Odds & Us ✔️

Chapter 5: Hustle

" No! Daddy. It's different. Mom loved you when she left you. B-but Aman..." She stopped to clean the tears which were flowing now.

" He... I don't know what happened. You waited just for 3 years. It's been 7 freaking years. A-and... " She finally broke.

Jaai couldn't say anything more to convince her daughter because somewhere deep inside he knew that 7 years is way long and for their generation, 7 days is too much of a hustle. He rubbed her back as she cried clutching her father's shirt for the first time. She had been strong but tonight her pain was overpowering her strength.

Jaai felt helpless and miserable. He couldn't do anything to ease her daughter's, broken heart. Aman was his best friend's son, and he never expected that one cold night his baby girl would be crying because of a boy he adored and felt proud of.
Yet, he felt proud of his daughter's love and commitment, she was just like him which made his soul burn. No father should see his daughter like this.

" D-daddy..." She was whimpering.

" W-why didn't y-you say anything? W-why didn't you do..." She stopped.

Jaai held her face, cleaning her incessant tears which were falling down her soft pink cheeks like a stream flowing freely down a hill.

" Sweetie, tell me what should I do to make you feel better? Should I punch Aman in his face for not loving you or should I punch Uncle Ansh for Aman is his son or should I cut ties with Aunt..."

" No..." She stopped him.

She was mature enough and she knew Ansh and Ahana weren't at fault. Neither could she blame Aman for he fell out of love.

" I-it just hurts so much... I don't think I can ever love someone else, Daddy... " She said looking in his eyes and then hugging him tightly.

After all, she was his daughter. He could never ever love anyone else except Zara even after he had almost lost her. But, she wasn't a childhood friend like Rose and Aman who grew up together and then fell in love. Yet, Rose's pain was far more than Jaai's. He understood that.

" Sweetie, time is a great healer. Things will cheer up soon." But, Rose was so exhausted that she fell asleep in his arms.

He kissed her forehead and laid her down on the bed, covering her up. He took her sketchbook and kept it where she always did. With the childhood picture of Aman and Rose for a fancy dress party. He was a prince while she was his Cinderella. Her daughter's teens and adolescence was indeed a pretty little romance story that turned bitter for her, but she needs to face it and fight it.

As he walked out he saw his wife standing by the door. She had been in tears too.

" Zara.." He held her.

" I heard, all of it." She said as they walked towards their room. With her head rested on his shoulder she left her cheeks wet.

Zara sniffed.

" She's a fighter," Jaai said trying to console his wife.

" Hmm... But Jaai, it's different. You know it. The memories they created are hard to forget, one can't pretend they never happened." She looked in his eyes, pain, hurt and unimaginable anxiety for her daughter was all that he saw.

" That's the catch, honey. She has to accept it, cry for it and then move on. It's the best thing to do. Best friends once, best friends forever. Love, it's just an emotion. Friendship stays stronger." Although Jaai said it with utter confidence, Zara wasn't buying it.

" I-I don't think I agree, Jaai. You tell me, why didn't you ever love Ahana? You guys were best friends, friends long before you even met me. Huh? " It was a profound question.