Solace

Chapter 28

Lamha sa guzar kar haq jatate ho,
Izhaar bhi kiya nahi aur mohabbat
batate ho...

"Aisa hi toh hona tha na, humari rahe alag hona hi tha. Lekin yeh itna takleef dega hume andaza nahi tha", Haseena thought lying in her bedroom, which was still dark as the morning sunshine gleaming outside was blocked by the curtains. Being lost in an ocean of uncertainty, she felt warm sun rays illuminating the room and she shut her eyes closed, unable to adjust with the light.

"Haseena uth ja ab subeh ho gayi hai", Haseena turned to find her mother pulling the curtains aside. She was surprised to be honest as it was the first time in the last two weeks her mother had initiated a conversation with her.

"Bas uth rahe hai ammi", Haseena replied, rubbing her temple with her fingers.

A worry line appeared on Salma's forehead looking at her daughter's pale face. "Kya huya hai tujhe?" she asked, reaching out to Haseena in concern.

"Dard ho raha hai...", Haseena mumbled, her words mirroring the agony she was going through. "Sar mein dard ho raha hai", she corrected herself, realizing her words.

"Hum sar daba dete hai, ajaa", Salma started to message her forehead and Haseena closed her eyes, as her anguish didn't lessen a bit.
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"Karu 11 baj gaye hai, uth jao", Shivani urged for the nth number of time, shaking Karishma's shoulder slightly, who was still asleep. She took the water from the side table and sprinkled some of it on Karishma's face.

"Kya kar rahi hai..aise koi uthata hai kya kisiko", Karishma said. Her voice still husky from sleep was dipped in irritation.

"Bohut so liya hai ab utho. Tumhari bhai subah se puch rahe the tumhara, office nahi jana tha toh pehle bata deti", Shivani said, pulling the blanket off Karishma. "Chalo koi nahi, aj shaam ko shopping pe chalte hai, Santu bhi hai", she suggested.

"Mujhe nahi jana, aplog jaiye", Karishma replied, being uninterested.

"Areh kyu lekin", Shivani asked.

Karishma just shrugged off her shoulder before leaving for the washroom. To be honest Karishma wanted to go to the office, thinking Haseena might have been there. She remembered Haseena being with her last night and their conversation vaguely. She once again confessed her feelings, surely this time Haseena wouldn't think it was a friendly encounter, would she?!

Reaching the office, Karishma got to know Haseena hadn't arrived herself, very much to her dismay. On top of that, she got stuck in work with her brother which only added to her frustration.
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"Chaloo, hum teeno milke bohut masti karenge", Santosh said, pushing Haseena out of her bed, "aunty bhi maan gayi." Haseena's protests went in vain as Santosh was adamant and so she gave in ultimately.

The trio roamed around the mall, trying on clothes and having hearty conversations. The layer of distress that clouded Haseena's mind earlier was seemingly thinning out with Shivani's witty remarks and Santosh's banter. But it seemed the universe was against her serenity.

"Karu yahapar?" Santosh uttered, looking at the left side of the escalator.

Haseena felt her heart race at the mere mention of Karishma. She had an overwhelming urge to see the latter, as if she was longing for her one glimpse. She turned to look where Karishma was standing only to witness the most displeasing sight ever, well, at least to her. A girl similar to their age was clicking selfies with Karishma, putting her arm around her and anybody looking at them could tell how comfortable they were with each other.

"Humare saath shopping pe ane se mana kar diya, kyunki madam ka toh pehle se hi program set tha", Shivani spoke in a humorous manner but Haseena found herself trapped in an escapade that she never experienced before, in plain words, it was painful. She didn't know what she could do to ease this anguish she was feeling inside her heart right now.

"Yeh to Antara hai, hum college mein saath the", Santosh informed taking a look at the girl with Karishma.

"Bohut pyari hai. Aur humari Karu ko toh dekho kaise sharma rahi hai", Shivani said, "kahi humare peeth piche kuch chal to nahi raha!"

"Areh nahi bhabisa..", Santosh tried to disaffirm her assumptions but Shivani interrupted her, "abhi khabar leti hu mai iski "
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"Akhirkar Karishma Singh ko ho hi gayi pyar!", Antara remarked with an ear to ear grin. Being Karishma's college friend, she witnessed how uninterested Karishma used to be in dating and it made her happy to see her friend was finally in love.

"As you can see!" Karishma replied, with a shy smile. "Bas ekbar uske maan mein kya hai jaan lu..", she couldn't finish as she heard a voice addressing her.

"Karu, apne dost se nahi milaogi hume?", Shivani approached her.

"Bhabisa ap!" Karishma gave her a sheepish smile but actually what caught her attention was Haseena standing behind her and she removed Antara's hand from her arm, not wanting to give Haseena any wrong idea. Shivani didn't really mention Haseena coming with them for shopping, or else there's no way Karishma would say no to accompany them.

"I'm Antara", Antara introduced herself with a warm smile as they started talking.

All this time, Haseena just wanted this meet and greet session to be over, so she won't have to see this woman beside Karishma anymore and possibly never again. Santosh sensed the tension hung in the air but chose to stay quiet. They chatted for about some 10 minutes before Antara excused herself and left.

As they moved towards another shop, Haseena found herself walking beside Karishma. She could feel Karishma's lingering gaze on her but she maintained a stern posture. Karishma shouldn't have been this secretive about her date. It's not like Haseena was going to stop her from meeting, or worse dating Antara. Well on what ground she would do that! Maybe that's exactly what Mira meant when she had said she didn't have that much right on Karishma.
Karishma realized that Haseena was going to stay quiet so she decided to break the silence herself.

"Woh mai office mein thi then Antara called, toh usse milne agayi yaha", Karishma's voice was urgent, almost like giving a justification.

"Ap yeh sab hume kyu bata rahi hai?" Haseena said, her voice was void of any emotion.

"Nahi..bas socha tumhe bata du", Karishma uttered with a hint of disappointment in her voice. She thought Haseena would at least ask why she was there. Not that she wanted Haseena to be jealous but at her indifferent behaviour Karishma could see her hopes getting crushed to the ground. She was walking absent mindedly and suddenly someone collided with her and before she could understand what was happening her off-white top was partially drenched in orange juice.

"I'm so sorry. Galati se hua..woh", a girl in her mid twenties said, brushing her hand on Karishma's shoulder in an attempt to wipe off the juice.

"It's fine..", Karishma said, trying to hide her irritation without realizing Haseena was shooting daggers with her eyes at them. Haseena had it enough, it was like everyone was just taking turns to cling to Karishma. Why cannot they leave her alone, for goodness sake!! Haseena thought, clenching her fist and trying to keep her cool. But the girl didn't really make things easier for her.

"Let me make it up for you?", the girl said in an overly sweet tone, and before Karishma could decline Haseena decided to intervene.

"Apko itni zehmat uthane ki zaroorat nahi hai, hum dekh lenge", Haseena didn't bother to hide her annoyance this time as she pushed that girl's hand off Karishma and dragged her out of there.

"Abhi abhi chalna shikha hai apne? Agee piche bhi dhyan dena hota hai...", Haseena berated, while Karishma was just looking at their joined hands with an ear to ear smile. She felt like the happiest person on the earth being held by her ladylove. She slowly pulled their joined hand upwards near her face and placed a delicate kiss on Haseena's knuckle. Haseena, who was too occupied in her scolding session before, momentarily froze at her place at this sudden token of affection, as she felt a sudden rush of emotion taking over her whole being.

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Hello lovely people, hope you all are doing well.

So, first things first, the Shayari I have used and will use in my story are not mine, some of them are written by famous poets and some I found on internet. I love to read urdu poetry so I collect them. So before anyone thinks I am stealing someone else's work, let me tell you it's not true.

So here I am with chapter 28 of Solace.
Do vote, comment and follow to motivate your writer. See you in the next one.