chapter 18

Chapter 18Mishal‘I think we’re almost done,’ Sana said as she helped me lay out the dining table. I sighed, looking at the birthday banner on the wall in front of the dining table. ‘Yes, I think so, we are.’All the birthday party preparations were almost done. Thanks to Sana, I was able to prepare everything on time. Rayaan was super thrilled to see how beautifully I had decorated the entire TV lounge for his birthday party. I had invited all of his close friends from his school and the neighbourhood. After the cake cutting ceremony, the kids were told to enjoy the dinner and then play games on his Nintendo Switch. Rayaan could care less about his birthday cake and the dinner. He was only interested in playing video games with his friends. Amma had also invited Nigar aunty and Fariha to the birthday party, but the latter refused to come, stating she was busy somewhere else. However, my Amma did not like the idea of her not showing up at the party. She herself went to Nigar aunty’s place to personally invite the entire family. If it weren’t for Amma, Fariha and her father, Khalid Butt, would have never come to join us at the party. I was not much pleased to see Fariha at the party because I couldn’t stand her face. When she came to greet me, I tried my best to welcome her back as warmly as possible, but I couldn’t feign fakeness for a long time. I decided to step away and engage myself in some other task. I had a strong reason to hold animosity against her. Because of her, I was compelled to do something stupid back then, causing Daniel falsely accountable for something he had not done. I wish I could undo the mistake I had made in the past and fix everything. I just wish…Sana was one of the few people I was really happy to have around at my place. She helped me set the birthday cake, the cupcakes, as well as other cutlery items on the dining table. I watched my cell phone to check if I had received any message or call from Daniel but there was nothing from his side. As per Khadija’s flight details, she would have already arrived, but I had heard nothing from Daniel. I expected him to tell me right away after he picked her up from the airport but that was not the case. The idea of him going to the airport with Hammad did not appeal to me much. What if Hammad had already told him the truth? What if he had told him about what really happened back then and how I was involved in that incident? There was no way Daniel could learn about the truth from someone else. I had to tell him the truth. I had to make him believe in me and not someone else. A strong shiver ran down my spine as I thought about that. Before I picked up my phone and dialed his number, the main door of the house jerk opened, and a female figure appeared right before my eyes. I cleared my vision to see my sister, Khadija, standing before me, a huge grin plastered on her face. I rushed towards her and took her in my arms, both of us giggling with excitement, our eyes filled with tears of happiness. As we drew apart, I saw Daniel stepping inside the house, carrying Khadija’s one-year-old son, Hamza, in his one arm and wheeling her trolley bag with the other hand. As much as I was thrilled to see the sight before me, the solemn expression on Daniel’s face deeply concerned me. Trailing behind Daniel, Hammad also made an entry into the party. From his face, I could tell he did not seem disturbed at all; instead, he seemed to be in a joyful mood. But why was Daniel so serious? I was soon brought back to reverie as I heard Rayaan scream with enthusiasm as he met Khadija. Still scooping Hamza in his arms, Daniel walked into the TV lounge and everyone gathered around him to see the baby. Rayaan was clearly smitten by the baby, unable to contain his excitement. He had no idea his older sister would surprise all of us at his birthday party. He felt special. Amma was also pleased to see her older daughter, but she was more thrilled to see Hamza for the first time. As Khadija exchanged pleasantries with the rest of the guests at the party, I walked to Daniel and asked him to put Hamza in my arms. He did as I said. With a dark expression on his face, he handed Hamza in my arms and while he did that, I couldn’t stop myself from staring at him. He did not even look me in the eye for once while he handed over Hamza to me. What was wrong with him?As much as I was overwhelmed to hold Khadija’s firstborn in my arms, I was profoundly upset to witness Daniel’s demeanor. This wasn’t the Daniel I was used to being around. His energy, his vibe was completely different that day. Before I could ask him what was wrong with him and whether he was okay, he walked past me as soon as he could. Hamza clung to my body, trying to touch my face with his tiny hands. ‘Coochie coo, my Hamza baby.’ As I tickled his face and caressed his tiny head, he let out a small giggle, exuberating an extreme level of cuteness. Sana stood by me and played with the baby in my arms. I slowly shifted Hamza into Sana’s arms and looked for Daniel but he was nowhere in sight. Where could he possibly go? I couldn’t go and look for him as Amma stopped me midway, asking me to serve the dinner as the guests were hungry. Before serving the dinner, we were supposed to cut Rayaan’s birthday cake. It was only when I asked everyone to gather around the dining table for the cake cutting ceremony I saw Daniel appear in the TV lounge, holding a polyethylene glass in his hands, a rigid expression still masking his face. Not only that, but I also saw Fariha tag along with him, looking like a lovesick puppy. Right next to her, I found Hammad standing and staring in my direction. What was happening here? What was going on with these people? I could not understand.  Amid all this chaos and confusion, Rayaan cut his birthday cake, and we all cheered for him. As the guests began to hand over the presents to him, Sana and I served the dinner and asked them to help themselves with the numerous food items I had arranged for them. While everyone became occupied with eating and chit-chatting, I decided to have a word with Daniel. From the corner of my eye, I saw him exchanging a small talk with Fariha. I had no idea about the dynamics of his relationship with her, and I was surprised why I had never asked him about that. All of a sudden, everything felt strange to me. Even Daniel felt oddly strange to me. I could feel in my heart he was not himself today. He seemed clearly off and distant to me. I wanted to talk to him and find out why he behaved so strangely. After dinner, the guests were served green tea and other sweet assortments in the drawing-room, whereas Rayaan sat with his friends in the TV lounge to play Nintendo with them. Gradually, the guests started to leave. Since Sana lived a little far from my place, she bid me goodbye and left the party. ‘What’s wrong, Mishal?’ Khadija asked me as I stood against the door, my eyes fixated on Daniel. Meanwhile, he had also locked his eyes with me, standing only a few feet away from me.  Slightly distracted by Khadija’s presence, I looked at her. ‘Nothing.’‘You seem upset. I noticed you don’t feel like yourself. It’s like your mind is somewhere else. What’s going on?’ she asked, concern showing on her face. I shook my head in disapproval. ‘Nothing’s wrong. It’s just that I’m a little tired.’She smiled. ‘I know right. You did a wonderful job with all the birthday arrangements. Everything was top class. The cake, the food, and all the décor.’‘Thanks, Khadija. I really missed you.’‘I missed you too. We need to catch up on a lot.’I nodded. ‘Yes, we will. Tonight’She patted lightly on my arm. ‘Sure. Let me go and check on Hamza. He must be irritating Amma a lot.’I grinned. ‘Okay.’Just when Khadija walked away, I stared back in Daniel’s direction and found him still staring at me. Mustering the courage, I walked over and stood right in front of him. ‘Did you eat properly?’ I asked. He seemed to be unfazed by my presence. ‘Yes, I did, thank you.’I was slightly taken aback by his cold response. ‘Do you want anything else? Should I bring a slice of cake for you? I baked it myself, you know?’ I said with a smile, hoping to clear the air.   His eyes were still cold, brutal. ‘Nah, thanks. I’m good.’I furrowed my brows in concern and whispered, ‘Is something wrong?’ He creased his brows in frustration. ‘Just a slight headache. I think I should take a leave.’Worried, I began. ‘But Daniel…’‘Goodbye,’ he said before walking past the hallway, opening the front door, and then finally heading outside. I kept looking at him as he disappeared into thin air. I was really worried for him. ***Hey, are you there?Are you okay?What’s wrong, Daniel? Why are you acting so strange? Tell me what happened!We promised each other we’re gonna discuss everything and anything that bothers us. Since when did you forget the promise and stop telling me? Please pick up my call. For God’s sake! I’m calling you. Where are you?Post Rayaan’s birthday, I sent these follow-up texts to Daniel but there was no response from his side. Between sending the texts, I also dialed his number to check on him, but he was persistent enough to avoid my calls. This was the first time he had behaved that way, and I was deeply concerned because of his act.  I knew he was not an ignorant person, and he would never ignore me on purpose. Something must have happened to him while he was on his way to pick Khadija up from the airport. Did Hammad say something bad to him? I had a hunch he might have been involved somehow or the other.  Sensing the distress on my face, Khadija asked me after putting Hamza to sleep, ‘What’s bothering you, Mishal? You know you can share it with me.’I turned to look at her, my cellphone still intact in my hands. She walked up to me, frown lines appearing on her forehead. ‘Tell me, what’s wrong?’‘It’s Daniel.’‘What about him?’My eyes welled up with tears.Khadija grew more concerned for me. ‘Mishal…’ She held me by the shoulders. ‘What happened?’‘I think…’ I said as I sobbed. ‘I think…I’m in love with him.’Her face fell open in shock. ‘What?’I nodded, wiping away the tears that ran down my cheeks. ‘And…And…’ she stammered. ‘And what about him?’‘I don’t know about him.’She slumped her shoulders, expressing disappointment. ‘Damn it, Mishie.’After Sana, I had to give out all the details about my growing friendship with Daniel to Khadija. I told her how I felt about him and how I always craved to spend more time with him. The only reason I could not express my feelings towards him was because of what happened between us in the past. Even though he did not know anything about my involvement in the past incident, I was scared he would lose his shit and hate me for the rest of his life as soon as he found out. Tears poured down my cheeks as I told Khadija everything about me and Daniel and what I had been experiencing in the past few days ever since he came into my life. ‘How long will you remain scared of that past incident, Mishie? How long are you going to blame yourself? There’s nothing to be scared of. Stop blaming yourself for what happened back then. We did because Fariha pressured us to do. That was the only possible thing we could have done at that time. I know what we did with Daniel was terrible, and he never deserved any of that, but it wasn’t in our control. However, we can still fix it. We can still make things work. You can still tell him the truth before he finds out from anyone else.’I wiped the tears from my eyes. ‘What if Hammad has already told him the truth?’‘How can you say that?’‘He’s been weird ever since he came back from the airport. He’s not even replying to my messages and picking up my calls.’She contemplated for a few seconds. ‘Even I observed he was silent throughout the way.’‘I have a feeling Hammad has told him everything.’‘Or maybe he hasn’t,’ Khadija said with a shrug. ‘Maybe you are overthinking.’I sighed and then looked at my hands. She held my chin and made me look into her eyes. ‘Just tell him the truth, Mishie. No matter what it takes.’ I looked up at her with a sad expression and shook my head slowly. A slight frown appeared on her face. ‘But why?’‘He’d hate me for life. He’d never speak to me or even look at my face.’Her frown deepened. ‘How can you say that for sure?’‘I know him better than you think.’‘He won’t be upset after you tell him the whole truth. Tell him what made you give false testimony against him.’A tear threatened to come out of my eye, and I instantly wiped it away with the back of my hand. My sister just asked me to do something that I had been planning for a long time but could not muster the courage to do it, yet. ‘Tell him how Fariya blackmailed us, especially you, to give a false testimony against Daniyal so she could kick him out of her house and from Nigaar aunty’s life.’I looked at her helplessly, a tear now rolling down my cheek, as I recalled the night when I had to put Daniyal’s future at risk only to save my sister’s reputation.