chapter 27

Chapter 27Five Years LaterDanielThe winter season went by quickly, and I was grateful for that. Truth be told, I never enjoyed the winter season. I have always been a summer fan. The summer season allowed me to go to the beach with my friends. In my city, Sydney, summer is usually warm and partly cloudy, but it becomes better in the evening and remains cooler throughout the night. After a long day at work, I went home. Post the pandemic season, life started moving at a normal pace again. No COVID-19 protocols and restrictions to follow. In the past few years, my company had promoted me to the team lead position. With a significant rise in my salary, I could afford a better, larger unit for myself. I chose a unit closer to Dad’s place. After everything was sorted between Mum’s family in Pakistan and me, I started thinking about how I could improve my relationship with my Dad. When I came back from Pakistan, I started visiting him often and spent time with his family—his wife and his daughters. I could not have done that unless his family did not welcome me. The fact that they were so welcoming, I could not stop myself from going there again and again. I used to have dinner with them almost every weekend, followed by a movie night session. I bonded so well with his family. It was like I had a family of own. A family I thought I would never have. On a Saturday night, when I was sitting on the balcony and having a glass of wine with my Dad, he looked at me for a long time and asked me, ‘I have seen you change so much, Daniel.’I looked back at him, putting the glass on the table. ‘You are not the same person you were before your trip to Pakistan. What made you change?’ he asked. At that particular moment, the only person I could think of was Mishal. Part of the reason I did reconnect with Dad and his family was because of Mishal. She told me I should not distance myself from my father and be present in his life. Perhaps I connected with my Dad because of how Mishal had explained to me the importance of having a family in life. Mishal. Mishal. Mishal. God, how could I ever forget her?I would be lying if I said I did not miss Mishal after coming back to Sydney. I missed her with each passing moment. I did follow her on social media for some time, but she did not post much there. I missed seeing her posts, missed knowing what was happening in her life. I used to check on her Instagram stories and posts all day, but there was nothing new. A good friend made me understand that stalking her on social media would do me no good. I would never be able to move on in my life if I kept looking for her. Having disappeared from social media could only mean she was probably married and started her new life with her husband. It was only then I decided to unfollow her on Instagram and vowed myself not to look up for her online. Since that day, I had moved on in real. I could focus better on my work and improve my relationship with my Dad and his family. And to top it off, I had met someone—Zoe. I met Zoe at an after-party held by my company. She did not work in my company but was employed in one of its sister concerns based in New Zealand. She was not from Australia but New Zealand. I felt an immediate spark with her in our first meeting, and we instantly hit it off. Whenever she came to work in Sydney, we used to see each other and spend as much time as possible. With Zoe in my life, I may not have felt complete, but I was doing okay, and it was enough. Six months into dating, Zoe told me she wanted to get married to me and wanted to spend her entire life with me. I had no qualms about spending my life with Zoe, but she asked me to move to New Zealand with her, which was impossible for me. ‘What happened?’ she had asked me as soon as she brought up the topic of getting married and moving to New Zealand. This was not the first time we had had this conversation. ‘Why are you so quiet?’I took the duvet off, got off the bed, and wore my PJs. ‘Daniel, what happened? Why are you so quiet?’ she asked as she sat on the bed, covering her naked body with the sheets. ‘I can’t move to New Zealand with you, Zoe,’ I turned around and looked at her. She frowned. ‘Why can’t you?’I sighed, trying my best to keep my cool. ‘You know I’ve recently got the promotion here.’‘So what?’ She got off the bed and walked over to me. ‘You can find some other job in Auckland or any other city there.’I crossed my shoulders across my chest and looked at her with a straight face. ‘What?’ she asked, throwing her hands in the air. ‘Do you really think I’d quit my job in Sydney and move to some other city where I have no idea if I’d be able to fit in?’ I asked, my voice low. She shrugged. ‘You can always try. I know you are damn talented. Any company would hire you.’I smirked. ‘I have been working with this company for the past eight years and have learned so much from them. I owe this company so much, Zoe. You have no idea. I can’t leave them too soon.’‘But, babe, your job is not more important than me, right?’ she asked, holding me by my shoulders. I looked at her, silent. ‘If you had to choose between your career and me, you would choose me, right?’ she asked, raising a brow. My answer to her was that I would choose my current job and career. My answer was satisfying to me but it was a major disappointment for Zoe. That’s why we broke up. ***Post break-up, Zoe did not last a second in my unit. She packed her bags and left the apartment without saying anything else to me. I did not stop her either. Had she really loved me, she would have never asked me to do something I did not want. She would have respected my choices. I did know long-distance relationships never worked, but we could have managed to sort out something if I did not want to shift to New Zealand. We could have come up with another solution had she allowed me to. All she asked me was to choose between herself and my current job, which was quite condescending. She should have never put me in such a situation had she really loved me. She should have never posed this question in front of me. Had it been Mishal, she would have never done this to me. Mishal. Mishal… It had been five years since I had seen her or heard of her. Where would she be? She would probably be a mother of a kid now. Bearing her thoughts in my mind, I slept on the couch. Later that night, Dad called me up to check on me. It had become his usual thing. He would just call me up at most random times. ‘Hey, kid, how ya doin’?’ he asked me on the phone. My voice was low. ‘I’m good, how about ya?’‘Is everythin’ okay?’I was surprised by his question. How did he sense something was wrong at my side? Did his paternal instinct start working all of a sudden? ‘Yep, everythin’ is fine,’ I told him. ‘Why don’t you come home for dinner? Steph and girls look forward to seeing you.’‘Sure, I’ll be there.’‘Great. See you soon, kid.’‘See ya.’ I ended the call and sighed. For dinner, I went to see Dad and his family. I did not intend to stay there longer, but Steph and my two little sisters stopped me from going so soon. When Steph asked me why I did not bring Zoe along, I lied to her and said she had already left for Auckland. Even though I tried my best to remain in a cheerful mood, Dad thought something was amiss. While we had wine on his balcony, he walked over to me and looked me in the eye. ‘Is everything good between Zoe and you?’ he asked. I took a long sigh and shook my head slowly. ‘Zoe and I broke up.’He furrowed his brows. ‘Why? I thought you both were pretty stable to get married.’I chuckled. ‘Yeah, I thought the same, but I guess we weren’t meant to be together forever.’He put his hand on my shoulder. ‘I hope you are feelin’ all right.’‘I’m all right, mate. No worries,’ I reassured him. ‘Do you want another glass?’ He gestured to my glass. ‘Yeah, sure.’ I handed him the glass and watched him leave the balcony. I turned around and slightly leaned over the railing, enjoying the view ahead of me. Just then, my cell phone buzzed in my pocket. I fished out the phone and found Mum’s face flashing on the screen. I picked up her call almost in an instant. ‘Hey, mum, how are ya doin’?’All I could hear was the sound of sobs on the other of the line. It got me worried as hell. ‘Mum…’ I held my breath for a moment. ‘Is everthin’ okay?’‘Daniyal…’ Mum said between tears. ‘Mum, are you okay?’ I asked, my voice on the edge of breaking. ‘Khalid Sahab had a heart attack… he’s in the hospital, and he’s not well.’‘What?’ I was shocked. ‘Can you please come? I need you, son…’‘Mum, hold yourself together, all right. I’ll be there with you as soon as I can. Please stop crying, okay? He’ll be okay.’She sobbed. ‘Please come soon. I need you.’‘I’ll be there soon, I promise.’Â