Besabriyan

39|THIRTY NINE

Stunned, Zaviyar and Maheen stared at the half asleep, zombie like Daniyal standing at the door- hair disheveled, t shirt crushed and bed marks on his arms. Daniyal didn't sleep until after four in the morning so to wake up at around ten on an holiday morning was the worst thing that could happen to him. He was already failing his exams now that his entire concentration was on building his business and he knew if Maheen came to know about it, she was going to go after his throat and make him study until the last of his fibers withered and he saw the shadow of death nearing him. It had happened once during the boards and he knew it would happen again so the best idea he could come up with was to shut the door on their faces and run away like he was never there but before he could succeed, he was roughly dragged back by his cousin as she held his t shirt near the hem in her fist.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, trying to wriggle out of her hold.

"What did you do?" Maheen narrowed her eyes at him as she tried to step in with her husband holding her other hand. The quarrel between them was not new nor was Daniyal allowing her rule over him so it always felt nice and he felt content to know that there were people who made his wife their priority and that it wasn't only him.

"What did I do?" He countered back, keeping his tone flat and sleepy as he opened the door wide for the both of them to enter before he walked inside the living room and landed on the couch.

"You're running from me. You definitely did something."

"I am sleepy?" He yawned another time before resting his head on the back rest and closing his eyes. He didn't do anything, he just didn't want to see Zaviyar after what he heard him say to Aahil last evening.

"Yes, you are but that's just not it." Not wanting to push him to his limits, Maheen laid it off as she carried herself to the kitchen to get some water.

The two of them decided to work on themselves and their relationship instead of focusing on many other things. Noorul Ain became the biggest part of their relationship now that Maheen saw her having a breakdown and after knowing how much Noorul Ain loved her husband, it wouldn't be easy for her to move on with her life with the man who was loved by another woman. She was going to try nonetheless.

The slap? It wasn't hard to hurt her but it was an eye opener- an eye opener that told her that her husband was indeed a man who could lose himself at points in life. Did she support him with what he did? No. Did she understand him? Kind of, knowing he had done all that he could do to snap her out of her guilty session. For a moment, when he did that, Maheen saw her furious father lunging at her mother. She let herself fall on his arms when he embraced her to assure herself that this man was far from her father. She let him have her in his arms because he realized his action the next second and was immediately guilty of his actions and begged for her forgiveness.

"Assalamualaikum, daji!" She pounced on her grandmother the moment she saw her on the breakfast bar with vegetables. The woman, who was unaware of her visit, was undeniably surprised to have her at home after so long. They sent her off and they never saw her again.

"Walaikum salam. Jeeti raho, meri bachi!" She kissed her granddaughter on her forehead before going back to do her work. The woman was rarely bored as she kept doing one thing or the other in the house to keep herself entertained- her children's pleas to not do anything, always going unheard by her and doing whatever she wished.

"You can use my help." She grinned as she wrapped her hands around the old woman's neck and scooted closer to feel her warmth, resting her head against daji's.

"Have I allowed you to work when you lived here?" Leaning in to her granddaughter after she had missed her much, daji asked. Maheen grinned sheepisly as she nodded in a no, "So what makes you think I'll let you work when you're visiting with your husband?"