Pasha house was envleloped in an eerie silence as Kamal Pasha walked down the stairs. It had become a norm for them. Everybody was busy in there respective jobs, nobody had time for anything other than that, neither did they have a heart to anymore.
Pasha sahab sighed as he sat down on the couch in middle of the hall, pulling out the daily newspaper to read. It was just the way he always wanted.
Calm. Disciplined. Silenced.
And yet he wasn't satisfied, as if his heart was restless and he clearly knew the reason but had decided not to face or accept it.
Zeenat entered the hall with a cup of tea in her hands and handed it to Pasha Sahab.
"Baaki sab kahan hain?" He asked, while taking the cup of tea.
"Aghu jaan kamre mein hain. Haya college gayi hai aur Sameer office gaya hai" she replied, in a hurry to get back to kitchen. Before Pasha Sahab could ask anything further, she rushed inside.
It had been a while since he saw Sameer as well. He would barely be present at home, he had recently taken up a job with his classes and won't demand any money from his father, trying to take up on his own. As much as a proud father he was, he missed his son, no matter how careless he was.
"Pasha Sahab?"
He was brought of his thoughts by his brother who stood in front of him, with a couple of bills in his hand. Taking the bundle from his hand he went through it as they discussed the finances for a whilw.
"Hilal Pasha?" Pasha Sahab stopped him as he was about to leave.
"Sab theek hai?" He asked him, a question hidden under his question.
"Haya ki Umeed se baat hui thi. Woh theek hai, aap pareshan na hoyein" He replied, knowing exactly what his elder brother was trying to ask.
Pasha Sahab nodded, satisfied after getting his answer, not saying anything more neither did his expressions flinch as he continued to sip his tea.
"Pasha Sahab, ek baat poochun?"
"Jaldi bolo, bohot kaam hai mujhe" he replied indifferently.
"Aap hamesha Umeed ke baare mein poochte hain. Khud baat kyun nahi karte? Usse wapas aane ke liye kyun nahi kehte?"
Pasha Sahab sighed heavily, taking a while before answering "Woh apni marzi se gayi thi..."
"Magar aap usse bula sakte hain, aur aap yeh baat jaante hain. Aap jitni bhi koshish kar lein, mujh se yeh baat nahi chupa sakte ke aap usse kitna yaad karte hain"
Kamal Pasha pulled his glasses off, not wanting to have any more conversation on this topic.
"Accha mujhe iss baare mein koi baat nahi karni. Kaam karne do mujhe..."
He dismissed his brother who looked at him and sighed, before walking away.
Pasha Sahab took a deep breath, picking up a photoframe placed beside him on the table, his eyes falling on the person whose smile was the brightest, with eyes sparkling with what exactly she was named after.
Umeed.
Arzu wanted to name her Umeed. The moment she saw her and held her at adoption agency, she knew this baby was her hope.
It had been 5 years since they were married and Arzu had troubles conceiving, especially when she badly wanted a child. On her insistence, they signed up for adoption because Kamal Pasha wanted to give her whatever she desired. She fell in love deeply with the baby, who was barely 3 days old, when she was given the little bundle of joy.
"Yeh hamari Umeed hai..."
Miraculously, a year later, Arzu was pregnant and another year later, Sameer was born. But that didn't lessen Arzu's love for her first baby. Infact, she seemed to love her more than ever. Umeed became the light of Arzu's life, being spoiled by her mother to no ends, and Kamal would sometimes tease her that she loves her daughter more than her son, which made him a little more affectionate towards Sameer, to balance it out.
Once Arzu passed away, handling Umeed became a task. Since she was so attached to her mother, no one was able to give that comfort to Umeed that she craved for and even though as a father, he tried his best to deal with her, he was grieving himself and soon started losing his patience with her, which made her even more stubborn. Naturally, she started to grow closer to Aghu jaan and formed a close bond with her.
Pasha Sahab recalled the day she left. His heart wanted to stop her but his ego was too big to even accept that he was at fault that time.
It was only when they heard an earth-shattering news a few moments later Umeed left, which opened his eyes, freeing him from the shackles of his own ego and making him see that he was about to lose his daughter.
***
"Aap ko yeh nahi karna chahiye tha, Pasha Sahab" Hilal Pasha expressed his disappointment, extremely worried for his darling bhateeji, who left an hour ago, no matter how hard they tried to stop her.
"Rehne do, Hilal Pasha! Usse pata hona chahiye ke jiss baap ko jahan bhar mein zaleel karti phirti hai, kitna dil dukhaya hai uska isne!" He replied.
"Dil aapne dukhaya hai uska. Balke torr diya hai. Usse sach batane ki kia zaroorat thi?"
"Pata hona chahiye usse" was his stoic reply.
"Bas karein Baba!"
It was Sameer who spoke up, with a tone he never addressed his father with, having had enough of what was taking place since the last two hours.
Barely 2 hours. And their entire world had turned upside down.
"Aap itne pathardil kyun ho gaye hain?? Umeed theek kehti thi. Saari zindagi aapne Umeed ke saath galat kia hai. Aur aaj aapne uski wajah bhi bata di. What do you think? Aap ne koi bohot accha kaam nahi kia hai, jo usse pata hona chahiye" Sameer was letting out all his frustration as everybody looked on.
"No matter what the truth is, hum mein se kissi ko koi farq nahi parta. Woh meri behen hai, aur yeh uska ghar hai. Aap chaahein kuch bhi kahein!"
Pasha sahab was astounded, not able to speak for a while. There were a few moments of silence before it was broken by a shrill scream, followed by Zeenat running inside the hall, phone in her hand.
"Kia hua Zeenat?" Hilal Pasha asked, noticing her state.
"Woh...phone aya hai.." she stuttered, "Umeed! Umeed ka accident ho gaya hai..."
And all hell broke loose.
***
Umeed closed her eyes as the harsh swap of wind hit her, adjusting her hair which were all over the place. Muttering curses under her breath, she looked around to see no sign of any car on the deserted road.
It was getting darker and it was way past the center got closed and everybody left, Umeed stayed back to complete a few pending tasks but didn't realize until the entire center was empty. And now she was standing outside, waiting for her driver who was running late, making her regret her decision to not drive it to work herself.
The entire day she had kept herself overoccupied so that she didn't have the time to think about anything else. Or about anyone else. The last night proved to be mentally draining, instead of feeling lighter, she felt all the more distressed after reliving everything.
Lost in her thoughts, she didn't realize a car coming in full speed with blaring horns, with a potentially drunk person behind the wheel, towards her. Umeed was still unaware until the lights blinded her and she completely froze at the spot when she was jerked by her arm and pulled harshly until she found herself in a warm embrace.
Startled out of her wits and still shaken, she looked up to see Farjaad in an equally disheveled state as his arms were wrapped around her, cocooning her, his storming eyes stuck on the car that was about to hit her.
"What the hell were you doing?!" Farjaad shouted as he held her by the arms and made her face him, his heart in his mouth, while Umeed was still in shock.
"Pagal ho gayi ho kia?! Kab se tumhe awaaz de raha hun, where were you lost?? ABHI KUCH HO JATA TOU?!" He was clearly panicking, his voice mixed with anger and worry.
"I...I was waiting for the driver" She replied shakily, her fisted hands placed on his chest. Slowly, she looked around and took deep breaths, trying to calm herself down but Farjaad was on tenderhooks.
"You could've done that inside! Bahar aa ke kyun khadi ho gayi thi?!" He fretted, still not able to believe that he was so close to loosing her again.
Farjaad could feel his heart racing, just the thought of Umeed in danger and he loses his mind.
"You're still here?" She asked, ignoring his question, coming back to her senses as she pulled away, creating space between them, looking away as she felt awkward. The entire day she ignored him not knowing what to say when she faces him, specially after yesterday.
"OFCOURSE I AM! Tumhe kia laga itni raat ko tumhe akela chor ke chala jaunga?" He looked at her as if she was dumb to ask such a question while Umeed looked up in surprise.
Farjaad had stayed back once he noticed she wasn't leaving anytime soon. The entire day had passed and he could barely see her, knowing she was keeping herself way busier than usual only so she could avoid him. But his eyes were constantly following her, which is why he noticed the dark circles beneath her eyes, which were puffier than usual.
He was dying to make sure she was okay but asking her was out of question, since she always had her claws out whenever he is concerned.
Hence, he didn't bother her the entire day, staying out of her way knowing she'll only be more distressed to see him, but waited when he saw she was staying back alone. He also knew she was waiting for her driver and would never agree on going with him, so he decided to stay until she left and then follow her back home.
"And someone had to stay behind because YOU are clearly not in your senses! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING UMEED??" His nerves were still high along with his heartbeat.
"Tumhe kuch ho jata toh??" He shouted.
"TOH KIA?!" She questioned back fiercely, pushing him away, having enough of him while he was the one who looked in shock now.
"Aap ko kia farq parta hai mujhe kuch bhi ho?!" She cried out, not able to take his concern anymore.
His expressions hardened as he pulled her harshly by her arm, his face barely inches away from hers. The fire in his eyes was proof enough that she had asked the wrong question. This man was about to lose his own senses a while ago, seeing her in danger, and she had the audacity to ask him that.
"Haan! Tumhare liye tou koi nayi baat nahi hai yeh, jaan tou meri nikal jaati hai na" He gritted his teeth, emotions overflowing in his eyes. The anguish he felt at her question was insane. This woman held his life in her hands, his world revolved around her and she had to ask him that.
"Lekin tumhe iss baat se kia farq parta hai? Tumhe kissi bhi baat se kia farq parta hai? Behis ho gayi ho tum, kissi ki feelings, kissi ke ehsaas se koi matlab nahi hai tumhe!"
"Aur kisne majboor kiya hai mujhe aisa banne pe?"
Her reply was immensely calm which made him shut up immediately and then it created a havoc in his mind. She was looking at him steadily, while he couldn't form words. Her statement hit him right in the heart, forcing him to think that he was the one that made her change so much. He was her culprit.
Umeed looked away as he saw moisture seep in his eyes. The shame and guilt that reflected in them made her regret her choice of words. The anger that was burning deep inside her, the one the she had kept hidden inside her stoic appearance was making her aim jabs at the person who wasn't entirely at fault.
Farjaad was an easy target because he was the one who was present in front of her.
A harsh gush of wind blew, making her hair flow all over the place once again. Farjaad came back to his senses and cleared his throat, looking around to see the weather getting worse.
"Please go inside. Mein dekhta hun tumhare driver ko, tum andar jao. Please" He was literally begging her to leave because he couldn't risk leaving her here again.
"Aap ko meri fikar karne koi zaroorat nahi hai. Ab tak apne aap ko akele sambhalti aayi hun, I can handle myself. I don't need anyone" She retorted.
"But I need you!" He yelled shakily, as her eyes widened.
"I need you to stay alive and safe! Abhi agar tumhe kuch ho jata tou socha hai ke mera kia hota?" He implored, still under the affect of seeing Umeed so close to danger, his eyes were extremely vulnerable.
"Kia hota? Agar abhi tak aapko aadat nahi hui hai, tou yeh meri problem nahi hai Mr. Farjaad Khan Bahadur. YOU need to grow up!"
Throwing that in his face, she stormed inside, feeling a hint of satisfaction as she threw back his own words in his face, leaving him surrounded by his thoughts.
***
This part was supposed to come on Saturday but posting it early coz grimorgray is travelling and needed the chapter to pass her time😂❤️
Please ignore any typos, bandi post call hai, thodi rehem ki appeal hai aap sab se🙏🥺
Also, Farjaad's elaborate pov coming up, last part ke baad uss pe sab chaaku churi le ke charh gaye thay😂 itna bura nai hai woh🥺