"Congratulations Taya Abu!" Inara walked to her uncle and hugged him.
"Thank you bachy!" Ayub kissed her head lovingly.
"I think we should leave now. I am starving" Hamad, Zulaid's younger brother stated.
"Yes, please leave before he dies of starvation" Zulaid patted his back violently.
"Bhaiii! Apka hath hy ya hathora" Hamad shrieked in pain, pushing his hand away.
(Your hand is like a hammer)
"Shut up!" Zulaid muttered pulling him up from the sofa with himself.
In a few minutes, two cars left the house, one had Ayub's family and one had Ibrahim's.
They went to a famous rooftop. Everyone was talking and discussing random things. Even Zulaid was taking part in the conversation. Usually, he likes to be silent. He wasn't very talkative.
Inara's mind was stuck in tomorrow's presentation. If the world knew, how much it's difficult for a person with social anxiety to speak in front of many people standing at the stage.
She was very stressed but right now she just wanted to enjoy her meal which she couldn't because of tension.
"My daughter looks tense" Ayub noticed her disinterest. She wasn't talking much today.
"No. I am not" She tried to smile.
"Is everything fine?" Ayub averted his attention to his son. He asked him as he knew everything about her.
"She has a presentation tomorrow. She might be stressed out about it" Zulaid told the reason of her stress to everyone.
"Ohho Inara! You take stress of such small things beta" Her mother said it so casually. She hadn't had any idea, her daughter had some major issues. Stage anxiety was one of them which was now bothering her too much.
"Or bhai Zulaid! I heard from my sources that you are teaching Inara at the hospital and you are constantly targeting my dear daughter! Is that so?" Ibrahim playfully asked him.
"Chachu! Haven't you asked your sources why they get scolded?" Zulaid glanced at her and asked seriously.
"Kyu bhi Inara! Why do you get scolded by him?" Ibrahim directly asked his daughter with fake anger.
"Papa! Apke bhatije ko gussa karne aur danttne ke ikawa kuch nahi atta" She couldn't stop herself from complimenting him in front of everyone.
(Papa! Your nephew does nothing except reprimanding and showing anger)
"Wahhh! Inara you made by day by saying such pretty words for my dear brother" Hamad was the first one to laugh. Everyone else joined him except Zulaid.
He glanced at her unhappily, if she would have said it somewhere else, he could reply to her really well but he was bound right now. So, he didn't say anything to her.
"I think you need another dose as it has been many days you got one" Zulaid stared at his younger brother who wouldn't miss a chance to tease him.
"Beta jee! Ye dosain apne mareezoon ko diya karo bus. Mere bachoon ko tang mat karo" His mother narrowed her eyes at him. She never liked this serious personality of his son.
(Dear son! Give doses to your patients. Don't play with my kids)
"Well done mama! Bhai badly needed it" Hamad high fived with her.
Zulaid kept looking at them with a small smile lingering on the corner of his lips. His mother behaved like a kid with Hamad sometimes. He was the only one who was different.
Ibrahim looked at his nephew.
"Meri beti ka dhayan rakha karo Zulaid! Issy dantta mat karo" He instructed him authoritatively.
(Take care of my daughter at hospital Zulaid! Don't scold her)
Zulaid smiled at his uncle and averted his gaze to Inara who was already looking at him. His eyes were calm like a lake and face expressionless. No one could guess what was in his mind and heart.
Dr. Zulaid Afandi and Inara Ibrahim weren't strangers when they met at the hospital but Dr. Zulaid treated her as a stranger. She wasn't his cousin at the hospital. She was just his student there. He was treating her like everyone else. Even in the house, she was just a cousin to him.
They never had a friendly relationship due to their agegap. He was at least 10 years older than her. Unlike his only younger brother Hamad who was three years older than Inara, Zulaid was a very reserved man. He was sober and mature. He was the eldest kid in the family and for seven years he was the only one in the family. Hamad and Inara came into this world when he was already a big boy.
He shared a strong bond with Hamad but with Inara it was different. She wasn't his sister to get his love and attention. She was just a cousin whom he just cared about as a family member. He had no time in his busy life to give his attention to her. For Inara it was the most hurtful thing. She wanted him to share a bond with her too. She tried much in her younger days to get close to him but he never came out of his shell.
Inara was the only child of her parents. She yearned for siblings. She got one in Hamad. They shared a beautiful bond. In her younger days, Zulaid and Hamad were everything for her but with time she realized it was only Hamad who gave importance to her.
For Zulaid she didn't exist. Hamad mattered to him the most as he was his only sibling. It also made her realize that Hamad wasn't her brother but his.
It was hurtful for her to see a strong sibling bond in front of her eyes daily when she couldn't get one, the real one.
...
Deep breath.
Focus.
Don't overthink.
They aren't going to kill me.
They are just people like me.
Ignore them.
Don't look at them.
Don't look straight.
Just don't.
What's anxiety? A girl of 5 foot 2 inches standing at the stage with trembling hands was the living example of anxiety right now.
Inara was having tachycardia, heart rate more than a hundred. She wiped sweat from her upper lips. She held the laser pointer in her hand strongly and looked at the audience.
Zulaid was sitting in the front row with few PGs and many HOs. Thankfully many of them were left behind at the duty. Of course duty was more important than a pathetic presentation. Why this department was so much invested in students led presentations. She hated surgery department.
She realized a long sigh to release her stress but nothing was useful at the moment. Nothing could calm her. Just nothing.
She gathered her courage to speak.
Just five minutes Inara! These will pass and you will be free. Just pass it. She mentally tried to console herself before starting.
"Aslamo alaikum! Hmm-My name is Inara Ibrahim-and the-topic of my- today's my presentation topic is Hernia-" She stammered just at the start.
Focus Inara.
"So what is Hernia- it's a-it occurs when an internal part of the body pushes through a-weakness in the muscle or surrounding tissue wall" She kept saying.
Just get the hell through it.
She kept stammering, forgetting what to speak next. She was taking pause after a few lines. Her toes moved constantly to ease the pressure she is having in her upper body. Her heart was beating fast. So fast that she could hear it's sound. She was having cramps in her abdomen due to stress. Her throat was dry and so was her voice.
She looked like a mess right now. Many of the kind HOs were nodding there heads, gesturing her that she was doing good. She could do it.
"Thank you" This slide made her day.
At the end of her presentation, she felt like a heaviness was removed from her shoulders, pressure inside her chest was relieved, she was breathing again.
She did it.
Whatever it was. It's finally done. She gulped down looking at the faculty and her colleagues.
She knew very well about her presentation skills. She didn't want to hear it from anyone of them now.
She literally had tears in her eyes which she controlled with great difficulty. Why it was so difficult for her to speak in such situations when it was just a piece of cake for many of her colleagues. Why couldn't she speak confidently like them.
Why?
Why was she like that?
The lecture hall was filled with the sound of clapping. Dr. Suleman raised his thumb to praise her. Another HO did the same. Dr. Azwa gave her a reassuring smile.
And Dr. Zulaid was expressionless. He was just staring at her. Inara held herself to get ready for his taunts. He would have an idea about her presentation skills till now after dealing with her in hospital but he wouldn't have thought she was so bad at it.
A Surgeon's cousin couldn't even present a presentation confidently. He wouldn't leave her today.
She was going to be dead at his hands.
..................................................................
Poor Inarað
How many of you can relate to her? Many people have stage anxiety. I tried to write Inara differently. She is more relatable and not so perfect female lead who could do anything.
What would be Zulaid's reaction?