20. The love birds

*****

Morning had come faster than Ziah would like. She had barely gotten any sleep with all the emotional ache and the throbbing in her temple. Her mood was already off and what could ruin her mind more was a question forgotten because as soon as she came down to begin her day, her eyes fell on the hunched figures of Marwan and Laiha, sitting close to each other, sharing a few laughs here and there.

Aur kal tak toh kise ko apni fiance yaad bhi nahi thi.

Biting her lips to not let a word that her mind had processed out of her lips, she silently took a seat at the dining table that was already swarmed with Aliya, Kabir, Major Mathur and of course, the love birds.

"Ziah, beta are you alright?"

Snapping herself out of her burning thoughts, she looked ahead to find Madiha giving her a concerned look. Ziah knew she looked exhausted beyond words and the proof for that were her slumped yet tense shoulders, the dark circles under her eyes that now seemed too prominent and the gloomy aura that surrounded her form without her permission.

"I am alright, aunty. Bas raat ko sahi se neend nahi aayi."

Madiha frowned upon hearing her words. Keeping the casserole at the table, she rounded around the chairs and stood in front of Ziah. Before the latter could comprehend, Madiha raised her hand to check her temperature.

"Allah, tumhe toh itna tez bukhar hai. Why don't you take care of yourself?"

The old woman's stern tone made her gulp. Ziah looked down at her empty plate with a frown. She didn't know how or what was happening in her life at this point.

Everything just felt too jumbled and too overwhelming.

A soft touch on the top of her head made her blink her eyes a few times and she mentally chanted words of encouragement to not let the frustration out of her body flow in the form of tears.

"Ziah, beta koi baat hai jo tumhe pareshan kar rahi hai? You don't have to open up, lekin don't keep it all bottled in your mind and heart. It's affecting your health."

This time the words were said by Major Mathur. Maybe the first time that he directly addressed her.

"Main theek hu. It's just the lack of sleep."

She murmured, trying to assure the people who gazed at her with a concerned look. Ziah tried not to act bothered but the gaze of a certain someone had her shifting in her place.

She didn't look up even once, trying to ignore the sensation and him with all her might. It was wrong on so many levels especially after their talk from yesterday, and she didn't want her heart to weep more than it already did.

The commotion around came to a halt. The breakfast was served and the place was blanketed in silence though it did not last long.

"I've contacted the jail administration. We have the permit to meet him but only for a limited time."

Mathur spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. Ziah didn't stop eating the tiny bites of her paratha. Her mood was low and so was her energy. Staying mute, she silently decided to focus on their conversation as best as she could.

"Kab?"

"Today."

Marwan choked on the juice that he had taken the first sip of. Ziah's head whipped up to look at him, her eyes glistened with worry and as she was about to speak to him, her lips on reflex shut themselves when she saw Laiha rubbing his back and scolding him with a scowl.

Gulping down the urge to do something, anything to stop her thudding heart that suddenly felt too painful to carry, she pushed her plate away and politely excused herself, not bothering to glance at the man who was now gazing at her retreating back with a hidden smile.

*****

Marwan buttoned his cuffs with a far away look in his eyes. Last night's conversation revolved in his head- doing nothing to calm his raging thoughts of barriers, norms, what was wrong and what was right.

Taking in a frustrating breath, he ran a hand through his hair. They- him, Aliya and Major Mathur- were going to have a conversation with the driver responsible for it all. But that wasn't what had gotten him all worked up. Maybe it was a certain brown eyed beauty who even refused to acknowledge his presence as though he were a plague.

"Calm down. She's just not feeling well.""

And she was avoiding him on purpose.

A knock on his door had him closing his eyes in utter restraint. His thoughts had never driven him this crazy before and he doubted staying in his mind realm for another second.

"Come in."

The knob was turned and footsteps were heard. A warmth spread across the room and he didn't know if he should relax or allow himself to let the tense feeling in. A hand was placed on his shoulder and his worries were halted by a familiar voice.

"Marwan, itna kyu pareshan kar rahe ho khud ko?"

Madiha knew after their late night talk, a certain change had entered his mind. She knew what she did was utterly foolish but it was needed- it is needed to keep things proper.

"Mama, I-"

He shook his head, not knowing what to say or how to put his point across without coming off as rude and cold.

Shrugging off her touch, he picked his watch and tied it around his wrist. Completely disregarding the need to converse with his mother, he put on his shoes and gave her a glance over his shoulders.

"I'm leaving for now. Raat ko aane mein shayad der ho jayegi."

Not waiting for a reply, he was out of Madiha's sight before she could blink or call him back. A prick was what she felt in her heart for this was the first time that her son had blatantly ignored her- but who was she to complain when it was her fault?

Marwan walked out of the room with heavy steps. A soft clink was heard as he walked down the first stair, something that was not registered by his dazed mind.

Reaching towards the main door, he found Aliya frowning with her phone placed next to her ears, probably a conversation about something she didn't appreciate.

"Daiyan, we'll manage. Tujhe aane ki zarurat nahi hai. How can you leave Parizad alone?"

Marwan shook his head to stop his train of thoughts and focused on Aliya and Daiyan's conversation- more like Aliya's words because the call wasn't on speaker.

"I get it but-"

"Acha theek hai-"

"You know what? Fine! Jo karna hai kar!"

Aliya practically growled in annoyance before cutting the call. Kabir was by her side the very moment, wrapping his arms around her shoulder while she just huffed and placed her head on his shoulder.

"Kya kaha usne?"

Marwan couldn't help but ask.

"The ever faithful commando wants to join the interrogation. Kaha that Parizad will be discharged today and he'd be reaching here with her in half an hour."

"Wait, but-"

"Bola maine use, we'll handle but the stubborn brat-"

Major Mathur cleared his throat at Aliya's choice of words. Surely, a 29 year old commando wouldn't appreciate to be addressed as such in his absence. Aliya gave a sheepish smile to her senior and cleared her throat.

"Matlab adha ghanta intezar karna padega uska?"

Aliya shrugged, a clear indication that yes, they should.

Groaning lowly under his breath, Marwan placed his head between his hands, not bothering to hide just how much he hated waiting.

Walking back into the house, his hands moved on their own to unbutton his cuffs but a frown took over his features when he found his left cufflink missing. Looking around himself for a while, he let out a sigh of exaggeration.

Knowing that there were thirty minutes that he needed to waste- wait, he strolled into the living room. Bouncing on the 'C' shaped couch, he got comfortable in his position and crossed his right ankle over the left, placing his legs on the edge of the table.

"Yeh kya tareeka hai baithne ka?"

Just the world against him.

The words resonated in Marwan's mind as he subtly brought his legs down and sat straight, rubbing his palms against his thigh so as not to clench them to show how irked he was at the moment.

"Assalamu alaikum aapko bhi abbu."

The sarcasm that lay under his words of greetings did not go unnoticed by his father, who decided to ignore the rudeness of his son and took a seat opposite to his.

"Kab join kar rahe ho office?"

"Abbu, can we not do this right now? I have enough on my plate already."

Knowing that peace wouldn't come to him as long as he was in the presence of his father, Marwan got up to leave but was efficiently stopped by Waheed's mood of not bringing the conversation to an end.

"Another reason for you to quit your obsession with guns and trouble. Just resign from your job and manage the family business already, Marwan. The chair of CEO isn't going to pass to anyone outside the Qureshi blood."

The possessiveness that Waheed held towards his company had always amused Marwan, as much as so, that the old guy was ready to threaten his own son to ensure the safe working of his company.

"I still have 24 days."

Saying that, he walked out of the living room, utterly in need of fresh air and an escape from the suffocation that was bombarded on him by the arrival of his father. Rubbing his hands on his face, Marwan let out an annoyed sigh when the open cuff fell in the most ungraceful of ways.

Rolling up his cuffs till a little below his elbows, he stretched his hands and looked at his wrist watch that read close to the time when Daiyan had mentioned that he'd arrive.

"Marwan, Major Mathur has asked you to leave with him. I'll wait for Daiyan."

Aliya said as she poked her head from the main door, looking at him with a bored and annoyed look and the latter might be the cause for her loss of entertainment.

"Shukr hai."

He muttered under his breath and as he reached close enough to the door, a loud shriek had him jumping in alarm.

His wide eyes looked at the top of the stairs where Ziah stood with her hands gripping tightly onto the railing, her face pale enough to send his mind in a frenzy.

"Allah, ladki! Why don't you be careful when you walk?"

Aliya reprimanded her with an urgency, quickly rushing up to her to see if there were any injuries.

Marwan was about to rush to her too, but the faint voice of Major Mathur yelling his name stopped him from doing so. His worried eyes glazed over at the form of the woman who sat at the top of the stairs with Aliya rubbing a hand across her back and assessing her ankle.

Ziah's vision felt a little blurry, she didn't why but it did. Blinking as many times as she could, she took deep breaths to calm her racing heart and numb mind. Looking up from where she sat, her eyes found Marwan's who with a single tilt of his head asked her of her well being.

How they even communicated without words was beyond her but anyhow, she gave him a single nod and with one last look her way, he walked out of the house, leaving her behind with Aliya who was now fussing over her like a mama hen.

"Is it hurting here?"

Aliya asked cautiously as she pressed down at the edge of Ziah's ankle. Pain shot through the veins on her leg and Ziah winced at the sensation. She was sure she didn't tumble on her steps. Something had come below her feet when she was about to climb down and now her eyes searched for the culprit from where she sat.

Ziah tried blocking away the pain that came with Aliya assisting her slightly wounded ankle. Something sparkled towards the edge of the stair that she sat on and slowly, she reached for it. The small thing looked like a cufflink, black in colour with golden borders, a simple little thing that gave off vibes that of a hidden royalty. It took only a few seconds before the faint scent that her mind registered to be more than familiar entered her senses.

It was his.

Unknowingly, she caressed the smooth surface with the pad of her thumb before enclosing it within her fists gently.

"Chalo, let's see if you can walk properly."

Aliya announced with a thoughtful look as she eyed the slight swelling on Ziah's ankle. Helping the latter on her feet, she held Ziah's hands in hers as she tested her ability to walk without feeling much pain.

A wince here and there later, Ziah found herself on bed arrest for at least a day or two. Her annoyed eyes met Madiha's glare and she quickly sobered up. As soon as Aliya had brought her back to her room, the elder woman was quick to follow and had given Ziah a lecture like that of a mother scolding her kid for hurting themselves due to carelessness.

A slight tug at her heart made her aware of the empty feeling within her. It had been ages since someone actually cared and scolded her for hurting herself. There were times when she herself looked past her wounds since no one was there to make her feel like her pain was important.

"Is ghar mein lagta hai abhi bhi 5-6 saal ke bache rehte hai."

Madiha's words were low and almost sounded like an unpleasant grumble. She had wrapped a compression bandage around her ankle to stop it from swelling further and was now fussing around her for her careless behaviour.

"Aunty, main theek hu. It'll be fine before you know it."

With a nervous laugh, Ziah tried to avoid any other scolding sessions that might be due but the look in Madiha's eyes told her enough to zip her lips and relax back on the pillow.

"Ek mareez kam thi jo tumne bhi chot laga li?"

The familiar voice made Ziah spring up from her position, quickly regretting the decision when sharp pain engulfed her left leg. A horror filled gasp was what she heard from Madiha before the old lady pushed her back down on the bed. Ziah's wide eyes looked at her doorway where Parizad stood with a plaster on her right hand and a playful look in her eyes.

Though what made Ziah want to cry were the scratches on her cheeks and the bandages wrapped around her left wrist.

"You look..."

Aliya dragged the words as she stared at her friend. Parizad rolled her eyes at the dramatics and casually sauntered into the room, as though she didn't have a number of injuries on her body.

"I'm still a human, just not in the best condition."

Ziah got out of her surprised and mildly shocked state upon hearing her words. An eye roll from the ladies in the room was what Parizad got in return for her words as she settled down on the bed.

"You shouldn't have-"

Madiha started but her words came to an immediate halt when a knock on the door resounded in the room.

By the side of the widely opened door stood Daiyan with his hands in his pockets, he looked relaxed eventhough the tad bit of worry in his eyes as they darted towards Parizad was not missed by anyone.

"Aliya, chale?"

He questioned and the one asked was more than happy to finally do some real work.

Aliya quickly skipped out of the room and Daiyan too followed suit but not before looking one last time at his wife who gave him an assuring smile for the nth time that day.

Ziah silently watched the interaction between the two. A small smile spread across her lips at the obvious love that felt too pure to exist but the growing ache in her chest made her look away.

A subtle reminder for her to realize that not everything you wish for could be placed in your embrace.

*********

Awe, I smell jelly jelly...(mixed with sadness *sneezes in dismay*)

Sooo sorry for the delayed update. I was halfway done with the chapter like two days back but then suddenly life got busy and my body became lazy. I legit had to scold my mind to finish writing this thing before iftar...

Do comment about your thoughts on the chapter! (The last one had a few buttering ones and I must say, it's getting to my head🤧😭)

Lolol, anyways, we have entered the last ten days of Ramadan, and most of you know it's importance. Nothing much to ask for but if any of my stories/ updates/ characters/ or a simple interaction with me brought a smile on your face, helped you in forgetting something negative or lightened your once dim mood, then please remember me in your duas because again, life happens...

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