Chapter 13: True friends be like... 'Gemstones in a Haystack!'

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“Zahra, I’m going in to see your father. You can meet him after I come back. You really need to take some rest child, your eyes are swollen and red from crying so much,” Zareena said worriedly, seeing her daughter’s pitiable state. “I’m fine Amma. You go in and I’ll wait here,” Zahra replied, her voice faltering. “Avi, dear, see to it that she eats something okay. I’ll call both of you if he asks about you,” Zareena said as she went inside, and Avi nodded in acquiescence.

“Okay, now that I’ve got the responsibility of filling up your tummy with some food, come, I’ll show how we awesome people eat. And you will copy my movements,” Avi said, winking, and pulled her friend towards the door to go out. Seeing Zahra resist, she shrugged and said, “Zee, it was not your fault. Why don’t you understand that? You should be grateful that it’s over…and it was for the better.”

“I know it’s not easy to forget anything like that, but for how long will you mourn? Just snap your brain out of it. He’s not worth giving a thought, alright.” “I just wanna go back. I don’t feel secure here, anymore. This place makes me feel suffocated, makes me feel sick,” Zahra replied as a tear detached itself from her soaked lashes and made its way onto her tear-stained cheek.

“But your parents. They can’t bear to part with you, at least not right now. You should stay till your dad becomes healthy again, and then no one will stop you from going back,” Avi suggested, trying to make her get a grip on the situation.

“You know very well that he’s not my dad,” Zahra said, clenching her teeth. “It doesn’t mean that I don’t love him, but I just can’t be here anymore, and I want you to come with me. Please Avi, I can’t bear to stay. The whole scene keeps playing and replaying through my mind,” Zahra implored.

“Okay I will, if that’s what makes you happy,” Avi replied, sighing. “But first, you will have to eat whatever I put on your plate. Even if it’s the size of a mountain, got it,” Avi said, squinting her eyes at her friend, and Zahra nodded, letting a feeble smile play on her lips for a split second. “And for god’s sake, smile a bit. It suits you.”

“Zahra, child, your Abba is calling you. Come,” Zareena said to her daughter as she came out of the patient’s room.

“I want you and Avi to come with me, because I need to tell you something,” Zahra replied, resolutely taking Avi’s hand in hers. “Can’t it wait dear? I don’t think it would be a good idea to put any pressure on him at the moment,” Zareena said, preventing her from putting any kind of emotional strain on her father’s mind.

“How are you Abba?” Zahra asked as she sat beside her father’s bed. “I’ve been better dear. Did you eat anything ever since…?” Arif trailed off. He couldn’t bring himself to say anything about the incident. “Yes Abba… I’ve eaten my lunch,” she lied. “You should eat something too.” “I’ve had my lunch, Alhamdulillah. Your mum was kind enough to feed me nice, home- cooked food,” Arif said and smiled.

“So…what are your plans now?” Arif asked, addressing his daughter, and a huge feeling of relief washed over Zahra. He had himself introduced the subject she was dreading to talk about. “I…I want to go back Abba….if that’s okay with you,” she said uncertainly. “It’s completely fine with me,” he said, sensing her confusion, and smiled.

“From now on, I will not restrain you from doing whatever you want. I’ve learnt my lesson. I’ve learnt to trust my daughter. Go live your life, child. And do come to your poor well-wishers sometimes,” he said, gently placing his feeble hand over her head.

Tears welled up in Zahra’s eyes as she heard this. Not able to contain herself anymore, she thrust herself in the crook of her father’s arms and sobbed openly. Avi patted her back to soothe her down, so that she wouldn’t strain her father any more than he could take.

“Thanks for being with me dear. You mightn’t agree but it helped a lot,” Zahra said, placing her hand onto Avi’s shoulder. “Well, I’m glad I could help,” Avi replied, and smiled.

And so it was agreed that Zahra would stay till the coming weekend, and will leave for Clydesville with Avi the next day. She was happy yet sad to leave her parents, well her adoptive parents, like that, but she had no choice. The longer she stayed back, the more burdened she felt.

Not a single minute went by, when she was not reminded of those hideous moments. There were times when she was woken up at night, sweating profusely, feeling someone near her, only to find that it was just a dream. The only way to make everything normal once again, she thought, was to go back to her job.

*****************************

“Zahra! I am so glad to see you. I thought you’d never come back,” Laura said, and pulled her into a bone crushing hug, the moment they reached the apartment. She was very careful not to show how sorry she felt for her, because of all that had happened with her back in India.

Avi had told her everything, after all, Zahra would’ve told her someday. ‘The sooner they get done with it, the better’, Avi had advised, trying to make Zahra understand that if Laura knew all, she would be able to help her come out of her sadness. Besides Laura was a sensible girl. She knew how to handle things.

“I too came with her,” Avi whined, hurt. “Oh, how can I forget you, dearie,” Laura replied, as she pulled her too, in a warm hug. “By the way, you guys are like two opposite poles of a magnet, you know, a complete contrast to one another,” Laura said musingly, and smiled. “It must be an interesting story how you became such firm friends.”

“There’s not much to tell. We fought over a seat the first time we met in kindergarten. And the next day, coincidentally, we both brought each other’s favorite dishes in our tiffin boxes from home,” Avi said, putting her arm around Zahra’s shoulder and smiling indulgently at her best friend. “I ate her lunch and she ate mine, and that was the way we became best of friends.”

Just the blurred memory of it all made a faint smile come onto Zahra’s lips, and she too put her arm around her best friend in return. “Okay you two lovey-doves, it’s time for dinner. I’m playing the perfect host today and setting up the table, so you go get fresh in time to eat dinner before it gets cold. Oh yes, Zahra, we have decided to make tomorrow a ‘picnic day’, so you’ll need to sleep early, as we’ll be heading out early in the morning.”

“You wanted to have a picnic on the riverside, and I’ve found just the place for us to go, near Trapeze. It’s a picturesque little village by the name of ‘Amberley’. One of my friend’s aunt owns a holiday cottage over there, and she has kindly agreed to let us have it for a day. If you want, we can even stay there for two days. I’ve even hired a car for going there, so no working late at night, or reading in bed, got it. You have a bad habit of doing that,” Laura notified her in an authoritative, yet kind tone.

“No Laura, I simply can’t. I’ve taken too many leaves from the office. I was working on a project before I left, if you might remember, and I have to prepare a report on what I’ve been doing ever since I left the country. And if they don’t find the progress I’ve made on the project satisfactory, they’ll hand over the responsibility to somebody else, which is something that I just can’t bear to happen,” Zahra said putting a spoonful of spaghetti into her mouth, trying to reason with her two stubborn friends, even though her heart began to hum loudly at the happy idea of going to picnic in a quaint little village.

“Just one more day off never hurt anyone. You can tell your senior boss, Michael Walworth that you have come back, but you’ve caught a severe cold on your way here, so you can’t possibly come for one more day. He’ll understand your problem, me thinks so. He’s not like that rude guy who thinks the world of himself, what’s his name, Walworth Jr.,” Laura replied, scrunching her nose in an obnoxious way.

“Yeah me thinks so too. You know what Zee, you should stop spinning your life on other people’s directions, and listen to your heart every once in a while. It will do you a world of good,” Avi advised, as she passed on the plate of fruit salad to Zahra, indicating her with her eyes to eat some more.

“And for god’s sake, smile. It suits you,” Laura said, in a pleading tone of voice. “That’s exactly what I’ve been telling her to do,” Avi replied, shrugging her shoulders.

A BILLIONAIRE’S MANSION

“Do come in Mr. Jamal, I was expecting you to call on me any minute,” a young man with shoulder-length hair, probably in his thirties, said, as a man much older in age than him, entered his private exquisitely furnished house in a posh area in London. He was escorted here by a thin-lipped secretary, who now left them alone.

The man had probably come by appointment on some urgent business matter that could not be left for long, for the young man had little time to spare on his hands. “You told me on the phone that you had something of an extremely delicate and important nature to tell me. I hope it’s something good,” the young man said, as he poured two glasses of wine, one for himself and another one for his visitor.

“You’ll be delighted to know the reason of my visit sir. And no, I don’t drink,” Jamal said, his eyes twinkling greedily, taking in the rich splendor of his surroundings. The place really was extremely splendid, its richness poured out from all four corners of the room. The whole place was no doubt, grand, but this one room itself was the epitome of extreme richness and grandeur.

“Fine. But, I do not go about with an ample amount of time on my hands like you people do, so I would suggest you to talk straight with me,” the young man replied, cupping his face in his hands and minutely studying the man sitting opposite him with his small clever grey eyes that darted to and fro at a quick yet steady pace. He was trying to discern the reason for his coming to see him.

“I’ve had reason to believe that you are in search of a girl who lives in Clydesville,” Mr. Jamal began, and the young man sat bolt upright. His words had the desired effect upon him. “H…how did you know?” he asked, taken aback.

“I’m a humble man of humble means but I have my sources. I can tell you her exact location because I’ve seen her, or better yet, I know her,” Mr. Jamal resumed their one-sided conversation after the sudden interruption. “I will tell you everything but, in return of a little gift that I’m sure you’ll not find irksome to give in any way.”

A faint contented smile graced the young man’s lips as he found himself getting nearer and nearer to the quest that he had taken upon himself from his grandfather some fifteen years ago, ever since he had heard the tale of that commonplace, yet legendary war.

He could still hear his grandfather’s words to him on that extraordinary day, “Daniel, I count on you now to bring back what was snatched away from us all those years ago. Your father was a fool like my brother, being such a soft-hearted ninny. But you my boy, I see that you've got my blood in you. I place the task upon your able shoulders to bring back the name and fame our noble family was known for.”

And he had promised him then and there that he would. Losing both his parents at an early age of eight, his grandfather was the only living relation he had, and he swore upon his life to do anything his grandpa bade him do.

A sudden revelation knocked down his dream of completing his quest, and he found himself asking the old man from India, “What if the girl you know of isn’t the one I’m looking for?”

“I’ve a strong proof for that too, my dear sir,” Mr. Jamal said, opening the bag he had brought with himself, and bringing out a small packet from its depths. “I knew you’d want to cross check my information, and believe me, I’m no fool.” He opened the packet, and brought out its only content, which was a small photo that had become worn with age.

He handed the picture to the young man, and he stood up to move towards the lamp on his table to inspect it closely by the support of the light. It was the picture of a small baby girl taken years ago. The young man grinned contentedly as he stared at the photo, and the old man smiled coming beside him. To any ordinary person, it was just another photo of an infant, but to the two men, it was much….much more.

“How much do you need?” he asked, once he had satisfied himself that it was the same girl, although he had never seen her before. “$ 50 million and one-fourth share in whatever you get,” the old man by the name of Mr. Jamal replied, smiling satisfactorily to himself. “I think that $ 25 million would be enough since you want your share too…” “$ 30 million,” Mr. Jamal hastily stated and the young man replied,

“Done. But tell me the whole story first.” He had no intention of giving him a share in the loot, he would just give him those thirty millions he was asking for, and that was all. He had made a huge bargain, for the information that man from India was going to provide him would be immensely valuable, there was no mistaking that, since it was genuine.

The old man narrated the whole story to the younger one and came onto the latest developments that had taken place. “The girl goes by the name of Zahra Fatima. She lives in Trapeze, as you already know. She resides in an old apartment building by the name of Aurora, in No. 415, to be precise. She is currently working in ‘Walworth & Co.’ bank. She was in India recently, for she was getting married to my son…,” here, Mr. Jamal paused in his narration, and then continued with clenched teeth, “but that good-for-nothing girl broke off the engagement due to some… foolish reasons.

"This is her recent photograph,” he said, pushing a picture of a plain yet pretty girl into his hands. The moment he extended his hand to take it back, the young man moved it away from his reach saying, “You can leave it with me.”

“The reason I’m here to tell you everything, is because I want revenge, sweet revenge on her and her guardians,” his words ended in a deep, angry growl. “You can be sure of getting revenge on them, that I can promise you,” the young man replied as he signed a check of the agreed amount, and handing it to the old man indicated with his hand that their meeting was over.

After the man had gone, he picked up the photograph from his desk, and staring at it, he was lost in thought. He had got all the concrete facts he needed, all that was left now was ‘action’. And that, he was going to do when he felt like it, which translated to ‘pretty soon’ in his language.

Trapeze, Clydesville.

“Hurry up Zahra. It’s a total of three hours’ drive to the village of Amberley. We won’t be able to have much fun if we get there late. What would be the use of sitting out on the lawns of trim old houses when the sun would be shining down on our heads, sucking in all our energies?” Laura shouted to Zahra, who was being painstakingly late today. “She is always the last person to get ready,” Avi replied, sighing.

Well, after a long wait of fifteen minutes, Zahra did come out of the apartment, and finally, the car sped off in the direction of the beautiful village of Amberley, the valley of flowers and ever-flowing rivers. The weather was exceptionally fine that day, as it was the beginning of the season of spring. Spring was everywhere, on flowers, in the air, and in the hearts of madly-chirping birds.

The sight of the beautiful village took Zahra’s breath away, and she gaily hopped all-round the trim little garden of the quaint little house that Laura’s friend’s aunt had been kind enough to let them have for a day or two. “This place is amazing,” Zahra screamed, breathless and bursting with excitement. She was almost a kid again.

“Help us spread the rugs on the lawn, you idiot,” Avi shouted to her, scrunching her face in irritation. “Or else there won’t be any picnic today. You’ve already made us come so late, lazybones.” “Okay, I’m coming, don’t be such a cranky old cat,” Zahra replied, laughing. When she was in a good mood, teasing Avi was her favorite pastime.

And thus, after about an hour or so of setting things up, the three friends finally sat down to eat their breakfast in peace. They had been busy making all kinds of tasty stuff since the crack of dawn, and were itching to have a bite of it, but being the strict old mistress Laura was, she had been constantly prying their hands away from the food. The time to eat and fill their stomachs with the heavenly food had finally come. They had brought jam tarts, sandwiches, pancakes, freshly made cookies, chicken fingers, a buttercup cake and ‘strawberry with cream’. All this was to be washed down with iced lemonade.

After enjoying their breakfast, the trio was idly squatted onto the freshly mowed lawn, the river was bubbling with activity at a little distance from the house they were in, the birds were chirping, fighting with each other to decide who sang best, and after long harsh days filled with agony, Zahra was feeling at peace with the world once again. Who couldn’t, when surrounded by such pretty things?

To her, it was the perfect getaway, and she resolved to come here again. The place was especially known for its breathtaking scenery, and was the chief tourist spot besides Trapeze, especially for those who wanted to have a peaceful vacation and to get away from the hustle and bustle of the capital city.

Friends were really necessary in one’s life, she had finally realized. And true friends….all the more, who would do anything to make you happy. ‘True friends were actually like….like gemstones in a haystack’, she thought, when she just couldn’t find the right expression for her feelings.

Yes, they were like gemstones, because they shone throughout, embedded inside the stack of unimportant people. After all, a variety of people were necessary in life. But those who gave a real meaning to life, who made life worth living, were only and only… true friends.

Getting ecstatic as well as thankful for having such amazing friends in her life, Zahra jumped up from her place, went to sit between Avi and Laura, and pulled both her friends into a warm and affectionate side-hug.

-------AUTHOR'S NOTE---------

Plz don't mind my queer ideas about friends. Sometimes I do think that I'm a bit queer in the head ;P do tell me what you feel about the chapter, and what you expect in the coming chapters. I've got an exam on the 24th, so any more updates would be only after that particular date.

Do share this story with your friends etc. if you like it...... and pleeeeez don't be silent readers :( it breaks my heart.

And finally, a BIG thanks to awlll my readers, you guys mean a lot to me, thanks a ton for your support :) :-*