EHSAAN

3

Unedited

Anya attended a lecture at the mosque alongside Samira in the early morning. Samira rushed outside to see if someone came for them whilst Anya stayed back with her friends and walked slowly to the exit with them.

Though she was physically present, her mind was completely taken by the thoughts of her husband. Yesterday, she could tell he was devastated by her sister leaving the household. He wasn't someone easy to read because of his stoic face, but Anya had learned his behavioural traits in these three years.

He would always be unable to focus whenever he was sad about a matter. So he'd opt to rubbing the back of his ears or hiding his face in his palm as an escape.

“Yeh Ghazanfar tha na?” One of the girls said, gaining Anya's attention as her brother-in-law was mentioned. Anya looked at her friend, Sana, who nodded at the girl's question.

“Ghazanfar ka nikah tha kal?” The girl questioned again, her voice stressed and her shoulders immediately stiffened.

“Ghazanfar ki behn, Kawthar, ki. You'd know if you actually listened to me instead of focusing on books.” Sana spoke dryly, Anya noticed how the girl immediately relaxed when she was told it was Kawthar's wedding.

Anya wanted to ask the unfamiliar girl how she knew Ghazanfar, but was interrupted by Samira voice calling out. “Annie, Bhai is waiting for you outside.”

“Are you going with–” Anya tried questioning, but Samira cut her in short.

“I'm going with Zanfi bhai, I need to get some jewellery on the way back.” Samira explained, Anya nodded as she headed to the car unwantedly.

She really hoped Samira accompanied her because car rides with Hazem were always quiet and awkward. Not only car rides but her whole 3 years were spent quietly. But Anya did not mind the silence as long as Hazem was part of it.

“Results aagye hai na tumhare iss semester ke?” He questioned, a few minutes into the ride. Anya was shocked at his sudden question about her academics.

[Have results for this semester been released?]

Anya nodded hesitantly and played with her fingers in nervousness, not wanting him to ask anymore questions. “How was yours?” He inquired further.

“Okay.” She said, wanting this conversation to end already.

“Think about it again. We'll talk after the Walimah ends.” He spoke in a rough voice, as they stopped near the red signal. Anya felt her heart rate increase rapidly in stress, dreading the conversation that awaited her at night.

She stared outside the window, everyone was busy in their own hustle and bustle. What caught her eye was an old man selling golgappa in a corner of the building. If Samira was here, she would've already stepped out of the car and been heading towards the stall.

She was crazy about golgappe, just like Anya.

Suddenly there was a small knock on Hazem's window. When Anya saw Hazem busy with the person on the other side, she took her phone out and took a snap of the golgappa stand.

‘Hate to say it, but I do quite miss you rn’ she typed before she sent the snap to Samira.

Just as she placed her phone inside her bag, a white floral gajra wrapped in a paper was placed on her lap. Anya was shocked to see it, she softly grabbed the gajra in excitement as a smile took over her face.

She couldn't believe he bought it for her, it was the first time he bought something for her. He'd transfer money to her account whenever the girls planned a day out, the only gift he gave her was a diamond set after their Walimah. Was their relationship finally moving forward? She hoped it was.