Kismat aur Hum

21.

- Malik -
"What did you find out? Did they say anything?" "No sir, we've done everything to get them to speak. They said they'll only speak to you. They also said they have something to tell you." "This sounds suspicious, I'll sort something. Hopefully, get them to speak."

I ended my call, thinking about what those men wanted, why they attacked Mehr and Haniya. They had a goal when they were after them. I couldn't send Zaid there since they're the men are locked in the old safe place, and Zaid is already out on another mission. He won't be back for a while. I decided to call Umar over and talk to him about it. Maybe he could help.

Heading downstairs, thinking about how those jerks attacked my wife and sister, just to get to me, I didn't realize Haniya was with me, after I had told her that Umar and Mehr are coming kver for dinner, she headed to the kitchen.

Around an hour before dinner, Mehr and Umar arrived. "Me and Umar will be in the study," I informed them before heading up. Once the door was closed, Umar didn't hesitate to immediately ask, "Did they say anything?" "They want to tell me something. And haven't said anything else." "That's suspicious." I agreed with him. "I'll have to go check it out. See what they want." "I'll come too, bhai." "No, I want you to stay here. Understand." He nodded. "I'll leave for the safe place tomorrow morning. Until then, you are going to take care of things from here." "Yes, bhai."

We had started talking about ithe4 work and missions, when there was a knock on the door. I let then in, "Dinner is set," Bijan informed, "Thanks, bijan, we'll be on our way." When the door closed and I heard some footsteps drawing in the distance. "Then I'll inform Mehr and Haniya about to depart for tomorrow morning after fajr." He nodded.

We headed down to dinner and acted if nothing was wrong. Atlest until after dinner was over, I think I should tell them over tea.

We headed down and had dinner. They had made Haleem. Haniya put the dish down, and we all started having dinner. It was delicious, "Wow, this Haleem reminds me of ammi's haleem." Mehr said, looking at me, I nodded in agreement. She looked so happy eating it.

If dinner, I asked Dua and Bijan to take care of the table and make the tea since I had to talk to Haniya and Mehr. We all walked into the living room, and we sat down. "Everything okay?" Haniya asked, sitting beside me. I nodded and wrapped my arm around her waist.

"I actually wanted to tell you guys something. I'm gonna be gone for a while, maybe a day or two, while then Mehr and Umar will be staying here." I told them straight to the point. "What? Why? When are you leaving?" Haniya asked, looking at me.

"Tomorrow morning after fajr." As I told her, she looked down. "When will you be back, bhai?" As soon as I can. Haniya excused herself and headed to get her tea. I watched as she was unhappy. She was trying to smile and act normal, but her smile would be more downward. Her eyes didn't have the usual spark it would have when she smiled. She handed me a cup of tea before sitting down again. Mehr and Umar engaged in talking with us, but it was obvious she was too lost. She kept zoning out of what was being talked about.

"So we're thinking of visiting a funland nearby. What do you think, Api?" Mehr asked her, "Huh?" She questioned, looking up. "I think it's a good idea. We'll think about it oncw i get back. For now, I'm going to pray, Haniya." I said, looking towards her. She walked ahead of me, walking towards our room.

"Let's do our wudu and then pray together." She nodded and went to get some clothes while I went into the bathroom. When I came out, she went in. While I waited for her, I laid our prayer mats. Once she came out, she tied her hijab, and I led our namaaz. We finished praying made dua. Haniya got up, folded her prayer mat, and put it onto the shelf. I followed her movement,  standing behind her.

"Are you okay, my love? You've been looking upset ever since I told you I'd be leaving." She chuckled, "to be honest, I don't know why i fell upset, i mean, you'll be gone for a day or few, but it's nothing new for me. You spend weeks in your study, you spend days away from me whenever you want, and yet I feel upset being away from you. Maybe if you didn't announce your departure,  I would just think you ran away for a while again." "What?" I asked her slowly. She shrugged her shoulders and was about to move back when I grabbed her arms and pinned them on the wall, over her head, making her face me.

"Where did all this come from? And why are you saying these ridiculous things." "Ridiculous? I've been married to a gangeader forcefully, brought to his home, I dont know what he does, nothing about him. He can do whatever he wants. He can disappear for days without a care and can shoe up whenever and act as if we've loved birds for so long. This isn't fair for me, Malik, and you know that." I didn't really know what to say, I had to be careful of what I say since she's getting mad right now, and I don't want us to have an argument before I leave.

Gently letting her go, "we'll talk about this when I get back. You're getting mad right now." She huffed out in disbelief. "Unbelievable,  like it's the right thing to d, bur right now, Malik. You know what? Forget it, do whatever you want." She said, making her way towards the bathroom.

I headed towards my study, and I didn't know what to say to her. She was right, I did disappear for weeks because of work. I didn't even consider her feelings and how she must have felt, especially since the man who brought her was never with her, and whenever he was, he would act as they were happy together.

I decided to get some paperwork sorted and let my men at my safe place of my arrival tomorrow. This was a good opportunity, I could make sure our house over there was set to move back. Every minute felt like hours were going by.

Closing my last file, I looked up at the clock to see five hours had gone by. It was almost half two. I got up and somehow walked towards the bedroom. Carefully coming inside, keeping in mind that Haniya had fallen asleep. I went inside, but I found that she wasn't on the bed. Instead, there was a packed bag beside it. I looked around the room to see Haniya sleeping on the couch.

I went towards her, standing in front of the couch. Gently, I moved the hair out of her face, looking at her pouting and looking adorable. I sat down on the ground beside her, taking in her beauty. Her long eyelashes, her small nose, her pink cheeks, and her plump lips.

Taking her hand in mine, I intertwined my fingers, making her stir up in her sleep. She looked towards half asleep. "Is it already Fajr?" She asked, eyes closed. "No love, there's still 3 hours." She smiled, hugging my neck and bringing me closer to her. The couch was small, but somehow, we both managed to get on the couch, with her on top of me.

I didn't realize when I had fallen asleep when both our Fajr alarms went off. She sleeply groaned as she managed to turn off both our alarms and went back to hugging me. I let her stay for a while, since she was still sleepy, she didn't remember how we got here.

After 20 minutes had gone by, I thought it was best to wake up and get ready now, even though I had no desire to leave. I gently tapped Haniya's shoulder, "Love, let's get up, I have to leave soon." As soon as I said that, she sat up, looijg around. She looked at the clock and realized the time. Apologizing, she went towards the bathroom.

Soon, I went in and got ready to leave. When I came out, Haniya was waiting for me, and as we both prayed together, we finished our prayer. Haniya quickly got up. She was about to leave when I stopped her. "Where are you going?" "Breakfast?" I don't worry about it, I normally don't have it on days like this." I told her. She nervously nodded and stood by the door awkwardly.

Picking up my bag and packing my laptop. I finished packing and wore my usual outfit with my jacket, walking over to Haniya, who watched as I got ready. Before opening the door, I swung the bag over my shoulder, and with my other hand, I held her hand and made her walk with me downstairs.