A Love Delayed, A Dream Renewed.

14 |(Her regret)

Dua climbed the stairs with her parents, but inside she was consumed with regret for not expressing her feelings once more. Her inner voice screamed,

"I just wish I had the courage to tell you how I really feel. It's like I'm trapped in a cage of my own emotions, suffocating under their weight."

Dua arrived at her Aunt Flora's house with her parents from downstairs. Upon seeing her brother, Dua's aunt warmly hugged him, followed by Dua's mother.
"Seeing you all after so many days," said Dua's aunt.
"You should have come five minutes ago, Fahim was there. You guys would have met Fahim also."
"No problem, aunt. Mom and Dad met him already downstairs," replied Dua as she went inside.
"What happened to Dua all of a sudden?" asked Aunt Flora.
"I don't know. Seems like she's tired," replied Dua's mother
. "Anyway, leave this. I'm very hungry. What's for dinner, Flora?" asked Dua's dad.
Aunt Flora told them to sit and served them dinner.

Dua walked into the washroom, her heart racing with anxiety. She locked the door behind her and leaned over the sink, splashing cold water on her face. She repeated this process several times, hoping it would somehow ease her nerves. But despite her efforts, her hands were still trembling and her breathing was quick and shallow.

After a few minutes, Dua stared at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were red and puffy and tear stains ran down her cheeks. She took a deep breath and whispered to herself,

"Each day, the pain only grows deeper. You are my regret."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, hoping to calm her racing thoughts. And came out of washroom.
As Falaq approached Dua, she could sense that something was off. He noticed her slumped posture and the uneasiness in her eyes. With genuine concern, falaq asked if she was feeling alright and if there was anything she could do to help. It was then that she noticed the redness in her eyes, which prompted her to inquire further
"Apu, are you alright? Your eyes look very red.
Do you need anything?" she asked.
Dua, not wanting to burden Falaq with her emotions, tried to downplay her distress.
"No, dear. Nothing happened to me, actually. Something got into my eyes and itched, causing them to become red," she replied
trying to hide the fact that she had been crying. But Falaq could tell that something was still bothering her.
She asked again, "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, my sis. I'm okay," replied Dua.
She hugged Falaq and left the room.

Dua, was just about to enter the room when she heard her parents and aunt Flora talking about her marriage. She stood there quietly, listening to their conversation. Dua's father asked her aunt to find a suitable boy for her to marry. Dua felt frustrated and overwhelmed. She wondered why this kept happening to her all the time. She took a deep breath to calm herself down and gathered her thoughts. She muttered
" every time something went wrong in my life,
it seemed like everything else went wrong too.".

Dua walked into the room with a dejected expression on her face. Her father immediately stopped talking about her marriage, sensing her presence.
Dua then informed her father
"Dad, I think we should leave now, I have university tomorrow," said Dua.
"Yes, let's go, we've finished our dinner," replied her father.
"Dua, why don't you stay with us tonight? You can go to the university from here. In fact, the university is near to my house," suggested her aunt Flora. ".
Dua hesitated to accept the offer, explaining that
"Aunt, I would love to, but I haven't even bought my books yet," replied Dua. "
Her aunt offered a solution and suggested that Dua take Fahim's books, assuming that they studied the same field
"What's the problem? You can take Fahim's books.
The subject is the same as yours," said her aunt.
Dua smiled and went near her aunt Flora, who was sitting on a chair. She hugged her from behind and She corrected her aunt's assumption that she and Fahim had studied the same Field clarifying that
"Oh, my dear aunt, yes, we both studied engineering, but our subjects are different. I'm studying environmental engineering, and Fahim bhai studied software engineering.".
Dua's aunt let out a deep sigh and her tone was tinged with sarcasm as she exclaimed,
"Oh my god, this studying thing! It just doesn't seem to stick in my mind."
Her words elicited laughter from Dua, her parents, and everyone else present in the room.
Sabar and Fahim reached their team hotel and headed towards their room. Sabar went to check on his sister, Seher, but there was no response to his knock. Seher sent Sabar a text message
" let me sleep and talk to me in the morning."
Sabar replied to her message, calling her a
"lazy bump," and headed towards his room.
After bidding farewell to her aunt Flora and cousin Falaq, Dua and her parents began their journey back home. Dua sat in the backseat of the car with her mother, while her father took the driver's seat. As they drove, Dua's father noticed that she seemed upset and asked her,
"Dua, is everything okay?"
However, Dua was lost in thought and didn't respond. Her mother, who was sitting next to her, became impatient and nudged her, asking
, "Dua, what is wrong with you?"
, as her father was trying to get her attention. Startled, Dua finally snapped out of her thoughts and apologized to her father,
"Sorry dad for not hearing you earlier,"
explaining that she was distracted and thought he was speaking to her mother.
Concerned, Dua's father looked at her through the rearview mirror and asked her if something was bothering her. Dua hesitated at first but eventually opened up, revealing that she was stressed about the results of her mid-term exams. She didn't let her parents know that she was bothered because they brought up the topic of marriage again..
..Upon arriving home, Dua noticed a lock hanging on Nabiha's door and realized she had forgotten to ask how Nabiha's dad was doing. She also hadn't messaged Nabiha in a while.

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