Irreversible

⚜♚73. Brother♚⚜

©️ All copyrights belong to StarsAndMoon1447 on Wattpad

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Arsalan

"And from amongst the roses, appeared the fairies..." I was telling Rabiya a story as I held her in my arms. "The fairies brought a teddy bear from the beautiful little baby princess. They told her, "When you're scared, simply cuddle the teddy.". The baby clutched onto the teddy'." I was making up the story as I went along.

Rabiya was between the state of sleeping and waking up. Sometimes her eyes fluttered open, and sometimes it seemed that she was in deep slumber.

"You are nothing like your Papa at all. You're not at all annoying." I smiled as I spoke in a teasing tone. My niece was a gorgeous little angel, Ma Sha Allah. "You are a fairy, an angel, everything sweet." 

Hira walked in and sat down next to me. "Chachu is spending time with his princess?" 

"Ro is so annoying. I never imagined his child would own my heart." I laughed.

"No matter how annoying siblings can be, their children are always precious." She smiled, adoringly. 

"No doubt." I looked at Rabiya as she opened her eyes once again. My phone buzzed. "I need to take this, Hira." 

She gently took Rabiya from me and I answered the phone.

"Hello?" Standing up, I walked out of the room. 

"Arsalan, what is the meaning of this bulls**t? You have been gone such a long time! Do you want to come back, or shall I await your resignation?" My boss, Mr. Edwards snapped.

"I'm sorry, Sir. My family..."

"A sibling's child's birth does not constitute an emergency, Tariq. You come back tomorrow morning, or you can look for another job." Abruptly, Mr. Edwards ended the call.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. I didn't want to go back. I wanted to spend more time here with my family, with my new baby niece. My job, however, depended on going back. Heading back into the living room, I looked at Hira. "Pack up. We have to go back to Manchester tonight."

"Tonight?" She looked alarmed. "All of a sudden?" 

"I cannot get anymore time off." 

She stared carefully at me. "Aslan, why don't you just admit it? You're miserable in Manchester."

"I'm 'progressing', Hira. And sometimes the path towards progress is like walking on burning coals." I spoke sarcastically.

"You don't have to go down this path, Aslan. You can find progress another way. Look at you, you lost so much weight, you haven't been getting proper sleep and your appetite is down the drain. Your family has been busy with Rabiya, but sooner or later they'll notice too." 

"I'm meeting my career goals, Hira. I can endure a little now, for success later."

"Nothing is more important than your mental health!" She sounded frustrated with me.

"Hira, we've repeatedly had this discussion. I'm keeping this job, okay?" 

"You're killing yourself, Aslan!" Now she was angry. "And I won't stand by and let you do it." 

And I felt it then, the familiar huge wave of misery that had been threatening to drown me recently. It was the feeling of standing on an empty beach, watching a tsunami approach rapidly, but being too helpless to do anything. I felt that helplessness on a desperate level. I was drowning, I was yearning for oxygen, but I was being yanked down by an invisible force.