"Taaya abu ?!" shehnaaz whispers, emotionally holding his trembling hands as shafiq ji lovingly raises to touch her tear stricken face.
"Kaise hain ?" she weeps harder, his sickness tore her apart.
"Alhumdullilah, aap roh kyun rahe hain, hum toh bilkul theek haina ye rona kis baat ka ?" shafiq ji, says making her chuckle.
"Yeh rona is baat ka hai aap ne thappad kyun nahi lagaya jab maine gusse aur nadaani mein akar itne bade qadam uthaye, aap sirf mere taaya abu nahi dad hain mujhe toh abu ammi ki chehra tak yaad nahi, main aapko taaye ammi ko unke jagah mein rakh kar dekhte hoon" she expressed, kissing his knuckles.
"Beta hum sirf khudko aapke baap ki jagah mein rakh kar dekh rahe thai waise khuda ka shukar hai aapko apne galatiyaun ka ehsaas huwa warna hum, kahin aapko hamesha ke liye kho na daite, hume maaf kar dijiye !" shafiq ji, folds she quickly stops him from doing so "kya kar rahe hain please sharminda na karein galati meri hai aap kyun maafi maang rahe hain ?"
"Hamare wajah se aap se aur sidharth se unka haq cheena gaya .. jazbaat mein akar humne aap dono ki zindagi barbaad karde" his voice, remorseful.
"Nahi, aap ne abu ki mohabbat mein akar, mera future secure karne ki koshish ki zayatti (wrong) mere saath nahi sidharth ke saath huwe hai phir bhi unho ne apne taraf se pure koshish ki nibhane ki .. main gusse mein andhe hogaye thi u tried explaining, but kehte haina jab cheesain haathaun se nikal jaate hain, tab jakar ehsaas hota hai lekin tab tak bohut dair hojate hai" she regretfully, spoke wiping off tear asks him to rest will come back soon to meet him.
"Apne khayal rakhna, hum sab bohut jald ghar wapis jayenge" shafiq ji, smiles weakly "g, aap bhi .." helplessly, steps out where adil and zoya take him out "u okay ?" zoya asks siding by her "hmm .." adil sighs "bhai ne kaha tujhe ghar pe chod doon" she nods "jaante hoon" whispers, shehnaaz.
They leave passing through sidharth whose paying bill at the billing counter it was quiet evident she cried from her eyes softening him quickly looks aside to ignore act stone hearted, drinking back emotions, painfully went outside.
"Tu please rona bandh karegi, aisa karegi toh kaisa chalega ?" adil told, shook head "yaar mana galati karde maine, lekin taaya abu se durr karke kyun sazah de rahe hain sidharth ... taaye ammi ki nafrat aur chuppe mujhse tolerate nahi hote na jaane woh kaunse manhus ghare thi jab maine apno se, muh mod kar us kaminey ke liye saare rishtaun ko aag laga de, sahi kehte thai sidharth zidd mein akar kisi din khud ko bhi le doobunge" shehnaaz angrily, uttered.
"Yaar joh hona tha hogaya thoda sabr rakh waqt de zayada din ... tujhse naraz nahi reh payegi ammi toh bilkul bhi nahi .. bhai ka pata nahi he is too broken u better avoid facing him" zoya suggest, adil agreed.
"True, bhai is badly hurt .. tune koi kasar bhi toh nahi chode unko gussa dil ane mein unka dil todne mein" she knows "I swear .. he madly loved you divorce ke baat sunn kar bhai ke umeed .. dil sab toot gaya tune dekha nahi he was crying pleading baba, to stop you as if his life was dependent over this marriage" eyes widen, her innocent heart remorsefully sank, under the waves of guilt.
She didn't know, sidharth loved her soo much "mujhe koi idea nahi tha ke woh mujhse itne mohabbat karte hain .. I assumed .. he doesn't want to leave me to punish me .. aise jaise .. unho ne apne ego par le liya ho mera rejection isliye us din terrace mein akar, unho ne bet rakhe, ke agar rishta na huwa toh I will have to accept him as my husband, kitne stupid thi main fuck how could I not get it ! He knew my choice will pay me a huge price that's why he didn't give me, allah itna sab hojane ke baad bhi woh banda mera soch raha tha" she felt terrible on judging him at every point rather than recognising other side of the coin.
"Relax, shehnaaz it's never too late, bhai immensely loves you isliye toh rishte ka sunn kar bhi unho ne bet rakhe taake future mein, cheesain theek karke un ke paas wapis jaa sako .. mehnat karne padegi .. lekin is baat se khush ho with out any expectation he quietly kept the door of his life open .. for you to return back to him" zoya explains, she quietly stares out of the window in repentance reaching home requests them to let her be on her own.
"Are you sure ?" adil asks, she hugs him.
Took it as a queue to leave, she silently did ablution and performed salah what can make her feel better other than keeping my heart out to him "aap toh, sabr daine walo mein se hona .. aap jaante hona mujhse gunnah huwa hai ... nikkah ke paak rishte mein rehne ke bawajood, maine ek ghair mard ko apna dil daine ka jurm kiya jiske koi maafi nahi phir bhi aap se haath jor kar maang rahe hoon aap kar dainge toh shayed woh bhi kardein ?" she sobbed.
"Main aapke bataye huwe raastaun ke khilaaf chal pade sirf use reject karne ke liye lekin woh toh phir bhi mera soch raha tha, jaisa sabr usko aap me diya itne saal chup reh kar mohabbat aur intezaar karne ka utna he mujh de dijiye, mere is dil mein unke liye mohabbat paida kar dijiye" she trusts him .. he has the will power to develop feelings especially when it's between a married couple.
"Mujhe yakeen hai aap hamare rishte ki hifazat karainge !" bents over, feeling a lot of peace and ease in her chest.
A week passed, shehnaaz kept her promise didn't pay visit but spoke to him on call with adil and zoya's help, she tries diverting mind by focusing on studies to praying for taaya abu's wellbeing, sidharth didn't come home adil took clothes he freshen up there in the hospital.
Finally, they're returning back after seven long days due to which shehnaaz as well as the servants did a lot of preparations, she made sure, taaya abu's soup his diet food is cooked as per doctors instructions, she puts up banner when a door bell rang grabbing her attention.
"WELCOME BACK HOME, TAAYA ABU !!!!" she happily, says stepping aside to let them in "hum aap se khafa hain" shafiq ji, twists lips "kyun, maine kya kiya aap use baat ko lekar hain, kya ?" she sadly, asked.
Zahra ji, headed to kitchen meanwhile sidharth walked pass her "nahi beta, is baat se naraz hain ke aap humse milne he nahi aye, yeh tha aapka pyaar hadh hai hum intezaar karte reh gaye ke kab hamare beti wapis ayegi" complaint.
"Hayeeee, nahiii kasam lage main ana chahte thi but .." stops turns to face him her husband "abu aap bhi na itna sab hone ke baad is par bharosa kar baithe ? Isko sirf khud se matlab hai baake jayein bhaar mein, kyun ?" sidharth asked.
"Aisa nahi hai, main ana chahte but kisi wajah se nahi asake lekin har roz baat karte thi na call pe phir kaise narazgi ?" hides tears behind her painful smile.
"Maine kaha tha na sirf apna sochte hain !" sidharth taunts, shafiq ji glared.
"Umm, adil tu le ja taaya abu ko upar unhe rest karne ki zaroorat hai" he nods taking him meanwhile zoya blinks towards shehnaaz indirectly asking her to .. be calm not to lose hope .. leaves to help zahra ji she too heads over there, but felt her arm tightly held by sidharth.
Why ain't she retaliating ?
Why being quiet and acting like a good girl ?
"Ek baat batao, tak yeh jhoota natak karoge, Is mein bhi .. apna matlab chupa huwa hoga right batao kya hai I really want to know kyunke kya haina madam tum sabko bewaqoof bana sakte ho siwaye mere" her eyes well up, she lower down gaze unable to meet his anguished ones "main kuch puch raha hoon na jawaab doh bichare toh tum ho nahi pehle toh .. harr sawaal ka jawaab, ready hota tha bol neha mauka nahi daite ab kya huwa bheegi billi kyun bane khare ho ?" he whispers, leaning closer, she knew he is doing this to heal himself.
It won't help if he truly loves her, hurting her will eventually hurt him "aap yeh nahi hain joh bann rahe ho agar meri insult karke aapko khushi mil rahe hai so be it I won't utter a word in my defence" she says looking at him.
"Like you have one, huh ?" he snorts, pushing her away.
"Meri khushi ke parwah tum mat karo !" sidharth uttered.
"Aap bhi jaante hain ke main taaya abu ko milne kyun nahi aye yaad hai aap se waada kiya tha aakhir kaise todte" he chuckled.
"Oh toh ab tum waade nibhane chale ho waise zaroorat nahi thi phir bhi thank you na ane ke liye .. Is shakal ko dekh kar I fucking lose my temper .. hosake na is ghar mein bhi mere saamne kum hi aya karo toh behtar hoga" hatefully, told suddenly, door bell rang, breaking their trance.
"Aslamualikum" zakia phuppo greets with her daughter shamelessly checking out sidharth from top to bottom which didn't go unnoticed by shehnaaz.
"Walaikumaslam, phuppo jaan aap yahan sab khairyat ?" pulling her luggage's gave a slight nod to his cousin zubia "humse kya puch rahe ho .. bhai, ka sunao jabse unke tabiyat ka pata chala hai hamare toh raataun ke neendein udh gaye hain .. kyun zubia .. batao sidharth ko !" she eyes her daughter to speak.
"G, amma theek keh rahe hain maamu jaan kaise hain ?" zubia sweetly, asked.
"Alhumdullilah, pehle se kaafi behtar baahir kyun khade hain andar aye na" he insists, shehnaaz steps forward to hug phuppo but she purposely avoids "haan haan bass theek hai .. hume hamare bhai aur bhabi ke paas le chalo" upsetting shehnaaz doesn't understands the reason behind her extreme hatred.
"G phuppo, chaliye mere saath ao zubia tumhe nahi mil na ?" shehnaaz angrily fisted palms watching him closely walking beside zubia whose clearly giving so many looks of admiration, how dare she, why the hell is he being so sweet ?
"Mujhe taaye abu se na milne ki kasam de aur us zubia ka haath pakad kar abu se milwane jaraha tha, aap chahte kya hain, sidharth ?" stomping foot, went to her cousins only they will uplift her mood.
"Na kar yaar phuppo jaan khud kum thi joh ab unke beti bhi aye hain dono kisi na kisi maqsad se aye honge adil .. bhai jaan ke kar rahe hain .. fikar not ek min tujhe sadana banta hai yaad nahi bhai ka patience kitna test kiya" reminds of a number of times, she made him jealous "sahi mein, kyun jal re hai it's not like .. you have feeling for bhai !!!" adil raised an important point.
"Yes, I don't have feelings but I cannot deny the fact that he is my husband, he is mine not her's joh unhe upar se leke neeche tak ghoor rahe thi mera na bass nahi chala warna wahin par he uske aankhein noch laite, yaar karde na bhool .. lekin uske sazah already jhail rahe thi .. dusre afat ko ane ki kya zaroorat thi ?"
"Acha g, hamare bhabi hone ke naate hum tere saath hain, don't worry it's the matter of few days chale jayenge tab tak koshish karo unke saath cheesaun ko sahi karne ki .." adil suggests, zoya agreed.
"Yaar kaise .. na taaye ammi dekh rahe na sidharth dono ko mujhse nafrat hai" she sadly, pouts getting restless and impatient.
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