You, Me & the Alter(cations) - Farmeed AU

20.

"Kesa raha?" Nighat sat opposite him, a cup filled with tea in her hand, her hair tied in a bun and silk pyjamas on. Farjaad had come home quite late, having a few meeting with some other people after the treacherous interaction with his uncle.

"Theek tha." He nodded, reaching for his empty cup just to fidget with it, trying to think of how this conversation would go about. The constant effort to try and work around conversations was beginning to get to his head, and soon enough he felt like he was going to lose it all. Luckily for him, it was now his last night.

"Farjaad aik baat bolun?" She stared at her cup looking up at her son who was lost in the simple flower pattern on the cup.

"Hmm."

"I like Reena." Farjaad bit his tongue, the grasp on his cup getting tighter as he remained composed and tried to refrain from reacting in any manner.

"Mene kabhi uske character ki burayi nahi ki."

"No Farjaad. I mean, mujhe wo achi lagti hai." Nighat sat up on the couch. "Uski aur meri achi banti hai. Intelligent hai, caring hai, aur bohot thoughtful hai."

"Ma ap pehle decide kar lein whether you like their interference or not." Farjaad placed the cup back on the table, reaching up to rub his eyes. He'd been awake for too long, he wanted sleep.

"Shumail ki baat aur hai, jab tumhara baap tha tab bhi he had this eyes on the business. Reena is not part of her father's plans. Wo shayd tumhari zindagi bhi asaan kar de, tumhe support karde." Farjaad felt his chest tighten by the direction in which his mother was headed. He had hoped and prayed that she would support him, but this was not the situation he would have wanted to be in.

"Nahi chahye mujhe Reena ki support." Farjaad spoke, shaking his head, sighing.

"Tumhe koi aur pasand hai?" He froze.

Revealing this would be voluntarily throwing himself off of the cliff, and landing face-first. This would be trapping himself in a horrible situation as well as having the pressure of maintaining his relationship, satisfying his mother and having the weight of making sure everything is alright.

"Ma." He sat up, trying to sound nonchalant. "Har waqt koi wajah nahi chahye hoti."

"Magar tumhara bas chale tum kabhi na shaadi karo. Mujhe wajah dhoondni parti hai." Nihat said rather blatantly, knowing the nature of her son and his claim that no one would be perfect for him and his lifestyle. "Aur wese bhi Reena understands you and your lifestyle as well as us."

"Mene chachu se bhi bola hai, aur mein aap ko bhi ke dol raha hoon. Jab tak mein yahan nahi aa jaun ga, mein na koi commitment kar raha hoon na koi jawab de raha hoon." He stood up, ready to go to bed and prepare to wrap things up.

"Iska kya matlab?"

"You can interpret it how you want." Farjaad shrugged, intentionally leaving it open-ended so that he would not have anything to be said against him. "Mein packing karne jaa raha hoon, kal subah ki flight hai. Niaz se kahein aik aur cup chai ka bhej dein." He began walking out, Niggo furrowing her eyebrows.

"Tumne kabse itni chai peena shuroo ki?" She asked, bringing her cup up to her lips.

Farjaad stopped, questioning why that was. He never really thought about it. When and why did he start drinking so much tea?

It hit him like a bullet train, and he shuddered as he walked out, why he had grown this taste and habit.

-

Farjaad was exhausted, dragging his small suitcase out of the lift to his apartment. The whole car journey was spent thinking of whether he should go see Umeed.