A tale of love, loss, and new beginnings.
Hareem wants to start over, Momin is stuck in the past. Can a newly wedded couple learn to love and accept one another while also dealing with an uncertain future and a haunting past?
Trigger warning: ptsd...
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Chapter Twenty Seven
Her heart hammered in her chest as she stood across Momin on late Friday afternoon. He was going back to their hometown for the weekend, minutes away from leaving. She had requested him to wait for her before he left, she wanted to tell him something, she had said.
He waited for her patiently, watching her struggle to find her words.
Say it. Tell him what happened.
She opened her mouth to speak, losing her words once again that week. How would she start her tale? Would she tell him that she had once liked someone? Or would she say that long before they had gotten married she was dreaming of spending her life with someone else?
"I can't say it," she uttered, tightening her grip over her crossbody bag, looking to the ground under their feet.
"Well, how about you say the words and I'll make sense of them?" Momin suggested, briefly looking at his wrist watch.
"I don't want to keep you," she insisted. "It's a five hour drive as is, and the motorway is busy on Friday nights."
"I can wait all day, Hareem," he assured. "But I'm afraid you might get tired."
She looked away nervously. There was no need to reveal the truth to him on that day specifically, yet she felt an odd sense of urgency, like if she didn't say the words right then, she would never be able to.
"Back home," she abruptly started. "I liked history in high school."
"You still do," Momin reminded, nodding at her.
"Yeah, yeah." She clenched and unclenched her hands, hesitating. "I..I." Her face grew red, prompting Momin to draw close and place a hand on her shoulder.
"If you aren't ready to say it, you don't have to," he comforted, meeting her eyes. "It's okay."
Hareem's shoulders slumped in disappointment, her fingers fiddled with the strap of her bag as she took a step away from him.
"Okay," she finally nodded, forcing a smile. "I'll see you Tuesday."
"Take care, hm?" Momin slid into the driver's seat and rolled down his window to wave at her.
As she saw him drive away, she felt fatigue overtake her.
*
Momin felt the violent hunger pangs rocking his stomach, but he ignored them as he drove on, refusing to take a break before he reached his parents' house. He had been driving for four hours by that point, his knuckles were molded over the steering wheel, while his foot rested numbly on the accelerator. His eyes were glued to the road, watching some cars whizzing by over the speed limit, while others changed lanes to exit through terminals leading to different cities. His mind though, was in another time period.
