chapter 28

Chapter 28DanielI could not stay back after hearing Mum’s breaking voice. Clearly, she was in pain, and she needed me the most during this trying time. I booked a flight to Lahore right away. Dad was a bit shaken after I told him I was leaving for Pakistan. He wished my mother’s husband well and asked me to stay strong. The flight was supposed to leave in just a few hours, so I had little time to pack my stuff. When I reached home, I grabbed my suitcase and packed my clothes and toiletries in a jiffy. Before I knew it, I was leaving for the airport. On my way to the airport, I called up my boss and told him I was going for Pakistan because of an emergency and would come back next week. The sixteen-hour flight had completely exhausted me when I reached the Lahore airport. I booked myself an Uber and headed straight to Mum’s place. She lived in the same residence, so I knew the address already. When I reached outside the house, paranoia hit me. A few people were gathered outside the house, some standing with gloomy faces. I wondered if everything was okay. I got off the Uber, grabbed my suitcase, and made my way toward the house. I found Hammad standing with a few men at the front door, looking miserable as ever. He looked somewhat surprised when he found me approaching him. I extended my hand toward him and shook it. ‘Hey, mate, how are ya doin’? I asked as I went in for a hug. He hugged me back. ‘Is everythin’ okay?’ I asked as I hugged him. ‘Dad left us,’ he told me, his voice breaking. I retreated from the hug and looked at him, utterly shocked. ‘What?’He nodded at me with tears in his eyes. ‘Damn…’ I whispered, still shocked. ‘Where’s… where’s… Mum?’He gestured for me inside the house, and I nodded at him considerately. I stepped inside and found the living lounge brimming with women of all age groups. Fariya was sitting on the couch with a woman supposedly trying to console her. When our eyes met, I looked at her with a sympathetic look, and she began crying. As much as I wanted to reach out to her, hold her hands, console her with a hug, I could not move an inch. I did not have the nerve to console people. I always found it hard to console people when they lost someone close. I took a deep sigh, moved past the lounge area, and walked into Mum’s room, hoping she was there. My heart filled with joy when I found Mum inside her room. I saw her after two years. After COVID-19 restrictions eased, international borders reopened, and traveling became normal, I invited Mum to come to see me in Sydney. She visited Sydney for a week and stayed at my place. During the entire period, I made sure she went to see every nook and corner of the city where she spent so much time. She also met her long-lost friends when she used to live here. I was relieved to see her face. The moment she laid her eyes on me, she started crying. I dropped my bag on the floor and reached out to her for a hug. She ran into my arms and started crying. Women gathered in the room looked at us with sympathetic expressions. ‘He has left me, Daniyal… He has left me forever…’ Mum cried as she clasped onto me rightly. I caressed her hair with my hand as I tried to console her. ‘Hold yourself together, Mum…’‘I am all alone now…’ she sobbed. ‘No, I’m here… You’re not alone. I am with you. I won’t leave you alone.’And just like that, she stayed in my arms and cried like a baby. After some time, I sat down with Hammad and Fariya to offer my condolences to them. They remained quiet the whole time, and I did not know what else to say to them. Perhaps it was time for me to say what I had planned. ‘I am taking Mum to Australia,’ I announced, looking at them.Hammad and Fariya exchanged a confused glance with each other and then looked back at me. ‘I can’t let her stay back here… I can’t let her feel alone.’Hammad began. ‘She is not alone here, Daniyal. She has Fariya and me. This home belongs to her as much as it does to us.’I nodded. ‘I know, and I understand, mate. But I need to take her with me. She needs a change of environment.’‘Are you taking her permanently?’ Fariya asked, her voice low and croaky. I shook my head slowly. ‘I don’t know… She can stay with me as long as she likes.’‘Have you talked to her?’ Hammad asked. ‘Yes, I have, and she has agreed to it.’‘We hope she stays happy wherever she is,’ Hammad said. ‘She will be happy with me,’ I told them. ***After a long day, I got the chance to step into my room and have some rest finally. I dumped my suitcase on the ground and reached for the bed, lying upside down. Not a minute passed when the thought of Mishal crossed my mind. Why did I not come across her or any of her family members at Khalid Butt’s funeral? Why was her mother not on my Mum’s side in this hard time? She should have been here at least, consoling my Mum, considering they both were really close friends. I got off the bed and dashed out into the balcony only to look over at her side. To my surprise, her balcony was empty and dark. The swing chair was gone, and the plants were not there anymore. Though a feeling of déjà vu hit me as I stood across her terrace, recalling all our encounters in the middle of the night, I could no longer feel her presence. Every time I used to come here, I remember feeling that she might appear before me at any time. However, this time, it was different. I did not get the same feeling anymore. What if Mishal’s married and her family decided to abandon the place forever? I had to get to her house to figure out everything. The next morning, I had breakfast with Mum and decided to visit Mishal’s house. I did not tell Mum about the visit because I did not want to upset her. I did not ask anything from Hammad or Fariya, even though they could provide me with all the answers I was looking for. When I pressed the doorbell, I waited outside Mishal’s gate with a bated breath. Someone opened the gate after a few seconds, and my heartbeat accelerated. An unfamiliar face stood before me—a male—probably my age. ‘Asalaam U Alaikum,’ he greeted me. I did not respond to him like he expected me to, so I just nodded at him. ‘I am here to see Rubina aunty.’‘Rubina aunty?’ he asked, furrowing his brows in confusion.‘Yes.’‘They moved from here a long time ago.’I was surprised. ‘Moved? Where?’‘I don’t know, but they moved from here two years back.’My face fell as soon as I heard the news. ‘I may not know the address of their new house, but I do know the location of her daughter’s restaurant.’Instantly, my face lit up with surprise. ‘What is it?’As he told me the address, I opened the Google Maps app on my phone and located the restaurant. I could not believe Mishal had opened her own restaurant. It must have been a dream-come-true moment for her. I could not hold myself back and not visiting her restaurant. I had to meet her and congratulate her on such an achievement. According to the Google Maps app, her restaurant was only a few miles away from her old residence. I took Mum’s car and drove to the place. I killed off the engine on reaching the destination, but I could not control my erratic heartbeat. Was it a good idea to come here and see her? What if she is running the restaurant along with her husband? Wouldn’t my presence make her uncomfortable? Wouldn’t seeing me after a long while disturb her? I reconsidered my decision to come here. After a few beats, I realized it was not a good idea to be here. I should not have come here in the first place. As I was about to start the car engine, my eyes landed on Mishal, standing a few feet away, directing her staff workers. Dressed in a baby pink top and blue jeans, she looked as beautiful as ever. I figured she had not changed much as far as her physical appearance was concerned. She still wore spectacles and tied up her hair in a bun. A little smile crept across my face as I continued staring at her. Unbeknown to my presence, she continued giving directions to her staff workers and then disappeared into the restaurant. Once again, I was bewitched by her aura—her beauty—her innocence. Seeing her after a long time sparked the same feelings that I had for her all these years. Without a second thought, I stepped down the car and headed toward the restaurant.Mishal‘Ali!’ I called out to one of my staff workers. ‘I need you to shift all these boxes to the storage room.‘Sure, ma’am.’ I heard Ali respond. I turned around to face another employee. ‘And, Amir, I need you to look after the kitchen today. Make sure everything is organized.’‘Sure, Ma,’am.’ Amir said before walking back into the kitchen. Ensuring everything was sorted with the stock boxes, I went inside the restaurant and took a deep breath. As I watched waiters receive and deliver orders to the customers, I could not believe I had managed to set up my own restaurant. I had surely come a long way from running an online home-based restaurant to finally opening a physical outlet in the main city. It took me two years to work out the plan, gather finances, and open a restaurant. I was proud that I did not have to seek anybody’s help setting up my dream project. It still seemed like a dream for me—to have my own restaurant. This would not have been possible without the support of my family—Amma, and Rayaan. Rayaan, now twenty years old, helped me manage the restaurant. Even though he was doing his Bachelors, he helped me out with the accounting and finance-related stuff in the evening. He was a genius with numbers, so I handed over the entire accounts department to him. I sighed and walked back into my little cabin. The glass walls of the cabin allowed me to have a view of the restaurant from all sides. I could see what was happening in the kitchen parallel to what was happening in the restaurant—how customers were enjoying their food and how waiters were helping them get the best service. I opened the laptop and began researching the new breakfast menu we were going to launch very soon. Just then, my cell phone buzzed. I picked it up from the desk and answered the call. ‘When are you getting free from work?’ he asked from the other end of the line. I smiled. His voice always made me smile. ‘Just in a few minutes.’‘I hope you have not forgotten about our date tonight,’ he chuckled. I leaned back in my seat. ‘What if I have?’‘Why do you want to give me a heart attack, madam?’I laughed. ‘I don’t.’‘Then please be ready. I will pick you up at 8.’‘I’ll be ready.’‘See you, beautiful.’‘See you.’ I hung up the phone and kept it back on the desk. Ever since I had started seeing Sammar, I felt good. He was like a breath of fresh air in my life. In case you’re wondering, I did not marry Faiz. I could not marry him or any other person for that matter. It took me a lot of time to move on from Daniel. Even though I had to muster a lot of courage to break the spell and start dating Sammar, I still could not forget Daniel. I could not stop loving him. We may not have any contact in the past few years, but he still remained in my heart—in my memories. A few minutes later, a waiter knocked on my door. I nodded at him, gesturing for him to come inside. ‘Ma’am, we have got a little problem.’I kept my eyes on the laptop screen as I listened to him. ‘Go ahead.’‘He’s asking us to serve him Chicken Parmigiana.’I looked at him through my glasses. ‘Just tell him we don’t serve this dish.’‘I did, but he is still insisting.’I furrowed my brows as I brought my gaze back to the laptop screen and began typing something in the search browser. ‘He says he refuses to believe that the owner of this restaurant does not know how to make a good Aussie Chicken Parmigiana.’My fingers stopped moving—they were frozen on the keypad. I looked at the waiter in surprise. ‘What did you say?’‘Sorry, ma’am?’ he asked, confused. Suddenly, it felt as if the earth had slipped beneath my feet. As if the time had stopped. My heartbeat stopped. It had to be him. I knew it was him. He was here. At my restaurant.‘Wh—where is that customer?’ I stammered as I asked the waiter. ‘He’s outside, ma’am.’***I gathered every ounce of strength inside my body and dashed out of my cabin, frantically looking across the main hall to spot him. However, I could not find him there. Where did he go? I ran to the reception area and asked the receptionist if he had seen any tall man leaving the restaurant. He told me the man had left the restaurant only a few seconds ago. Saddened by the prospect of not being able to meet him, I did not lower my spirit and instead ran outside the restaurant to look for him. The cool air hit my face as soon I stepped out. Surprisingly, the weather had turned pleasant, and it started drizzling. I marched the entire block of the area, but I could not find him. How could he just disappear into thin air? Why could he not wait for me longer? Had he come to meet me, he should have waited a bit longer. Desperate to find him, I ran across all the nearby blocks only to find any trace of him. Exhausted, I stopped in the middle of the road, puffing and running low on the breath. ‘Are you lookin’ for someone, mate?’ I heard someone ask that in a thick Australian accent from my behind. My heartbeat almost stopped as I recognized his voice. I turned around slowly and found him standing only a few feet away from me. I nodded as I locked my eyes with him, a smile appearing on the corner of my lips. ‘Yes, I was looking for you.’He smirked, tucking his hands inside his jeans pocket, and took a few steps towards me. ‘I was… I was kinda disappointed when I found out your restaurant does not serve Chicken Parmigiana. You know how much I love the dish, and I know you make it so well.’I smiled, my heartbeat quickened as the distance between us became shorter. ‘I’m sorry, Sir. I’ll make it a point to include that dish in my menu now.’‘Well, thank you, Ma’am,’ he said as he bowed his head a little in respect. I laughed at his gesture, and he smiled back at me, casting his eyes downwards and then looking up at me again. ‘I am happy for your success, mate. I can’t believe you’re running such a big restaurant. It’s amazin’, and I’m proud of ya.’I nodded with a smile. ‘Thank you.’The next instant, a lightning bolt flashed through the sky and started to drizzle. I looked up at the sky and smiled in astonishment. ‘Wow. It’s raining.’He looked up at the sky as well. ‘Yeah.’‘We better run inside before it starts raining heavily,’ I told him. He looked back at me, into my eyes, and smiled. The raindrops started to pour down on us. ‘What?’ I asked with a shrug. He shook his head slowly, and his hair started to become damp. ‘C’mon, we need to go inside.’ I reached out for his hand. ‘Hurry.’He held my hand and tucked it between his. ‘Wait.’I looked at our hands and then back at him frantically. ‘I wanted to ask you something…’ he said. ‘Ask me what?’ I asked as the rain picked up the pace and started pouring down heavily. He looked into my eyes sincerely.His stare made me nervous, his touch left me breathless. My heartbeat was accelerating as I waited for him to speak. He bit his lower lip. ‘Did you… uh…did you get married?’I let out a small, shaky laugh. ‘No… I did not. Not yet.’He heaved a sigh and smiled. ‘Okay.’I pressed my lips, my heartbeat thudding loudly against my ribs. ‘And you?’He shook his head fervently and furrowed his brows. ‘No, no. I did not. Not yet.’I breathed a sigh of relief and nodded. ‘Okay.’‘Okay?’ he asked, smiling. ‘Yes.’ I smiled back. He held my gaze for a long moment as silence ensued between us and rain splattered everywhere around us.  ‘Shall we go inside now?’ he asked with a chuckle, breaking the silence. ‘Yes…Sure.’ I laughed, and we both rushed inside the restaurant to seek shelter.