Khudgarzi

22

Udta hi phirun in hawaaon mein kahin,
Ya main jhool jaaun in ghataaon mein kahin,
Ik kar doon aasmaan aur zameen,
Kaho yaaron kya karoon,
Kya nahin

Two weeks later

It was my first day back to college after my leave ended. It felt so weird going to college after baba not being here. I woke up as to my usual time at 5am and got ready for college, I had to catch up on a lot of things because the past two weeks had been extremely busy for me. Shehryar helped around a lot and so did Sania baaji. We had succesfully arranged for baba's qul. I, now, had a set routine of reciting Fatiha for baba as soon as I woke up and right before I went to bed. Whether anyone believes it or not, but baba had a huge impact on my life.
(dua'a)

I went downstairs and made breakfast for everyone. Everyone included, Saima baaji and aunty only. Sania baaji had to fly back to England to her kids but she assured that she would be back time to time to check up on aunty. As for Shehryar, he went back to Scarborough and would drop by on the weekends to check up on aunty. Aunty has been extremely quiet for the past two weeks and I don't blame her, she lost her husband. But Saima baaji on the other hand, has been really difficult with me, but I just tend to ignore her antics.

I finished making breakfast, stored it in the microwave and left a note on the fridge informing both of them that I was at college and I would be back once my classes ended. Since baba's car was in Saima baaji's usage, I decided to prevent extra drama and get an Uber for college. It took me about 15 minutes to get to college and I had some time to kill till my first class, so I ordered a coffee and sat in the cafeteria to sketch out some designs that were pending. I realized that I hadn't opened my college email and I was met with multiple assignment deadlines and emails from Salaar asking me for the sketches. Sighing, I wrote an email to all of my teachers excusing my absence and asking for a week to hand in everything. I needed to submit all of these by hook or by crook by the end of this week because, two weeks after were our semester finals.

My phone rang, informing me that it was 8:50 am, so I just packed up my stuff and walked towards my first class. I walked in and settled down and I was suddenly surrounded by the girls, asking me if everything was fine and inquiring why I wasn't present for the past two weeks. I told them that I would tell them after class, as the professor had just walked in. Mr. Clark was settling down his things when the door opened to reveal no one other than Salaar. Profusely apologizing for being late, he came inside and his eyes locked with mine. He just stood there and I swear I saw tears forming in his eyes. He then, looked away and sat in the other corner of the classroom.

Mr. Clark began teaching us and I was a bit lost because of missing two weeks worth of lessons. I decided to ask around after class for the notes. I tried my best to understand them but I couldn't. Towards the end of the class, Mr. Clark said looking towards me sympathetically,

"Ms. Ashley, I need you to do me a favour, since you're the Class Representative, I want you to email a pdf of the notes for the past two weeks of the class to Ms. Ayla and offer her any help you can, she's been through a hard time"

"Ok sir! I'll do that right after class", Ashley replied

"What happened to Ayla?", asked Joseph

"Ms. Ayla will tell you if she's comfortable enough", said Mr. Clark

Tears instantly filled my eyes and Mr. Clark came up to my desk and asked for permission to tell my inquisitive classmates. I nodded and to which he said,

"Unfortunately, Ms. Ayla lost her father two weeks ago due to a car accident", said Mr. Clark

And the whole class instantly broke into murmurs. I could hear a few "May he rest in peace" and I just kept my head down and let the tears flow. The class was dismissed and I was surrounded by the girls who came to me, one by one, hugging me and said their condolences. I took a deep breath and looked up to find Salaar staring back at me, with sympathy. After a short eye contact, he sighed and walked out of the door.