Meeting you

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Hadi waits outside the hospital Sanam works at, a big bouquet of pink roses sitting on his passenger seat. He anxiously runs his hand through his hair, contemplating whether he should go in or not.

After a good 15 minutes of making his mind and rehearsing what he should say, he picks up the roses and heads inside. After looking for her everywhere, Hadi cannot find her and the hope to see her diminishes. 

Just then as he was leaving, Sanam comes out of one of rooms, accompanying the doctor. Hadi freezes-- There she was, wearing her nurse coat on top of a light pink suit. Her hair were tied in a messy, low bun and the strands of hair covered the sides of her face. She looked exhausted, but still very much engrossed in work.

Hadi picks up the bouquet in front of his face from embarrassment. He notices that she has stopped in front of him, even though his face is hidden behind the bouquet.

"Hadi?!"

Hadi slowly moves the flowers away from his face and looks straight at her. Sanam's eyes widen, knowing it really is him.

"Hi."

"Tum yahan kya kar rahe ho?" Sanam asks bluntly. All of the confidence that Hadi has mustered on his way to the hospital fades away in a moment.

"I- woh main- uh- bas aise hi-"

"Kahin aur chalke baat karein?"

"Haan, haan sure." Hadi lets out a sigh of relief.

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"Toh? Pakistan kaise?" Sanam says while they sit down on bench in the hospital garden and Hadi hands her a chai. The bouquet of flowers was still with him.

"Woh bhai aur Momina ki shaadi ho rahi hai."

"What? Really?"

"Haan. Alhamdulillah."

"Meri taraf se Mubarak baat aur duayein dena."

"Sure. Yeh tumhare liye." Hadi finally gives her the bouquet.

A long silence follows them as they stare ahead blankly.

"I'm sorry Sanam. Main yu'n hi sab chhod kar US chala gaya."

"Tumhari koi galti nahi hai. Tumhara jana banta tha. Maine itne ilzaam lagaye tum par, aik baar bhi yeh nahi socha ke shayad tum sach keh rahe hoge. Shayad tum wakaye hi be-qasoor hoge."

"Yaqeen bhi toh tumne isiliye nahi kiya naa kyunki main yaqeen layak tha hi nahi. Mujhe maaf kardo Sanam. Maine Saarim ko nahin maara, lekin aaj bhi uska mujrim main hi hoon. Shayad main uss waqt wahan naa hota ya main ussey darane ke liye woh fires naa karta toh shayad woh aaj tumhare saath hote."

"Hmm. Lekin aise sochne ko toh hum bahot kuchh badalne ke liye soch sakte hain. Kaash woh college na jaata uss din, kaash woh tumhare saath behasta naa, kaash woh kuchh time pehle aa jaata baad mein aa jaata, kaash woh kahin aur busy ho jaata. Hona toh wohi hai jo Allah ne chaaha, chahe kitna bhi taqleef-deh kyun na ho. Maine apne mann ko itminan de diya hai, aur ab tum bhi dedo. Tumne bhi apni galityon ki nedamat kar li hai."

Hadi stays frozen, staring at Sanam, tears flowing from his eyes. He takes her hands and puts them on her forehead, whispering 'sorry Sanam', while his silent cry turns into a sob.

"Bas Hadi, ab aur gam nahi." She pulls her hands and wraps his with her own.

Hadi nods, sniffling. They wanted to talk about them, but Hadi couldn't bear it to talk about himself when he realized how broken Sanam would've been feeling. He gets up and turns to leave when Sanam interrupts him.

"Vapis kab ja rahe ho US?" There was a certain restlessness in her voice.

"Aik mahine baad." Hadi answers without turning back as he cannot control his tears. Both of them wanted to have  different conversation-- the one that's about them-- their love. But Hadi felt too guilty to even bring this up.

|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|

It's been a week and Hadi doesn't try to contact Sanam even though that's the only thing on his mind.

Hadi comes out in the lawn in the dark evening and drinks his coffee. Just then Hamza and Momina' car arrives. They come out with bags in their hands.

"Wow! Lovebirds. Aaj kya lekar aayein hain? Kitni shopping karoge yaar."

"Abey wedding cards hain yeh toh."

"Accha dikhao toh." Hadi asks and Momina hands him one that was in her purse.

"Waaah! Mir Hamza and Momina Eman Malik." A bittersweet memory surfaces in Hadi's mind, when he married Sanam. He remembers how Sanam despised his existence when he forced her to do such a pure thing as marriage just like that. He winces from self-disgust and blocks it all from his memory, coming back to the present.

Hamza goes inside to put all the stuff inside. Momina stays watching Hadi read the wedding card, his hands visibly shivering.

"Baat hui?"

"Kya?"

"Sanam se."

"H-haan main gaya tha hospital last week." Hadi keeps his eyes affixed on the card to prevent Momina from seeing his moist eyes.

"Kaisi hai woh?"

"Thik."

"Hadi, tumhein pata hai na tum mujhse kuchh chhupa nahin sakte. Sitaara aunty ne bataya tumne rishta lekar jane se manaa kar diya hai."

"Kyunki main ussey aur uskey gharwalo'n ko aur aziyat nahi dena chahta. Badi mushkil se unki family mein khushi aur sukoon aaya hoga jab se main US gaya hoon."

"Aur agar Sanam ke liye tumse door rehna aziyat ho- toh?"

"Nahin aisa nahi hai."

"Tumhein kaise pata?"

"Maaf karna pyaar karne se bahot alag hota hai. Aur agar uske dil mein mere liye ab bhi kuchh hai toh agar hum umar bhar ke liye saath nibhayenge toh mera wajood ussey hamesha apne bhai ki yaad dilata rahega."

"Aisa nahi hai. Woh tumse pyaar karti hai Hadi, aur yeh baat tum achhe se jaante ho. Agar woh tumhein qasoor-waar theharaati toh woh tumse raabta kabhi na rakhti ya Sitaara aunty ko tumhara bar-bar na poochhti. She loves you Hadi, she really does."

Hadi finally looks up at her, tears swelling up in his eyes.

"Give it some time Hadi. Milo ussey, baat karo. Jaano ke woh kya chahti hai, agar woh tumhein nahi chahti toh mat karna ussey baat, lekin agar woh chahti hai, toh tum is rishte ko ban'ne se kyun hichkicha rahe ho jab ke sab jaante hain tum ussey kitni mohabbat karte ho. Aur main jaanti hun woh bhi tumse kitni mohabbat karti hai, bas tum nahi jaante."

"Do you really think so Momi?"

"I do. Aur mujhe Momi bulaana band karo." Momina orders, lightening the dense air.

"Haa ab toh bhabhi bulana padega." Hadi wipes his tears, chuckling.

"Hmm." Momina pats on his shoulder, knowing that she hates this nickname,  or does she really? Because her brother said only he would be calling her Momi.

Momina swallows a nervous gulp, afraid of the fact that she still hasn't told Hamza who her brother is.


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