Hisham opened the door to his mansion with a heavy heart.
A very heavy heavy heart.
This was the house he had bought thinking that it would become a home. A home for him, a home for his wife and a home for their children or should he say child?
Who was now dead!
He continued standing near the doorway as his eyes slowly scanned the entire living room area until his eyes landed on the staircase and that is when his already broken heart broke just a little bit more.
This was exactly how he had imagined it all to be.
That he would stand near this very same doorway after work and his little girl would run down the stairs screaming...
"Baba! Baba!"
He would then carelessly throw his workbag on the floor and open his arms wide in anticipation for a hug only for her to come and stand on top of his shoes, a mischevious glint in her eyes.
A mischevious glint similar to his!
He would then have scooped down to carry her in his arms and then they would have...
Would have!
That word only depicted his life. His current situation. Everything for him now was just but wishful thinking and he deserved for it to be that way because he had been a coward.
A bloody coward.
A coward because he had not been able to stand up for what was right. A coward because he had hit his wife and a coward because he was now doing what all other cowards usually did.
He was now running away!
He slowly made his way into the house but once again came to a stop when his eyes fell on that one very familiar folder that currently lay on the floor.
The shares!
He had completely forgotten all about them.
He bent down to pick the folder which he remembered having thrown to the floor the minute he had barged into the mansion that evening at the same time wondering as to why his wife had even wanted the shares considering she had not even been pregnant?
Had it been for the money?
No, he doubted it. Her father was way more richer than his father and he very well knew that the last thing Zulekha Akram could ever need in her life was money.
Then why? Just why?
Was it just to disturb him? To make him suffer? To make his life a living hell?
Well, she had succeeded because he was now utterly miserable and he had also literally lost everything.
Each and everything.
He had lost his dear child, he had lost his family, he had lost his happiness but worst of all was the fact that he had lost his own identity because one thing was for sure...
He, Hisham Hosseini, was never ever, going to be the same man again!
Ever.
He blankly stared at the folder in his hands for a few minutes afterwich he carefully opened it and tears once again stained his already swollen eyes the minute he gently grazed his fingers over Yasir's neat thumbprints.
He just could not believe it!
What sort of a man was his younger brother really?
How could a man be so selfless?
His heart grew heavier and heavier by the minute and guilt consumed him even more when he realised the fact that Yasir had given away his inheritance despite knowing that Yumnah was expecting.
His little brother has still given it all away despite knowing that he was going to be blessed with a child soon and that he too would need to pass down shares to his children some day.
Then what would he pass down then?
Nothing!
Why? Because his Akhi had taken it all away from him and Yasir too had willingly given it all up just because his Akhi had asked him for it.
"I am very very sorry Yasir and I am also very sorry Yumnah. Sorry for wanting to steal away your child's future rights," he whispered to himself as he closed his eyes due to the immense pain coursing through his heart.
"Your Akhi is one very selfish man little bro. He is one very selfish man...," he continued as he wiped away a stray tear away from his face.
"But not anymore," he once again whispered as he got hold of the folder and angrily ripped it into two and almost immediately his heart easened out but not for long because as he continued staring at the folder, he realised that the two halves of ripped up paper actually represented him.
The two separate halves actually represented him and his murdered daughter. They represented him and his wife, him and his family and once again, the two halves represented him and his old self.
The old self that was now buried deep within. The old self that was begging to come out. Begging to breathe again. Begging to live again but it was now buried so deep down that it would need a whole lot of time and a whole lot healing to surface once again.
He carelessly threw the papers on the floor and sprinted up the stairs not at all knowing that there was one more thing that the two halves represented.
The two halves also represented...
Yasir and Yumnah and their now broken marriage.
And maybe, just maybe if he had known that his brother's marriage had just hit the rocks, he would have stayed back. Stayed back to fix things.
Fix things for others, something that his old self loved doing.
He slowly made his way into their bedroom and upon taking just one look around, he broke down once again sobbing uncontrollably.
This was the one room that held the most memories for him.
Painful memories to be precise and he had no plans of reliving any of them.
Not now. Not ever and that is why he needed to get out of here and that too as soon as possible because the more he stayed there the more he relived each memory and the more the pain he experienced.
He quickly walked to his closet, pulled out a backpack and immediately began shoving inside any of his clothes that he could get his hands on.
He then dug into his pocket, pulled out a key and opened a drawer which he always kept locked.
Locked away from his own 'dear' wife.
From the drawer he pulled out his passport, his insurance, a scan of the baby's first ultrasound, the very first baby socks he had bought and a few dollars.
Dollars which he had saved and safely hidden away for his daughter's delivery. Hidden them away from Zulekha because she was a bloody spendthrift and the last thing he had wanted was to be pennyless on the day his daughter was born.
He quickly shoved the money into his pocket and slightly jumped when he he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.
Hope filled his heart slightly after seeing the name that was flashing on the screen and he immediately picked up a small smile on his face...
"Hello?"
"Bro..."
"Hey Evans," he said at the same trying his best to sound as normal as possible.
"I called to tell you that everything is ready."
"What? Are you sure? So soon?"
"Yep!"
"Thanks a lot man."
"Don't thank me bro. This is absolutely nothing. Well nothing compared to what you did for me back in uni."
"I...I...," he stuttered.
"Its the truth Hisham. I would not even be having a job today if it wasn't for you."
"Its okay Evans. I had the ability to help you back then and so I did. No biggie really," he said as he bit back a sob.
He just could not believe that the one mere good did he had done years back, had now come back as a blessing.
A blessing during one of his most difficult times.
"But Hisham?"
"Yeah?"
"Didn't you just but recently get married? Is your wife okay with all of this?"
He remained silent for a while as he contemplated on what to say.
"I...I...she...she...it just didn't work out between us," he finally huffed, his eyes tightly closed.
"Oh," said Evans and Hisham didn't miss the hint of doubt in his voice.
"Yeah, listen Evans, I got to go. Need to finalize on some stuff im doing. Il call you," said he said in a bid to end the call.
"Sure. See you soon."
The minute Evans hung up, he let out long sigh of relief. Damn, he just couldn't handle any of those questions and that was one of the many other reasons as to why he was running away.
He just couldn't deal.
He then quickly switched off his phone, shoved into the back pack along with the rest of his stuff and without looking back, sprinted out of the room, down the stairs and out of the mansion not at all bothering to lock the door because whatever he left behind was of no sentimental value to him at all.
It could all get stolen for all he could care.
He then flagged down a taxi and once again let a sigh of relief the minute he made himself comfortable in the backseat.
"Where to Sir?" asked the taxi driver.
"The airport and step on it."
"Sure Sir."
And that was the last that was heard of the then funny, jovial and carefree, Hisham Hosseini.
****
Hussein reassuringly placed his hand over his wife's shoulder only for her to angrily slap it away.
"Don't you dare touch me Hussein."
"Yasmin, please try and understand..."
"Its all your fault Hussein. Its all your fault. I will never forgive you if I lose my son. How could you have let him go?" How could you have let my Hisham go?" she whispered as tears continously streamed down her face.
Hussein sighed as he sat down next to her and his heart immediately sank when she moved away from him.
"Yasmin listen..."
"No!"
"Please listen..."
"Go get me my son first Hussein."
"YASMIN!" he shouted due to frustration and his eyes quickly softened when he saw her tear stricken face.
"He needed to leave Habibty. He really needed to leave. Trust me," he said as he rubbed his hands over his tired face hoping that wife would just understand and let things go.
"No he didn't. The only thing that Hisham needed was some love and affection and that would have been enough to help him heal. I am his mother Hussein and I know..."
"I am also his father Yasmin and I also know what is best for him. What do you think? That I'm not hurting? Do you think that it doesn't pain me to see my eldest son leave?"
"Then why did you let him go?" she asked through gritted teeth and Hussein didn't fail to see the pain and anger in her eyes.
"Because he reminded me of myself damn it. Just one look into his eyes and I knew what he was going through."
"I just want my son...," she began but he cut her short.
"His eyes held so much hurt Yasmin. They held rejection, they held so much fear and guilt and I know how all that feels Habibty," he said, a distant look on his face.
"Hussein but..."
"No Yasmin. Years back, you were the only person who understood me and loved me enough to let me go...
"So please, this time round, let me be that person for my son."
****
LOOK WHOSE BACK ;)
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING PATIENT EVERYONE ( WALLAH IF I COULD HAVE UPDATED SOONER, I WOULD HAVE)...
HISHAM IS GONE PEEPS (I AM TERRIBLY GOING TO MISS HIM) AND I HOPE YOU ALL WILL AS WELL :)
HOPE THE CHAPTER WAS GOOD ENOUGH...
PLEASE DO VOTE AND COMMENT.
UNTIL NEXT TIME,
ASALAM ALEIKUM :)