chapter 14

Chapter 14MishalWhile dropping Daniel at his place, I realized Hammad was standing near the main gate, his stern eyes fixed on us. From the grim expression on his face, I could tell he did not like seeing Daniel and me roaming around together. Once Daniel got off the car and walked back to his house, I started the car engine again and pulled the car into my garage. As I was about to close the gate, I found Hammad making his way toward me. He gestured for me to stop so I could wait for him and not shut the gate yet. ‘Asalaam U Alaikum, Mishal.’ He greeted me, tucking his hands inside his jeans pockets. ‘Walaikum Asalaam.’ I did not notice that he had the same expression on his face; serious.  ‘I hope you are doing well,’ he began, looking me in the eye. ‘I am, thanks. How about you?’ I replied courteously. ‘How well do you know Daniyal?’ I knitted my brows, amazed when he brought up his topic. ‘Excuse me?’‘Well, I guess I asked you something. How well do you know him?’ I crossed my arms against my chest and looked at him sternly. ‘And why do you think you have the right to ask me this question?’ He snorted a laugh. ‘C’mon, Mishal, you don’t need to be offended. I asked you a simple question.’‘I’m sorry, but I am offended. I do not like when people try to invade my privacy for absolutely no reason.’He raised his brows together in surprise. ‘Oh, so Daniyal has become a matter of privacy to you?’ I almost scowled at his uncouth behavior now. ‘What makes you so concerned?’‘In case you have forgotten, Mishal, I think I need to remind you that Daniyal is the same guy who tried to hurt my sister a few years back.’I exhaled slowly as I heard those words come out of his mouth. Who was he to remind me of that incident? What made him feel so entitled to remind me of it? ‘Weren’t you the same person who vouched against him at the time? I became silent all of a sudden as I didn’t know what to say to him after that. Thinking of that time made me squirm from inside. It made me feel guilty, and I hated myself for putting myself in that spot. That was why I did not like thinking about that episode at all. ‘I’m sure you are fully aware of what happened back then, and I certainly do not expect you to act so foolishly after knowing everything.’I looked down at the ground, clenching my fists hard. When would he stop? ‘It would be better if you maintained a distance from that guy for your own good.’I looked back at him, a feeling of helplessness engulfing me from all sides. ‘I don’t want any trouble for you, Mishal. I can’t see you getting hurt just like Fariha.’Before I could think of an appropriate comeback, I heard the opening of the front door, followed by the sound of footsteps. I looked around to find Amma standing on the porch steps, her eyes fixated on Hammad and me. ‘Mishie?’ Amma called out for me, a skeptical look on her face. She would have been wondering why I was conversing with Hammad. I turned around to answer her. ‘Jee, Amma?’‘Asalaam U Alaikum, aunty.’ Hammad was quick to change his serious tone and expression.‘Walaikum Asalaam, beta. How are you doing? Why don’t you come inside?’ she asked him. ‘I’ll surely visit some other time. You take care of yourself.’‘Sure, beta. Pay my regards to Nigar.’‘Jee, I will. Allah Hafiz.’ As he said that to Amma, he turned back to me and then whispered, ‘I hope you understood what I said to you. Be careful, Mishal.’He walked back into his house, leaving me perturbed.Amma joined me as she put a hand on my shoulder. ‘What’s wrong?’I changed the expression on my face immediately and looked at her. ‘Nothing, Amma. Everything’s fine.’‘What was he talking about?’ ‘I just happened to cross paths with him. He was asking me about my work.’‘Oh, acha,’ she said, a shadow of disappointment crossed her face. I began to close the gate. ‘Now, what happened to you?’‘I thought he came to tell you he wanted to marry you.’‘Amma! Puhleezzzz!’ I shook my head fervently, disgusted at her words. Amma always teased me by saying Hammad was interested in me for marriage. As per her observation, she thought he had been interested in me for a long time now, but I was ignorant. Luckily, I never thought that way because I could never picture myself with Hammad in the future. I could never think of settling down with someone like Hammad. Not that he was a bad person; he was a good man, much different than his father. But I always thought he was nowhere near my type. Sometimes, the way he looked at me and how he expressed his concerns towards me made me feel he was interested in me and that perhaps Amma was right about him. The important thing was how I felt about him. For me, he had always been Nigar aunty’s stepson, an ordinary neighbor for me. Nothing more. Nothing less. However, I couldn’t say the same about Daniel. I couldn’t deny that I was developing strong feelings for him. I was insanely attracted to him despite everything, even knowing that he was not into Bollywood movies. I smiled to myself as I thought about that part. Going back into the house, playing Mario game with Rayaan, and helping Amma with the chores, I thought about the coffee date (as he liked to put it) with Daniel. My mind kept going back to the same zone where I spent time with him. Could he ever be compatible enough with me? Could we ever have the mental compatibility, spiritual connection, and physical attraction that he talked about while we were in the car? As I thought of that, I realized it was pointless to think about us being compatible with each other at that time. What was more important was to think would he ever fall in love with me after knowing the truth. The only way to figure that out was to tell him the truth first. I should tell him everything without thinking of the consequences. I shouldn’t be scared about whether he would still feel for me after telling him everything. I knew I could lose him forever. I could be on the brink of losing his friendship as well but that is not what mattered right now. What mattered was that he deserved the right to be aware of the truth; I couldn’t keep it from him for so long. Our relationship’s fate depended solely on his reaction, and I would be happy to accept whatever decision he would take afterward. If nothing, I would get rid of the guilt that has been killing me inside for so many years. I won’t be culpable anymore; I would be free. DanielThe remainder of the day went by. After dinner, I went into Mum’s room to inquire about Khalid Butt’s health and then bid goodnight to Mum by telling her I was tired and wanted to sleep.  Bearing all the thoughts in my head, I headed upstairs. I couldn’t forget what Mum had said to me earlier that day. The way she said it, it seemed she was way more concerned for Mishal than me. In all honesty, I did not mind, even if she sounded like she cared for her more than her own son. I liked that she was so concerned about her. It showed how much she valued her as a person and how protective she was of her. I couldn’t even doubt for a second how amazing Mishal was as a person because my Mum was already fond of her so much. If someone was in Mum’s good books, it meant that person was really worth it. And Mishal was really worth it. I only realized that after I started getting to know her better. But was I worthy of her time and attention? Could I ever be capable enough to deserve her? With all these bewildered thoughts in my mind, I came back to my room. To my bad luck, I found the temperature in my room warmer than the rest of the house, especially on the ground floor. Upstairs it was much warmer because of the hot weather. I took off my shirt the second I realized the heat was becoming unbearable for me. Before heading to the washroom for a shower, I turned on the AC so the temperature inside the room became bearable. The summer in Lahore was way more different than in Sydney. The summer was pleasant and cool in my home country, unlike Pakistan. No matter how hot and humid the day was, Sydney's nights were always cooler. I turned on the shower, and water cascaded down on me. As the cold water hit my skin, I gasped. I put my palms against the wall and closed my eyes, my muscles becoming relaxed. All of a sudden, I felt less tense. For a second, I stopped thinking of all the things that were bothering me and only allowed myself to feel the water pouring down on my body. That was what showers always did to me—they made me feel better and relaxed, both physically and mentally. Turning off the shower, I picked up the towel from the stand and stood before the mirror to dry my hair with the towel. Just then, I heard my phone ring from my room outside. Draping the towel across my torso, I walked out of the washroom to check for the phone. I was surprised to find a missed call from Mishal. I looked at my phone in surprise. ‘A missed call from Mishal?’ It was half-past eleven. Why would she call me at this time? I hoped there wasn’t some sort of emergency and that she was okay. Without giving it another thought, I called her back. She picked up the phone just after one ring. ‘Hey,’ she said on the phone, breathless. ‘Hey, how ya goin’? Are you okay?’ I asked, concerned, as I sat on the edge of the bed, still wrapped in the towel, my hair dripping wet. ‘I’m fine. I hope I didn’t disturb you?’I shook my head as I cradled the phone against my ear. ‘C’mon, Mitchelle. Don’t say that. Just tell me if everythin’s okay?’‘Everything’s fine. Can you come to the terrace?’She took me by surprise. ‘What? Like now?’‘Yes,’ she breathed on the phone. ‘Need to discuss something.’I bit my lip in anticipation. ‘Coming over in 5 minutes.’‘Thanks.’ She hung up the phone right after that. I quickly stood on my feet and ran towards the closet to get something to wear as soon as I could. I could only find a pair of gray-colored pyjamas and a white tee in an instant, and I was good to go with them. After dressing up, I ran a quick hand through my wet hair and headed out onto the terrace to look for her. To my relief, she was already there—waiting for me at the end of her terrace. As I stepped closer to the wall that connected our terraces, I realized she was also dressed in nightwear, with her hair tied up in a bun. When she turned around to look at me, I found her wearing the spectacles like she always wore on her face. They seemed to suit her delicate face so much that I did not think I could ever imagine her without them. A small smile played across my lips when I saw her before me; we were only a few feet apart. However, as I refocused on her, I realized she bore a pensive expression on her face. What was she thinking about? Was there anything that concerned her?‘Are you all right, mate?’ I began to ask her as I crossed my arms across my chest. I wanted to be careful with my words because, in hindsight, I vividly remembered Mum’s words—I wasn’t supposed to hurt her in any way. She took a few steps closer to the wall between us and rested her arms on the surface of the wall, her face still thoughtful. ‘I’m sorry I called you here this time. This doesn’t seem like a good idea to me.’I reached for the same wall and rested my arms next to hers, cautious not to touch her. ‘Tell me what happened?’She looked up at me, right into my eyes. ‘Coming here and talking to you seems kinda risky.’I snorted a laugh. ‘What’s risky in this?’ I gestured at both of us. ‘We’re not doin’ anythin’ risky or mysterious. Are we?’She was quick to shook her head. ‘You do not understand my point.’I tucked my hands under my chin while resting my arms against the surface of the wall and looked at her ardently. ‘Make me understand then.’Nervous to meet back my gaze, she looked away. ‘I don’t want to.’‘Mitchelle, c’mon.’ She looked back into my eyes, her lips quivering with nervousness, her fingers somewhat trembling. ‘I think Hammad is getting all sorts of wrong ideas about us.’‘Hammad? My Mum’s step son Hammad? Are we talkin’ about him?’She made a poker face. ‘Yes.’Why did she decide to bring Hammad in our lovely conversation out of nowhere?‘Are we really talkin’ about him apart from all the other beautiful things in the world?’She sighed, closing her eyes. ‘Daniel, can you please be serious for some time?’I started to grin and when she did not laugh with me in response, I stopped grinning. ‘Yeah, okay, fine. I’m serious. Shoot.’For a few seconds, she kept on looking at me with a serious face, and then we both burst out into laughter. ‘You’re such a killjoy, Mitchelle.’ I beamed. ‘I can’t believe you called me on the terrace at this hour to talk about Hammad.’‘Oh, really?’ She passed me a cocky smile. ‘What else did you expect?’‘I thought we’d… like… talk about…’‘Yeah yeah, carry on… talk about what?’‘…Bollywood movies?’ I started to laugh harder again. She shook her head in disapproval, a small smile playing across her lips. ‘You are impossible.’‘Okay, I’m sorry.’ I touched her hand slightly. ‘Enough for the jokes. Tell me what you’re worried about. I’m all ears.’She gauged my face for a few seconds to make sure I was serious this time and then said, ‘Earlier today, when I dropped you home, Hammad saw us together.’I nodded. ‘I’m aware of that.’‘He came to me and asked how well I knew you.’In response, my brows slowly creased involuntarily. ‘And, what did you say to him?’‘I told him it was none of his business. I don’t think he liked that I was hanging out with you, albeit I don’t care what he likes or not.’I bit my lower lip, slowly lowering my eyes. ‘I hadn’t realized it would come down to this.’She furrowed her brows. ‘What do you mean?’‘He still has issues with me. He hasn’t forgotten anything.’‘What are you talking about?’‘I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but there’s something I need to tell you.’‘I think I know what you are trying to tell me about.’I raised my brows. ‘Do you?’She nodded, pressing her lips together. ‘There’s also something you need to know.’‘What?’Before she could reply, both of us heard some creaking sound from her room at the same time. It seemed as if someone had opened the door to her room and had walked inside.‘Damn,’ she whispered, her face turning white in fear. ‘I need to go back inside.’‘Sure, go ahead. We’ll talk later.’ I passed her a reassuring smile, my hand slightly touching her pinky finger. This time, she did not falter or become nervous. She looked at our hands and then gazed back into my eyes. ‘Sure.’ And then, she rushed back into her room, leaving me stranded on the terrace under the dim moonlight. Â