یہ اک شام نہیں کٹ رہی کسی سورت
ابھی تو عمر ہے اور عمر بھی جدائی کی ہے

Sunday - 11:23pm

The night was a spectacle to behold today.

The rain had stopped, leaving behind in its wake cold winds and starry sky. With each tick of the clock, the cold only seemed to magnify, the crescent moon hiding behind the blanket of clouds to keep itself warm.

The chill of the outside easily crossed the threshold and into her room too, the open window its accomplice. And behind it stood Hemayal Khakwani, only a shawl wrapped around her broken frame to keep the glacial winds from entering her soul.

Her eyes were lost as they were fixed far above, somewhere between lights of the stars and mystery of the sky. The fatigue she had felt throughout the week had only intensified by a hundred times after dinner with Ibrahim's family just a few hours ago.

Now, she couldn't function - couldn't even breathe without her insides hurting. When she planned her revenge, she forgot the aspect of her love for Ibrahim, how constant interactions with him were going to destroy her heart. She had also completely forgotten about their families - the fact that them being married was something only they had forgotten, not the rest of the world.

And now their marriage and expectations associated with it were coming to haunt her and she didn't know how to handle. And to top it all, Dadu wasn't there to guide her like he always did. It was her against the world and damn, she was losing.

Her ringtone pulled her out of her reverie just as a shiver travelled down the length of her spine. Turning around, she marched towards the nightstand to gather her phone but the name flashing across the screen made her exhale a heavy breath before she answered.

"Hey." Hemayal whispered, careful not to break the sacred silence spread across the room.

"Hey." Ibrahim's voice too was a whisper and Hemayal felt her eyes closing at the softness it carried.

Walking back towards the windowsill, she leaned her head forward against the wood and sighed, tightening the shawl around her.

"How are you?" He asked and Hemayal felt a frown gathering on her forehead at the gentleness of his tone.

True, Ibrahim had never been harsh with her ever since they had resumed contact but this softness in his tone, the compassion in his voice - it made her heart ache for different reasons altogether.

"Why are you asking?" She couldn't contain the lack of trust sprawled all across her voice from coming to the surface and a small silence filled the line.

"I just got off the phone with Safaa," Ibrahim silently said after a beat and Hemayal groaned softly. "She told me what happened, what Ammu said."

Hemayal didn't know how to respond, whether to shame him further or take the blame for accepting his mother's request. So, in that moment, she stayed silent.

"Hemayal, I'm sorry. I asked her not to talk about us." Ibrahim went on and Hemayal couldn't bear to hear him anymore.

"I don't want to talk about it. Goodbye." She replied, voice broken and Ibrahim must have sensed it too for a heavy silence descended upon the connection before he sighed.

"Sure. We'll talk later." Hemayal's eyes widened slightly as the beep informed her that the call has been disconnected.

It wasn't Ibrahim-like to give up so easily but she reasoned it must have something to do with the shards in her voice. But, nevertheless, a part of her didn't want him to give up; it wanted to curl into him and forget about her worries, even if it was just for a while.

It was ironic, though.

She had continuously asked him to give up but he never paid attention and now that he finally did, she didn't want him to. A small naive part of her wanted him here, especially now when she was at her lowest.

A few minutes dragged by, phone in her hand and head hung low while resting against the window, when her phone again vibrated. No energy left to deal with anyone, she began to cut the call but her eyes landed on the caller ID and she stopped.

Ibrahim.

"Come downstairs." Ibrahim's voice was gentle as he said and a bewildered expression crossed Hemayal's face just as she looked up and finally, she saw him.

With back leaning against the car and phone pressed against the ear, she could see him smiling even from a floor above, even in this darkness. Heart in a state of fibrillation, she gasped as he waved his hand and gestured for her to come down.

"What...what are you doing here?" Hemayal managed to utter between shocked heart and mushy mind.

"You think I'd leave you alone when you're this low, especially when it's all because of me?" he said and Hemayal saw him straightening in his place. "Come downstairs, Hemayal, or I'll have no choice but to come up."

"I'm not coming down. Go away." She said, heart still beating in her mouth.

"Either you come down or I knock and ask your father to send you down. Your choice." He shrugged his shoulders and Hemayal gritted her teeth.

"You won't do that." She said, silencing the part of her that wanted him to.

"Try me." He said and Hemayal, in that moment, knew he would.

With mind running, she finally came to a conclusion and sighed before ending the call and turning around in her place, trying to understand what game he was up to.

She had no choice but to go down - involving family in this matter would only bring chaos and she had enough already. And the man knew that; knew she'd come down.

He knows you're too proud to accept so he makes it a lot easier for you - he doesn't give you a choice, she thought with an eyeroll just as she opened the front door silently and exited the house.

A strong wave of cold wind hit her square in the chest and she shivered violently before gritting her teeth and walking towards the man who seemed totally unaffected by the chill in the air.

Drawing the oversized sweater she had thrown on before coming down close to her, she observed him from afar - dressed to perfection in blue jeans and a sweater, looking immaculate even at midnight.

As she reached close enough, Ibrahim straightened his posture a little more just as his eyes narrowed in concern.

"You've been crying." It was more of a statement than a question and Hemayal gathered her wits and heart for the second time that day, pulling herself together, walls going up.

"No, it's the weather." She lied, already feeling tired for having to stand her ground for however long this conversation lasted, reminding herself again and again not to break - and god, it was tiresome.

"What did my mother say to have you this broken, Hemayal?" He asked quietly, not having believed her reply for an instant.

"Nothing." She said, tearing her gaze away from his and looking down at the ground below.

"Hemayal, look at me." Ibrahim said as he placed a finger below her chin and raised her head only to find her biting her lips to keep the emotions at bay.

"What's wrong? What happened?" The soft silk in his voice did something that no amount of pain could ever do - it made a tear escape her eye and roll down her cheeks and that too when he was right in front of her.

The world came to a screeching halt as she lowered her head and a sob wrecked her body, holding its breath as Hemayal Khakwani finally lost the last shred of sanity. She didn't want to - never wanted to - cry in front of this man but she had finally reached her breaking point - it was only unfortunate that it so appeared to happen in front of Ibrahim Yazdani.

Ibrahim, who had encountered crying women once or twice in his life, didn't expect the gut wrenching pain that hit him as he witnessed Hemayal breaking apart right in front of his eyes. Watching her stripped of her sass and strength was wrong, so horribly wrong that holding her elbows to steady her tilting world as she bowed her head and cried almost felt like a reflex.

"I can't do it...not anymore...tired...so damn tired..." Hemayal said between hiccups and it took everything in Ibrahim not to gather her in his arms and take all the pain away - a pain he well knew he was causing.

It was Hemayal who did it.

Raising her head, she looked at him right in the eye, eyes bloodshot, face stained, expressions wounded before she placed her palms directly over his chest. The stars above their heads gaped as both stranded and unfortunate lovers looked deeply into each other's eyes - both of their worlds crumbling.

"I need...need a break, Ibrahim. From everything," she said, a river of emotions still escaping the brown eyes. "From the fight...the revenge...the plans...please...please, give me a break."

"Hemayal, Hemayal..." Ibrahim didn't know the right words but Hemayal didn't need words - she needed him for comfort; if only for one night.

"Please..." Another sob shook her body and this time, Ibrahim didn't control himself - couldn't. He gave her what she needed - a break.

Covering her small hands with his large ones sprawled over his chest, he placed them around his waist before gathering her in his arms. Her head came to rest directly over his chest, where his own beats were erratic and pained. Resting his chin over her head, the stars and him sighed in unison as Hemayal continued to shed tears on his sweater.

"I have no energy left...in me, Ibrahim," Hemayal cried as she buried her face further in his chest, tightening her hold on him. "My brain is tired...heart hurting. What am I supposed to do?"

"Shush, it'll be okay." He whispered but Hemayal shook her head violently.

"No, it won't. It'll never be okay. Every day...it only becomes worse...the pain never ends," she kept on saying, sobbing. "And you...you make it difficult for me to even breathe sometimes...it hurts my heart to fight with you...but Dadu..."

In her moment of weakness, Hemayal was confessing and Ibrahim felt a shiver wreck his body at her words.

He always thought she hated him.

"Why did he have to leave?" Another sob violated her body and Ibrahim tightened his hold, begging her to take some of his energy.

"I'm sorry..." He said, biting his lip to keep himself from crying at her immense pain.

"My life...you could have taken my life and I would have forgiven you...but you...you shouldn't have taken Dadu...he was all I had, Ibrahim," she said, voice trembling, heart shivering, hardly listening to what he was saying. "Why is life so painful?"

"Good times will come." Ibrahim whispered sweet nothings into her ear as he placed a soft kiss at the top of her head, only for her to let out a troubled sigh.

"When? I haven't experienced happiness in such a long time - I think I've forgotten what it feels like." She replied, her sobs dimming in intensity as she opened her heart in front of the very man who had crushed it numerous times before.

"I don't know but it will come, I promise you that." He said, running a hand over her hair in comfort.

"And if it doesn't? What if this never ends?" Hemayal said, tears now falling silently and slowly.

"It will and when it does, I'll make sure you get your share of happiness." Ibrahim said, meaning every single word he said.

He didn't know how many problems she had had to go through in her life before coming to this point but he was going to take away every inch of her pain - he promised himself that much that night.

"Promise?" Hemayal raised her head from his chest to look up at him, eyes swollen and filled with so much pain he felt his heart being clawed.

"Promise." He whispered before leaning forward and leaving a lingering kiss on her forehead.

Hemayal closed her eyes as she felt his lips on her forehead, providing her warmth and safety in this cold reality, pulling her back from the edge of insanity. Some other time, she would have slapped him for this. Now, in her current state, she only basked in it before placing her head back on his chest.

Ibrahim had always been protective of her, that much he knew but this desire in him to fill her life with happiness was new for him but he welcomed it. She must have gone through hell for her to ask him for even an ounce of happiness but he wasn't going to disappoint - not this time.

Few minutes dragged by with no change in their position before Hemayal finally loosened her hold on him and pulled away. Ibrahim, reluctantly, let go. Wiping her tears, she took a step back and Ibrahim knew, at that instant, that her weak moment had ended.

She wasn't coming back in his arms again.

"I'm sorry." She said, looking him in the eye, trying to appear confident but one look at her and he knew she was shy.

"It's nothing. You're okay now?" He asked, wanting her back against him but he knew it was impossible.

He had physically seen when sense had come back to her, visibly seen those walls going up again and her features hardening. Now that her pain had found an outlet, her heart could breathe again, gather strength again without falling apart.

Their moment was over.

"Yeah, thanks." She was polite, reserved but deeply embarrassed and Ibrahim sighed.

"Go have some rest. It'll do you good." His voice was quiet and soft and Hemayal found herself nodding.

"Good night." She whispered before turning back on her heels and walking inside, heart and mind finally at peace.

|¤¤¤|

Monday - 8:23am

What the hell was she thinking?

Ever since she had regained her senses after waking up in the morning from a peaceful sleep, it was all she could think about. Breaking apart was one thing but having lost herself in front of that man was a whole different story.

And that hug.

God, what was wrong with her?

She tried to reason that it was for the best, that she had managed to cry all her tensions and aches away, that she had come out of that storm stronger and it was true but in her wake, she had left an even greater storm brewing.

And that storm was calling her right now.

"Hi." She said, voice strong but not hard - how could it be hard after last night?

"Hi." He replied, voice casual and not hinting at the moment they had shared just a few hours ago.

"Why did you call?" She wanted to know and only silence met her for a second before he answered.

"How are you holding up?" He asked and Hemayal bit her lips at the compassion and worry in his voice.

"I don't need your pity, Ibrahim." She said, voice small and grieved.

"Pity and worry are two very different things, Hemayal. I worry about you." He replied smoothly and Hemayal bit her lips to contain the tremble of her heart at his words.

"Better. I'm doing a lot better." She replied, not wanting to discuss last night with him anymore.

It was too much of an embarrassment.

"Good," he replied slowly, understanding her need to be left alone. "I wanted to ask you for something."

"What is it?" She asked, curious.

"Dinner." He replied, smooth in his words and Hemayal let out a sarcastic chuckle.

"No." She replied, not even having to think about it for a beat.

"It's important. I was just on a call with my father and there are a few things you need to know." He replied, voice restrained and urgent and alarms went off in Hemayal.

"You can't tell me now?" She asked and heard Ibrahim inhale a deep breath at the other end.

"No, it has to be in person. I have a business lunch and I thought you'd be busy too in the afternoon since it's a weekday. Does dinner work for you?" He asked, voice all serious, and Hemayal sighed before nodding her head.

"Alright, I'll meet you at 8. Text me the address." She replied, a headache building at the back of her head at the possible thought of another interaction with him - and that too so soon.

"No, I'll pick you up." He replied, voice leaving no room for argument and Hemayal rolled her eyes.

"I don't think..." Hemayal began but was quickly cut off, resulting in a frown depressing her lips.

"No, baby, no arguments this time," he said, voice slow but authoritative. "I don't like the thought of you driving alone at night."

"Well, good thing I don't give a damn about what you think." She replied, voice cool and Ibrahim let out a small laugh.

"You do, Hemayal, you do," his words made her heart skip a beat and she gulped - heavily. "I'll pick you up at 8. Be ready."

And with that, he ended the call.

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how was the update? i literally cried through hami's breakdown.

vote and comment.

till next time,
salam!