Fasaana

FIFTY THREE

You understand now why they lost their minds and fought the wars,
And why I've spent my whole life trying to put it in words.

***********

True to his words, Kian came to meet Zoya and Sehrish before leaving. He didn't stay long though.

While seeing him off, Zoya couldn't help but hug him tightly. He contemplated for a few seconds before hugging her back.

"Take care," She whispered with glassy eyes.

He nodded. "Stay happy."

Goodbyes are always painful. But it hurt so much more because she didn't know when she'd be seeing him again, or if she'd be ever seeing him again.

But life doesn't stop for anyone. And you have to go on with it.

Zoya and Shahveer decided on a winter wedding. So the chosen date was in December. That was eight months away. That meant she had enough time to plan her wedding.

During her first marriage, she was not given any choice about anything. All her clothes, jewelry, and functions were taken care of by her mother. But this time, she wanted everything according to her.

Mariam and Ruhani insisted on the wedding happening in their mansion in Bhopal. So the venue was striked off the list. The next step was to find her perfect wedding outfit. Aarti and Zoya hunted every market down in Delhi for it. And after three months of hard work, she finally found it.

Then all the outfits for Sehrish and other family members had to be bought. The venue decoration, guest list, wedding cards, jewelry shopping, and the list went on.

Honestly, all this work was draining, but she was also having so much fun along the way.

_______________

It was mid-October and Shahveer was at work. His day was going terrible because a colleague of his had been fired and all the responsibilities of that person were put on his shoulders. And he was losing his mind and patience handling so much work.

He was in the middle of a meeting when his phone vibrated in his pocket. He took it out and saw an incoming call from Zoya. He cut it. She called again, but he ignored that as well.

The meeting didn't go well. Because the company was on the verge of losing a very important client and the bosses were mad.

"Shahveer," His boss called him as they were leaving the conference room, "I know there is a lot on your plate. But we need statistical analysis of those data completed by today. The meeting with the client is tomorrow morning."

Shahveer sighed. "Okay, sir. I will get on it immediately." Even though it was all tiring, he was too passionate about his work.

"I am sorry, man. We've started interviewing prospective employees. I am sure the HR would find someone soon and your workload would come back to normal."

"It's okay." He immediately returned back to his cabin and started work on those numbers. His phone buzzed with some messages, but he was too focused on work to check those. Around six in the evening, his phone vibrated again, but that too went unnoticed by him.

It was 11:30 when he shut his laptop and leaned back on his chair tiredly. The entire office was empty. After resting his eyes for a few minutes, he decided to check his phone.

There were 15 missed calls and 9 unread messages from Zoya.

Shit! He completely forgot he was supposed to meet her at a designer's store for his wedding sherwani. The meeting was scheduled at 7.

He immediately packed his stuff and left for home.

"I am so sorry." He said as soon as she opened the door.

She rolled her eyes and walked back inside the home, leaving the door open. He shut it behind him and apologized again. "I am sorry, sweetheart."

"You could have at least texted that you won't be coming." She bluntly said.

"I know, but I got carried away by work."

"I had especially booked an appointment with the designer. And I had reminded you about it in the morning as well." She was mad.

He sighed, but stayed quiet.

"We will visit the store tomorrow." He promised.

"Yeah, but tomorrow the designer won't be there." She shouted a bit.

"So what?" He retorted, "the clothes would be there, right?"

Scoffing, she shook her head. "You don't get it, do you? I had taken an appointment so that the designer can especially design the outfit for you. If we had to just choose one sherwani for you, we could have done it anywhere."

"I don't care, Zoya." All the tiredness of the day got the best of him, and he shouted. "So what if the designer isn't designing me up. I don't mind wearing jeans and a t-shirt during the wedding."

"But I do care." She screamed back, mentally thankful about the fact that both Malti and Sehrish were at Aarti's place. She had given birth to another baby girl just three days ago, and Malti, Sehrish and Avni had not left the infant's side since then.

"And how can you not care about our wedding?" She asked him, offended.

"Because I care about our marriage. And to have a successful marriage, we don't have to have a flawless wedding. I mean, for the past months, you have been obsessing over it so much that you've forgotten about giving me time. What is the point of having a perfect wedding if we don't get to spend time together now?" All the bottled up frustration burst out, "Do you even remember the last time we sat down and spent time together?"

"Yes, I have been busy but I am busy planning our wedding. I want it perfect to make that day the best day of our lives. Is that so wrong in your eyes?" They were screaming back and forth.

"I don't know. But I don't think all this stuff you're doing is worth it."

That shut Zoya up. She blankly stared at him. "It isn't wor-worth it?"

She felt a lump forming in her throat. "If this isn't worth it, then why are you marrying me in the first place?"

Silence prevailed between them. No one said anything, just the sound of their breaths could be heard.

She waited several minutes for him to say something, to tell her that he didn't mean any of that and that he would marry her. But he did nothing of that sort.

Just as the first tear left her eye, she turned her heel and rushed into her bedroom. Bolting the door, she sank to the floor.

▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️

A lot of you might feel that the fight escalated very quickly and doesn't make sense. But that's how most of the fights between couples are. They don't always makes sense and most things are said in the heat of the moment. Hurt is inevitable in any relationship, and that's what keeps it real.

Also, I don't want to sound ungrateful for all the love you all have been giving me, but I wouldn't mind if you show me some more. The number of comments is less guys. Come on, it hardly takes a minute to type how you liked the chapter. Even if you didn't like it, tell me so that I can improve.