Life is a mystery that takes an eternity to unfold its every petal. At times people tire before they even find it out.
Haani had a stressful day. His board meeting went for what felt like decades, exhausting him to the brims. It tired him both physically and mentally.
Getting seated in the comfortable back seat of his car, he loosened up his tie. Taking a sigh of relief, he sank back into the seat.
The entire day his mind didn't cease thinking of her. He badly wanted to know what decisions she would take. He was desperately waiting for her to call. It was only a few hours before midnight. Somewhere he knew she wasn't easy. But he also knew she couldn't think otherwise in the kind of situation she was entrapped in. With a sneaky smile, he felt at triumph.
Lost in the voids of his own demon thoughts, the sudden ringing of his phone intact him back to reality. His screen flashed with an unknown number. He knew it was hers, his sixth sense told him so. A huge smile spread across his face that genuinely reached up to his eyes. He didn't exactly know why she was affecting him so much or why was he feeling such sudden bliss. It was just a winning antic for him after all. He slides in the lock to pick up the call.
"Haani Fateen speaking." He addressed with a sly smile in his voice. But soon the voice on the other side of the phone made him frown. "Hello? hell-" her terrified voice came in but soon was cut out with a pause.
"Sanari? Are you okay?" his voice worriedly boomed into his phone.
"He'll-" before she could say anything, he heard a loud crashing sound and the call cut. He stared down at his phone in a confounding stare. Joining his brows together confused, he asked his driver to take a turn towards Abdul's house. Something very wrong was going on, his gut feeling warned him.
His stomach lurched with panic with the thought of something bad happening to her. He didn't realise he was deadly worried about her when a moment ago he thought of her nothing more than a winning chess piece.
The car came to a halt in front of Abdul's house. Getting out of the car he almost ran towards the house with his stomach setting into the pits of panic. Ignoring his driver yelling at him to stop and call in the cops, he walked faster. On reaching the front entrance door, he saw it broken to the ground. With pieces of shattered glass all over the place.
Men are beings with conserved emotions. Nothing ever can break off their casts. But once nature threatens something they care about, their inner demons unleash. And it never ends well.
"Sanari!" He yelled out her name at the top of his lungs. Adrenaline injected into his body like fire. The sudden interjection of panic and fear made him nauseated. His heart sank for a minute with the thought of losing her. He yelled out her name again without any response. He walked further into the house.
Faint voices perked his senses. "You're coming with me-" He heard a male's demanding voice and a women's faint screaming in protest. He made a dash at it and entered the living area. The sight before him shackled him. A man dragging a woman forcefully. From the stance of the man, he felt an air of familiarity.
Haani's eyes widened with realisation. It was the same man he saw with Sanari at Abdul's funeral. Even in her tragic form, he could point out her resemblance to Sanari. The girl got to be her sister, he thought to himself.
"What you think you're doing? " He called out at him in a dangerous voice. On hearing him, Behlul's gaze lifted up to Haani. Behlul was strong and firm but not a competition compared to Haani. "And who the hell you think you are?" he growled back at him, letting go of Annum.
"Oh, I know exactly who you are. You're one of her flings, aren't you? I always knew she was a whore and I'd punish her for it...
Do not step into my matters or I will kill you." he warned him with a dangerous pitch. Annum stared between both men in terror.
Haani seemed to zone out on entire of his warning as soon as he heard him mention the word 'whore'. At that, he lost his composure completely and took a swing at him. With full force he punched him square in the jaw, sending him straight to the ground. Behlul coughed with the sudden impact and spat out blood. Haani's tiredness at gym workout did pay off today, he mused.
As if a man on fire, Behlul got up and made a dash at Haani. With swift reflexes he kicked him hard in the stomach, sending him back to the ground again. Behlul laid there with entire of his physical strength in scams. For a fragile woman like Sanari, he sure was a strong beast. But for a well-maintained man like Haani, he stood no grounds.
"You do not call women whores and you do not hurt them either." Haani angrily roared at him. The incident had stringed old feelings within him. Memories he thought he had buried out.
His driver came in rushing. "Take care of him." He ordered him. Taking a step towards Annum, he lifted her up and made her stand on her feet. "I'm fine." She crooked in a weak voice. "Where's your sister? " He asked her with a voice filled with emotion. With that question, terror widened her eyes like a hostage. She got out of his grasp and ran towards the other side of the house. He ran after her.
She laid there unconscious on the ground of their tiny dining room. Annum tried shaking her back to conscience but she wouldn't even budge. "We need to take her to the hospital." Annum cried out at him.
He took in her view. A reddish bruise covered entire of her right cheek and a huge cut embellished her jaw. The rest of her body was covered from his gaze to see the damage. She was in clothes from the morning he had seen her in but now with patches teared up here and there. Which was very obvious for the protest she had tried to put against that beast. He could only imagine her fragile self fighting back.
For a moment his world seemed to stop. For ages, he hadn't felt emotions but right then he felt being the most helpless man ever on the face of the earth. He had beaten her mercilessly. Like a brute taming an animal.
Bending down, Haani carefully cradled her damaged body in his arms. His heart skipped a beat at the contact. Her warmth and fragrance engulfed him in a trance. Picking her up he started walking towards his car with Annum trailing in behind. He could hear the cops' sirens in a distance.
Opening the door to his car, he laid her over the back seat. "Get in." He ordered Annum. Taking the car keys from the driver and giving him instructions, he started off the engine. He wanted to make sure Behlul didn't see the morning sun, once he made sure Sanari was okay.
~~~~~~
The illumination stung her sight. But slowly and painfully she opened her eyes to the bright morning sun, or so she thought. Trying to move her herself, pain shot within her body. She laid there for a second taking in a deep breath. But finally succeeded her attempt in opening up to the world once again.
Looking around she noticed the huge room. Slowly and gradually taking in her surrounding. Crimson walls with matching curtains. Furniture that not only looked but also smelt expensive. Well organised but lacked a feminine touch. This wasn't her room.
A figure caught her attention. Haani was dozing off in a rest chair beside her bed. From the dark circles decorating his eyes and light stubble indicated he had been here the whole night. The clock at her bedside said three past noon. Confusedly she stared into his sleeping face.
Incidents from last night came flashing back. Each and every moment being played on its own. She remembered dialling Haani's number and calling him just in time for Behlul barging in. He snatched her phone and threw it across the room, it sputtered into a million pieces. That was the kind of strength he possessed. He hit her hard on her face, sending her to the ground. Kicked her till she lost count and plunged into a deep slumber. On recalling all that, she tried to get up with a jolt. But hissed with the stinging pain that shot within her entire body.
"Hey stop, stop-" Haani stirred up from his sleep and came rushing to her side. Placing his hands over her shoulders he pleaded her silently to lay back down. She followed his request and relaxed back, not once leaving his tired eyes. She saw genuine concern and hurt flash in them. As if he felt her pain through his body.
"Where's Annum?" She asked him in a dry voice. He stared at her blankly before replying. "She's fine. Downstairs somewhere in the house," he informed her softly. She looked back at him with glassy eyes. Silently asking him to explain it out to her.
"When you called, I took my cue on guessing something was wrong. I reached your house in time to catch this guy dragging your sister. I saw red but he was easy, with a few punches he was down like a dead man." He let out a sarcastic laugh but soon stopped as if to swallow down some hurt. "I saw you laid unconscious on the floor with bruises as far as my sight and your clothes allowed me to see. So, I brought you here." he silently yet painfully finished.
His last sentence made her cheeks turn scarlet with embarrassment. Sanari looked down at herself to inspect. she wasn't wearing her same clothes, though she still had a headscarf on. "Who-" she wanted to ask him but couldn't find suitable words to voice her questions. But by now Haani could read her like an open book. "Your sister and the doctor took care of fixing you up." He answered her confusion. To which she seemed to relax a bit.
He had a chance of seeing her. A very convenient chance indeed. Where Sanari wouldn't have been able to point a blaming finger at him. And he wouldn't have had to carry on with his sick game of getting her married to him. But with the incident that had just happened, he totally forgot about their proposition. And at the time taking advantage of her, when she laid almost dead and cold in his embrace, seemed the last thing he ever wanted to do on earth. He didn't ever stoop that low. At such a thought, his heart tugs at him.
"What happened to Behlul?" She asked again. "In the police custody." He answered with venom reeking his voice. At this, her eyes widened. "They won't investigate you, I handled that. However, they did investigate your sister, she didn't give in much. I wonder why." Sanari trusted Annum on keeping them safe.
"Thank you." She gratefully glanced at him. At her words, he gave her a genuine smile and got up to leave. "I'm sending up food, so you can take the medications. And informing your sister that you're awake..." he spoke in the doorway and left.
~~~~~~~~
"They're just going to charge him of breaking in and assaulting, and then they'll let him go. " Annum blankly made a statement with the spoon halfway to her mouth.
"I know," Sanari answered her zoned out sister, reaching forward to shake her back to reality. Annum shook her head violently.
"No, Sana you don't know. You don't know that if he's out there we are unsafe. The next time he gets a chance at us, we are good as dead and you know that." Annum all but yelled back at her sister.
"Shhhh- " Sanari hissed at her. "I know all that already, I know. But you do realise if we give a statement against him to the cops, we're both dead meat the next moment." That shut her up and she lowered her head in defeat. "Anu you have got to trust me. Our safety is important I do realise that. Give me time to think things through and I'll fix everything. Please..." She nodded back in understanding. However, doubting if her sister could fix things anymore.
Thoughts of the proposition ran through Sanari's head. If she'd accept Haani Fateen's proposal, she can keep them both safe and secure. He was a man who had connections most certainly. And only being within his shade seemed to be safe from Behlul's odour even. But was she really going to give in to a crude beast while in an attempt to run away from another?
Sighing deeply, she sank back into her chair. The sight of Haani's soft and vulnerable stance flashed before her eyes. She recalled genuine compassion in his eyes. Maybe he wasn't all that bad. But then again he was a man, and men are brutes, they're capable of anything as long as it benefits their vile hunger. Once before she had coped with a disgraceful marriage, this shouldn't be any different to her. She wasn't looking out for love anymore, so his proposition seemed legit to her under such knockout circumstances.
~~~~~~~
It had been a week now that they were staying at the villa. In such a massive house, their existence didn't seem to flicker much of attention or space but yet again it was Mr Fateen's generosity to let them stay this long. After all, it was his house.
Stomping her foot in pure anxiety Sanari felt like running away from life and finding peace in Abu's welcoming arms. But she knew that was far from possible and neither had life ever been gracious to her. Life had fazed her at every breathing second and tested her at every waking hour. She didn't expect ease to knock at her door any time sooner or maybe ever.
His throat felt dry and his stomach growled with hunger. Once again he was walking out of a damaged attempt at trying to restore back his inspiration. At the moment he didn't want to think of her. He had been strict on taming his thoughts from wandering towards her. Saying he was mad at her, was an understatement.
Now, there were different stuff he was mad about rather than, her not accepting his proposition. By now he had long forgotten about it because concern and frustration had wrapped him up in a dark shawl where no space for little beams of illumination seemed real. His frustrations had changed courses.
Walking towards the kitchen at two in the morning, he didn't feel like waking up the housekeeping. Opening the massive door he took a turn and flickered on the huge chandelier that hung in the middle of the kitchen roof. It illuminated the entire vast space. Taking a swift turn he all but yelled in terror, instantly placing a hand over his erratic heart to calm it.
"You startled me-" He stared wide-eyed to a statue like Sanari sitting on one of the stools beside the kitchen island.
"Guess we both are in a habit of doing that." She blankly stared and continued making shapes with a bare index finger on the marble of the island, not bothering to look up at him. He walked to her, dragged a stool himself and sat across of her with the island playing the purpose of separating two wild and angry waves from mingling, creating a choatic stirm. They were both massive oceans of angry mysteries and they both knew it well.
"What are you doing here at this hour? " He asked her while stretching out a hand and grabbing the nearby glass jar with chocolate cookies.
"I can ask you the same question." She shrugged at him. Her such attitude had been all but a fascination to him. She had nerves to be so blunt while sitting under his roof.
"Because I'm a man with needs." He called out at her and bit a chunk of the cookie as if proving his point. She looked away from him without making eye contact. He saw disgust flicker through her face for the briefest of seconds before it was replaced by the same indifferent emotion.
Sanari knew men too well and their disgusting needs. They certainly did everything out of need. Nothing in their life was ever done without need and that mere thought sickened her to the stomach.
"I missed Abu so I came in here. He used to spend a lot of his time in here and I just felt- " She tried to explain out but cracked mid-sentence. For the first time throughout this encounter, she raised her head and made eye contact. She felt his eyes soften at her in understanding.
"You miss him." Was a statement than a question. "I do." She replied back. Both stared at each other with an exchange of unspoken words. Both seemed to understand each other's losses and grooves of pain without changing much of emotion or posture.
Emotions started to flood Haani's brims and he seemed to be unprepared for them. No, he didn't want to face his losses and the harsh imprints of his life after all these years. He wasn't ready yet or maybe he'd never be. Fearing that her shattered world would unleash his own barren emotions, he got up immediately to leave her on her own accord.
At the moment he didn't even want to question her on why she and her sister refused to give a statement against Behlul? How that guy was linked to them? What was he doing there? Oh, he wanted to ask so many questions, unleash so may tantrums at her but he was at risk. A risk that would not just unfold her secrets but dig into his old wounds as well.
Closing his eyes to silence his inner storms, he tried to leave before her voice interrupted his frail escape.
"He was my husband..." She stated with letting the sentence hang mid-air. He froze for a moment. For a second the world seemed to have come to an end and wrath of the judgement day had already started. Yes, he was a sinner and he knew all too well how much doomed he already was but he couldn't care less. He turned around to give her a deadly glare.
He wanted her to continue, he had so many questions to ask. "My ex-husband actually."
"I wouldn't even bother asking why you left him." He genuinely told her.
"H-He was abusive both physically and emotionally. I had no option but to leave. I did try my best to hold it together, I swear I did..." She was talking more to herself than him. Recalling all the times she silently suffered all of Behlul's physical and emotional blows at her and each time she gave herself delusional hope that tomorrow things would change for the better. They never changed.
Shutting her eyes she tried to continue, " I couldn't take it anymore, I couldn't even for Abu's sake. I was weak, too vulnerable to hold it all together anymore and stay with him. It took me everything to get rid of him, get a divorce. Abu was always there for me or I would still be married to him or maybe dead by now. " She knew she never let her father know about the tortures she was going through. She didn't want him to feel guilty of his choices. But when finally she decided to walk out, he understood her without a question.
Haani looked at her both confused and agitated. How could she call herself weak just because she refused to suffer more blows? How did she even manage a single day with the brute? He looked away in pure anger and disgust. He couldn't bring himself to even imagine what this fragile being went through. How horrendous the world had been to her. He wanted to wrap her up in his protective embrace and fend her away from everyone who as much as flickered an eye in her direction.
Maybe Haani was a selfish man but he certainly wasn't a demon. Maybe he wanted to use Sanari, but couldn't even imagine someone else beating her senseless. 'I always knew she was a whore and I'd punish her for it...' His words repeated in his head and Haani closed his eyes to the unseen burning he was suffering. How could he?
Suddenly opening up his eyes, he looked straight into hers, piercing right into her soul. "How did he hurt you?" He asked in a low yet dangerous voice. He wanted each cell in that brute's body to pay for each damage he caused.
"It's in the past." She pleaded with her eyes, to not make her dwell in those moments once again.
"How did he get to you even? Where was he all this time when you had left him because it's been a while you got divorced. Or...?" He left the question hanging, not wanting to voice his fears to her.
"Abu got a court order against him after he found out about his abusive nature. He filed a complaint against him and got a restraining order. I don't really know how he managed to keep him away from me. But when Abu passed away, he-" Haani cut her mid-sentence by bringing his hand hard onto the table and slamming it with a fist. The voice made her jump up in her seat and terror oozed out of her. "I asked how did he get to you?" He all but growled at her.
She looked back at him all confounding. If a human body could be on flames, he seemed legit to be so. Suddenly understanding his question she tried answering him. "W-we got his proposal. We investigated a litte about him and asked around. Everyone seemed to be very fond of his good conduct and everything. So, Abu accepted." She finished her summary in a hurry.
Hearing her splutter he realised he had scared her. Suddenly regretting his sudden outburst he didn't want her to think of him the same. Relaxing down his shoulders he sank down onto his stool with an audible sigh. "I'm sorry." He gave her a soft look. "I'm surprised how a man like Abdul can be fooled like this."
The same way as he got fooled with you, she all but wanted to yell that in his face. She recalled each time her father spoke so proud and mighty of Haani Fateen and how generous and humble of a soul he was. Right now all she wanted to do was scrunch her nose at such pleasing compliments. Only if Abu could see him now, she angrily thought.
"Why didn't you tell the police." He stated angrily.
She gave out a sarcastic laugh, "Wh-Why didn't I tell the police?" She mused. Her such behaviour made him pull his brows together in confusion. This woman seemed to do nothing but get on his nerves, she was unbelievable.
Waving her hands in the air as in telling him that he's crazy, she continued, "You see Mr Fateen, many people aren't what they show. Wolf in sheep's clothing, you'd be personally familiar with that kind of pretense. World is full of deception. And people like Abu, a pure soul always are the victims. My father all but fancied him the moment he met him. Like he fancied you..." She stated in a sad voice as if recalling the broken sticking out edges of her existence.
"Behlul works for the underworld. Drug supplying, prostitution, kidnapping, every kind of inhumane crime you can imagine of. That's one reason I couldn't leave. And if I went to the police, I along with my family would have been burried six feet under the ground by now because that's how powerful connections he has." She told him what she told Annum.
His eyes widened at her blunt confession. Terror seemed to tense his body. No, he wasn't afraid of an inhuman criminal but the thought of a woman like Sanari living under the same roof as him made fear crawl up his bones. Anger reeked his seams. "Tell me how much he's hurt you?" He demanded suddenly getting up from his stool again.
He abruptly took a turn and strode towards where she sat. In one swift move, he dragged her stool to make her face him. Their fronts opposing each other. He placed both his arms on each side of the stool and pulled her even more closer. Bending down and invading her private space, he came face to face with her, his hands reaching her forearms. Clasping his large hands around her arms, he gave her a rough shrug, pulling her even more closer. Sanari didn't understand his sudden change in behaviour, he seemed bipolar and had enough experience to spot one.
"Tell me how much he's hurt you and I'll make each bone in his body pay for it." Anger radiated like hot heat from his body. His mint cologne stung her nose. Terror engulfed her. It had been only a few months that she'd gotten her liberty from cages of human viciousness and yet she found herself entrapped in another.
Her breath hitched in her throat and she couldn't tear off her eyes from his. The big vein pulsed in his forehead and his eyes seemed to turn into a shade of light red with pits of black that reflected hell itself. His ocean eyes were in rages of blazing fire.
He could hear the rapid thumping of her terrified heart. "Please d-dont-" She pleaded to him. Closing his eyes, Haani felt so helpless. It was the second time ever that he felt this helpless. He didn't want to recall the first. He didn't understand his reaction but all he knew was that he won't let that man see another day of bright light.
Instantly moving back, he grabbed the nearest thing in grasp and threw it against the wall on the side. The glass jar shattered with too many audible sounds. He grabbed his face in both his hands and yelled as hard and loud as he could. He was all but defeated. He didn't want past repeat itself once again.
Sanari didn't understand why he was reacting like a madman. She didn't even know who he was mad at, her or Behlul. They both stayed like that for a minute or so till Haani seemed to calm his nerves.
"No one's hurting you again I promise. I want that man behind the bars for the rest of his rotting life." He took a stern decision. She knew too well that there was no room for her to argue.
He bent down and brought his face to her level. She could feel his warm breath on her face again. "I won't ever let anyone hurt you again. Can you trust me?" He looked into her eyes and pleaded with the unspoken accord. Her eyes flickered between both his eyes as if searching his soul for the truth of his statement.
How could she trust a man? And most of all a man like Haani Fateen, who'd do anything to get what he wants. Even layout a proposition of marrying him. A marriage where no love, no affection, no nothing would be involved, only his selfish objectives, of what she didn't know of yet. How could she trust him? How could he be different from Behlul?
"Yes, I can." She heard herself speak which surprised her more than it surprised him. A genuine smile spread across his delicate features. She wanted to reach out and touch it. Touch him. But before she could, he sank onto the ground. Trust is just a word with too many immense definitions. And the problem is, everyone's got their own definition to it, maybe that's why we often get ourselves shattered in someone else's definition of trust.
He sank onto the ground as if suddenly tired with life burdens. Sourness in both body and emotions. On hearing her approval of trusting him, his heart pumped with genuine bliss. But did he deserve this bliss? He asked himself. After all that he had thought of her and subjected her as a piece of some game, did he deserve her trust? The game, he repeated those words mentally to himself.
Was he plainly doing this all out of sympathy? Or was he doing it because somehow her story interjected his own past wounds? He shut his eyes to all the noises in his head.
Looking up at her again, he reached out and engulfed her tiny fragile clasped hands in both of his, atop her lap. Bending down his head in emotional tiredness he laid it over their connected hands and closed his eyes again. "Thank you." He murmured.
But soon his moment of pure seventh heaven was interrupted with the words she chose to speak next. "I accept your proposal." She didn't know why she said it but the moment compelled her to. No one apart from her father and sister had ever shown her so much concern, making her feel like her pain was theirs, her suffering shattered them as well, her wounds hurt them too and in that moment she all but wanted to have him in her life. She craved the concern, the attention, the unspoken care and her needy heart gave in to him.
He jerked his head up and looked back at her in pure horror, "No-"
******
Sooooooo how was it? Did you like it so far? How do guys you feel about Haani?