Besabriyan

46|FORTY SIX

“That’s not what I-” Maheen tried to bring words but found herself without any. Her heart ached to see the man, who played around and kept everyone happy, recoiling from inside. His eyes held a heaviness, moist and love for the woman who was said to be forbidden to him.

“Daniyal, watch your words.” Zaviyar spoke to him- the playfulness in his tone that was there before fading away. Daniyal looked away from the couple as he tried to contain whatever he felt at that moment. He thought Zaviyar would understand him but he forgot how the latter could never see anything other than his wife.

“Right,” With that, Daniyal was just about to go in when he saw Maheen's tears and his heart clenched. He never intended to hurt her, he just wanted her to know how he felt, “I forgot where I stand in all these. I'm sorry that I dared to love your sister.”

He wasn't sorry. He wasn't sorry at all because he wasn't meaning to fall in love with any woman, let alone Ahlah. He wanted to grow his startup into a company. He wanted to bring more money home than he already brought. He wanted to serve his parents and in all these, falling in love with anybody wasn't even an intention but it happened. It just happened on its own.

“That's not what I meant, Daniyal. Meri kahi hui baaton se apna matlab nikalna band karo.”

“Maine aap ki baaton se koi matlab nahi nikala hai, mujhe bas kuch cheezon ki samajh aagayi hai, Zaviyar bhai. Aap ne bhot se ehsan kiye hain, aap ka bhot shukriya.” Daniyal couldn't think straight-at least not after what he was told by his cousin and her husband. She might yet to understand him but that didn't give her the right to talk so carelessly about his feelings for Ahlah. He knew his feelings were very much real and pure. He wasn't a kid to mistake love for anything else.

“Meri baat toh sun lo-” But before Zaviyar could continue, Daniyal glanced at his cousin who stood there watching him with tears in her eyes. Before Zaviyar came along, it was him who kept her away from tears and anything that hurt her. He fed her. He put her to sleep. He bantered with her. He annoyed her because all that would eventually give her the sense of belonging. He did not want to feel forsaken. Maheen Layah Kamran belonged with them in Ahmed Residence and he made sure she realized it everyday.

“Aap ko aap ki baat mubarak. Main jaa raha hon.”

“Daniyal!” He turned around to find Ahlah standing near the entrance with her daughter's school bag in her hand- looking between the man who confessed to her and his cousin who was in shock. Maheen hadn't seen him like that. Ahlah hadn't seen him like that. Nobody had ever seen Daniyal like that.

He took long strides towards her and stood shamelessly closer- only a few inches away from her, “I don't want you to disrespect my feelings, Ahlah. I won't stand it.” He rasped, daring to look into her eyes. It wasn't easy for him either. He fought it. He fought his feelings every day until he knew he couldn't. He gave in only when he realized it was pure and nothing wrong. How could loving her be wrong when all he wanted was her smile.

“Koi jaldi nahi hai na koi tum se zabardasti kar raha hai, araam se ek dafa soch ke dekho, Daniyal.” Ahlah attempted to get a hold of his arm but he backed away. He did not want to feel her warmth- not when he was already battling to stay away from her.

However, Ahlah grasped the fact that something was wrong when he started to glance at her stealthily, when he stopped calling her baji and when he retreated from wherever she went. She knew he was fighting something but she couldn't figure it out until that night. She was tainted with the stains of her old love. She was stained with the name of a divorcee and she didn't want him to carry that in his heart for the rest of his life. He was young and he didn't understand so many things but she did. She knew how the world worked. She knew what he would be called if she said yes to him.