Besabriyan

33|THIRTY THREE

Maheen felt light headed upon seeing what was unfolding in front of her eyes. She was so damn exhausted when his car entered the mansion gates and all that she wanted was to hit the bed and pass out so she wouldn't be a disturbance to his sleep, knowing him but when she swung by the main entrance, the ground beneath her feet was swept away and she was thrown back onto the ground- the world around her suddenly and seemingly lost. Her throat parched and ached. Her head spun and she couldn't help but wonder about many things now that the original woman of her place had returned.

Taking a sudden halt didn't help but to bring all their attention on herself and the Ali Dawar women had their facial expressions neutral that she doubted if they were ever on her side but before she could jump further into her cooking, Bazia begam walked to her with a huge smile and taking her in a hug like she always would to welcome her daughter in law after a long taxing day. Ahlah spared a smile but didn't look too pleased to have both the women in the same space before they talked it out. And then her eyes turned to the woman who her husband betrayed by marrying her. Her eyes turned to the woman who still smiled at her gracefully and to the woman who didn't charge at her for being a— her— homewrecker. She wasn't one but she knew she was close to becoming one.

She had too many things to tell and to say, to ask and to question. She had one too many reasons to sit on her knees and apologize because she had been too selfish and let the other woman's love go under the covers. Anyone with eyes and a mind would see how much Noorul Ain was in love with her husband and anyone, who knew Maheen, would know that she snatched someone else's husband. It wasn't something that could go to her grave with her. It wasn't something that could be hidden from people's eyes. She was thrown under the truck because she realized she wasn't ready for the confrontation with Noorul Ain just yet.

"Salam, Maheen!" Noorul Ain welcomed the woman into her in-laws with a smile that looked so real to be faking. Her heart twisted, curled and protested in her chest- begging to go through the same misery as Noorul Ain for what she did to her. It wasn't fair. It could never be fair to have her own heart taunting her for loving the wrong man.

Her mind spilt everywhere and she couldn't think of a thing without looking out to seek for her husband's support who, on the other hand, was caught up right outside the mansion with a business call. She thought she was bracing herself to face it. She thought she could become the old Maheen but now that she looked at it, she had just been fooling herself right out and never doing anything to actually do it. Everything was one matter and Noorul Ain was another. She was not just scared of facing her but also of the pain she induced. A pain that could have the earthquake's wavelength and a pain that could shake her world into non-existence any time. She was scared of it. She was afraid of Noorul Ain's silent tears and the fear she felt could never be put into words.

Her lips trembled as she put together letter by letter to form a reply and thus, "Walaikum salam." She tried to smile her best. Allah knew she did. Sneaking a glance at her sister in law who nodded positively in response, she walked into the house with Bazia begam- her eyes examining the smile.

"Kaisi ho?" Noorul Ain asked, her eyes twinkling in sheer joy.

"Allah ka shukar hai, aap kaisi hain?" Her mother in law squeezed her hand in support and gave a smile to her- in an attempt to give strength to her. There was so much that she felt at that moment- so much that she could feel her soul being slowly sucked away. She would do anything to numb whatever she felt. She would pay all the prices she was asked to erase the guilt that ate her from inside.

"Alhamdulillah alhamdulillah," She smiled at her- at the one who was supposed to be the other woman in her love story, she smiled so gracefully that it could push people to their knees so much that Maheen hung her head low in shame. How could she smile at a woman who stole her fiance? How could she smile at her love's wife? How could anyone be filled with so much love? She couldn't understand.