Be-panah

TWENTY FOUR

Tere ishq mein behak kar aabad rehne do,
Hum aashiq hain, hume barbaad rehne do.

️▫️▫️▫️▫️▫️▫️▫️▫️▫️

"What the hell are you doing?" Zaroon asked in anger as he saw Qirat stuffing all her clothes in the suitcase.

"Packing my clothes. I have to get away from this so-called relationship." She was still crying.

"Oh my God, Qirat, stop it." He tried to take the clothes from her hand but she jerked it away.

"Don't touch me." She snapped.

"Okay, but please just calm down and let's talk." He tried to make her stop.

"What is there to talk about, Zaroon?" She sobbed. "You were heartbroken when Adab left you, and to get away from that pain, you agreed to marry me. I was always a second option to you, wasn't I? Just a compromise that you had to make because she left you." Her voice was breaking with each word.

"Qirat, it's not like that."

"It is like that. If it wasn't, you would have tried to work on our marriage. You never did. Even today, your eyes were always on Adab. You still seek her." She harshly pulled her clothes from the hanger and thrusted inside the bag. "And after knowing everything, I refuse to be a part of a namesake marriage, and allow you to treat me like an option."

She shut the zip of the suitcase and started walking out of the room.

"Where are you going?" He tried to hold her hand.

"I am going back to my home." She started descending the stairs and booked a cab on the phone.

"Fine, if you want some space for a few days, then come, I'll drop you."

"No, I don't need any favors from you. From now on, you don't have any responsibility towards me. You're a free man, Zaroon. And yes, I'm not coming back." She said while looking dead in his eyes.

The app showed her that her cab had arrived and she went out to sit in the cab. Zaroon went after her and ordered security personnel to follow her to make sure she reached her destination safely.

He walked back to his room and slumped on the bed. He knew what he did was wrong. He shouldn't have included Qirat in his messed up life, especially at a time when he was clearly not ready for a wife. And in the past months, he had made small efforts to improve their marriage. But today, when he saw Adab, all the feelings for her came rushing back to him. When they announced that they were pregnant, he couldn't help but imagine their moments of intimacy. How Mirhaan would have kissed and made love to her, and he envied him for having Adab. He was supposed to marry her, not him. So when he came back to his room and saw Qirat, he felt a strange urge to make love to her so that Mirhaan and Adab's image would leave his mind.

But now he just felt like an asshole for even thinking of doing something like that to Qirat. That woman had been nothing but loving and caring towards him since day one, and had never complained once about his shitty behavior. She took his ignorance and rudeness with a smile on her face and gave back only positivity.

He looked around the room and it felt kind of empty to him without her. And this empty was the kind of empty that'd make you feel suffocated. The eerie silence was deafening. He missed Qirat's talks, her laughs that used to echo in the room all the time. He wanted to shout in the pain that he was feeling in the moment, and break everything around. He was left alone again.

He had been heartbroken once before, but that was because of Allah's will. But this time, he had broken his heart with his own hands. He didn't value the sacred bond that had tied him to Qirat, he didn't value her. And now he had lost her. And this heartbreak somehow felt more painful than the previous one.

_______________

"What do you mean she left?" Parishay shouted at Zaroon, who stood with his head hung low. "Zaroon, I'm asking you something."

"She got to know about Adab, so.." He muttered under his breath.

"I had told you to forget Adab and focus on your married life, but you didn't listen to me. I told you to clear your priorities and treat her right." Mahad rubbed Parishay's back to calm her down.

"I am sorry." Zaroon whispered.

"Why are you saying sorry to us? You should be apologizing to her." Mahad pointed out.

"Yes, and until she forgives you, we're not forgiving you." Parishay stated her condition and left with Mahad.

Parishay had had enough of Zaroon's behavior. She had given him enough time to understand his mistakes, but now he had crossed the line. She couldn't just keep ignoring his mistakes just because he was her only child. It was high time he paid for his deeds.

And paying for his deeds was exactly what Zaroon was going to do. He thought about what he really wanted and came to the conclusion that it was Qirat. Even though he had loved Adab in the past, he didn't want her anymore. She was happy with Mirhaan and he had finally accepted that fact and let go of her. It was Qirat for whom his heart was craving right now.

Yes, he did have his eyes focused on Adab yesterday, and he also felt jealous of Mirhaan, but that was not because he still loved her, it was because of his years' long habit. He was accustomed to looking at Adab, and that's what got to him yesterday.

But today, he had cleared his head and heart, and both of them wanted Qirat close. He wanted to have a happy marriage with her, he wanted to love her, and have her love him back. And the first step towards that would be wooing his angry wife and bringing her home.

In the closet was an album of their wedding pictures. It had arrived three weeks after their wedding, but Zaroon had never bothered seeing it. But today, he took it out and started going through the pictures. Qirat looked so happy and so beautiful in all of them and he mentally cursed himself for not admiring this beauty that day. He didn't even look at her properly.

Among all the photos, one specifically caught his eye. It was from the mehendi function that was held at Qirat's home. She was seated on a couch in a pink outfit. There was a bright smile on her face as she looked into the camera. That smile made Zaroon smile as well. He took the picture out of the album and trimmed it from the edges with a scissor. He then took his wallet and pulled out Adab's ring from it, and placed Qirat's photo inside.

Next day, he woke up, hit the gym, showered, got dressed and asked Jahangir to take him to Qirat's home instead of the office. On the way, when a beggar came to ask for money at the red signal, Zaroon rolled down the window and gave him the diamond ring of Adab. It felt so liberating to him.

Finally, he was free from the clutches of Adab's memories, and fully ready to embrace Qirat.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

You all spammed my comments section and forced me for this! But I still love you guys ❤

I'm happy for Zar!