Another Forever

3 3 | c a t a s t r o p h e

• f a a r i s •

My whole life flashed in front of my eyes as I watched Noor and Hayat interact. One lie, one lie is all it takes for a relationship to crumble. My intentions were noble but I had unintentionally invited a catastrophe, a deadly catastrophe.

"What a surprise!" Hayat said to Noor.

"Why is it a surprise?" Noor asked innocently.

"I mean, I thought you might have left." Hayat said, watching me sweat from her peripheral vision.

"Why would I leave?" Noor exchanged a confused glance with me.

Ya Allah! Now would be a really good time for me to have a heart attack.

"Don't mind me." Hayat chuckled, realizing the topic was causing some discomfort among us. "How is Faaris treating you? He isn't causing any trouble, is he?" She kept her hand on my arm and Noor's eyes instantly zeroed on her hand. Her glare was enough for me to know that I was in deep trouble.

"No." Noor said through clenched teeth. "He is a delight."

I subtly freed my arm from Hayat, but it didn't go unnoticed by her. She watched me through confused eyes and I gulped.

One heart attack. Or a minor seizure. That's all I want. I don't want to live a long life anyway.

"By the way Faaris, are you free tomorrow night? Why don't you come to my apartment and I could make dinner for you?" Hayat asked.

I know what she was doing. Hayat was marking her territory. But she didn't know she was doing it on someone else's husband.

"Actually...."

"Actually, yes he is free. In fact he is free all week." Noor stood up smiling. "And while you are both having dinner, why don't you tell her the funny story when we accidentally got married back in Pakistan?" she spat and I heard a gasp in response.

"Noor." I called her name. In return, she gave me a look that would remain etched in my memory for a very long time. Before I knew, she had walked out of there.

My eyes then shifted to a very confused and annoyed Hayat. "Hayat, I can explain."

"Don't say anything." She mumbled under her breath and then stormed out of my vision.

°°°°°

I kept the car parked in the parking lot of our building for some half an hour, thinking about how I was going to make up for my mistake. Noor had just started to trust me and now, I have ruined all the progress we had. For all I know, she might never trust me again and could I blame her for that?

But I had to make it right, one way or another. If she wants to shout at me, I will listen. If she aims a bowl at me, I will not dodge. If she doesn't open the door for me, I will sleep in the hallway. I needed to prove to her how guilty I was.

Finally gathering the courage, I made my way inside the building to our apartment. The door was already unlocked so I walked inside, looking out for the incoming doom. My eyes searched for her impatiently. In the past few days, I had gotten so used to seeing her on entering the house and now that she wasn't there, it didn't feel like home.

"Noor!" I called her name and that's when I saw her walking down the stairs with a blanket in her hands. "What is this?"

"I am moving into the guest room." she said blankly.

"Don't be childish, Noor. Come on, let's go to our room and talk." I said, blocking her way.

"I don't want to talk. Now if you don't mind, can I go to sleep? I am already tired." She said.