Her Vocation

5. The Blackout

"What the hell is the meaning of this?! How dare you spout that nonsense out there!! Is there anything left for you to destroy?!" My mother kept screaming her heart out but I sat there silently scrolling through my phone; checking up on my flight for Gilgit.

"I AM TALKING TO YOU!!" She screamed, snatching the phone from my hand roughly. I watched her heaving from all that shouting. Despite all that anger that she was trying to release, her face remained placid—all thanks due to the botox job. I watched between her and my phone in her hand for a moment before getting up with a sigh.

"Why are you suddenly acting like you care about what I do? You should do what you do best; which is minding your own business—" I return unfazed but just as the words left my mouth, a sharp slap across my left cheek made me fall against the bed.

"—-We have been patiently putting up with your nonsense for so long that you have started considering us as fools?!!" I heard her scream at the top of her lungs, from my sprawled position on the floor; a hand pressed against my slapped cheek.

"Won't marry?" I heard her sneering but didn't dare turn around to look at her. I felt hot tears stinging the corner of my eyes due to anger. I feared that if I were to see her now, I might lose control of my senses and do something unforgivable.

"Even if it's the last thing I have you do, I'll make sure it happens! You can rot here until that happens!" Her words kept ringing in my ears, even after hearing the door slam shut. Yet, I didn't move an inch from my place.

"And I'll die, than let that happen."

I opened my eyes and for awhile just laid on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Still reeling from the aftermath of memory of that day, I wondered, if sleep would come to me tonight. Having been nestled in the pitch darkness of the room, my eyes did not need to adjust to the unlit room, but it still took me a while to bring my surroundings into focus. My throat felt parched, so with some effort, I sat up to get water from the bottle on my side table. While I did, my thoughts kept wandering back to that day.

I had missed my flight because I was locked in my room for the next few days. It wasn't until a week later, after I had unwillingly started to help out with wedding preps that they went easy on me. I made an excuse about staying over at Saba's place for a week to help out with her sister's wedding preparations.

It was only a matter of time before they found about my whereabouts. If they wanted to find me, they would , even if I were hiding in the depths of ocean. I am sure Mother would be able to go to any lengths to make sure, that nothing hurts my relationship with the Suleiman's. Everyone knew, that if Navi heard about it, hell would ensue.

Unable to dissuade my ill thoughts, I draped the back of my arm over my eyes, with an exhausted sigh. Once again, I couldn't help but find myself wishing for the impossible.

I wish I was never born.

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After a whole day of convincing myself to stay away from them, I was standing outside Amo's gates, once again.

I had my hand up against the door to knock but something made me hesitant.

'Maybe, I should leave. It's still not too late.'

Before I could come to a decision, the door opened. With an open mouth, I gaped at Hadi, who was standing in the door with a quizzical look on his face.

"Ah." This was all I could manage to get out of my mouth and realised that my hand was still hanging up in the air. Quickly, putting it down I greeted him with a smile.