A story of whispers left unspoken, unheard.
"I hate you!" He spat venomously through gritted teeth.
"Feelings are mutual." She replied back, smiled and walked away.
He didn't know who she was talking about...
A short story about her life. And ma...
"I was busy." Avoiding his gaze, she replied. It was a lie, not entirely, but partially.
"You could have called me back. Or at least replied to me. I was so worried!" Not believing her, he expressed his worry. It was the first time since they met that she hadn't replied or called him back yesterday, the reason why he had reached her dorm the very first thing in the morning.
"Sorry, I forgot…"
"Hey, did you sleep last night? Your eyes are red." Catching her blood red eyes, he inquired worriedly while holding her hands.
"I- I did." Pulling her hand out of his grip, she turned away from him.
"Don't lie to me Laila. You have been crying the whole night, haven't you?" He concluded with a frown, still eyeing her.
"No. Why would I cry?" She was avoiding his gaze.
"Okay, look at me. You don't have to hide anything from me. And if you are worried about my mom, then don't worry, I will convince her. Please don't cry or try to shut me out like this." Holding her shoulders, he turned her towards himself.
"I... I don't think this will work out. Didn't you see your mom yesterday? She will never accept me!" Finally looking up to meet his gaze, she told him. Tears obscuring her view once again.
"She will. Just give her some time Laila, she will accept you. I'll make her see how much of a perfect choice you are for me." Giving her an assuring smile, he told her.
"No. She will never accept me, Usman. I- I don't think we should do this anymore... It's only going to hurt your mom more..."
"W- what do you mean?" His grip on her shoulder loosened as he asked her, unable to digest her words.
She could see him taking a shuddering breath in. It broke her heart watching him so vulnerable. But she had no choice, she had to do this. For his sake. For his future. She couldn't bear the thought of him mourning over her death his whole life.
"I think we should stop this here. I can never marry you knowing that your mom didn't approve of me."
"You can't just say that! Laila trust me, you are only saying this in the heat of the moment. You don't really mean it." Holding her hands, he replied to her softly.
"No Usman, I'm serious. I have thought about it. I- I think we should just end this here." Lowering her gaze, she whispered once again.
"You can think about my mom but what about me?" His voice was a broken whisper as he stared at her teary eyed.
One glance at him and she looked away, unable to meet his gaze anymore, unable to reply anything to him, unable to hold her own tears.
"I love you Laila, I love you!" He shook his head, blinking away his tears. "Heck, I can't even live without you!" He let out a humorless laugh.
"I love you too Usman. But we can't get married without our parents' blessings. Especially not when you mom-"
"My mom, my mom, my mom! Just stop it Laila! Do you think I don't know? Do you think I'm not trying? For her? For us? Why can't you see how hard I'm trying to make it work for us?!" Holding her shoulders again, he asked her, frustrated.
"But is it working? Is your hard work paying off?" She didn't mean to say it, but she had to. She had to push him away. She had to ruin her own image so that he could move on.
Pushing his hands away, she too stood up."Just leave me alone Usman. It is not meant to be! We aren't meant to be!" She shouted, not daring to look into his eyes.
She knew he was hurt. But she couldn't ruin everything at the last moment by changing her mind. She didn't have it in her to go through everything again. She had gotten her reports yesterday when she returned back after meeting his mom. And they had officially ruined her day, declaring that she only had a month to live.
And all her plans, their plans came crashing down with it.
★★★
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