"Mujhe jhelna mushkil hai nader," she said with a smile while her gaze was fixed on the table.
("It's difficult to tolerate me, Nader")
"Main jhel lunga," I replied.
("I'll manage")
She looked up towards me, then continued.
"Mai khubsurat nahi ho...
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Astaghfirullah, where's the door, Uns?" Ezzeh shouted in pain as she fell to the ground.
"Oh Allah, Ezzeh, who told you to come running? You could have just walked," I said as I went towards her and helped her up.
"Seriously, Uns, do you think I would have walked after knowing you collapsed yesterday?" Her voice held anger and disappointment as she complained while taking my hand for support.
"Okay, fine, what's the big deal?" I said, sitting on the bed.
"So, this is a small matter to you, Uns? I'm angry with you. You call me your friend, but you didn't even bother to tell me about your condition?" Ezzeh said, standing there with great annoyance.
"Your my friend, that's why I didn't want to bother you," I said, approaching Ezzeh as she stood up.
She chuckled at my response. "Wow, no one should have a friend like you, Uns. And you know what, I'm leaving. Whether I come or go, it doesn't matter to you," Ezzeh said, moving towards the invisible door now.
"There's no door, be careful this time," I said with a mischievous smile.
"So, you're not even stopping me now?" Ezzeh stopped in her tracks and turned towards me, crossing her arms and giving me death glares.
"If I ask you to leave, will you go, Ezzeh?" I asked her, crossing my arms and looking at her.
"Never," she said and walked towards me, embracing me tightly.
And that's it. The emotions, the tears that I had been holding back for so long broke out in her hug. I had managed to hold myself together since yesterday.
I couldn't cry in front of Ammi; I didn't want to cause her any more trouble. And Sahara, she's my life. How could I cry in front of her? And as for Aziz, I love him, but I can't cry while hugging him. In all of this, there's only Ezzeh, to whom I can tell my pain.
Her embrace was so warm that I completely lost myself and burst into tears.
"Ez-Ezzeh..." I said between my sobs.
She didn't say anything, just patted my head to calm me down.
After 5 minutes, I broke the hug and looked at her, seeing her face filled with concern.
"I consider you as my friend, Uns. No matter how many fights we have, I can't bear to see you in pain," Ezzeh said with great softness.
And I just nodded in response.
"Okay, that's enough now. I like your red nose, but not when you're crying, instead when you're angry, Uns," Ezzeh said while wiping my tears from my cheeks.
I laughed at her response and took Aziz's handkerchief from my nightstand to wipe my tears. I don't know how it ended up in my purse, but the only thing I know is, now it's mine.
