FIFTEEN

❝It's all messed up❞

Aayan didn't return.

After Ifrah had gathered herself, she sat in the hut waiting for him, in hopes that he would eventually return like he did before. He had only stormed out of here in fury, right? It wasn't like he will actually leave her alone in the forest. He would be back when he's cooled down, and maybe then they could discuss the matter in a civilized manner.

A heavy feeling of guilt had settled in Ifrah's heart; she shouldn't have reacted like that. She could've handled the situation more appropriately. But her mind had stopped working the moment she saw the pack of cigarettes.

Aayan's image of smoking had appeared before her eyes; making her blood run cold and she lost it.

She couldn't believe that her childhood friend was among those people who smoked their lives away, not bothering to even think about the loved ones they'd be leaving behind if that stupid tar finally got hold of their lungs and squeezed.

Did they not care that they were actually playing with the biggest blessing Allah has given them— life itself?

Was it that inconsequential?

Ifrah felt nauseous; she didn't want Aayan to be one of those people. It was the moment she realized that their friendship had really fell apart. Maybe it had been for ages, but it was finally coming down on her as a brutal realization. She didn't know what kind of man he was anymore.

When was the last time they genuinely passed each other a smile?

Or said Salam while accidentally crossing each other in the mall?

Her heart lurched.

She couldn't remember.

After the night of Aayan's sixteenth birthday, they'd stopped talking. The only time they saw each other after that was during some stupid house parties their parents held, and even then they were forced to attend. Maybe that was the reason Ifrah had felt like a bomb had dropped on her when her parents told her that she was to marry him.

They should've talked about whatever happened that night; they could've got a closure if not anything else.

A sick feeling made its way to her body, and she wrapped her arms around herself a little tighter. Aayan should come back now, she will listen to whatever reason he have for smoking and then...

Then what?

Will he listen to her if she'll tell him to quit it?

It's all messed up.

She thought while burying her head between her knees and inhaling a deep breath. Tears were threatening to spill out of her eyes but she didn't cry. There was no point of it, anyway.

Sleep stayed miles away from Ifrah as she lied on the floor, staring at the ceiling made of leaves, and waiting for her husband to return. Each hour passed with an increase in her anxiety and before she knew it, sun had risen in the sky.

He left me for real this time...

She thought with a heavy heart while getting out of the hut. The throbbing in her wrist had intensified but it couldn't beat the one in her heart. After standing in front of the hut like a zombie for some minutes, she decided to go to the river. Her hope came crashing down when she saw the place empty.

He wasn't there.

With heavy steps, she came to the lake and squatted down to freshen up.

He had tied her hair at the same place just yesterday.

I thought we were getting somewhere.

The bitter thought made her clench her eyes before she stood up and went back to grab her backpack. Ifrah had made up her mind to continue trecking on the same path they'd left. If her hunch was correct; maybe she'd find him there. And if not...

She gulped.

Better stay positive, right?

She threw one last look at the hut before walking into the forest.

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Ifrah had been walking for an hour. But there was still no sign of Aayan. She had even checked the lake where he had gotten that stupid injury. Her heart had sunk all over again when she couldn't find him at that spot; she was eighty percent positive that he'd be there.

Seems like the twenty percent won by luck.

Or her own was just pathetic since the start.

Her aggravation was increasing with each passing minute along with her anxiety. She was losing her focus on her surroundings; what if something happened to him?

What if he was lying somewhere—

“No!” she exclaimed while pausing in middle of the jungle before covering her face with her right hand. She should really get a hold of herself!

Ifrah counted to ten while inhaling slow breaths before shrugging off her backpack and sitting down at the muddy ground. She unzipped it and took out her makeup pouch.

“For all I know, he could be chilling in front of some other lake if not this one,” she muttered to herself while taking out a small mirror. “Then why am I walking around, searching for that jahil while looking like— ”

A sudden scream left her lips when she caught her reflection in the mirror and her mouth fell open.

She looked horrendous!

She peeked one more time before snapping the mirror shut.

Oh God.

She looked uglier than a chewed gum under the sole of some random dude's shoe!

There were huge bags under her eyes while her skin looked like a freaking vampire has sucked all the blood from it, leaving it ghastly pale. A sudden thought made her do a double take and she opened the mirror once again before squinting in it.

There was a fudging pimple right on the apple of her left cheek!

Was she really walking around looking like this for the whole time?!

No wonder he left you.

A voice mocked in her head and she suddenly threw away the mirror as a wave of embarrassment washed over her. She was so pathetic.

The poor girl was trying so hard to stop her emotions from getting the best of her, but it seemed like the nature wasn't in favour of it. She was massaging her temples when a thought hit her and she snapped up her head to look in the direction where she had thrown the mirror.

Ifrah shot up to her feet.

“Oh no, no, no, no, no, no... ” she kept chanting while looking around the dirt ground to find the mirror. “It was a gift from baba, you idiot!” she scolded herself.

Ifrah's father wasn't a fan of buying his daughter makeup stuff, but he had gotten this mirror from a random kid on the road who was selling them on Chaand Raat and he gave it to Ifrah. She knew he had only bought it for that boy's sake, but she had considered it a gift none the less. It was the first time he had gotten her something like this anyway.

She finally found the mirror near a tree and quickly grabbed it before opening it up to check if it was broken. A relieved sigh escaped her when she found it alright and clutched it to her chest while closing her eyes.

These little things were the only one holding her upright at the moment.

She walked back to the previous spot and sat down before opening her pouch once again. After staring at the contents inside it for a few seconds, she closed it back. She didn't have the energy anymore, so she only settled with a puff of lavender perfume at her collar and wrists.

Maybe it would help with the otherwise horrible smell of her body.

It'd been so long since she last took a shower.

Ifrah gathered her stuff before standing up on her staggering feet. She lightly smacked her cheeks a few times to stop herself from crying and continued on her way with her head held high.

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The sun was starting to set as Ifrah dragged her feet back to the hut. She'd gone to the spot they'd last seen yesterday, after which they had decided to come back. She was grateful for the signs Aayan had hung on the branches because in her current state of mind, it wouldn't have been a surprise for her to get lost.

But she couldn't find him anywhere.

As she neared the path where the lake was present, a sudden buzzing noise reached her ears. Ifrah's head snapped up to look for its source and her breathing came to a pause when her eyes fell on her right shoulder.

There was a bug sitting there.

And not just any bug; it was the size of her palm.

With wings.

Ifrah's whole system shut off before she let out a blood curdling scream and started shaking like crazy to get rid of the little beast. She felt the thing move closer to her collar and another scream left her lips at the thought that it could go inside her shirt.

No effing way!

“Get off of me— Aayan!” his name rolled off her tongue in a frenzy. He was expert in getting bugs off of her when they were little, and that was the reason she had called for him (doesn't matter if it was done unconsciously).

She kept screaming as she made a run for the sloped path, not caring that her bandage had come off from her wrist and it was hurting like hell.

She just wanted that beast away from her.

Ifrah shrugged off her bag in a haste when she were near the lake and moved her hands to slap her shoulders.

Hundred points if she's able to slap that insect right in the fudging face!

When she couldn't feel anything on her anymore, she clenched her eyes in relief while wrapping her arms around herself. Her chest heaved as she tried to calm her breathing while her throat felt like sandpaper with all the screaming she had done.

But her relief was short lived, because at that moment she felt a presence behind her and the hair at the nape of her neck stood up as her eyes went wide in fear.

That was the last straw which snapped.

Without thinking, she grabbed a fairly big stone from the ground and whirled around, ready to smack the shït out of whatever animal it was but a loud yell made her froze.

“Woah— what the actual fück?!”

A very wide-eyed and astonished Aayan was standing in front of her, his hair all wild and shirt wrapped around his waist as he raised his arms in front of him as a shield. When he caught his wife's crazed state; eyes wide and breaths coming out as if she'd run a marathon, his heart stuttered.

“It's only me... no one else.” he spoke slowly while stepping towards her. Ifrah snapped out of the shock after hearing his voice and the stone slipped from her hand. She stared at him for a second or two before she felt the energy draining out from her body.

And she broke down crying.

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N O T E

Aayan to gya...

Thank me for putting the cliffhanger *does a dramatic bow*

Next chapter is my fave, I'm telling you guys beforehand 😎

Peace out 🤘🏻