Broken desires

26

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Leaning on the crown of the bed, her loose hair was spread out like silk on the pillow.

In her own world, she repeatedly folded and unfolded a lock of hair on her finger.

Lost in her imaginary world, she looked like a beautiful statue.

Anjum, who was sitting next to her, was looking at pictures of Maham's wedding on her mobile phone. She had no idea what Moomal was talking about.

"Masha Allah, Maham's husband is very good-looking, and both of them married with their free consent. You both got married, and here I am, still not knowing where my husband is coming from. What do I do, Moomal?!"

Anjum asked, but Moomal was still lost in her thoughts, so she couldn’t answer.

At Moomal's silence, Anjum looked towards her. Seeing her lost in her own world, Anjum became angry. Then, an idea came to her devious mind.

With a wicked smile, Anjum slowly moved closer to her ear and shouted, "Moomal!!"

"Hnnn!" Moomal got startled and moved back reflexively.

Anjum laughed out loud.

Moomal glared at her, even though her heart was still pounding like crazy.

"What is this, Anjum!? You know I am easily shocked. Do you want to kill me?" She put her hand on her chest and glared at her indignantly.

"I was speaking to you for so long, but you weren’t even listening to me. Be grateful I didn’t pull your ears," Anjum said in a complaining tone.

"I was thinking about something."

Anjum looked at her with interest. "Well, tell me, how is your husband? Has something new started between you two, or is your train still on the friendship track?"

Moomal shook her head in denial. "What would happen? We are still the same as we were before. Just good friends." She couldn’t hide the bitterness in her tone.

Anjum continued to look into her sad eyes, then she looked around and asked, "This room belongs to Huzaifa, doesn’t it?"

"Yeah, why are you asking?" At her sudden question, Moomal looked at her with questioning eyes.

"But now you two share this room?" Anjum asked with a devilish smile.

"Don’t think nonsense. I sleep on the bed and he sleeps on the couch," Moomal said in a disgusted tone.

"Still, you two are in the same room. Something must have happened?" Anjum raised her eyebrows with the same devilish smile and asked interrogatively, leaving Moomal speechless.

"You dirty-minded!" Moomal picked up a pillow from her side and hit Anjum on the head. "Nothing like that happened! Give your evil brain a break."

But Anjum still couldn’t believe it. "Don’t lie. It’s not possible for a married couple to live together in the same room without anything happening! It’s not possible!" She said stubbornly.

Moomal took a deep breath, turned to face her, and spoke calmly. "And how can you say that with so much confidence? How do you even know about this?"

"What? If you ask anyone, they will say the same thing. Madam, just tell me the truth. Really, nothing like that happened between you two? Not even a hug?"

Moomal was actually surprised by Anjum’s shamelessness and how boldly she was asking the question, which made her face tingle with shame.

"How shameless of you, Anjum! You are not even married, yet you are talking about that thing." Moomal scolded her, but Anjum was lost in deep thought while looking at her.

"Moomal, your reaction shows that nothing really happened between you two. It can only mean two things."

Now Moomal's curiosity was piqued.

"What do you mean?" she asked hesitantly.

Seeing Moomal's interest, a wicked smile spread on Anjum’s lips.

"Why should I tell you? You get upset about shameless things. Forget I said anything," Anjum said with a shrug, picking up her mobile to go through the remaining pictures.

At her sudden refusal, Moomal stared at her in disbelief but managed to control her irritation. "Stop overacting! Tell me what it means, or I won’t talk to you for a week!" Moomal threatened and snatched the mobile from her hand.

Anjum, who was eager to share, spoke. "If a boy doesn’t take advantage of a girl despite being alone, it can mean two things. One is that the girl looks so bad that he doesn’t even want to look at her. The other meaning is—" She paused.

"What?" Moomal asked curiously.

"It could mean that the girl is so special to him that he is willing to do anything for her and can never take advantage of her under any circumstances." She shared her wisdom.

"And I can say with certainty that this may be the case with Huzaifa and you. Because we both know that Huzaifa does not hate you at all."

Moomal nodded in agreement. It seemed somewhat believable.

Is she really that special to Huzaifa?

Because she’s sure he doesn’t hate her.

Or? She dared to think of something she wanted wholeheartedly.

But Ruby? How could she forget about Ruby?

She abruptly looked up at Anjum, who was looking at her with searching eyes. "What if there’s someone else in his life?"

"Are you talking about Ruby?" Anjum said without hesitation.

Moomal’s eyes widened in amazement at how Anjum knew she was talking about Ruby. But when Anjum asked the question, she suddenly shook her head in denial. Anjum dismissed her refusal.

"Everyone knows that Huzaifa and Ruby Ahmed are having an affair, but it doesn’t matter because you are his wife. I’m only worried about one thing: you two are still living together like friends. The reason he isn’t taking advantage of you is that you are so special to him," Anjum explained.

Moomal listened intently, biting her lip. She was still unable to digest everything. But Anjum continued.

"And now we both know that he truly cares about you. If you boldly confess your love to him and tell him you want to accept this marriage, then there will be no Ruby Ahmed between you two. Huzaifa Mueez will be all yours, your husband truly. And only I will be your friend," Anjum proudly stated.

For a moment, Moomal really started thinking about it, but then she stared at Anjum in amazement. "When did I say I like Huzaifa?"

"No, never, but I know it from the fourth standard," Anjum said with a shrug, looking at her mobile again.

Moomal kept looking at her uncertainly.

"Stop being surprised and quickly promote Huzaifa from the position of friend to the position of husband because I am a little jealous. I do not like sharing my friend at all," Anjum added while using her mobile.

Moomal picked up the pillow and hit her on the head once more.

---

After the shoot, Huzaifa went to the bungalow immediately. When he got there, he rang the doorbell, but no one answered. Then he got a duplicate key from his car, opened the door himself, and entered.

Only silence and darkness welcomed him. The whole house was empty and silent.

Thinking she must have gone out for work, he called her from his mobile. The call was answered on the second ring.

"Hello, Huzaifa, I am at an important shoot. I will call you later." Before he could say a word, the call was cut off from the other side.

Huzaifa angrily threw his mobile on the bed and held his head in his hands.

Ever since he returned from the village, his days had been similarly restless. Despite his fatigue, he spent all his time shooting. But after finishing his shooting, his condition would again be like that of a lost traveler in the desert who could do nothing but wander alone.