Be-panah

EIGHT

Ajeeb tarah se nakaam hue dono,
Woh mujhe chah na saki,
aur main use bhula na saka.

▫️▫️▫️▫️▫️▫️▫️▫️▫️

"What do you mean by you don't want to marry Adab? Is this all a joke to you?" Arsalaan's voice boomed in the Zaidi mansion, while Mehr tried to calm him down by rubbing his back.

"Arsal, please. You'll affect your health." Mehr asked her husband.

"How do you expect me to not get angry? Did you not listen to what he just said?" Arsalaan screamed while pointing at Zaroon.

"Arsal, get angry won't help." Mahad piped in as well, and then looked at his son. "Zaroon, what is all this? Till yesterday, you were dying to marry Adab as soon as possible, and today you're saying this."

"I know, Baba. But now I'm saying no." Zaroon simply replied.

"Have you gone mad, Zaroon? How can you say no out of nowhere? Have you thought about Adab?" Parishay asked her son while eyeing Adab, who sat silently on the couch while looking at her hands.

After Adab had left his office, Zaroon had called his parents and asked them to reach Zaidi Mansion saying he wanted to talk about something important. And after everyone had arrived, he had said no to the marriage.

"Didn't you claim to love her more than your life? Now you're just going to leave her without any solid reason." Arsalaan screamed, "You're nothing but a selfish coward." He spat at Zaroon.

"Abbu," Adab spoke for the first time. She couldn't sit there and listen to everyone get mad at Zaroon for a mistake that he never made. "Don't say that to him."

Arsalaan stared at his daughter unbelievably. "You're still taking his side? If you haven't understood then let me spell it out to you, he has just denied to marry you."

"No," She whispered, "He hasn't denied marrying me. I have denied it. I was the one who said no. He is just taking all the blame so that you don't question me." A few tears leaked from her eyes.

Adab heard Parishay and Mehr gasp at the latest revelation.

Mehr finally asked, "But why?"

Adab nervously looked at everyone. "Because I couldn't fall in love with him."

There was nothing left to talk about anymore. The discussion was done, and the decision was made. Adab and Zaroon's engagement was broken.

That night, Mehr and Arsalaan sat in their room in absolute silence, thinking about everything that happened earlier.

"Do you think it was our fault?" Mehr asked Arsalaan. "Do you think we forced our daughter into a relationship that she wasn't ready for?"

"Maybe." Arsalaan spoke, "We may not have directly forced her, but subconsciously we had always talked about them over so many years that it might have become normal to her. And before she could realise what she actually felt for Zaroon, it was too late."

Mehr broke down. "How could we not realise that we were pressuring her? I feel like we've failed as parents today."

Arsalaan wrapped his arm around his wife and they supported each other in this time of difficulty.

_____________

Mahad was lying on his bed with Parishay in his arms.

"I am worried for him." Mahad said.

Parishay nodded. "In a way I'm glad that Adab said no. Zaroon deserves a marriage filled with love, but I'm also stressed about him. How is my son going to handle so much pain?"

Mahad wiped her tears. "Trust in Allah. He never gives us more problems than we can handle. Our son is stronger than you think."

Parishay pressed herself more into Mahad and mentally kept chanting prayers for Zaroon.

Zaroon, on the other hand, was standing on the balcony of his room. His one hand was in his pocket, and the other held the ring, the very same ring he had made Adab wear. After she had taken it off today in his office, he had kept it with him. It was a reminder to him that his relationship with her was over before it could begin. She giving it back to him was signifying that she wasn't his anymore. Maybe she never was. He was just too blind to not see that. He was so occupied with his love for her that he never realised that there was no love for him from her side.

It was over. All the dreams that he had seen over so many years had broken, all his prayers for her had gone in vain. While standing under the stars, he questioned his existence. All these years, he had lived to become a better person, a better partner for her, for Adab. And now that she had decided to leave, he felt hollow from inside. All this love inside his heart, and no one to shower it upon.

Was it his fault? Was he never good enough for her? Why couldn't she love him? He doubted his worth.

He vigorously rubbed the diamond with his thumb before closing it in his fist. The pain inside him, the feeling of being left abandoned started overpowering his being. And all he wanted to do was break everything around him, just like his heart was broken. He wanted to shout in anguish, scream at Adab for not loving him, or maybe scream at his Allah for making him fall in love with Adab even though He had never written her in his fate.

But he did none of that. Forget screaming, he didn't let out one little cry. He didn't find any reason to express his pain. He wouldn't get Adab back by doing that. And moreover, who was he going to share his pain with? He knew his parents were already disturbed, and he didn't want to increase their stress by showing his weak side to them.

So he masked his suffering and tears by a blank face, and converted his heart's broken pieces into stone.

That night witnessed the transformation of Zaroon Hussain. It saw how he changed from an outspoken, cheerful and loving person to a cold, inexpressive man who had given up on love. Because love had given him nothing but pain. A lot of pain.

The storm had passed and the remains were all that was left.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

I know you guys won't believe me, but I was crying while writing this chapter. My heart goes out for Zaroon.

It is the moment where I question myself why did I have to do this twist of Adab and Mirhaan, why couldn't I just let Adab love Zaroon?

But ab toh jo ho gaya, so ho gaya. Qirat ka intezaar hain toh vote kar do. ;)