Udta hi phirun in hawaaon mein kahin,
Ya main jhool jaaun in ghataaon mein kahin,
Ik kar doon aasmaan aur zameen,
Kaho yaaron kya karoon,
Kya nahin
Two weeks later
It was my first day back to college after my leave ended. It felt so weird going to college after baba not being here. I woke up as to my usual time at 5am and got ready for college, I had to catch up on a lot of things because the past two weeks had been extremely busy for me. Shehryar helped around a lot and so did Sania baaji. We had succesfully arranged for baba's qul. I, now, had a set routine of reciting Fatiha for baba as soon as I woke up and right before I went to bed. Whether anyone believes it or not, but baba had a huge impact on my life.
(dua'a)
I went downstairs and made breakfast for everyone. Everyone included, Saima baaji and aunty only. Sania baaji had to fly back to England to her kids but she assured that she would be back time to time to check up on aunty. As for Shehryar, he went back to Scarborough and would drop by on the weekends to check up on aunty. Aunty has been extremely quiet for the past two weeks and I don't blame her, she lost her husband. But Saima baaji on the other hand, has been really difficult with me, but I just tend to ignore her antics.
I finished making breakfast, stored it in the microwave and left a note on the fridge informing both of them that I was at college and I would be back once my classes ended. Since baba's car was in Saima baaji's usage, I decided to prevent extra drama and get an Uber for college. It took me about 15 minutes to get to college and I had some time to kill till my first class, so I ordered a coffee and sat in the cafeteria to sketch out some designs that were pending. I realized that I hadn't opened my college email and I was met with multiple assignment deadlines and emails from Salaar asking me for the sketches. Sighing, I wrote an email to all of my teachers excusing my absence and asking for a week to hand in everything. I needed to submit all of these by hook or by crook by the end of this week because, two weeks after were our semester finals.
My phone rang, informing me that it was 8:50 am, so I just packed up my stuff and walked towards my first class. I walked in and settled down and I was suddenly surrounded by the girls, asking me if everything was fine and inquiring why I wasn't present for the past two weeks. I told them that I would tell them after class, as the professor had just walked in. Mr. Clark was settling down his things when the door opened to reveal no one other than Salaar. Profusely apologizing for being late, he came inside and his eyes locked with mine. He just stood there and I swear I saw tears forming in his eyes. He then, looked away and sat in the other corner of the classroom.
Mr. Clark began teaching us and I was a bit lost because of missing two weeks worth of lessons. I decided to ask around after class for the notes. I tried my best to understand them but I couldn't. Towards the end of the class, Mr. Clark said looking towards me sympathetically,
"Ms. Ashley, I need you to do me a favour, since you're the Class Representative, I want you to email a pdf of the notes for the past two weeks of the class to Ms. Ayla and offer her any help you can, she's been through a hard time"
"Ok sir! I'll do that right after class", Ashley replied
"What happened to Ayla?", asked Joseph
"Ms. Ayla will tell you if she's comfortable enough", said Mr. Clark
Tears instantly filled my eyes and Mr. Clark came up to my desk and asked for permission to tell my inquisitive classmates. I nodded and to which he said,
"Unfortunately, Ms. Ayla lost her father two weeks ago due to a car accident", said Mr. Clark
And the whole class instantly broke into murmurs. I could hear a few "May he rest in peace" and I just kept my head down and let the tears flow. The class was dismissed and I was surrounded by the girls who came to me, one by one, hugging me and said their condolences. I took a deep breath and looked up to find Salaar staring back at me, with sympathy. After a short eye contact, he sighed and walked out of the door.
After the classes ended, I decided to go to the library and work on my assignments and study the stuff that I missed from the past two weeks. Marketing was the only subject that was hard, but luckily, I got some help from Ashley, who explained the entire concept to me. I spent hours and hours finishing up my assignments. Right when, I submit my second assignment, I saw the time. It was 5pm. I had no idea, how the time passed by so quickly.
I packed up my stuff, ran three floors down since the elevator wasn't working and called an Uber to rush home. As soon as I entered, I was met with Saima baaji who looked at me up and down and said,
"Why are you so breathless?", she looked at me questioningly
"Oh I just ran from the third floor to the ground floor to get to my Uber in time", I laughed it off
"Yeh breathlessness tou mujhe kisi aur cheez ki lag rahi hai?", she said raising her eyebrows
(This looks like some other sort of breathlessness)
"Jee?", I asked not understanding what she just said
(What?)
"Sab pata hai mujhay, meray bhai kay nikkah main hotay huay, tumne college kay naam pay chakkar chalaye huay hain", she accused me
(I know everything, despite being brother's wife you're having numerous affairs in the name of going to college)
"Saima baaji aisi koi baat nahin hai, even though me and Shehryar have a complicated marriage, I'm still going to be loyal to him, as long as I'm in his nikkah", I said, calmly
(Saima, you're misunderstanding the situation, even though me and Shehryar have a complicated marriage, I'm still going to be loyal to him, as long as I'm his wife )
"Bullshit", she came forward and held up my face painfully, squeezing my cheeks
It hurt me, especially considering, my wisdom teeth were growing out, so I lightly pushed her back, saying,
"Stop it Saima baaji, I didn't do anything"
"Tum hoti kon hou, mujhe iss tarah peechay push karnay wali, main tumhain aisay nahin choron gi", she said and raised her hand to slap me
(Who do you think you are to push me back? I will not spare you today)
Right when her hand was near my face, I held her arm and jerked it backwards
"Bohat maine aap logon ka abuse seh lia, baba ka lihaz karti thi main, lekin agar abb aap unka lihaz nahin kar rahi tou, I have to take a stand for myself", I said
(I've had enough of your abuse now, I used to stay quiet because I respected baba but if you're not respecting him than I've got to take a stand for myself)
"T-tum, tum hoti kon hou?", she roared
(W-who, who do you think you are?)
Aunty came out of her room, sensing all the commotion. She asked Saima baaji to go back to her room and told me to go upstairs. I was surprised she didn't say anything so, I just let it be. I had a lot on my plate to deal with anyway.
Two weeks later
The past two weeks have been absolute torture for me. Saima baaji makes sure to make my life hard in every single way. She makes me do all the chores and sometimes doubles them on purpose, she doesn't miss a chance to abuse me, whether its physically or mentally. Like the other day, she brought loads and loads of laundry from her house and asked me to do it. When I did it, I was asked to iron it.
I resisted but I didn't want to make a huge scene, I did iron them. The last shirt that I did, I accidentally burnt a little part of the shirt and I came clean to it. Thank God, for the iron being semi warm, because Saima baaji really picked it up and put it on my wrist. It stung a little but it left me speechless as to the amount of hate she had against me, when I clearly didn't do anything.
And, just as I thought that aunty's behaviour with me was improving, it wasn't. She had went back to her old self and would be torturous over the tiniest things. I couldn't wait to talk to Shehryar about this entire situation, but I wanted baba's chaleeswa (40th day after death) to take place smoothly. Alongwith all of this, this was my finals week, so I had to somehow balance everything, with studying for my semester finals, so truly, yay me!
Today, was my last exam and I was studying for it. It was the marketing exam and I still needed to go over a few concepts, so I went in and started studying in the library. Studying in the library had its perks, because if I got stuck somewhere, I had the books around me to consult from and help out. I needed some help with finance, it was something I got stuck with, so I had about 6 books open infront of me, when I heard a deep voice, that I know all too well say
"Do you need any help?"
I looked up to see no one other than Salaar. I froze seeing him, because it was our first direct conversation with him, after that day. Gaining my senses back, I nodded and he started explaining the concept to me, till it was crystal clear. I thanked him and just then, we recieved an email ping for us to go to the exam hall and give the exam.
It was now or never. He had to know all that had happenend to me, that had led up to this point. I had to tell him everything from the starting to finish. He pushed back his chair, and was about to grab his backpack when I said,
"Salaar, I need to give you my side of the story. I geniunely only need 15 minutes of your time, please talk to me after the exam"
A/N: I wonder what Ayla wants to talk about. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter, don't forget to vote, comment and follow. I LOVE Y'ALL MWAHH
I have a question from my readers though. How many of you have discord? I was planning to make a desi wattpad writer's and readers server there?