Sukoon

14.Arsalan Lehri

" Abba ji ,Arsalan Bhai aye hai " ,(Father , Arsalan bhai is here), Dania Khan shouted ,the younger daughter of Salah khan ,welcoming in the man standing at the doorstep .

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" Afreen beta , meet Arsalan Lehri , he is the person I was talking about yesterday " Salah Uncle said ,as Afreen came down to the living room .Yesterday Salah Khan has talked to Afreen and the three other people about his friend Ahad and his son who were going to look at their case , apparently they were on one of the case related to human trafficking in the capital city and were here now after he told them about her case .

He was talking to a man ,who must be in his early twenties .They were in a discussion , probably a discussion about her .She came and sat at the couch , in front of Arsalan .The man had a professional aura around him ,but a unmistakable kindness in his eyes .There was something familiar about ,is it the face ,she was not able to understand .

"Assalamualaikum " ,Afreen said as she wrung her hands. She was nervous ,is this man going to contact local police here, what if the police... . Her thoughts which were going in many different directions were cut off by Arsalan's voice .

"Wa alaikumu as-salam ,I am the assistant lawyer " ,Arsalan said with a comforting smile .He was analysing the situation she has escaped from ,her condition was ,the girl was young and it hurts to know she suffered something a person should never even see. And she was looking awfully familiar .

"What is your full name and can you please explain each and everything that happened there. It would help us in fighting this case ." ,he said looking attentively at her .

"Afreen Abdullah and I escaped along with two women and a man from the havelli ......", she said in an emotionless voice, yet everything in her was breaking as she remembered those awful days, numbness was the only thing she felt there. She has escaped from there but for how long ,Fariq was a powerful man, what if he has sent people to hunt them down. The thought was enough to send her in a panic attack .

"Afreen shh,calm down beta ,calm down",Salah said ,as he saw her slightly panting. She had finished speaking about the things to Arsalan .

After a few minutes she has calmed down and went to her room to Hafsa and Zaida who were arguing with Mrs Khan to let them help in the household chores. She sat there quietly gazing at the little bundle of joy. He was gazing at his mother with big brown eyes, the boy was barely two years old yet it looked like he was able to understand what they were talking about.

She stroked his head with a soft smile on her face ,unknown to the three women who were looking at her worriedly. They might have not spoken about the way she came in looking troubled but were noticing her every step, her thoughts were clearly visible at her face .

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After seeing her going through a panic attack, it was not the first time Arsalan had seen someone going through it ,he himself has suffered a few times ,but the way her eyes were looking haunted had him pacing the length of the Arabian Carpet, with his phone. Her name was enough to make his mind swirl and as she told him the things, the bile had come up his throat. Ya allah. He has to talk to his mother to confirm his thoughts , the thoughts he wished were true and false at the same time .

At times we have contradicting thoughts ,the thoughts that make us ecstatic and depressed at the same time . Ecstatic , when the things one wished for, come true after a long time ,it gives them immense joy but when the things come true but not the way they wanted to ,it brings pain ,thus the reason why the person wishes it to be true and false at the same time .

"Amma, Afreen, she is here. " ,(Mother), he said, his voice shaky. The phone has connected, his mother was on the other side and her reaction would decide if his thoughts were false or not .

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That is Sheheryar Munawar as Arsalan Lehri .

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