House of Ashes [Complete]

32. Bonding | جوڑ

Kindly, Vote and Comment!

Tears cascaded down Raina's cheeks like a broken faucet while the perpetual hiccups didn't leave her side for once.

"Mera bacha! (My kid!)" Azlan enveloped her quavering body in his embrace as he stroke her hair, his chin resting on her dishevelled hair.

"I failed this one, too, bhai. I'm such a failure!" She cursed herself as she pulled away, her voice breaking into tiny fragments.

"Don't say that. You're anything but a failure, my love."

But she kept shaking her head, hysterically. His words meant nothing to her, right now.

"You're just saying that because I'm your sister." She sniffed. "When in reality, I'm nothing but a failure. A big one. I failed three tests, bhai. Can you believe that? Three tests? Three chances?"

"Exactly my point." He held her hands. "You were given three chances, Ray. But you still couldn't get in."

"That makes me feel so much better. Thank you so much!" She smiled plastic, hot liquid still pouring down her porcelain face akin to the cold one outside.

"No! Why do you always have to look at the bleak side, hun? The point is even after three chances, you couldn't get in which means it was not better for you, the thing was not meant to be for you in the first place. Alright, look at it this way." He shifted in his position as Raina waited from him to continue. "You took one year off, worked so damn hard, gave your 101%, right?"

She nodded, not knowing where he was going with all this.

"Now, you've scored 100/100 in that criteria, so let's leave it aside for a while now. But when it came to the result, you scored below merit. Now whose fault is that?" He arched his eyebrows up while Raina tried to fathom the answer to his question.

"Neither yours nor anyone else's which only leaves us with one option and that is, there was something in it that wasn't good for your cause. It could have been dangerous for you but Allah (SWT) saved you THREE TIMES, Ray, THREE FREAKING TIMES! Talk about favoritism!" He feigned to be hurt as he scrunched his nose.

Everyone had been telling her the same thing for days but it was the way Azlan had put it into words that made her see sense as she went silent.

"You have to understand not everything in this world is for you, bachey."

His words were making an impact on her and he could sense it. After a deep elongated silence, she finally spoke up.

"You're right." This time her voice didn't break. "Also, there are ample other problems in this world that need more attention. Mine doesn't even matter." She shrugged and a scowl emerged on Azlan's forehead. This was the exact mindset he was talking about. The mindset he had always abhorred.

Cupping her cheek, he proceeded.

"Don't belittle your problems, Ray. You matter and so do they. Don't run away from them. Acknowledge them. Let it hurt, cry over it, and then let it go. I never wanna hear this gibberish again, okay? Acceptance is the first step to letting go. You understand that?"

She nodded with a weak but determined smile.

"Good." He said as he dropped a chaste kiss atop her head.