S H E H R Y A R
Annaya.
My love.
My world.
My everything.
I sighed and ran a frustrated hand through my hair thinking about what to do now. A day had passed by since I last talked to her and she wasn't returning my calls or texts, making me more worried than I already was. The strange behavior she had potrayed when Hamza came in my office had made me suspicious of something but I didn't pay much heed to it and carried on with my work.
The day progressed into night and into another new day with no sign of Annaya, anywhere. Her absence was taking a toll on me and now I was nearing my edge.
I had already called Armaan to ask about Annaya but he too had no idea about her and said that she was behaving strangely. Manaal bhaabi from afar had said that it was just a phase but something in me knew it wasn't. I had this feeling that there was something big behind this and that Annaya would do something stupid.
This feeling only intensified as time ticked by and then finally I lost it. I grabbed my car keys from the table along with my phone and made my way out to the front porch where my car was. Quickly getting in I drove off towards Armaan's house praying for Annaya to be there.
The heavy rain droplets splattered on my windscreen as the clouds growled above me, indicating the arrival of a storm. The wipers splashed the water here and there, clearing my view as I sped past other cars to reach her house.
A frustrated sigh escaped my lips as I impatiently knocked on the front door, waiting for it to open. No response came and I was about to break the door down when it opened revealing a worried looking Manaal bhaabi.
Bursting through the door I quickly walked inside and saw Armaan sitting on the sofa with a difficult expression. What's wrong with him? I thought.
"Armaan." I said.
"Shehryar." He acknowledged and we shook hands as I looked around the whole house to see where Annaya was.
"She's not here." Armaan said dejectedly and I felt the air rush out of my lungs.
"What do you mean she's not here? Where is she Armaan?" I demanded getting up. This was it. My breaking point was here.
"I mean what I said Shehryar. She went away. I don't know where and I–" he stopped as if stopping the tears from falling. He took a deep breath, covering his face with a neutral expression as he continued "–Shehryar I have no idea where she is right now. Hamza is around and I don't know what is going on. Manaal told me that Annaya had left to do some work and I'm as clueless as you are."
My eyes travelled to Manaal bhaabi who was continuously fidgeting on her place and with the way she looked at me, I knew she knew everything. The fact that Armaan took hamza's name had me feeling nauseous because I didn't want him to be involved in all of this. I had no clue what to believe or what to do except to talk to Annaya which was getting harder and harder.
"Manaal bhaabi." I said gaining her attention as she stuttered a small greeting.
"Where's Annaya, Manaal bhaabi?" I asked. My voice threatening and edgy but I didn't care about it right now. I wanted to know where my Annaya was.
"I-I dont-t know." She replied looking down as tears spilled from her eyes. Her little answer made my heart clench as my eyes watered too. At first I had this small hope that Annaya would be okay but seeing the turn of events and her disappearance had only left me feeling empty.
I sighed and asked her the same question again, my voice calm and needy now. She replied repeating the same sentence and my heart suffered yet another blow. With every answer my heart weakened and weakened until I had no more strength left.
I kneeled before her, clasping my hands together as I begged for her to tell me where she was and tears from both our eyes dripped.
"Manaal bhaabi please, I beg you. I beg you to tell me where Annaya is. Please. I cant- I can't function. My heart is hurting so much only thinking about Annaya being in danger. It's a slow painful torture for me not knowing where the woman I love is, so I beg you, I beg you to tell me where she is before everything is destroyed. Please." I pleaded as my eyes and my heart cried and she nodded.
"She's- she's at the doc-ck-s. Hamz-a-a called-d." She said and Armaan in seconds engulfed her in his arms, shushing her as I wiped my tears away and stood up.
She was at the docks. It was a relief to know where she was but the place she was at right now was dangerous as hell.
I took my car keys and walked towards the main door as Armaan caught up with me. There was no exchange of words but we both knew that we needed to do everything in our power to reach the place. To reach Annaya.
We quickly got in our car and drove towards the docks all the while bad thoughts clouded my mind. My eyes shifted to Armaan who was staring straight ahead and thinking. I myself was so worried and I could only imagine what he must be going through.
"Armaan dude." I said lightly touching his arm but he didn't look at me. I was about to shake him again but his words cut me to it.
"You love her." He said. My eyes widened as realization hit me of what I had said earlier infront of Manaal bhaabi. A few seconds or maybe minutes passed by before any of us spoke and the tension was getting heavier and heavier.
I should tell him. He's her brother and my bestfriend. He has the right to know. With that I took in a deep breath and mustering all my courage and emotion I finally confessed to him.
"I love her." I said and his head whirled in my direction as he listened to me carefully, his eyes urging me to go on and tell him everything.
"I love her Armaan. I love her so damn much! You have no idea do you?" I asked and he shook his head no. A small smile covered my lips as I thought of how I came to love her. The beautiful journey I had of falling for her.
"You know, at first I kind of didn't like her. Strange right? She made mistakes and did everything opposite of what I would do and it made me angry. She was too empathetic for her own good and this irritated me. So much. Slowly though, this anger dissipated as something else took its place. I felt good scolding her and on the days I didn't or couldn't, I felt empty like something was missing. But then whenever I did, I felt horrible. I would go and apologize to her, atleast try to and it surprised me because I never apologize to anyone, you know that right? Anyways, It wasn't long before everything about her started mattering to me. Her actions, her words and her love for others lulled me towards her. I did try to deny this and move on with my life but then our little camp trip came along and so many realizations hit me. I started accepting whatever I was feeling and she made it so beautiful. She made falling for her so gentle and beautiful that for a second I thought about the fact that I may have been in love with her from the start. I remember how little gestures of her's like giving me the shawl when it was raining and making coffee and offering it to me and how she treated the people with so much love and care. It almost seemed surreal for a person like her to exist in such a cruel world. I remember the time when she was about to fall in the river and at that moment nothing mattered except for her. I felt horrible and god I hated that moment her loved it. You don't know why I loved it but believe me, that is my favourite memory of us. Her clumsiness, her habit of saying out loud what she was thinking and then realizing that she had said it out loud and the embarrassment that covered her, her little blush and that shy smile of her's, everything about her is my favourite. I love her. I love Annaya so much that at times I feel like bursting out and giving all my love to her. Before this I had planned everything out, how I would ask for her hand in marriage from her family and how I would propose to her and how I would treat her like a queen, my queen. She's my light Armaan. She's that shooting star I used to wait up for every night. She's the one. I love her. So damn much." I finished and felt wetness on my cheeks. The salty taste in my mouth gave it away, I was crying and I wasn't the least bit embarrassed. I would do anything for my love, for my Annaya.
I glanced at Armaan who had a proud and happy expression on his face. I wanted to ask him what he had thought of this and if he was okay with it but I couldn't because we had reached our destination and now we just needed to find Annaya.
"Com'on, let's go!" I said quickly rushing out of the car with Armaan beside me. We walked around the containers as we tried looking for Annaya but then the both of us stopped upon hearing her voice. Not just her's but Hamza's as well.
Armaan motioned to keep quiet as we creeped behind the nearest container listening to the exchange between Annaya and Hamza.
I'll be leaving this chapter here because if I write ahead then this chapter will become a very big one and I want to give both Shehryar and Annayas POV on it so the whole drama will befold in the next chapter.
I hope you like this chapter and I'm sorry for updating it so late...I tried 4 different ways of writing this chapter and chose the best one for you people so I hope you like it:)
Don't forget to vote and comment and thank you so much for supporting me and my book. Take care of yourself and oread happiness!
Allah Hafiz.
–badkitten146