Meerab woke up by her mobile's sound at 12 noon. It was Pinar who was calling her. She wanted them to meet again because she wanted to shop for her upcoming engagement. Meerab wasn't feeling very lively because of allergic reaction. She had sent back breakfast Murtasim had ordereded. And got back to sleep because she had started feeling weakness.
When she came out of bathroom Murtasim had already left for work. She wondered where he got ready to go but decided she didn't care.
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"I can't believe you ate crab knowing you are allergic to it." Pinar laughed at Meerab who was holding her head in her hands because she was still feeling a little foggy. They were sitting in a sea side small restaurant having their brunch. "Murtasim was right about you. When he told me not to challenge you. That will only prompt you to do the same."
"I have learned my lesson. I am never gonna eat sea food again." She said taking a bite of salad.
"Sorry I'm late." A guy said sitting with them. "You must be Meerab." He said looking at her extending his hand. Meerab shook hands with him.
"Yes. But I didn't recognize you." Meerab said apologetically.
"That's because we haven't met before. I am Savaş. Pinar's fiancé and your husband's best friend." He introduced himself. He ordered his meal.
"I am so happy for you guys. I haven't seen Murtasim this lively since college days. You bring out the best in him." Pinar said to Meerab.
"You know when your company started losing clients after his father's death, he was so devastated. He called me to ask if i know someone who can help with finances but at that time I didn't have enough contacts. So he had to ask his uncle. It was such a relief for him when he was able to save the company from bankruptcy. It must have been a difficult time for all of you." Savaş told them.
Meerab was shocked by the information. Murtasim had never let anyone know about the condition of the company. When Anwar uncle came to Pakistan they were talking about some takeover. She thought they were talking of taking over some other firm. But she had no idea they were this close to bankruptcy.
Pinar and Meerab spent the whole day together enjoying and chating but Meerab's mind drifted again and again to the new knowledge she has gained.
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She got back to the hotel room at 9 in the evening. Murtasim was laying on the sofa with laptop on his lap. His eyes were closed and he was rubbing his temple as if he was in pain. Her heart melted seeing him so vulnerable. She went towards him and touched his shoulder. His eyes shot open on her touch.
"Itni dair kese ho gayi?" He asked. He vinced when he sat streight.
"Main Pinar ke sath thi. Unhone promise kiya tha ke mujhe Istanbul ghumaegin" She replied. This close he was looking pale. "What happened? Are you in pain? Should i call a doctor." She asked with concern touching his face. She felt him go still for a second. But then he put his hand over hers. But she pulled her hand back immediately.
"Kuch nahi. Bas halka sa sar dard hai. Abhi khatam ho jayega. Bas mere bag me se pain killer tabs nikal do." He said rubbing his head.
"Apne kuchh khaya?" She asked when she took out tablets from his bag.
"Ha office me kha liya tha." He replied.
"Kab khaya tha?" She asked sternly folding her hands under her chest.
"Yaad nahi. Ab dawa milegi?" He stretched his hands for the pill but she pulled them away.
"Aap pehle khana khaege phir koi dawa milegi." She ordered food for him. This was the first time she was talking with so much authority with him. Like he always did with her? Her heart asked her. Maybe because now that she was over her feelings for him. She didn't feel intimidated by him anymore.
She went back in the bedroom after handing the food trolley back to the waiter after Murtasim had his dinner. She find Murtasim again working on his laptop. She closed his laptop. He looked at her with anger. She gulped with nervousness. She knew she was testing limits. But now she was not going to back down she told herself. If she will have to, she will fight him for his own wellbeing. She knelt in front of him putting her hand on his knees.
"Please, aapko aram ki zarurat hai. Bas thodi dair so jaiye. Phir wada karti hu khud apko jaga dungi do ghante me." She said making puppy eyes. Which melted him. She felt him visibly relaxing.
"Ok." He noded. "Lekin tumhe mujhe jaldi jagana padega. Nahi to kal boht aham meeting hai financers ke sath. Agar unhe humara product pasand ata hai to ek boht badi deal humare hath a jayegi."
"Okay. Promise." She smiled and got up to switch off the lights.
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Meerab looked at Murtasim sleeping peacefully. He was looking vulnerable. It was like she was seeing him showing human weaknesses for the first time. Did she even know him as the person he was?
She had always seen him as a perfect man who was above mere human shortcomings. To her he was like a star whose light never fades and whom she can only look at from far away. He was good looking, confident, well mannered, responsible, protective, a gentleman. Someone who wasn't afraid of anyone. A perfect personification of teenage female fantasy. She smiled sarcastically. Did she really love him? Can you even love someone without knowing them personally? Maybe he was right. It was just an infatuation.
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Next day when Murtasim came back to hotel room Meerab was not there. He remembered when he asked her this morning if she would like to go somewhere for sightseeing, she had declined. She said that she had plans with Pinar. It hurts to absorb the fact that she doesn't need him for anything anymore.
Last night the way she took care of him he thought she was gradually accepting their relationship. But in the morning she was back to ignoring him.
He misses the time when she used to look forward to his injunctions for any of her problems. But mostly he missed when she used to stay up late waiting for him in kitchen. When he used ask why didn't she sleep. She would make some excuse that she was hungry or that she couldn't sleep. And he never thought there was something else. How could he not see? Maybe because he was too busy suppressing his feelings for her. To stay away from temptation he had made sure never to be alone with her after their first two meetings. Because she way too young. And he used to feel like a pervert to even think in such direction.
But when she had her first accident while learning to drive, she was 17 at that time, he felt like his heartbeats stopped for the first time. When he took the stearing wheel from her to control the car. When he pulled it on side. She was still clinging to his arm. Her face was buried on his shoulder. He patted her shoulder. But she shook her head. When she didn't look up he forcefully turn her face up by holding her chin.
"I am sorry." She had tears in her eyes. "Mujhe nahi chalana gadi. Mujhe Phuppo ke paas ghar jana hai." She was trembling.
.
"Kuch nahi hua. Jab seekhte hain to accidents bhi hote hain. Ese hi to driving seekhogi." He put his hand on her trembling ones. Though her hands were cold with shock but they had burned his hand. He had pulled it back.
He had promised himself he will look after her, protect her from everything. So how could he have such feelings for her. He finally won over his attraction for her when his Dad got ill and he dived in work to save his company. But then after his father's death his mother wanted him to get married to Meerab. But he knew that she wanted to study. He also didn't want to get married when he had no guarantee of the kind of future he will offer his wife. He was afraid and anxious about the company. His father had put his whole life to build it. And he was on the verge of losing it. And he had actually believed they had no such feelings for each other. He wished he had asked her whether she was happy with them getting married or not, instead of telling her how bad an idea it was. He wished she had said something instead of agreeing with him. He didn't know if he was oblivious to her feelings or she was really good at hiding them.
But there was no gain in thinking about all this. Things had gone horrendously bad between them after that. Like a dam had broken and no safety measures could stop its flow. And they both drifted in it.
But there was no gain in thinking about all this. That time will not come back. Meerab was just doing what he had preached her to do. Enjoying her life without him.
His phone rang to break his thoughts.
"Hello! Murtasim, I think Meerab has gone missing." Before Murtasim could say anything he heard an anxious Pinar, saying in shaking voice. "I have searched for her everywhere, but I can't find her. You'll have report to the police." Murtasim felt like someone has pulled the ground from his feet.
"What... what do you mean Merab is missing?" He asked furiously. "She was with you. Wasn't she?" He took a deep breath. "Ok, tell me where you are?" He tried to speek calmly whereas inside he was shaking with fear and anxiety.
"We.. we are here in old local market. She was with me. I went to loo but when I came back she was not there. I called her. At first her phone rang but after 2 time it was out of order. I don't know how to find her. Please call police." She shouted the last sentence.
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Murtasim was searching for Meerab in market. It was raining not stop since past hour. Darkness has taken over the whole area. The whole market was shut as it was almost midnight. He had reported to the police. They were searching for her but he couldn't sit in comfort of his room when he didn't know where Meerab was in this unknown city. He didn't want to think any further lest he would go crazy.
"MEERAB...... MEERAB..." He shouted in the middle of market when he couldn't find her anywhere.
"Murtasim..." he heard her small shaking voice behind him. He turned around immediately to find her soaked from head to toe. She was shaking like a leaf. He ran to her.
"Where were you? Where is you phone? Are you..." He stilled in his rant when she put her head on his shoulder and started crying. He covered her with his jacket and pulled her to his rental car.
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"I have run you a hot bath. You should go and take long, nice bath till then I'll order you some light meal with coffee." Murtasim said coming out of bathroom.
Meerab didn't budge from her place in the middle of the room, soaking the carpet with the water dripping from her cloths. Murtasim's emotions were also hanging with a very thin thread after the horrifying events of the day. He went her and hold her upper arms in his powerful grip.
"When will you stop it? When will stop giving me those night mare experiences. Why can't you listen to someone? Why do you play with your safety like this?" He shook her.
"I... I am s.. sorry. Someone stole my bag in market. I chased him but he successfully disappeared. When I realised that I don't know where I am it was too late. I was lost..." Her voice was quivering. Her eyes were filled with tears. Murtasim felt guilty for talking to her like this when she was so traumatized. He pulled her in his arms.
"I am sorry. It.. it doesn't matter. You should rest." He pulled back to look at her. She was looking back at him with her big hazel eyes. Her wet hair was cascading down in sensuous ringlets, framing her ivory face. She was looking like an exotic fantasy in soacked maroon long skirt and her white silk blouse had turned translucent, hugging her form. Murtasim felt heat running in his viens burning him to core to the extent his ability to think and realize got blurred. He took step towards her.
"Meerab...?" He didn't know whether he was asking for permission or trying to alert her of his intentions. But when she didn't say anything or move, just kept looking at him with those deep intoxicating eyes he reached for her pulling her back in his arms.
And Meerab didn't protest. They gave in to their long suppressed desires. Their emotions were running so high that none of them was able to hold back. Meerab's all inhibitions drifted like thin leaf in cyclone of his passion.
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Murtasim looked at sleeping Meerab with a smile. He didn't remember last time he felt so content. Only she had the power to make him go crazy to want to pull his hair by their roots and also to make him go week in his knees with just one smile. She stirred in her sleep. A strend of hair was disturbing her. He was pushing it away from her face when she opened her eyes. She backed with a jerk. His hand stopped in the air where her face was. She looked around and stood up wrapping the sheet around her.
"Where are you going?" He called at last when her movement drew him out of the shock of seeing her reaction. Maybe she was feeling shy and don't know how to react that's why she's trying to hide away.
"To the bathroom." She said without turning around. His delusional fantasies started getting blurred by her sharp reply.
"You are regretting what happened last night?" He asked timorously.
"No, I don't. " she said flatly.
"I know this isn't how we should have established our relationship. We must have talked first. You deserve love declaration first.."
"No. I don't expect it. Whatever happened last night had nothing to do with love. It was a normal human reaction to being in close proximity with the other sex." She spat back finally turning around.
"You are saying that because you are feeling emotional. Because you're disappointed." He tried to grab the last hope. While actually he was shaken by her words.
"I have no delusion. I am just a wife to you. It doesn't matter who I am. Whether my name is Meerab or Maya doesn't matter. It didn't took you even a month to move on. You were supposed to live this life with her but now you are stuck with me. So why should it change your plans?" She was shaking with anger.
"It's not like that. You know nothing about my relation with Maya...."
"It must have been really flimsy like your resolves to forget her the next day of your broken engagement and act like all husband to another woman like it was what you always wanted." Her voice was full of disgust.
"I was not alone here last night. You met me as equal on every turn." He spat with anger. Astonished to hear what she thought of him.
"If I am stuck with you in this marriage as you said "But my wife you will remain." Why shouldn't I take whatever benefits it comes with. After all you're really good in bed." She said with a smirk. No matter how painful this exchange was she would never let him know how vulnerable she was feeling at the moment.
Murtasim was shoked to hear such words from her. She was so shy and meek around him. He couldn't believe his ears. "You don't mean it." He said to the empty space where she was standing before disappearing in the bathroom. It felt like she had cut his heart with her cold words and left it bleeding.
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Sorry guys for taking so long to update. But I am really busy in a family wedding now a days. I will upload next part once i am free from this wedding functions. And I will continue 'wo bhooli dastan' once i finish this one.
So at last next chapter will be the last one.