Epiphany

30:

- Mustafa - 

I have made a horrible mistake. I thought getting up and immediately reaching for my phone. One ring, two ring, three ring. She isn't picking up.

And why would she? After all the things you said to her, after accusing her of cheating? 

"Ahmad, trying calling your sister." I quickly said, turning to him. He scoffed, looking at me. "You don't think I was doing that right now. Her phone's going straight to voicemail." He said. 

I brushed my hair back as I thought of what I could go. "Where do you think Hadia went?" I slowly asked. 

He slowly looked up from me, as if I had gone mad. "Are you sure you aren't bi-polar. One minute, you kicked my sister out of this house, and the next, you're worried about her?" He asked in disbelief. 

"Listen Ahmad, those pictures, and Faraz showing up to work, sending her flowers -" I began, "Did you ask her?" He asked. I paused, "Did you?" I asked again. 

"I thought if something was bothering her, she would tell me herself." I quietly replied. He sighed, "That's the thing. She never does tell about anything bothering her. She thinks she could solve it herself." He sighed. 

"I'll go over to our apartment and see if she's there." He said, getting up to leave. I nodded, "Is there anywhere else she could go, any friends or family?" I asked. "I don't think any friends or families places, but she could most definitely go anywhere." he replied.

- 
Half an hour had gone by as I waited for Ahmad to reach their apartment. I paced around, waiting for a call or text or anything. Right then, my phone rang, I picked up Ahmad's call straight away. "she-um isn't here." He spoke. "We should look for her. It's not best to leave her mad, and it's dark out. Where would she go?" I immediately asked.

"Bhai, I just got an email off her." He said, taking a deep breath. "Now?" I asked. "Yeah. She said not to worry and not to contact her." He slowly spoke.

"Give me her email right now." I said. "The thing is bhai, the email is from some coffee shop." He replied. "Then give me the address to the coffee shop." I demanded.

I heard him take a deep sigh before he spoke again. "I'll send you the address. But please take a deep breath and don't do anything reckless. Api is mad right now. We need to be careful." He reminded me.

- the next morning -
I got to my office at half seven. I tried calling the coffee shop but continued going straight to voicemail.

Finally, at half eight, after my 50th call, they finally picked up. I asked about Hadia, but they simply brushed me off, saying they have many people a day and can't keep track of them all.

I couldn't concentrate on my work at all, my mind kept wondering back to Hadia. My head was down as I thought of what I could do? Where I could look for her. 

I heard the door of my office open, I looked up to see no other than Saad walk in with a smirk on his face. "You look down bhai, something wrong?" he asked, but he already knew the answer. 

I looked up to him with a straight face. "Should I call your assistant to take care of you? I didn't see her coming in." He commented, having his succeeded smirk. 

"Well-" I began to speak as I looked straight to him. "You knew what you were doing when you sent me the image of her." I replied. His face flushed as he heard me say that. "What?" He asked. 

"You didn't think I wouldn't be able to trace your phone number." I commented. His face turned cold again, as he seemed to be trying to calm himself. 

"Bhai, you might not want to act like my brother, but I still care for you, I couldn't turn a blind eye while that wrench was cheating on you." He tried explaining himself. 

"And if you want to walk out of this office with one face, I advise you to leave now." I tried saying while I was still calm. "Bhai listen, I was looking out for you, I warned you she was -" before he could finish, I stood up and grabbed his collar. 

"If I was you, I would think before I finish your sentence." I warned him. "And I know what really happened. I saw the whole video. But guessing with how the events turned out, I think you were all working together." I said. 

I pushed him towards the door, "Saad, I want you to leave and never come back. I never want to see your face and want nothing to do with you." I spoke. 

I heard him take a deep sigh, "You can't do that." He shouted. "I'll leave, but once I get my share of the inheritance." He said, standing up. "What?" I looked at him, wondering if he was serious. 

"He was my father as well as yours, so I should also get the share." He shouted. I scoffed in disbelief. "There is no share left for father. He took it from Dada Jaan when he left with your mother." I explained. "All of this. This is all Dada jaan's. The same man you loathed your whole life. And to think there was a time I was going to share it with you." I stated. 

"And you think you're less than me. I know the whole reason you married your assistant was because of that stupid will. Maybe if you married Naya, it wouldn't have been a problem." He argued. 

"Yeah, my reason to marry was wrong, but we both had our reasons, and we both got past that and were getting along." I said. "But you ruined everything, everything for the inheritance." 

I sighed, thinking about where Hadia might be. "Leave Saad, I don't want to have to call security." I warned him for the last time. 

He didn't leave, but my manager heard and called the security guards, as I watched them take away my brother. One whom I was supposed to be close with. The one I was happy he was in my life with, and all he cared about... was the inheritance. 

- Ten years ago - 

"We really want to apologize. You had to come in like this, Sir. But Mustafa's future is bright. I don't want him to ruin it." the teacher explained to dada jaan, who quietly sat beside me. He sighed. "Don't apologize, I'm his guardian, I'm supposed to be aware of these kinds of situations." He calmly replied. 

"Mustafa, I don't want you to do that again otherwise, next time, no will be able to help." the teacher explained before walking away. 

I remained quietly sitting next to dada jaan. "You know Mustafa, your mother told me you were going to be a handful." He remarked, "She told me I had to be extra careful of you." He added. "And what did you say back?" I asked him. 

"I didn't have to reply. You're dadi jaan did." He replied. "She said you were just like me, your dada jaan. And if I could take care of myself, getting through life, I could take care of you too." He said. 

"Now, you did that because of Omar's son, didn't you?" He asked, turning to me. I looked away, hopping he wouldn't find out. He sighed. "I told that no good of a son to keep his kid away from you."

"But dada jaan, they were hitting Saad first." I replied. "Saad stole from them Mustafa and put you in the fight." He explained. "I always tell you to stay away from them, but you don't listen." he said again. 

I sighed. Taking the hint, he stood up, "We should get home before your dadi jaan starts to worry, and clean your wounds before we get home." he said as he placed a hand on my shoulder. I nodded and smiled as I helped him walk out of the classroom.