Truly Madly Deeply

Chapter 46

The silver chains Misha had ordered online for Ibraheem and herself arrived an hour after she said goodbye to her brother. She kept one chain for herself and another for Ibraheem. It was kind of like a couple memento or something. She had a feeling the silver chain would look good on his sun tanned skin. Misha had absolutely no idea on how she was going to deliver this to him but that was a worry for another day. Maybe she could ask Zoya. Her family was liberal so I don't think there would be any problem if she meets up a guy, Misha thought and concluded that it was best to give it to Zoya.

She couldn't wait for Ibraheem to see her present. Her excitement was reaching new heights. Fortunately for her, she was meeting Zoya and Rubab tomorrow noon so she could just hand it to her tomorrow. Zoya and Rubab already knew the entire story so it wasn't like she was hiding anything from them. Everything was working out great.

....

Meanwhile, Humayun had noticed Sarmad's brooding expression ever since he had picked him up but decided to ask him what the matter was after their game. Sarmad was in deep thought throughout the game. The girl he had seen at the door of Humayun's house was quite familiar. It wasn't like he couldn't remember who she was, infact he knew exactly who she was at first glance but it was more like he couldn't believe it was the same girl from that time. What were the odds of her being someone else? Her blue eyes set her apart from the crowd though. After thinking about it for a bit longer, Sarmad was sure it was her but he wasn't sure if he should tell Humayun or not about what he knew. He concluded it wasn't his place to talk about it and it was better to just forget about it.

Once they won the game, the boys went out to celebrate and Humayun noticed the distant and hesitant look on Sarmad's face. Sarmad would glance in his direction and then look away as if he was guilty of something. He looked pretty out of it while everyone else was busy taunting and joking around which only increased Humayun's curiosity. Once the celebration was over, Humayun walked with Sarmad to his car because Sarmad was supposed to drop Humayun back to his house.

"You want to tell me what is going on in your head?" Humayun questioned the moment he sat down in the passenger seat. "You have been spacing out through the entire game and even after wards. Did something happen?"

"It's nothing. Just some personal shit." Sarmad tried to steer the topic away but to no avail.

"It doesn't look like it is a personal issue though. Why are you avoiding eye contact with me?"

"It's really nothing serious man. I was just confused." Sarmad tried yet again to divert the topic but it was pointless. Humayun was as stubborn as one could get.

"Dude, you look like you are dodging the topic. Tell me what's up. Come on we have known each other long enough to know that we don't hide shit from each other. Out with it." Humayun pressed and Sarmad felt himself caving. What was the harm in letting him know anyway? Maybe he has the right to know. Sarmad convinced himself.

"It's just....I don't know where to start from bro." Sarmad was lost. He really didn't know how to start the conversation.

"What is it about?" Humayun continued to stare at Sarmad who would glance at him from time to time while focusing mainly on the road.

"The girl who opened the door." Sarmad said in a hushed tone.

"My sister? What about her?" Humayun could feel his protective tendencies coming out. He wasn't comfortable with the feeling of his friend discussing his sister but he wanted to know why he was behaving like that. It wasn't like Sarmad.

"Yeah, well, I have seen her somewhere." Sarmad felt like there was a rock stuck in his throat. He didn't know if he wanted to continue this conversation or not but it was already too late.

"Yeah, so? She goes out to eat and shop from time to time." Humayun's tone was turning bitter with every word as protectiveness came over him. A tone that Sarmad picked up on.

"Don't misunderstand me, Humayun. True, I did see her at a restaurant but thing is...." Sarmad trailed off.

"What?" Humayun narrowed his eyes at Sarmad in a questioning manner.

"Maybe you should just see this video instead." Sarmad sighed as he took out his phone and started to scroll through the phone gallery while keeping a steady eye on the road. Once he found the video, he played it and handed the phone to Humayun.

'Tell me Misha, why did you lie to me?' Ibraheem's voice played over in the video as Humayun recognized the girl in the video as his sister and the guy sitting beside her as the guy who he had met in the mall when he had taken Misha shopping a few months ago. The one who had spoken fluent Sindhi and asked for directions. The video was taken from a few distance away but the faces were still pretty clear.

"Where is this from? How old is this?" Humayun questioned as he increased the volume of the video and watched it silently. Misha's conversation with Ibraheem unfolded in the video and ended abruptly at some point when the waiter showed up.

"Tuscany. I think this was back in June. The guy sitting beside your sister came in with two more guys. Your sister was sitting with two girls. All three of the guys had guns on them and when your sister tried to leave, the guy threatened him to sit with her. Then they all left together or more like the guy dragged her away to God knows where." Sarmad explained the entire scenario he had seen from that day while keeping his eye on the road. "Look, I don't know if I should be telling you this but it caused a lot of drama back then. I was there with my cousins so I saw the entire scene unfold. I am just glad your sister is okay."

Once the video ended, Humayun sent it to himself via Bluetooth and then deleted the video from Sarmad's phone. All he could see was shades of red and black. He knew the guy from the mall was acting weird but he was even more disappointed in his sister. How could she not tell her family about something as crucial as this? Was she threatened? Was she doing this by choice? Is this what she did when she went out? Humayun wanted answers more than anything and he was going to get them the moment he gets home.

"Thanks for letting me know about this. Keep this to yourself, alright? Don't mention this to anyone else." Humayun replied in a monotonous tone and Sarmad just nodded a sure though he could sense the menacing aura that Humayun was releasing. The rest of the car ride was silent with Humayun looking like he was about to commit bloody murder while Sarmad just had a hard time breathing in his presence. Sarmad breathed a sigh of relief once they reached Humayun's house and he got out of his car. Humayun didn't even look back as he started to walk inside his house and towards his sister's room upstairs. He said Salaam to his mother in the kitchen and his father who was sitting on the dining table along with Qasim who was patting his hair dry with a towel on a couch watching television. He remembered his oldest brother Saleem was out with his wife to get an ultra sound.

"Where is Misha?" Humayun asked in an icy tone and their mother could sense that something was wrong.

"Right here, bhai, what's up? How was the game? Did you win? Judging from the sour expression on your face, I doubt it." Misha beamed up at him innocently as she walked down the stairs and Humayun felt his vein pop at the deceit his little sister had put the entire family through for months. The betrayal made his head whirl.

Author's note:

And the most dreadful moment has arrived.Of all the things that could have happened, Humayun just happened to see his sister eating out with Ibraheem. Did any of you expect that this would happen? Well, all hell is about to break loose. Brace yourselves. The impact of the next few chapters is going to be hard to withstand. 

Also, thank you for the wishes for my midterm guys. It went okayish. I got two more in the coming week so I will try to update another chapter soon so I can focus on studying then. 

Peace out. \\//