ishq lost & found

33; Pleading

After spending a good few hours with her mom, eventually her dad and her sisters all got back home just in time for all of them to have some dinner. It was a sweet and nostalgic night filled with laughter and fun, just the way it used to be before Ranya agreed to the loneliest marriage you could imagine.

"So how is Saad doing? Why didn't he come too?" Ranya's father asked, taking a sip of water while Ranya scrambled to remember whatever she had told her mom.

"He's been really busy lately, lots of cases and stuff. But he wanted me to tell you how sorry he is and that he'll be here next time!" Ranya lied, dying a little inside for having to lie straight to her parents faces.

Even though she knew that they knew the circumstances of her marriage with Saad, it was obvious they were optimistic that the two of them would eventually be just like every other couple. And Ranya's mom didn't hesitate to voice her worries and concerns with her marriage to Saad, not back then and certainly not now.

"He better be treating you well." She hummed from the kitchen behind them, the sound of glass clanking against each other quiet compared to the volume of her voice.

Ranya let out an awkward laugh, nodding along and hoping it was convincing, "He is!"

Setting his things aside, Saad decided to get some rest from all the work he had been doing lately. He was already way ahead of where he should have been, even with the extra work he had taken on to keep himself busy and away from Ranya. With the home empty, he had everything to himself. And knowing Ranya and her family, she probably wouldn't be home til much later.

Saad felt a little bad for being so happy to get some time away from her, even though he loved being with her whether they were sitting in silence or partaking in an activity, he didn't care as long as he was with her. That was true when they were young and it's true now, for the most part, but with the way life had panned out and with Salman actually confronting Saad, he knew it was time to control himself better.

It had been days since Salman had texted him, but Saad had yet to give him a response. He had no idea what to say, and discussing something like that over text didn't seem feasible or appropriate. He wanted to call him. He wanted to yell at him for being so irresponsible and careless, for hurting Ranya the way he did. He missed him sometimes, sure. But more than that he felt anger towards him. He wanted to punch him in the face.

Wishing it could have been different, he stared off at the TV, breaking out of his trance only when he heard the front door being unlocked. Knowing it could only be one person, he contemplated leaving before she saw him. But a small part of him wanted to stay in his place. It had been what felt like weeks without uttering more than a couple of words with her.

It was easier when he lived in a different province, on the other side of the country. He didn't have the choice to see her, he couldn't. It was easy to pretend she wasn't real when she wasn't physically near him. Any maybe, if she had ended up marrying Salman, getting over his first love would be easy. But with having her in front of her, how could he keep denying himself the pleasure of being in her presence.

"You're here?" Ranya asked, bewildered to see him home already. It was only 8, and although she had planned on staying with her parents a lot longer, the constant reminder that her and Saad shared nothing close to a normal relationship was starting to make her emotional.

Nodding, he turned to her for a moment, "How was it at your parents?" Watching as she put her keys on the console by the door, taking her jacket off and placing it inside the closet before walking towards him. Wearing a pair of blue jeans and a fitted, black, long sleeve shirt, her admired her figure only to quickly look away when he realized what he was doing.