Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 25
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The next two weeks went by really fast,
Farid and I tried our best to avoid each
other as much as possible. Both of us
knew about each other’s timings so we
hardly had an encounter. Whenever he
was here, I stayed in my room or went
outside and he did the same thing. We
had nothing left to talk about since our
last conversation.
Today was Sobia’s birthday and Rafay
asked me to invite Farid which meant
that I’ll have to talk to him today. I was
walking outside of his bedroom
debating if I should ask him or leave it.
It’s not like he would come with me in
the first place. I was about to knock on
his door when the door flew open and
Farid looked stunned.
‘What are you doing here?’ He asked
straightaway.
‘It’s Sobia’s birthday today…’Before I
could finish my sentence he jumped in
as usual. He never let me speak.
‘Yeah okay, tell the driver he’ll pick you
up from the party if it gets late’ He was
about to close the door when I stepped
inside his room for the first time.
‘Hey…’ He protested.
‘Would you please just listen…I wanted
to ask if you want to come to the
birthday party with me’. I snapped at
him.
He looked confused.
‘You want me to go with you?’ Why is he
asking me this?
‘Yeah I guess if you want to’ I shrugged.
‘Okay’ He calmly replied.
‘Cool’ I took a step back and literally ran
out of his room. Why is my mind keep
on going back to him?
By 4 pm, I was all ready. I wore a plain
red flowy dress and left my straight hair
open and for makeup, I did a brown
smokey eye and nude lipstick. When I
walked downstairs, I saw Farid and he
didn’t fail to get my attention. He was
wearing a black suit and a red tie. His
hair was pulled back which made him
look a little older than his age but this
look suited him. I walked up to him and
he took my hand in his hand and my
eyes popped up.
He took out a red velvet box from his
jacket’s pocket and inside of it was a
beautiful rose gold diamond ring. It was
simple and elegant. He took the ring out
of the box and slipped it on my ring
finger. It was a perfect fit.
‘Farid…’ I looked at him and then back to
the ring.
‘Do you like it? I can get something else
if you don’t…’
‘I love it’ I squeezed his hands.
My eyes filled up with tears, I was feeling
so many different emotions. Even
though it was all fake. It still meant
something.
‘Why are you crying stupid girl?’ He took
my face in his hands and wiped the
tears away from my face.
‘Thank you’ My voice was still shaking.
This ring was a proof of our marriage
even though it was temporary…
‘Lets go’ He didn’t let go of my hand
until we reached his car.
I kept looking at my hands, I didn’t
understand his gesture…without making
false assumptions I decided to ask him.
‘Farid…why did you give me this ring?’
‘Hmm?’ He was clearly lost in his own
world.
‘I said, why did you give me this ring?’
‘I thought you liked it.’
‘I do, I just don’t understand why…’
‘Because every bride needs her diamond
ring …now let me enjoy the music’
He went back to humming some soft
rock lyrics and my eyes went back to the
rock that was shining brightly in my
hands.
The party was small and intimate,
everyone there was a close family
relative or a friend. I practically knew
everyone at the party. After greeting the
birthday girl, I took Farid with me to
introduce him to the families I knew.
Everything seemed to like Farid.
‘How come you know all these people?’
He asked when we sat down at one of
tables.
‘Sobia and I are pretty close, we know
everyone in each other’s families’ I
explained to him.
‘Your mother just walked in’ He
informed me and I looked around until I
saw her in the crowd.
‘We should go’ I told him.
‘Why?’
‘I don’t think she wants to talk to me’ I
was having an anxiety attack.
‘You’re okay?’ He was worried.
‘I just need some air’ I walked outside
the hall, leaving him behind.
I was walking outside in the lawn when
I heard my mother.
‘Laila’ I turned around and walked right
towards my mother.
‘Ammi’ I didn’t realize I was crying.
She opened her arms and embraced me.
‘Ammi’ I held her tightly and she patted
my head.
‘Shhh Laila…dont cry. I am here’
‘I missed you, I thought I lost you
forever’
She and I sat down on the grass and she
wiped away the tears from her eyes as
well as mine.
‘Ammi, Farid and I…’
‘I know’ She answered.
What?
‘How?’ I asked.
‘Farid spoke to me, he said he is the one
to blame. He told me how he
manipulated you into marrying him for
money’ She sighed.
‘Ammi, listen what happened was…’
‘Laila, you don’t have to explain
anything, I can understand why you fell
for his trap. I am sorry I couldn’t protect
you’ She was having a breakdown.
‘I am happy with him’ I told her
suddenly.
She looked confused.
‘He is a nice guy Ammi, I know he comes
out very cold and harsh but he is a
caring person, he’s just been through a
lot’ I explained it to her.
‘I just don’t want you to suffer because
of us’ She weakly said.
‘I am not, I know it was a fast decision,
but it was meant to be’
My mother and I talked for a while
before walking inside, when Rafay and
Sobia saw me and my mother together,
she winked at me and nudged Rafay
who gave me a thumps up. My mother
got busy with other guests and I went
out to look for Farid because he was
nowhere in sight.
I walked back outside when I saw a
dark figure in a distance. When I walked
closer, I realized it was Farid, and he was
smoking a cigarette.
‘Cigarette is injurious to health’ I said
from behind.
‘Yet people die in all different ways,
other than smoking as well’ He fought
back.
I rolled my eyes.
He pulled a cigarette out of his mouth
and crushed it under his shoes.
‘Better?’ He asked.
I shook my head.
‘Lets go inside Sobia is about to cut the
cake’ I smiled at him and started
walking back inside, hoping he would
follow and thankfully he did.
‘Are you happy with me?’ He asked from
behind. Maybe he heard the
conversation I had with my mother a
while ago.
I kept walking, not sure how to answer
it. Was I happy with him?
‘Answer me’ He demanded, he was a lot
closer to me this time.
‘Are you?’ I turned around and asked
the same question, I wanted to know
this as much as he did.
‘What do you think?’ He tucked my hair
behind my ear and walked inside.
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