 'You won't even tell me what's wrong with you.'

'Nothing,'

'Then why are you here puffing out smoke? Why are you not in your office reading boring papers? Why didn't you go back to your home for the past week?'

'I'll leave if you want me to so bad.' his jaw clenched and he dropped the cigarette before reaching for another.

'It's not like I don't like you staying over, you know that.' Omer tried to study his friend who put the cigarette in his mouth in such a rush as if he was troubled. If he didn't know Ozhan, he'd say he was an addict to them.