Believe! [Completed]

Chapter 15

Two weeks had passed since Minaal had come back to her home. She had told Faiz everything that happened between her and Aariz's mother and why she had distanced herself from Aariz. Faiz didn't know what to offer as a solution because things had become so complicated. Aariz hadn't contacted any of them since the past two weeks. But deep down she knew he would come back. He was never the one to back down. He never allowed her to back down, how could he do it now? Despite how hard this felt without him around, she knew she wouldn't go after him. His mother didn't want her to, so she won't.

She missed him but in the past couple of years, the only thing she held dear to herself was her self-respect. His mother tried to hurt it and she had her guard up almost instantly. Her father was cruel to her all her life, she knew. He must have done something to hurt Safiya, she trusted that too. But now he was battling between death and life. She was an empathetic person. She wasn't selfish. She forgave her father as soon as she knew he was this ill. When he was suffering for his mistakes and didn't have the physical ability to voice his guilt but only had eyes that were always full of tears screaming redemption, who was she to still not forgive.

Aariz was always open about how much Minaal meant to him. He had his ways of showing his love and trust in her. She wasn't good at that. He was an important part of her life. For her, she was the first one to make her feel good about who she was and had always tried to boost her confidence. The friend she found in him was a rare blessing but Minaal was grateful for it. She wasn't good at expressing the love she had for Aariz or maybe his ways of showing love always overpowered hers. It had been two weeks since she had seen him. She wanted him close but also didn't have the courage to be the one to make him choose between her and his mother.

Closing her eyes, she tried to get some sleep during the day. Sleepless nights in her life had become a norm and so was trying to sleep during the day for some peace of mind. His face was all she could see in her imagination. Instead of opening her eyes to shun away his imagination, she kept her eyes closed as tears rolled down her cheeks. At least he was close to her in some form. Even if it was something so brief as an imagination.

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The lights in the room were dim. The curtains were closed. The occupant of the room was sat in the corner of the room. He had a paper notebook in his hand and a pen. He was using that to scribble. He had decided to go to London but Safiya's emotional breakdown had stopped him but that didn't mean he was on good terms with his mother. He had distanced himself from everything. He would go office, handle the business and would return home late only to go back to his room.

He wanted to go and meet her again. Try convincing her again that things would work out, but he feared any sort of rejection. He also feared her stranger and unfamiliar behaviour. The distance between them wasn't hurting him as much as her behaviour would. Aariz Wali Khan was scared for the first time. Scared to see in Minaal's eyes which were giving him, offering him nothing.

He was still scribbling on the paper when all the time he had spent with her came back in his mind. Their first confrontation, their meeting in London and everything else from there. One thing that was coming back to him was the realisation that he had never backed down on anything. He didn't back down when he wanted to make a stranger understand that she shouldn't marry a certain someone because of her father. He didn't back down when he wanted to set up his own business. He didn't back down when he was falling in love with her. So, how could he back down now? When it was not just about him but also her. When it was about them.

He couldn't let go of his love. He couldn't just let her go. This is not why he loved her. This is not why he promised her in London that he would always return to only. This was a test of his love. He had to pacify with his mother, but he also had to honour his love. He was going to do it. He was sure.