Mohabbatein - A Farmeed Fanfic

Chapter 1

7.00AM, and Umeed's alarm rings loud throughout her room. She wakes with a start and shuts it off immediately. She spent the whole night tossing and turning, anxious for the day that lay ahead of her. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she makes her way to the bathroom to freshen up. Today was going to be big, and if it worked out, life changing.

A year and a half ago, Umeed had packed up her life and moved to Lahore from Karachi. She remembers that fateful day clear as ever, Pasha sahab glaring at her as he commanded her to pack her bags and go to her khala's house. When he heard that Umeed had returned her engagement ring, he was filled with rage at his daughter's actions. He showed no remorse and demanded that she either call Farjaad and beg for his forgiveness, or leave the house. Being the stubborn little thing she was, she refused to budge and dragged her feet upstairs to start packing.

He always liked Farjaad more than me, his own daughter, Umeed thought and sighed to herself as she squeezed some toothpaste onto her brush. She didn't speak to her family much anymore, just Haya and Sameer. She felt like she let everyone down that day. There was no coming back. Her khala, as always, had a million excuses for why she could not stay at their house. Umeed realized then that she really had no one anymore. No one to count on, she was all alone. She decided that she needed to restart, she needed to work on her dreams, that her dreams were all she had now. She used the last bit of money she had to book a one-way trip to Lahore. Why Lahore? She was already speaking to some investors based out of Lahore who were looking to set up a café that she would run and they could be partners in. Initially, the plan was to have the café built in Karachi, close to Farjaad's office, but life had different plans.

She had been running her café in Lahore successfully for just about a year now, and her partners wanted to explore the opportunity of expanding and opening branches in different cities. The success was bittersweet, she loved watching her dreams come true but the pain of not having anyone to celebrate with far outweighed her happiness.

Her bathroom sink was messy with makeup and skincare products scattered everywhere, but she knew where everything was. She quickly picked up her sunscreen and in doing so, elbowed her foundation onto the floor, the bottle shattered and the foundation was everywhere. Allah Jee, aaj toh rehem khaalein mujhpe yaar, she muttered, trying to avoid the small glass pieces on the floor as she rubbed the sunscreen onto her face. After dabbing some lipstick on, she knelt down and tried to pick up the glass and wipe the foundation. She thought about Haya and how much she missed her just about now. It had definitely been an adjustment for Umeed, she had spent the past few months learning how to clean up her messes on her own.

She exited the bathroom, and put the kettle on to make her morning chai while she got dressed. She was wearing a black midi length dress paired with a beige blazer and kitten heels. She was going for a formal look today, and wanted the people she was meeting to know she meant business.

After taking her time to enjoy every sip of her tea, she picked up the briefing notes she had prepared for her meeting today and made her way to the café. It was only 8.30AM, but Aarzu Café was busy with the hustle and bustle of office goers who were there to grab a croissant and a quick cup of tea or coffee before rushing to work. Umeed decided to forego her initial plan of naming her coffee shop, Pasha's after everything that happened. She decided instead to name it after her mother, jannat mein hi sahi lekin kamsekam woh toh apni hi hain, she figured painfully.

She found a little sofa chair tucked away into a corner, and sat down going over her notes for the meeting. She was nervous and excited at the same time. Her partners had set up a meeting with some other investors from around Pakistan who were interested in expanding her venture. Half an hour to go, and Umeed felt prepared. The only thing she was anxious about was a potential next location in Karachi, she didn't know how she would go back to the city that gave her everything and took it all from her as well. She didn't know how she could go back knowing every road that led to her house, to her family, and to...her Farjaad.