❝ I know. I could be happy until midnight if I wanted to. But what about after midnight? What about two AM? What about four AM? What about months and even years later?
I don't want to let him in knowing sometime in the future I'd have to let him go...
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Daneen could not help the smile that rested on her lips, a pink Abnosh with the stars glimmering in her eyes a sight to warm her heart.
"This is the most beautiful thing I've heard in a long time," Daneen whispered after Abnosh ended her fairytale-like tale about the man who had rightfully so swept her off her feet with his matrimony proposal.
"I didn't sleep that night, you know. Or the days after that. I couldn't. Life was suddenly worth living for." Abnosh sighed, continuing. "And Daneen, I know it may look like I'm basing my happiness and credibility on him. It took me a lot of time to get where I am today, and to finally meet someone who is ready to accept me as the broken daughter of a broken home... I wouldn't ever give this up for anything."
Daneen's gaze moved away. "There's more to life than love, than settling down... and trapping yourself with someone who could change in less than a second."
"And who would know that better than the daughter of a woman who has?"
"And you're still willing to-"
Abnosh cut in, the afternoon sunlight beaming on her hair. "I can't ruin my life just because Mama ruined hers, just because she lost someone who loved her more than anything, my Baba. I'm not going to let that stop me."
Daneen looked away from Abnosh and towards Tabish, watching him stride through the living room and towards the kitchen. Her heart made a little leap in her chest, as it always did around him. A small, highly quietened part of her expected him to smile at her like he always did. But he didn't. He didn't even look her way.
And I guess I deserve it, Daneen thought, remembering the drastic changes in her behavior around him. No eye contacts, no listening to Ammi Jaan's tales together at night, no more acceptances of tea requests. But she had perfectly apt reasons to account for the drastic changes in herself around him.
He had used me, had deceived me, had gotten my hopes up...
Abnosh stared at Daneen as she stared at Tabish moving around in the kitchen, opening and closing cabinets and gathering what appeared to be a tea kettle, a box of tea leaves, and a black mug.
"Love, is a beautiful thing, Daneen." Abnosh smiled. "And letting the horrible experiences of others cloud your own judgement... that isn't very fair to it, is it?"
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Me and Daneen need to learn a thing or two from Abnosh :P
