Love starts after Nikkah

Chapter 20-Post Martial Depression

"Long Day's Journey into Night" is Eugene O'Neill's masterpiece. This play depicted feelings of loneliness, isolation, and belonging. But, the main theme which I love the most is that family members are not willing to forgive each other for past mistakes. They are unwilling
to move forward in life because of the past pains they have undergone."
Dr. Ajmal Khan was giving the lecture while Saba was penning the main themes. On the last lines, her pen stopped and her mind drifted toward the pain rippling in Sahir's orbs.
"It is always the past that prevents us from growing and moving forward in life!"
These thoughts came to her mind while her mind slipped into the school ground.

"What happened, Saba? Why are you avoiding us now?"
Zarina asked her while they were going toward the morning assembly.
"No, that is not the case." She smiled at her.
"It is the case! You have been avoiding us since meeting Zaheer."
Zarina said firmly and stopped in her tracks, forcing her to stop too.
"Okay. I have been avoiding you since then! You know why?"
There was anger and pain in Saba's tone.
"Why?"
"Because I am getting some cheap messages from Zaheer on mobile. Who has given him my number?" She rolled her arms on her chest and inquired.
"I haven't given! Promise, I haven't!" Zarina's eyes widened and she replied.
Saba rolled her eyes and stepped toward the morning assembly, leaving Zarina behind.
"Saba, let's go," Iqra said to her, which caused her to come out of the memories.
Students were leaving now as the class had ended. She nodded her head while glancing at
her friend's group.
There is a Hadith in Islam where a person is known for his friends' group. The company of friends do impact your personality, so choose them wisely. Saba understood this Hadith
after a tough trial in her school life.
Coming out of the classroom, she called Sahir's driver to pick her up from the university.
.........................
Sahir was going toward his last class of the day when his gaze fell upon the garden where that event happened. This was the same university from where he graduated and started
his career.
He was standing on the first floor of the university and could see the lawn present on the ground floor. On the bench, where his trust shattered, was sitting another couple of
university students. They were laughing and teasing each other.
Gazing at them, a voice echoed in his ears.

"You were mixing Haram in your relationship, that's why Allah didn't give you that relationship. Your marriage with Zahra would be void of any happiness and peace."

"Assalam o Alaikum, Sir!" A student greeted at which he averted his gaze toward him.
Smiling at the student and chit-chatting with him for a while, he went toward his class, shooking away the gloomy part.
...............
She was lying on the bed and scrolling through the Instagram feed where the happiest people in the world reside, where everyone shows the luxurious part of life.
Gazing at the smiling faces of people, staring at the couple pictures under the hashtags of couple goals, the void deepens in Saba's heart.
Smiling couples and cute pictures were piercing her heart.
While scrolling her feed, Zarina's Instagram account popped up in the recommendation section. A smiling face of her was in the DP.
Gazing at the smiling face of Zarina, a distant memory flashed in her mind.

"I like you!"
"Call me!"
Messages were continuously blinking on Saba's phone. Reading them, frustration and fear
grabbed her being. She swiftly blocked the sim number and messaged Zarina.
"Zarina, ask your cousin to stop messaging me!"
"Ok" her message came at which she rolled her eyes.

She clicked on Zarina's Dp and her Instagram account opened. Her Instagram account was not private so she could see her pictures.
Scrolling through her feed, she opened her friend list. In the list, the first name was Asma.
There was a smiling picture of Asma in the DP which she kept gazing at for a while.
Her mind kept recalling the memories, joining different dots. Among them, a memory flashed in her mind.

"Hey, who is Zaheer?"
She was going for morning assembly when her class fellow came near and asked with a mischievous tone.
"I don't know. Why are you asking me?" Saba stopped dead in her tracks and asked with
wide eyes.
"There is a surprise for you in the classroom." She said with a mischievous smile and went
toward the assembly at which Saba's face became pale.
"You are getting late!" The Discipline teacher came near her and said in a stern tone.
She nodded, murmured sorry, and went toward the assembly.
In the classroom, her heart skipped a beat at seeing the front chair. On the arm of the front
chair, "Saba and Zaheer" was written with highlighter.
She swiftly sat there and covered the chair's arm with her bag. Her classmates were whispering and giving her sarcastic smiles.
She felt abandoned and afraid.
During break time, she kept scratching the names through her nails to remove them. Till the end of the break, her arm and fingers were hurting, and her condition was getting worse because of hunger.
In the of time, she lashed at Zarina for writing her name on the chair's arm. She declined her accusations.
After that day, it became a routine that her and Zaheer's name was written on the chair's arm after every two to three days.
Because of it, she lost her respect and friends. The last year of school was the worst year of her life. Because of that year, she had left no happy memories of that golden academic phase.