• f a a r i s •
My whole life flashed in front of my eyes as I watched Noor and Hayat interact. One lie, one lie is all it takes for a relationship to crumble. My intentions were noble but I had unintentionally invited a catastrophe, a deadly catastrophe.
"What a surprise!" Hayat said to Noor.
"Why is it a surprise?" Noor asked innocently.
"I mean, I thought you might have left." Hayat said, watching me sweat from her peripheral vision.
"Why would I leave?" Noor exchanged a confused glance with me.
Ya Allah! Now would be a really good time for me to have a heart attack.
"Don't mind me." Hayat chuckled, realizing the topic was causing some discomfort among us. "How is Faaris treating you? He isn't causing any trouble, is he?" She kept her hand on my arm and Noor's eyes instantly zeroed on her hand. Her glare was enough for me to know that I was in deep trouble.
"No." Noor said through clenched teeth. "He is a delight."
I subtly freed my arm from Hayat, but it didn't go unnoticed by her. She watched me through confused eyes and I gulped.
One heart attack. Or a minor seizure. That's all I want. I don't want to live a long life anyway.
"By the way Faaris, are you free tomorrow night? Why don't you come to my apartment and I could make dinner for you?" Hayat asked.
I know what she was doing. Hayat was marking her territory. But she didn't know she was doing it on someone else's husband.
"Actually...."
"Actually, yes he is free. In fact he is free all week." Noor stood up smiling. "And while you are both having dinner, why don't you tell her the funny story when we accidentally got married back in Pakistan?" she spat and I heard a gasp in response.
"Noor." I called her name. In return, she gave me a look that would remain etched in my memory for a very long time. Before I knew, she had walked out of there.
My eyes then shifted to a very confused and annoyed Hayat. "Hayat, I can explain."
"Don't say anything." She mumbled under her breath and then stormed out of my vision.
°°°°°
I kept the car parked in the parking lot of our building for some half an hour, thinking about how I was going to make up for my mistake. Noor had just started to trust me and now, I have ruined all the progress we had. For all I know, she might never trust me again and could I blame her for that?
But I had to make it right, one way or another. If she wants to shout at me, I will listen. If she aims a bowl at me, I will not dodge. If she doesn't open the door for me, I will sleep in the hallway. I needed to prove to her how guilty I was.
Finally gathering the courage, I made my way inside the building to our apartment. The door was already unlocked so I walked inside, looking out for the incoming doom. My eyes searched for her impatiently. In the past few days, I had gotten so used to seeing her on entering the house and now that she wasn't there, it didn't feel like home.
"Noor!" I called her name and that's when I saw her walking down the stairs with a blanket in her hands. "What is this?"
"I am moving into the guest room." she said blankly.
"Don't be childish, Noor. Come on, let's go to our room and talk." I said, blocking her way.
"I don't want to talk. Now if you don't mind, can I go to sleep? I am already tired." She said.
"Noor please, give me a chance." I begged.
"Let me go, Faaris." she glared at me. Her blank voice made me certain that she was not willing to listen to me right now. So, giving her space would be the best option right now.
"Fine." I whispered and cleared her path. Giving me an accusing look, she heaved a sigh and made her way to the guest room.
Sighing in defeat, I grumpily climbed the stairs and walked into my room. The silence in the room haunted me and I turned on the LED at full volume. Noor might not speak much but she gave this room a personality. In her presence, there was always a positive energy present around me but now that she was distancing herself from me, everything around me felt depressing.
"Noor, Noor, Noor. What do I do now?" I groaned, pulling my hair in frustration.
You should have thought before lying blatantly, dumbass.
"Thanks for the input." I said to my inner voice.
°°°°°
I had forgot to turn off the blinds last night because Noor used to do that. That explains why I was being awaken by the harsh sunlight piercing through my eyelids. It was 5:30 in the morning. Not in the mood of working out today, I decided to sleep some more. Last night, I kept thinking about how bad I had messed up till 3 in the night. I had a long day ahead and I couldn't survive on 2.5 hours of sleep.
It was 8 when I finally woke up again. Taking a quick shower, I changed into a random button down and pants and made my way downstairs. Noor wasn't in the kitchen and that churned my stomach. This was the first time since our marriage that we weren't having breakfast together. She always made sure we sat together before I leave, even if it was just for a cup of coffee.Not wanting to waste any more time, I decided to skip the breakfast and rushed to my car. I had already texted my secretary to keep a brewing cup of coffee ready for me. By the time I reached the office building, it was 9:07.
"Ughhh." I groaned to myself. This was probably the first time in ages that I was late to the office. From the security guard to the receptionist, everyone gave me a weird look. Ignoring them, I rushed upstairs to reach my room before all my employees knew their boss was late.
"Rough night?" Ali asked as soon as I walked past him.
"Don't even ask." I said, ignoring him altogether and walked into my office, where the piping hot coffee was already waiting for me.
Sitting on my chair, I took a large sip from the cup and my weariness washed away a little.
"Do you need anything else?" My secretary Leena asked. "A comb or a concealor maybe?"
Narrowing my eyes at her, I looked at myself through my mobile camera. No wonder everyone looked at me like that. My always perfect hair was a mess and there were dark circles under my eyes. One night, it took her one night to turn my life upside down. That's the effect Noor had on me.
"A comb might help." I mumbled under my breath.
After a cup of coffee and some time in front of the bathroom mirror, I finally looked a little presentable. The files started to pour in and I engrossed myself with the work. Every now and then, my thoughts went to Noor. What was she doing at that moment? Had she eaten anything? Did she cry? My heart ached to call her but I knew she was angry at the moment and such things couldn't be discussed over a phone call. Tonight, I would bring her favorite cupcakes and talk her about it.
"What has crawled up your ass?" Ali asked, entering my room.
I rubbed my temples and closed the file that I was reading. "Noor knows about Hayat." I replied. "She is really angry."
"Well, did you expect her to throw flowers at you?" He asked.
"No, but---"
"I told you this was going to happen. I don't know why you waited so long to tell her." He said.
"Because I am a di**head." I exasperated. "And because I didn't want to ruin anything."
"Good luck with that now." Ali said.
"Thanks for being such a great help." I rolled my eyes.
"Sir, Mr. Moby from Graphic Designs is here." We were busy in our heated discussion when Neena interjected. Ali excused himself and afterwards, I asked Neena to send Moby in.
Just when the door opened, my phone started ringing. Picking up the call, I motioned Moby to come in and went towards the sky high glass window from where I could see the whole city. "Yes Dad." I asked.
"How's she settling in?" He asked. The signals were weak so I couldn't hear properly.
"How's who settling in?" I asked.
"N--rr--"
"What? Talk louder, Dad."
"How is Noor settling in?" He asked.
"Settling where?"
"In the office. She called me to ask if she could start as an intern from today." He said.
"What?" I blurted out in confusion, turning in my spot. And that's when my eyes met with Noor, standing meekly behind Moby. "I-- I'll call you later Dad."
"Mr. Shah, I wanted to show you some new work. This is Noor, a new intern with us and her designs are amazing." Moby said to me but my eyes were instead fixated on Noor, who looked really determined to not let me see any expression on her face.
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