Hey
everyone!
Once again thank you so much for appreciating the story. I have to be
honest here. I really didn't think everyone would love this - so thank you so
much! It really warms the heart and no, it's just not only because of
the heat of the weather. ๐
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Aahil reached forward and changed the gear as he stepped his foot into the speed pedal. He drove toward the only destination he could think of.
Climbing out from his car, he took a few steps as his eyes were silently watching the still night ahead of him.
He crossed his arms as his jaw was set tight. Every muscle was tense yet he felt weak. He felt defeated.
He stood watching the old Haveli and wondered what people were doing at a time like this? Were they enjoying the company between each other? Were they behaving like a family should be?
Pain and remorse began to form on his face. He couldn't deal with the feeling anymore. He turned around with his hands solidly inside his pockets of his pants and sighed heavily.
The truth was that he didn't even know why he had come here at the first place. Too angered with himself he had just driven to the destination he could think of.
He drove toward the place where he hoped he could calm his feelings. He had arrived at the place where Sanam came to live.
-------------------
Meanwhile Haya and Sanam was busy cleaning the table after they had eaten dinner. Sanam made it toward the living room, when something caught her gaze through the window.
A figure was standing with his back beside a car.
She walked forward while suddenly feeling interested, in finding out who it was.
Her Badi Ammi saw her look out from the window and followed her gaze. She gently touched her arm.
"Sanam, is that Aahil?"
"I-I don't know, Badi Ammi?"
She took a small glance at her granddaughter and knew what she was thinking. Her worried expression told her everything.
"You should go and see if it's him."
Before Sanam could say anything, her Badi Ammi was already gone into the kitchen. The younger woman made a mental note to tell her stop vanishing in the middle of a sentence.
Sanam sighed and mentally prepared herself to be strong. She was not going to listen to him or his reasons. She made it outside through the front door and walked where he stood.
"Aahil what are you doing here?"
He didn't turn around to answer her question. Instead he stood still while staring into the still night. Too busy with trying to mask all the emotions he was feeling.
Sanam noticed that he hadn't moved at all.
"I lost!" He finally spoke like a whisper. "I lost the game called Life."
She furrowed her brows and noticing the awfully pained voice.
"What are you talking about?" she asked already seeing the change in his body language.
He didn't stand like he owned the world but like he had lost everything he ever held dear to him.
"I've lost everything. The ones I called family, the ones I called friends, who I thought would be there for me."
She felt
sudden shiver run down her spine by his words. She had never seen him like this
before.
"The woman who I've loved since childhood has betrayed me."
"What happened?" she asked almost afraid to hear the answer.
"She's after the money, Sanam - my mother has used me for her own goals. She made me a pawn for her cruel games. No affection, no love, no nothing. It was all a game."
She couldn't help but hear the brokenness in his voice. She wondered if she had misread him all along.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes letting the painful memories come crashing down.
"All my life I've thought that I killed my father. That my mother had sacrificed herself to go to jail instead of me."
A bitter laugh escaped his lips. "How nave I was to think that." He paused.
"All these nightmares I've been through have gone to waste. Every night waking up by the pain and constant reminder of the fact that I had killed someone."
Sanam stood studying his words. She had heard a lot coming from him, but never in the world did she think that she would see him in a state like this.
And she wondered - how a man who challenged her, made her life hell, which she had invented the name; Jallad Jinn' suddenly made her feel his pain as well?
Aahil's hands curled into fists by the anger which was running through him. Suddenly the anger vanished when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
He closed his eyes, allowing himself to feel the heat of her touch. He turned around where he stood face to face with the woman he had fallen in love with.
"Congratulations Miss Sanam Ahmed Khan. You won. And I have lost."
Lowering his gaze he spoke. "I've become just like her. The man my mother wanted me to become."
"He may be part of the family but it doesn't define who he is. He did nothing to hurt you."
She knew that no matter what a person had been through, he deserved a chance to rebuild himself. It was never too late to become a better person.
She took a step forward. "You're nothing like that!" She finally expressed remembering her Badi Ammi's words.
"How can you say that?" looking down at his hands as if they were poison.
"How can you say those words knowing well enough what kind of person I was - I am!" he said in pure disbelieve.
"No stop it! You're nothing like that."
"Don't throw empty words at me" he warned. "Don't!"
He raised his gaze as the bloodshot eyes starred into hers.
She almost took a step back at the sight.
The man was different. Broken and vulnerable.
He felt down on his knees by the intense feeling. "Don't!" he whispered.
She reached out for him. "Look at me. I felt something, alright. I felt something during your stay at that night." She confessed.
Her mind screamed at her. Telling her to take it back and replace the word with a no.
"You're nothing like the person she wants you to become. You hear me, Aahil."
They sat like that for a short while - Absorbing the heat of the moment.
Absorbing the many emotions running in their minds.
She released herself from the hug when she caught his brown eyes.
He held her gaze as their forehead rested against each other. She could feel his hot breath on her.
"Stop me" Aahil whispered knowing well enough what kind of step he was about to take.
He felt himself leaning in closer to her. He couldn't control his feelings anymore. He had promised himself that he would not take any such step toward her, but his mind was no longer in his captive.
"Stop me, Sanam" he whispered once again.
She did none of that. Instead she slowly leaned in and gently brushed her lips against his.
He was beyond surprised by her bluntness and finally when he was able to regain his senses, he was about to pull away.
But he never got a chance to do so, as Sanam got a hold of his collar, bringing him even closer.
The feel of his soft lips against hers made her lose her senses. She lost the morality of what was right and wrong.
They broke apart a few seconds later, after sharing the intimate moment. Eyes still closed, they rested their foreheads against each other.
Aahil opened his eyes and buried his hands inside her soft hair. Oh, how he had an urge to claim those rosy lips again.
Sanam could feel her heart beating wildly in her chest even though it only lasted a few seconds. She slowly opened her eyes and starred into his. Her cheeks were hot and felt a sudden rush through her body by the contact.
Yet the brokenness she had seen into his eyes was still there.
"Sanam," she heard her Badi Ammi call out for her.
The young woman quickly regained her senses and turned around to answer. "Y-Yes, Badi Ammi?"
Dilshad made her way to the front porch. Her eyes traveled to the young man. "Let Aahil come back inside. He can stay here for the night."
They moved back inside where she told him he could sleep in one of the guest rooms. He thanked her even though it set a weird feeling inside of him.
He wanted to ask Sanam how she felt about what happened a minute ago. But he never got a chance to do so.
None of them had the chance to speak with each other.
He sighed as Aahil got inside the room so he could get some sleep.
-------------------
A few hours later he was sound asleep but he kept tossing and turning, as if he was in a middle of a dream.
He kept mumbling a few words until he led out a yell and sat up with eyes wide open trying to catch his breath. Sweat circled around his forehead once noticing where he was.
He swept his legs to the side as his head came to rest inside his hands. He kept trying to calm himself even though it was hard for him at the given state.
"You okay?" a voice spoke from the doorway of his room.
He looked up where he met a few warm eyes staring back at him. They weren't as cold or filled with hatred like the ones he had seen in his nightmare.
"Aunty you're not asleep yet?"
Dilshad approached him while holding into a Tasbih.
"No, I was reading Namaaz when I heard a yell from the room. Is everything okay, beta?" she asked touching his cheek.
The warmth of her soul reminded him of the mother he had longed for in years. He desperately wanted to stay in that position for years to come.
But reality crept up to him and realized that she had asked a question.
"I'm fine" he tried to avoid her gaze. "Just a small nightmare, that's all."
However a thought kept circling around his mind ever since he stepped into the house. Maybe it was a good idea to ask her now that he got the chance.
"Aunty, you welcomed me here despite knowing what kind of family I belong to - who my mother is. Why?"
Dilshad sat down on a chair as her feature softened upon the question. She knew the question would come sooner or later.
"It doesn't define who you are as a person, now does it?"
Aahil couldn't believe what she just had told him. No wonder Sanam was so busy listening to her Badi Ammi's wise words,' he thought silently.
"But I was raised by her. She made me become the person I am today." He said with a painful yet angry whisper.
"You should ask Sanam how I was. A person, who only lived for himself, was cruel and knew nothing about emotions."
"There you have it."
Aahil raised his gaze with a confused expression.
Dilshad continued. "You used the word, was - it means that you've changed. And you have come to accept the change in you."
Aahil couldn't form a single sentence by what the elder woman was telling him.
"You shouldn't be too harsh on yourself. You should always stand apart from others. I will never forget what happened all those years ago. What pain is caused us all - especially the pain Sanam is going through." She expressed as the pained voice did not go unnoticed by him.
She looked down at her hands and then raised her gaze. "I'm willing to live with the thought that each day is a blessing. We should all live by that - and so should you. It's never too late to try, beta."
Aahil couldn't really comprehend anything at all. How come she knew so much about him? How did she read him so well depsite not havig met him before?
Dilshad stood up from her seat before giving him one last smile and went toward the door. She stopped and took a glance back at him.
"Reading Namaaz and praying helps you with defeating your inner demons."
Surprised expression was written across his face.
"You shall see how it evokes hope within your soul. It's late you should try to get some sleep."
He was left alone in the dark where he laid back into the bed and closed his eyes.
Hoping that her words had helped him.
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Chapter Six: https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/topic/4093730?pn=12
Edited by mahwash22 - 8 years ago