Besabriyan

48|FORTY EIGHT

Upon entering the mansion, Maheen froze in her place after seeing the things unfolding in front of her eyes. She looked towards her husband only to find him in the same frozen state as her. They didn't expect things to come out like that. It wasn't supposed to be shattered like that- her cousin's feelings weren't supposed to be shattered like that. There stood her cousin in the middle of the living hall with her father in law standing dangerously closer to him.

Daniyal had his head ducked down and his eyes were on the converse that he bought a few weeks ago- his reddened face telling a story of a brokenhearted lover and the fists on his sides telling a tale of a rebel. She didn't know what Daniyal did but whatever he did, he didn't earn Ali Dawar sahb's credit- he was spitting fire at the man who had come to love his divorced daughter.

“Are you even aware of what you are saying? Hosh hai tumhe?” Ali Dawar sahb barked at Daniyal who did all but sighed and it shook her another time because the man, who never shut up, picked silence to keep his stance truer and real. He did it very rarely. He wouldn't speak when he was desperate for something and he was denied consent to have it.

And as if the bubble around him broke, Zaviyar took long strides into the house followed by his wife and not for once, did Daniyal look up. He looked for his sister only to find her nowhere in the house- his mother standing helplessly with unshed tears glistening in her eyes and wondering how things had gone so wrong without a mother's care.

“What happened, mama?” Zaviyar asked his mother who quickly wiped her tears so that her son and her daughter in law wouldn't see how she failed at being a mother. She did all that so that Ahlah could marry her love. She went against her husband so that Zaviyar could marry his love but coming to where they stood, she didn't know what to think about. She didn't know how her daughter felt about this. She didn't know whether or not her daughter held feelings for Daniyal.

“I was doing some work when your baba brought Daniyal home and has been shouting at him nonstop.” Bazia begam explained.

“Did he say anything or has he been keeping his silence?” Worried to the point of feeling sick, Maheen asked her mother in law with hopeful eyes; hoping for her to say that he argued or tried to make Ali Dawar sahb understand.

“Look at him and tell me what you think. It's been more than an hour and he hasn't spoken a word.” Daniyal nodded. Daniyal sighed. Daniyal breathed. Daniyal waited for more words to be said to him but not a single word that came out of his mouth.

“Allah, Zaviyar! He is rebelling.” Maheen slapped her husband's bicep thrice as the alarm in her went off. He was fourteen when he last did it. He was fourteen when he was denied to attend a school camp and he acted so out of character and crazily that daji thought he was possessed.

“What do you mean?” Zaviyar pinched his brows together, rubbing the place where she slapped him repeatedly. It didn't hurt but God did it sting.

“Ya ilahi! He always has this thing going on whenever he is denied something; it's more like silence before a storm.” She said- a wave of nausea hit once again but before she could engage herself in convincing Daniyal out of it, she needed to get some sugar in her body. She dashed into the kitchen, broke a piece or two of Hala’s chocolate, popped them in her mouth and walked out of the kitchen.

“Maheen,” Her feet halted near her husband when her father in law turned around to look at her and eyed her cousin, silently telling her to deal with him but who was he talking to- that woman already knew what her cousin was brewing. Nevertheless, she could breathe a little knowing he didn't do anything to harm himself.

“I'll talk to him.” Just when Zaviyar was about to take a step forward, his father cut him a glare.

“You know better than to believe that he is going to listen to any of us.” Ali Dawar sahb snarled at his son, suddenly feeling so devastated by what was happening around him and for a man who had participated in everybody's life, he felt unrelated as if everyone just wanted to run away from him.