Jaana : The Girl He Loved Too Much

Chapter 50

Ten years later

"Sitara! Sitara!" Nargis yelled from the kitchen.

"Sitara, come soon, take your lunch box, and switch off the TV." She said, annoyed. Uff this girl, irritated she came with a lunch box and turned off the TV.

"C'mon, get up. You are getting late for school." She said to her whining ten year old daughter who was casually munching chips and watching a movie. "But Ammy, I want to watch the movie. It's Shahrukh Khan. He is my favorite, you know, that" she whined, and a sudden nostalgia hit Nargis. Of course he is. She thought thinking of her best friend who similarly used to drool over Shahrukh Khan. It's just that the genre is changed. The old rom-coms are replaced by action comedies.

"Ammy kaha kho gai?" (Ammy, where are you lost?) the little girl asked, shaking her, and she gave her a smile. "Nothing. Come you will get late for school. You can watch the movie later. Your Dad is already outside waiting for you. Go say bye to everyone, " she said, taking up her bag and "Bye phuppo. Bye daadijaan, " she said and kissed goodbye to Ruku and Zahra, making them chuckle.

Zahra smiled, pinching the chubby cheeks of her grand daughter remembering her daughter.

"Here," Nargis said, keeping her bag in the backseat as she hopped on the front seat of the car.

"Bye, princess," she kissed her and closed the door. "And my goodbye kiss," Rihan leaned into her playfully, and Nargis backed off, turning his smile upside down.

"Nargis," he stopped holding her wrist. "It's been ten years, will you never forgive me. Have I lost the love of my life forever " he said with tear filled eyes and she snatched her wrist away from his hold and ran inside without turning back leaving him dejected and heart broken just like every day in these last ten years.

Shutting the door behind her, Nargis closed her eyes, controlling her tears. The distance that has crawled up between them was agonizing. In the last ten years, she can count on fingers how many times she has spoken to Rihan. He is the love of her life also, but her pain was too much to forgive him. She didn't leave him only because she didn't want her child to be depraved of the father's love. She wanted to give her child the best gift a parent can give, and that is a happy marriage. She lost that happiness, but she has been successfully pretending it in front of her daughter for the last ten years.

Reaching the kitchen, she packed a tiffin box. "Ruku!" She called for her. "Ruku! Ruku wher-" "She left for the hospital, "Zahra told, interrupting her.

"Already? But I told her to wait for me, " Nargis responded, annoyed. Zahra just patted her head and left saying nothing or rather avoiding saying anything.

It's been ten years, and life has pretty much moved on, Ruku was all grown up and has successfully completed her MBBS and working as an intern under the city's most successful psychiatrist. Shahzain has already secured her future, and she fulfilled her dreams of becoming a doctor. No one understood why and when she got inclined towards mental wellness from the surgeon. Initially, everyone, including her, thought she would become the surgeon, but maybe like it said fate, she found interest in treating mental trauma patients more than physical. She started taking projects to cure, growing depression and anxiety in teenagers. And soon, with her dedication and hard work, she bagged the internship with Dr. Ayaan Malik at Malik wellness center, which was the most successful mental wellness hospital of the city and ranked number one in the industry.

Nargis picked up the tiffin box and her bag. "Ammy, I will come soon," she said while stepping out. "Nargis, are you going again?" "yes Ammy she left the tiffin box here," She said without waiting to avoid questions. She hailed a cab for the hospital.

She leaned at the window pane, and the trees passed by her. The wind was blowing softly, and a smile adorned her face as a school came into her vision. Her childhood came back to her. Where the local vendors are replaced with stores now yet her memories eating ice creams and she panipuri with Sitara came back to her.

"Madam, we arrived." The driver broke her musings, telling her that they had reached the destination. She nodded, paying him and got down the cab.

In front of her stood tall, the white building with numerous glass windows, all bolted shut with iron grills.

Reaching the gate, she did the entry in the register. "Let it be madam, you come here every day, go go," said the security guard with a light chuckle.

"Hello," she greeted the receptionist and a girl with round specs and long braided hair with a name tag saying 'Gayatri' lifted her chin from her laptop.

"Oh, hello, Ma'am, Dr. Ruksaar is with Dr. Malik in his cabin. I will just call her, " she said with a smile. "No, let it be. I will just go upstairs. She will join me." Nargis replied to her. "Alright," Gayatri handed her a 'visitor's' tag with a smile.

Nargis took the same and walked briskly towards the elevators.

Reaching the floor she intended to, she was walking the silently in the deserted corridor. Even though it was a bright morning,it looked like this wing was denied the sunlight.

"Slowly kiddo, I just wiped the floor" a voice gained her attention and she turned her gaze towards an elderly man in a grey shirt and navy blue pants with a mop in his hands and a bucked full of water next to him.

"I-I am sorry, Uncle, did I ruin it again." She said, biting her nail at their everyday encounter. He gave her a look and then shook her head with a smile. "Let it be," he said, making her smile. "So what have you brought today?" he said, signaling towards the tiffin box in her hand. "Gajar ka halwa uncle. And this one is for you, " she said, handing him one of the boxes of the tiffin, like every day.

"Kya bitiya roz tum itni achi achi cheezein bana ke laati ho par kiske liye. Roz ye dabba aise hi wapas jata hai. Ye zidd chhod kyu nahi deti" (Silly girl, everyday you bring these yummy, for whom? Every day, your tiffin goes back as it is. Why don't you leave your stubbornness?) he said with pity lacing his voice.

"Rishta hai uncle, mushkil aane pe sath chhod kaise dun" (it's family Uncle, just because the time is difficult how can I leave their hand) she said keeping her hand on the only door at the floor. The cold metal touched her skin, and a tear of the pain of loneliness escaped her eye.

The old man patted her head and said, "May God give you what you want."

She gave him a genuine smile. " Well, for today, pray that I take back the empty tiffin," she said, shaking the steel box, trying to lighten up the mood.

The old man laughed lightly, shaking her head. Unhooking the bunch of keys from his waist band, he opened the lock of the metal door but kept the door closed. "Ye to tera khwab hi reh jaega. Wo nahi khane wala. Arre wo to kisi Jaana ka deewana hai, ya to uska naam deewaron pe like raha hoga ya uski pajeb ke ghungroo gin raha hoga Wo nahi khane wala" (This one will remain your dream only. He is not going to eat. He is a scorned lover who is crazy for some Jaana. Either he must be writing her name on the walls or must be counting the bells of her anklets. He is not going to eat) he walked away shaking her head and his laughter echoed in the dimly lighted corridor leaving Nargis standing there peeping inside the metal door with the glass cut-out and a silhouette came to her eye view, where the man she came to visit was sitting on the floor in an off white kurta with an off white pajamas staring into nothingness with the sliver anklets in his hand.

She opened the door, and a voice echoed in the atmosphere. "Jaana."