'My memory will haunt you forever'
.
The light at the end of the tunnel
It was a debatable fact in both their heads, if a relationship, as theirs was, was really working out in constant. The road however, stretched long in front of their eyes. They had been barely watching the fallen autumn leaves and the overhead dazzling sun. She was busy eating and he was busy watching her eat, and partially glancing on the road.
"Eyes on road!"
Until she decided to tell him, it was important, or they could well...die.
"Don't you feel taken?"
"Stolen you mean?" She broke the fried chicken and ate and spoke with gobbled words. "Like freaking abducted. Do you even realize what they are going to think? You pulled me out of work in front of an audience,"
"An audience? A street dog you mean. I am being careful like you asked me to,"
She sighed and ate again this time chugging the cold drink after.
"Are you stress eating? Is that really a thing?" He shot the words at her.
"it is," She mentioned. "Obviously it is, besides wasting food is bad, and I paid for it, so hell yes, I am eating it and in stress,"
Half a chicken piece later she decided to talk to him again.
"Does that matter? Even walls have ears, and desperate times call for desperate measures and you know if this thing gets out...also I am tired of sneaking out like this,"
"They'll think we are dating. Which we are but well you are you... and then your parents will be disappointed in you, heard this a thousand times," He halted his speech and looked at her not to get lost this time but argue perhaps.
"So?" She asked.
He shrugged his shoulders. "So what?"
"So what? So bring a damn proposal. Oh my god you are not playing me are you?"
"Do you even think before speaking lady?" He said. "You know I love you,"
"Then tell me what the wait is for? I told you I cannot keep lurking around the streets with you,"
His mouth opened and then he looked back at the road. The silence was deafening as she waited for his reply.
"What?" She asked.
"You look better when you are eating,"
"You mean when my mouth is shut. You are so typical!" She shouted.
"I...Well. I do have the business in America, on top of all that, my psycho cousin and your security; marriage would be overwhelming for us in this time,"
His casual tone was urging her to tear apart his throat. "You mean you are not ready,"
"I mean we are not ready," He mentioned carefully.
In reality, was hesitating that he'd mess up that he didn't have a rock solid base to make things good with her family after the 'picture scandal'. The best thing he could go and say was 'hi uncle. Hi aunty. I am your future son in law (and obviously I am imposing this on you), who just can't keep it in his damn pants, totally smitten by your sexy daughter and I also happen to be a mafia leader (Of sorts, bad sorts) so let me marry your daughter, also my parents are dead, and my family is MIA'
Conclusion there was nothing decent about him, except his business, but won't the darkness outshine the brightness in his character? It 100 percent would and for the first time he was terrified of screwing up.
"Whatever you are thinking Maaz. I am genuinely concerned...Actually," She had stopped eating now. "I am sorry; I think I am the desperate one. And obviously, I am imposing on you, being forceful and you do not have to...uh agree,"
"You're not any of that; I don't have anyone to bring the proposal, and they'll reject me at the mere sight," He broke her rant. Her eyes narrowed down in realization, she cleared her throat finding the right words to comfort him. Comforting someone was difficult for her.
"Don't say that, you don't have to feel embarrassed about it, you can come alone and still rock it because guess what you are amazing and my parents are going to love you, and I never want to hear you say that you don't have a family," Ayat momentarily stopped. "I...I will be your family,"
From his usual poker face, he burst laughing.
"Stop enjoying my discomfort,"
"I sure enjoy it," He said, it was his one look and for her it was like the walls were closing up on them, and he was moving closer to her like a fluid movement, and she wanted to stop him but she couldn't. He smirked, and she understood he was messing with her as before.
"Stop that," She whispered in his ear. "Or I am never coming with you again, Mr. Chaudhry,"
"What 'that'?" His breath tickled her neck. He seemed clearly amused and taking advantage of her uncomforted state, she averted her eyes, flushing like a tomato.
"Nothing,"
"Nothing?" He said stuffing her with his presence again, merely an inch away now he brushed his fingers on her collar bone on the dark brown bruise. "What is this then?"
She put her fingers on his and brushed on her skin, from weeks ago. The scar had remained. He had bit her like a barbarian, sucked on her skin like there was no tomorrow.
"What were you thinking?" She whispered. He looked into her jet black eyes like they were speaking to him instead of her voice. "When you did this,"
"You'll be corrupted if I tell," His tone was suggestive and low. "And this is why we need to get married, make sure your parents are mentally prepared when I come tomorrow,"
She nodded her head. "Look in front,"
"What?" He asked. She punched him in the arm. "Look at the damn road. You are going to kill me,"
"I am not, and we are here, my house,"
In front of her eyes stood a tall, boasting and glorious piece of architecture. Brilliantly detailed lines and pillars, the front door was exuberant and so were the tall windows you could see from the exterior, and a fountain in the middle, and their car parked on the road. Everything was dead silent, a leaf moved and you could hear it clearly. Even if it was beautiful, she felt chills seeing the house. Like she had seen this somewhere, like lucidly remembered this place, just the visuals, she couldn't put to words what she felt though.
"It's..." She got out of the car, slowly walking towards the front gate. He was besides her matching her slow pace. He clicked the lock and they stepped inside.
"Dad was out of words when he saw this place first as well when I was 17 years old, when he finally decided to move here, permanently, his best excuse to stay away was, the house reminded him of her which somehow made it better for him to leave his son alone with the maids," He laughed dryly like trying to extract the poisoned memory. "I hope you like it, though,"
"I do, it's beautiful," her fingers brushed the handles of the door. She thought how much heart had been put into this, how much talent and she admired talent.
"Dad got it built when he found out mom was with me, just the three of us were supposed to live here, we were going to move out of Taya Abu's house, in this haven which was pretty much a curse for me" He sucked in a deep breath, like he was stopping his tears which came anyway, he shrugged his shoulder. It was the right time to involve her in his life. Crazy as it was.
"We never lived here as a family, after my mothers death, struck by grief dad decided to live abroad, doing business and god knows what, visited less than two times in three years. It felt like I had no parents. He remained away from this house, from me because it reminded him of her and he was too in his head to admit and tend to his fatherly duties, not that he ever held me a baby, he never came to Pakistan after listening about the news of my mother's death,"
She wanted to say something, but words had sunken in her minds and vanished and all that came out was a gasp, a low hurdling one, which he didn't even notice.
"After dad made his grand appearance and declared me his son, when I was almost an adult, it was no brainer I had no liking to him, initially, growing up a lot of things made me curious like the cargo of boxes that came from our old his where mom and dad lived with my uncle. It contained her diaries and there is one thing I discovered she was murdered, she was in grief and pain for some reason. On 7th of July, dad came home, and the first question I asked was, what happened to mom? and guess what I got. A pitiful smile. I was eighteen, no fucking child, I asked him again, and he said, 'The less we talk, the better'. It made him suspicious and me, well I was always curious, that's when I found out that there was no proper grave for my mother, a little more older, I dug in the hospital records right after my birth, because I was sure it wasn't me who killed her, and I was right she was totally fine after she gave birth to me, but then she dies out of the blue,"
"Do you think your father did it? You said he had illegal side deals,"
"No. He really loved her. That's what the maids told me," He laughed ironically. "But I think any of his rival could, I haven't discovered who yet, dad and I started bonding after and he grew on me, I started to obey him only because I couldn't really find my mother and accepted that maybe he was right, the less we talk about her the better, he became a real father and I started to love him, he started noticing I had anger issues, I was fussy...I hate to admit that one but then he suggested I played football, it will help me burn of some steam, and it did momentarily, and then I saw you, and then the obsessiveness came back in,"
"And you became a creepy stalker," Ayat laughed.
"Creepy? I thought you'd say, a handsome stalker,"
"I'd never say it," She rolled her.
"You'd scream it," He winked, and all the blood rushed to her nether regions.
"I was right, you're straight up creepy,"
"I agree, only because you're saying it,"
He held her hand, rubbed her knuckles lightly, they decided to sit on the porch instead with the dancing trees beside them and they were in each other's comfort so none of them complained about the stone hard step, or the superficial discomfort it caused.
"Maaz?"
He hummed back. "Can I ask you something?"
"Anything,"
"What happened to your dad? That day was...messy," She looked down. Totally guilty.
"He was murdered, I suppose from the same people who killed my mother," He said. "And I feel like a damn failure to both of them,"
"You are not, you should know that, you did everything you could,"
"Not everything, since I had one lead only and that was my crazy cousin, I found out was the leader of people who had bone for me from day one. No reason for that even. You see nothing makes sense," He was starting to feel annoyed because of it, because he didn't know, because he wasn't told what his father knew.
"It will, and your cousin. What about his family?" She asked.
"He was my uncle's eldest son,"
"The same uncle, your parent's used to live with?" She shot back.
"Do you think it had something to do with them?"
"They were living with them, your mother was living with them when your father was abroad before you were born, the dates match, don't you think?" Ayat asked getting jumpy with nerves.
"He cared for me, visited me, and was there when I had no father, besides he died of cancer a few years ago. He had a tragic life, dad told me that his wife fled with her lover, I don't usually talk about this because Danial has been a great friend to me but he isn't my uncle's, he is a bastard child,"
Ayat was shocked; for once she thought Maaz had a normal cousin who also happened to be a psychopath's brother (half-brother) now. Poor Danial.
"Why would she leave her own child?"
"She didn't want the child, and nor did uncle want a bastard child so he gave him to his aunt in Karachi, he was raised there, only Khawar (aka the crazy cousin) remained with uncle, but I didn't know him since it was only uncle who came to this house, and a no women households didn't turn out in favor of family get together so we remained distant, that's why I was surprised when I got to know he's been after me all this time, long before he tried to get you raped, he wanted something from me, I didn't get what? I suspected him of my father's murder but it turned out wrong,"
She had to take one by one. A lot to digest, but this was his life. Estranged and complex.
"So how did you find Danial?"
"I hunted for everyone, family, neighbors, business nemesis, to find out my father's murderer, I found out about him when I went to Karachi, he was studying then but we bonded well and so he decided to come to Lahore and offered to take care of business here,"
From business he meant both. Mafia and his great legal empire. At this point it would be naïve of her to be oblivious about that.
"Guess you and your dad have same way of dealing with grief," She made patterns on his hand. She was thinking something.
"What are you thinking? Mia amor," He asked gently.
"Did you get over me when you went there and then when you saw me again after our friend's set up the feelings resurfaced?" Her doubt was clear and justified.
"I never fell out of love with you," He didn't take a second before replying, it came out naturally.
"I fell in love with you as well, I was afraid to admit it, you were...well, you," She said. "You were intense and not what I expected, not my ideal type as well,"
"It wasn't your fault, I was intense back then, and a creepy stalker," He chuckled lightly. "And afraid that you were going to leave me and you did, because of that and I just fell in a dark spiral after that, I needed a change of scenery and after I self-sabotaged, tampered our picture and broke your engagement, I hated myself more, I couldn't face myself, it was supposed to be my revenge because you left me, and I am sorry about that, I couldn't imagine the discomfort I put you through. I know even if I give my life, I can't take that away,"
"Don't apologize," She mentioned casually. "You did me a favor, he wasn't worth it, he didn't believe me even when he said that he loved me, love is about trust, not mere words,"
"I am glad I did it then, else you would be with three kids of another man," He said. "I'd kill the man, just for the sake of context,"
"Still intense!"
"How so?" He said, and there he was with his brown eyes boring holes through her skin.
"Stop staring like this? It's weird,"
"Come on is it? You are going to have to get used to this," He said, and then got up from the cold step. "And let me show you the house I grew up in (alone)"
"Sure," She said and he opened the door to his house, vast and intricate, with picture frames all over the face, all from Maaz's childhood. That looked like a home where a lovely family had once lived, it was a bit shady from other spaces, like hollow corridors which she couldn't see the end to from the living room, how far along did they stretch.
"Is that...that where we will live?" She asked.
"No, we'll be staying in America, that's where main things are, but we will visit," He smiled. She however, smiled like a plastic china doll.
"I know you are thinking something, so tell me what is it?" He asked, and she sat on the sofa, and she felt like she had sunken into the soft fabric...wait, she needed to get back to her concern.
"I can't be so far from my family," She said. "Can't we live here?"
"We can't, not in the long run; my assistant already wants me there, it is important..." He mentioned, more like told her.
"I just...I imagined things a certain way, I wanted my family to be there when every big event happens, and the thought of being so away from them is...a little shattering, but then again...I only just got you back and I don't want things crumpling between us, so..." She was on a teary edge by the end of it. she had a lot to say.
"You can take my private jets, fly here any minute," He said. "I am cooperative, I haven't shown that much but I mean to,"
She smiled genuinely this time. "I know,"
"A kiss?" He pouted.
"Not so soon," and as she shuffled in her place a little she heard a creak, like something broke down in the sofa.
"I think I just broke your sofa," Ayat immediately got up, feeling flushed and embarrassed suddenly.
"Let me have a look," He bent down, and tore open the cover. "It had been a little hokey and in need of change, wait..."
He took out a white paper, rusty and old, a little blotched from places, it's ends crumpled. He opened the paper. All the color drained out of his face. He went pale.
"What is it?" She asked urgently and then took the paper without asking him, and read through it frivolously, and then her throat parched dry and mouth flown open in shock, and they looked at each other with a whole new perspective, like the world had been flipped upside down.
"Fuck...I was right,"
"You knew?" She couldn't believe it. Could not fathom the information written on the paper in front of them. A paper tore from a diary. The diaries Maaz used to read, guess what was most important was hidden. Discreet enough to be in a sofa.
"I had this theory, a crazy one about my mother's family, but I did not expect this,"
"We are cousins..."
I know. It's a lot and even she had to sit back down on the broken sofa to digest that.
"I knew they lived on the same street where your family lived, I didn't think it was your family," Maaz said. "I was going to meet them any day now. Now I get the resemblance of my mother and you, you are the product of mom's twin sister,"
"I can't believe she did this to me, even dad did this to me. Lied to me. Did they know who you were?" She asked, the tear stung eyes wanting him to assure her.
"We can always guess, Mia amor," But like her, he was in for a great secret which only her parents could tell now. He felt like he finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel.
...
Greetings Fellas!
And look what the hell just happened up there!
They are family!
Anyways you know the other formalities. Vote, comment and share!
Also stay happy and blessed.