Chapter : 31 - Astaqfirulla, where's the door?

Astaghfirullah, where's the door, Uns?" Ezzeh shouted in pain as she fell to the ground.

"Oh Allah, Ezzeh, who told you to come running? You could have just walked," I said as I went towards her and helped her up.

"Seriously, Uns, do you think I would have walked after knowing you collapsed yesterday?" Her voice held anger and disappointment as she complained while taking my hand for support.

"Okay, fine, what's the big deal?" I said, sitting on the bed.

"So, this is a small matter to you, Uns? I'm angry with you. You call me your friend, but you didn't even bother to tell me about your condition?" Ezzeh said, standing there with great annoyance.

"Your my friend, that's why I didn't want to bother you," I said, approaching Ezzeh as she stood up.

She chuckled at my response. "Wow, no one should have a friend like you, Uns. And you know what, I'm leaving. Whether I come or go, it doesn't matter to you," Ezzeh said, moving towards the invisible door now.

"There's no door, be careful this time," I said with a mischievous smile.

"So, you're not even stopping me now?" Ezzeh stopped in her tracks and turned towards me, crossing her arms and giving me death glares.

"If I ask you to leave, will you go, Ezzeh?" I asked her, crossing my arms and looking at her.

"Never," she said and walked towards me, embracing me tightly.

And that's it. The emotions, the tears that I had been holding back for so long broke out in her hug. I had managed to hold myself together since yesterday.

I couldn't cry in front of Ammi; I didn't want to cause her any more trouble. And Sahara, she's my life. How could I cry in front of her? And as for Aziz, I love him, but I can't cry while hugging him. In all of this, there's only Ezzeh, to whom I can tell my pain.

Her embrace was so warm that I completely lost myself and burst into tears.

"Ez-Ezzeh..." I said between my sobs.

She didn't say anything, just patted my head to calm me down.

After 5 minutes, I broke the hug and looked at her, seeing her face filled with concern.

"I consider you as my friend, Uns. No matter how many fights we have, I can't bear to see you in pain," Ezzeh said with great softness.

And I just nodded in response.

"Okay, that's enough now. I like your red nose, but not when you're crying, instead when you're angry, Uns," Ezzeh said while wiping my tears from my cheeks.

I laughed at her response and took Aziz's handkerchief from my nightstand to wipe my tears. I don't know how it ended up in my purse, but the only thing I know is, now it's mine.

"So, Ms. Uns, now tell me in detail, which besharam person broke your door into two pieces?"

"Bhegairat neh," I said with a smile.

"Bhegairat? You mean Aziz? I... I mean Mr. Aziz Nader?" Ezzeh asked, utterly confused. But what shocked me was Ezzeh calling Aziz as "Mr. Aziz Nader."

"Ezzeh, you can just call him Aziz," I assured her.

"I don't want to go to heaven right now, Uns, by taking your bhegairat's name," she said dramatically, as if I would literally do something to her if she called him by his name.

"Very funny, huh?" I said, feeling exasperated with her drama.

"But wait a minute, Mr. Nader came here yesterday and he broke the door for you?" Ezzeh was now completely shocked as she said this.

"And tell me, what did he do? Don't tell me he came running towards you while waking you up, Uns. I will die right here," Ezzeh's fantasies had no limit.

"He would have done that if he were in a condition to do so," I said while drinking a glass of water.

"What do you mean?" Ezzeh asked.

"Matlab ki janab-e-aali khud sajde ki condition mein the, mujhe kya uthate woh," I said to Ezzeh.

(I mean Janabe Aali was himself was in a condition to go prostrate to God, so what would he have done to me?)

"Seriously Uns, so you're telling me he fell on his knees seeing you collapsed in front of his eyes?" Ezzeh exclaimed with excitement.

"Ezzeh, calm down, Ammi may come here," I whispered loudly to her.

"And tell me more, Uns. What happened next? Tell me everything right now," she said sternly, her excitement and curiosity were evident in her tone.

After recounting the events of yesterday, I looked at her to see her face blank. After a minute, she stood up, came near my nightstand, drank a glass of water, and then sat again. After a moment, she took a deep breath and bombarded me with countless questions.

"I am dreaming or I must be dreaming right now. You're telling me to believe that Aziz Nader, the son of the most successful businessman, came directly from his race stadium with his race car, broke your door into two pieces, kneeled when he saw you collapsed, drank coffee with you, fed you and himself biryani?

Then gifted you a shawl, stood outside your balcony drenching himself in rain, you saw him then complained to him for not inviting you to join him in the rain, you complained to him as if he isn't taking you for shopping?

And if all that wasn't enough, you drank tea with him, Uns? Seriously, tea, Uns Reza?" Ezzeh said in one go, and I couldn't do anything but blush at each repetition.

"And not that blush, Uns? You can't give me so many heart attacks and expect me to digest all this at once. How can you just blush by hearing Aziz Nader's name?" Ezzeh said, looking at me.

And here my cheeks have no control over me. They are turning red by each second.

"I am going, Uns. I literally can't tolerate your cuteness," Ezzeh said while getting up to leave.

"Ezzeh, wait," I stopped her, holding her hands.

"Don't blush," she said.

"It's not in my hands," I said.

Then we both burst into laughter. Neither Ezzeh nor I knew why we were laughing, maybe because of my change of behavior, and the person responsible for this is none other than my "bhegairat" Nader.

We were busy laughing when Sahara entered with a tray in her hands.

"Mashallah, Appi, aise hi humesha khush raho aap," Sahara said with a smile while coming towards us. She kept the tray on the nightstand and stood in front of me.

"What?" I asked, puzzled by her stare.

"Nothing, I just feel good seeing you smile," Sahara said, then kissed my forehead.

"Me too," Ezzeh said and kissed me on my forehead.

"What's wrong with both of you?" I said, looking at them, who were busy kissing my forehead.

"Ya Allah, chodo mujhe, besharamo," I pushed them away.

"Appi," Sahara called me softly while sitting beside me.

"Bas yun hi khush raho," Sahara said while gently caressing my hand.

I looked at her. She smiled, but her eyes weren't. There was something she wanted to tell me but was stopping herself from it.

"Coffee," Sahara said, giving it to me.

"Arrey Sahara, tumhari Appi abhi coffee thodi piti hai, woh toh ab chai piyegi. Chai lao, Ms. Uns ke liye," Ezzeh started with her teasing.

Sahara looked puzzled, not understanding a thing.

"And even bring tomatoes, Sahara. Uns loves tomatoes too," Ezzeh added.

If Sahara wasn't here, I would have surely punched Ezzeh for her teasing, and even this cheek doesn't have any mercy on me. I'll surely punch you too, Aziz. Who on earth said you to tease me with that name in the restaurant, and why on earth did I say this to Ezzeh? Now I regret telling her each and everything.

"Are you done, Ezzeh?" I asked sternly, absolutely done with her.

In all this, there was one person who wasn't giving any response. What's wrong with her?

"Sahara, are you okay?" I asked her suddenly, noticing that she was fixated on the coffee cup she was holding.

"No, Appi, I am not" she said, and then embraced me tightly, now bursting into tears.

Ezzeh gestured with her hand, asking what happened, while I myself was shocked.

Sahara was still crying. I let her cry and just patted her head to calm her down, but it seemed like she wanted to cry more. But what happened to her?

And the thing I don't get is why is she crying suddenly? After 5 minutes, Sahara finally broke the hug and looked down.

"Sahara," I called her softly.

She looked up slowly, and after so many days, I noticed her eyes; they were wet with tears, with dark circles appearing under them as if she hadn't slept for days. Her nose and cheeks were totally red now.

"What happened?" I asked her, the next important question.

Sahara didn't say anything. For 2 minutes, 4 minutes, 5 minutes, there was only silence. Ezzeh and I waited for her response in that silence.

"Appi, that day Samir-"

..................................❤...............................

Thank you so much for reading.

Have a great day!

I'd love to know your thoughts on this chapter 🤍

Chapter Aesthetics :

"Arrey Sahara, tumhari Appi abhi coffee thodi piti hai, woh toh ab chai piyegi. Chai lao, Ms. Uns ke liye"

"And even bring tomatoes, Sahara. Uns loves tomatoes too"

"And if all that wasn't enough, you drank tea with him, Uns?"

🤍