Chapter 60

Atifa's pov:

The continuous ringing of my phone brought me out of my slumber. Oh God! The number of times my mobile had interrupted my sleep was just so... Annoyed, I picked up the call without checking the caller Id. "Assalamualikum." I mumbled sleepily, still laying on the bed and turning to my side. My eyes were still closed in hopes of going back to sleep as soon as the call ends.

"Walikumussalam." I heard Emaan's reply from the other side with a sniff.

"What happened?" Furrowing my brows, I sat up on the bed before asking her.

"Kuch nahi." She replied as she sniffed once again.

(Nothing.)

"Arrreee yaar, batao to kya hua? Why did you call at this time? I was sleeping." I told her while rubbing the sleep away from my eyes before looking around in the room. He wasn't there in the room. Where did he go?

(Oh man, tell me what happened? Why did you call at this time? I was sleeping.)

I regretted saying that as soon as I heard her reply angrily. "Haa haa, bolo na. Aur bolo, tell me I'm disturbing your life too." She sniffed while crying before continuing. "You haven't called me even for once since yesterday. I knew you would forget me after getting married but this early?" She sniffed once again. "Mujhe nahi pata tha tum mujhe itni jaldi bhul jaogi. I think I should have just accepted bhaijaan's deal of taking you home with me. At least tab tak to unko tumhari ahmiyat ka pata chal jaata aur hame kuch aur waqt ek saath mil jaata. He was even ready to let you go! How dare he?! But on a side note, that was such a great offer which I declined." She wailed, making my sleepiness run away.

(Yes yes, tell me. Tell me more, tell me I'm disturbing your life too.)

(I didn't know you would forget me this soon. I think I should have just accepted brother-in-law's deal of taking you home with me. At least until then he would have realised your worth and we would have gotten some time together. He was even ready to let you go! How dare he?! But on a side note, that was such a great offer which I declined.)

"Ya Allah ladki! Tum bhi ek dum drama queen ho. I was going to call you after waking up but usse pehle tumne hi call kar diya. And I haven't forgotten you. I can never forget you Emaannn." Shaking my head, I replied while stressing her name. "And accha yaad dilaya tumne about him letting me go so easily. Khabar lungi mai unse iske baare me." I added regarding her topic of rant and regret.

(Oh God girl! You are such a drama queen. I would have called you after waking up but you only called me before that. And I haven't forgotten you. I can never forget you Emaannn.)

(And it's good that you reminded me about him letting me go so easily. I will ask him about it.)

"Accha ji, ab humne yaad dilaya to keh rahi ho call karne wali thi. I don't care. You have really forgotten about me." She cried loudly, making me sigh. What should I do about this girl? How would I even make her believe that I wasn't lying? But before I could reply anything, she added teasingly, her crying session suddenly ceasing to halt, making me wonder if she was actually even crying or was it just her over dramatic self. "Wait a minute, did you just say unse? Unse? Ayyeee hayyeee, abhi se itni izzat? Kya baat hai! Pata nahi mohabbat hone ke baad kya hoga."

(Oh yeah, when I'm reminding you then you are telling me that you would have called. I don't care. You have really forgotten about me.)

[Wait a minute, did you just say unse (him)? (Unse is an urdu word used to refer to someone older than us.) Him? Ohhh girl, so much respect from now only. Wow. Don't know what will happen after you fall in love.]

"Shut up! He is my husband. I can't even respect him?" I muttered in my defence, my cheeks heating up on their own. And now I was thankful that he wasn't around.

"Oh yes you can. You can definitely respect him. When did I say otherwise? I was just teasing you and now I can't even do that. You have changed. You have changed so much. Where did my best friend go? I want to talk to her, not to this new girl who is bhaijaan's wife." She started crying again, making me internally groan.

"Emaaannn!" I whined before proceeding to calm her down. This girl could never change!

._._._.

I couldn't keep the smile off my face after that. My feelings seemed so messed up that I didn't even know what was happening to me or what was I even feeling. I mean like seriously, obviously I couldn't have fallen in love with him so soon. But then again, what were these weird feelings?

As I sipped my - now almost cold - coffee in the dim light, with him sleeping, I thought about these things, trying to make sense of something, anything at all. The day's events played out in my mind again and again. From that ice-cream incident to the one which happened just moments ago. Him pecking my palms. Just thinking about it brought back a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach and tingles in my hand. With an additional bonus of blush.

My thoughts drifted off to the time we met. God! How many times had I managed to embarrass myself in front of him? It hadn't even been a week since we met and I had already started feeling like this. What would even happen when we spend our whole lives living together like this?

Okay, maybe I was thinking too much now. I didn't even know if we would be living together forever since his parents didn't even know about us. But hopefully, whatever that happens, will be the best. In Shaa Allah, I thought.

Keeping my mug on the tray beside me, I stood up, heading downstairs to wash and keep them away. I think... I think I have started liking him, I thought. It was possible, right? I mean obviously, since I couldn't be in love with him so soon, I guess I liked him.

As I washed the mugs and kept them away, my mind and heart fought, trying to find out what my feelings really were. Maybe. It could be a crush too, right? I mean, since I hadn't been around any guy other than abbu, it was a possibility. Or maybe it was infatuation. Wait. Infatuation happens before marriage, right? Or could it happen after that too? Ya Allah! What was it even? I was just confusing myself even more.

One thing which was common in all of the things above was the fact that we like them. In one way or the other, we liked them. So I would just take it that I had started liking him. Wow! Okay, wait. I had really started liking him?! I couldn't believe it. It was a moment of sheer happiness, excitement, nervousness and everything for me.

I was still just trying to digest that fact while heading towards the stairs, a silly grin on my face, when I heard ammi's emotionless voice coming from the living room, halting me in my steps as I looked at her in shock and confusion.

"Get ready and pack your stuff. We are leaving." What was she even talking about? Where could we be leaving this late at night? And everyone was already sleeping except us. She was pranking me, right? Yeah that must be it.

Giving a breathy laugh, I looked at her with a smile. "What are you even talking about ammi? Where are we going? Almost everyone is asleep now, how can we go?" I questioned her teasingly.

"Don't ask me questions. Just pack your stuff. We are leaving." She replied coldly while looking at me, her eyes void of any emotion. The emptiness in them scared me and for a moment, I stood rooted at my place. She couldn't be joking with that look on her face. But what happened? Why was she suddenly asking me to do this?

Gulping, I took a cautious step towards her. "Ammi. What are you sa-"

I started slowly, only to get interrupted by her sharp and hard voice. "Do I need to repeat myself?"

Taken aback, I took a step back at her outburst. "Bu-" I started again, only for her to glare at me before taking a few steps towards me.

"I don't want to hear anything right now. Get ready and. Pack. Your. Stuff. Do you get that? This is the last time I'm telling this to you. No need to wake anyone up and meet me downstairs within three hours." She told me slowly while pointing a finger at me, a fierce look in her eyes. They way she told me, it felt like she was trying to make a kid understand something without lashing out on them. And her statement held no room for any kind of argument.

I stood there rooted at my place as I saw her giving me one last look before walking past me, heading upstairs. Feeling like I would collapse right now, I held the wall beside me for support. I slid down the wall with my back pressed to it as tears streamed down my face.

What was even happening? What kind of a test was this now? Just when I thought things were getting better, this was happening. Why?

._._._.

▪ Under which category does your best friend/friends come?

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