His Temporary Wife ( A Muslim Love Story )

Chapter 35 - Goodbyes are hard (PART 2)

We all were looking at Sarah nervously, she looked nervous,scared and excited all at once.

Shanzay's expressions looked like he will pass out of curiosity.

" Asher bhai, you have always helped me to move forward in life and I will always owe you any ounce of success I get in my life because only you believed in my potential when nobody else did." Sarah's eyes beamed with gratitude and pride.

" Sarah spill it! You're making me worried. " Asher replied.

" Everybody, I cleared my grad exams with the highest marks in the university which is why, I have been granted a full year scholarship for Masters in my field in university of Scotland, England. I leave in 3 weeks from today. " Sarah exhaled as she finished.

There was a pin drop silence for 5 whole seconds before everyone screamed in happiness and congratulated Sarah.

Everyone cheered for her whole-heartedly but Shanzay had mixed emotions.

" Alright so Sarah played strong guys, I want you all to compete." Zaaf motivated us and spun the bottle which had to stop at Shanzay this time.

Perfect timing you say?

" Shanzay please chose something other than Truth. We need to spice up the game." Zaaf begged.

Shanzay didn't utter a single word. He was awfully quiet and sad with his head down as he blankly stared at his shoes.

We all passed each other worried glances. I think most of us knew what got him so upset.

He took a deep breath and suddenly pulled his head up and looked straight at Sarah with a smile masked on his face.

" Gift" he spoke softly.

" Ouuuhhuuuu, who's the lucky person." Ujala hooted.

" Sarah."

We all awkwardly smiled.

" This is for you." He crawled on his knees towards Sarah and offered some kind of tiny tube to her.

" What is this?" I asked curiously as Sarah took it from his hand both confused and awkward.

" It's an anti septic cream to be used for small cuts and wounds. I noticed a small cut on your upper lip while checking your teeth that time. You have a weird habit of chewing on pencils so I'm sure that's how you got that. I bought it just in case, I know it's small and stupid but you can consider this as a farewell present from me. I'm really happy for you and I wish you the very best in life. May you succeed in all your future endeavors and achieve what you work hard for. I also wish you find whatever makes you happy or who ever. " Shanzay smiled and crawled back to his place.

We all were speechless, especially Sarah who looked both surprised and shocked.

" Are you okay? " Sarah asked

" I'm not, but that's my problem and I know I will deal with it and feel okay real soon. You're awesome! And nothing can or will ever hold you back. I'm proud of you for following your dreams and for not settling for anything less than you deserve. You also have my respect for not giving in to unrequited feelings out of sympathy, guilt or pressure. " Shanzay spoke truthfully trying to sound casual but every word that came out of his mouth had such a strong emotion attached to it.

" You're one of best people I know. " Sarah replied gratefully.

" And there it is, the pressure of reciprocating the gesture by sweet words." Shanzay rolled his eyes.

" And you're smart too." Sarah laughed and so did we.

It was one of the sweetest moments I've ever witnessed in my life.