•||Ch7: Without any Hesitation||•
||Mehrun's POV||
"Finally I got to see my niece," Phupho said, showering my face with her kisses and hugging me.
What she said made me feel so guilty that I wished to hide somewhere away from them.
"I am so sorry, Phupho. Something has delayed me so much that I couldn't find time to meet you," I told her in a quiet voice and kissed on her cheek.
Another lie.
Truth was I was just ignoring everyone from seeing.
"It's OK. Now you have come to meet me, I'm happy," She answered me, taking my face in her hands.
I smiled at her and listened to all her gossip. Saim excused himself and went to his room while I and Phupho continued to talk.
This was the moment that reminded me of how much I missed time like this when I ran to Phupho and talked to her nonstop. Starting from our favorite brand's dress to the gossip of some friend's lovelife to gossip of some random aunt's dressing style.
Currently, Phupho was telling me the recent things that happened in her friends circle then telling me which restaurant's food was good.
"Oh. I forgot to tell you that there will be a birthday party of Mrs. Ayesha Khan next week. Will you be going as well?" She asked me.
I stopped going to these parties for a long time as well as many small parties too. They all judged my relationship with Shaizum at every gathering. I knew he wasn't perfect and had many flaws but I loved him with all those flaws.
And he had given up on many things because of me and was still trying to change himself for me.
"I haven't decided," I answered her with a small smile.
"You are coming with us. Please say yes. Pleaseeee," She requested, holding my hands.
"OK." I agreed, helplessly because I couldn't find myself to say no to her pleadings.
"Mirha, I heard Mehrun's voice. Is she-,"
We heard Ammi's voice and turned around to see her entering the living room. I quickly got up and went towards her.
"I have seen you after two months, Mehrun. I especially prayed for you during umrah. How are you?" She asked me, holding my hands as I walked her to the couch and helped her sit.
"Just like before, Ammi. Congrats on your umrah," I replied as I sat beside her.
"Thank you. I have bought some gifts for you from Saudi Arabia. Don't forget to take them," She told me with a smile.
I nodded my head then asked her about her health then she told me and Phupho about the stories of her visit to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and what they did there.
"How was your practice, Saim?" Phupho asked once Saim entered the living room with his wet hairs.
I and Ammi stopped talking and turned to him, waiting for his answer. Unexpectedly my eyes went to his wet hairs which were now on his forehead, making him look so young and so... handsome. More than before.
Taking eyes away from his handsome face was a lot difficult for me but luckily I succeeded and found a beautiful and delicate decoration piece behind him on the shelf.
"It was fun. To play with friends," He answered with a shrug.
"What kind of activities do you have in London?" I asked him.
"Playing golf, hockey, football, horse riding."
"Tournaments?" I asked him with interest.
"Yeah but I rarely participated in them," He answered.
"Ah. I remember once he took part in a hockey tournament and won too," Phupho told me with a smile.
"Mehrun, come with me. I have something to show you," Suddenly, she turned to me, standing up and looking at me with her hand stretched towards me.
I put my hand in hers and stood up feeling curious. She pulled me out of the living room while telling others that we'd be back. I followed her silently as she took me to the first floor and then towards a door at the end of the hallway.
When she opened the door, it was pitch black inside. She left my hand and stepped inside while I stood at the door. She switched on the lights, making the whole room illuminated.
The first thing I noticed was the books neatly lined up in the bookshelves with aesthetic decoration pieces on those books. There's small flower pots near the windows and vintage style doorbells on those windows.
I stepped inside this beautiful small paradise and looked at the books and noticed each genre had their own shelf. Almost all the books were the ones I had read already. After checking the books, I turned to the wall which was decorated with the frames of the books' characters' aesthetic collage.
I looked at those frames and noticed one thing, these were all those collages that I created and posted them on my page on Instagram.
"You...," I tried to speak but trailed off, feeling helpless.
"There's a bookstagram account on Instagram which posts the reviews, aesthetic collages, aesthetic reels and beautiful lines of books. And the interesting thing is that the admin of that account is my beautiful niece," I heard phupho's voice from behind me.
I bit my lip and turned to look at her feeling embarrassed because no one knew about this.
"How?" I wanted to ask her how she knew about this but words got stuck in my throat.
"You made a reel of one book and in the background there was a decoration piece that I especially designed for you for your birthday gift. That video was shown at my suggestion and from there I know all about this," She answered my question while taking my hand in hers and rubbed small circles which relaxed me.
The decoration piece she spoke of was a small hand size candle lamp and the designs on them were designed by her. It was my favorite gift till now.
"I want to tell you, Mehrun. What you are doing is amazing and I'm very happy for you. I know you feel unconfident and self-conscious sometimes but for me you are the strongest girl that I always love. You don't need to feel embarrassed about anything because you are not doing anything bad," She said, softly and patted my hand.
The words she spoke helped me a little bit. I smiled at her feeling a lot better and helpful.
"I have some newly released books here which haven't arrived in Pakistan yet. I asked Saim to buy two issues of those newly released books," She told me then moved to a shelf, took a few books then gave them to me.
"Thank you, Phupho," I thanked her , quietly.
For boosting my confidence a little and for everything.
• • •
I sat at the window seat with a coffee in my hand and the books that Phupho gave me in front of me. The lights of the room were turned off, only the small golden soothing light above the window was turned on.
I was going home but Phupho made me stay at her home.
There was a knock on the door which made me look away from the books. I stood up and walked towards the door and opened it.
"Let's watch a movie together, Mehrun," Phupho appeared and asked me, looking hopeful.
I sighed helplessly inaudibly and nodded my head with a smile. I followed her out of my room and closed the door behind me. We went to the theater room where Ammi, Ali uncle and Saim were already present, waiting for us.
Phupho sat beside Ali uncle and I sat on the right side of Ammi while Saim was on her left side.
"So which movie will we see?" Ali Uncle asked.
"Put on some family movie," Phupho answered him while the rest of us just agreed with her.
Ali uncle held the remote to the wall length LED and put on the movie that Phupho said. In the middle of the movie Ali Uncle stood up saying he was tired and going to sleep. Later Ammi also went back to her room because she couldn't wake up till late at night due to her old age.
"It feels so funny that both of you are sitting in harmony. When you both were kids, you would fight every time you saw each other," Phupho said with amusement in her voice, breaking the silence.
"We were kids at that time," Saim answered her.
"Yeah and now we have grown up," I added with a smile.
"Be happy and peaceful always," Phupho told us.
I wish.
To be happy.
Without any hesitation.
With peace of mind.
..........
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