( One shot about Maha's friend Tahira written by anonymous writer )

Tahira leaned on the cold, marble wall of her friend Maha's dining room, where a sweet fragrance of fresh roses floated in the air around her.

She looked at Ashar, as he assisted Maha's Nanu to walk towards the dining table.

He was wearing a crisp white shirt, dark brown hair neatly combed and as he smiled at others, the corners of his eyes wrinkled on which the platinum plated rims of his glasses cast a soft shadow.

Tahira wanted to scream at him, tell him that he should have worn a navy blue panjabi, it's Eid day after all. Couldn't he keep aside his usual business attire for one day?

"Your dupatta," Ashar pointed to her pastel pink and green, intricately embroidered dupatta that was lying on the floor.

"Huh?" Tahira asked, looking perplexed. "You're stepping on it," Ashar responded, helping her to remove it from under her feet.

As she stood there, hastily tucking back the strands of hair which peeked from her hijab, she noticed Ashar smiling at her.

She smiled back.

She wanted to return him that staid nod he gave her 6 years ago, when she told her that she loved him. But she couldn't.

Although the scar etched on her heart was irreparable, her defaced heart still beated for him.

"You've secured such a prestigious job, MashaAllah" Nanu told Tahira while gripping her hand tightly. Nanu's soft delicate touch eventually told her what the next line would be, "When are you getting married, sweetheart?"

"Soon, insha'Allah," Ashar blurted out, a grin still planted on his face. Tahira frowned and without looking at Ashar, she continued,Ignore him, Nanu."

"Baba, your plate looks empty. Will I put in some more pulao? Some prawn malaikari? Did you try the meat balls? Let me give you some,"

"Aunty, thanks, my stomach is already full. I already ate a lot today."

"Dhong," Tahira muttered under her breath.

"Did you say something?" Ashar asked in a tone as if he didn't hear anything.

"No, nothing,"

Tahira could feel her mother looking at her with eyes wide open, giving her tons of scolding with just one look.

Her mother always had a soft spot for Ashar, she treated him like the son she never had.

Tahira remembered all those days, when late at night, she and Ashar studied together online.

Whenever her mother entered her study room and quizzically asked her with whom she was talking to so late at night, Tahira used to say Ashar's name and her mother's squinted eyes and frowned look evaporated into thin air. Did Tahira's mother want her and Ashar to...?

She didn't think of it before. Now when she does, her cheeks start burning.

Tahira sat on the swing of Maha's house's rooftop, clenching the rods tightly with both of her hands, adorned in henna,with her feet wearing stone- studded kolhapuris dangling in the air.

The moon displayed a subdued hue of silver, glistening moonlight bathed her kohl rimmed eyes, making her look prettier than ever.

Everyone was busy talking and having dinner downstairs. Maha asked her a few times where she was going. But she didn't reply.

She just smiled at her friend and told her she will be back in a second.

Tahira undid her hijab, and let the light breeze kiss her cheeks.

She saw little fireflies waltzing in the air afar. Suddenly, she heard footsteps, approaching her.

Hurriedly she put on her hijab and looked up to see Ashar staring at her. "May I sit here?" Ashar asked politely, pointing at the place beside her. Even after all these years, Ashar hasn't changed. Tahira remembered how in grade 7, Ashar used to ask every time before he sat beside her, making Tahira giggle.

"How's your job going? I heard that Sconetech has made more than five hundred million profit this year. It has already developed into a tech giant." Tahira started talking about business, the only words she could utter to fill the space between them.

If she remained silent, it would only lead to whispers of her heart drifting into the air between them.

"Yeah," Ashar smiled shyly. "No matter how much my company succeeds, it can never beat your company, just like I couldn't get more marks than you at school."

The moonlight melted into Ashar's skin, making him glow like a glittering star in front of the pitch, black, velvet sky. Although she knew it was a sin to stare so affectionately at a non- mahram, she couldn't take her eyes off him. "Tahira," Ashar spoke out. Nobody pronounced her name as clearly and perfectly as Ashar. "I'm getting married."

Each fleeting impulse started to ricochet to and fro inside her body, as rapid thoughts cascaded out of every cavern of her mind.

She hoped in vain that within moments Ashar would burst into laughter.

Ashar would start laughing loudly and tell her that he was talking about marrying her.

He loved her and... but she knew it wasn't a fairytale. It was a life where nobody had the ability to read each other's mind, even if they did so, they didn't care.

"There's this girl, Sumehra from university," Ashar continued, "we really like each other."

Like each other, did he just say like, they like each other? What about me who loved Ashar for the last nine years?

Tahira thought, while scratching the palm of her hand with sharp nails, making scarlet half moon marks.

Tahira loved Ashar. Tahira loved Ashar, when they shared each other's tiffin during break time, she loved Ashar when his grandfather died and with eyes watery with tears, he carried the coffin on his shoulders to the graveyard.

She loved Ashar when he scored more marks than her in a math test, after which she became infuriated but from the bottom of her heart she knew that concealed beneath anger was love.

"Now tell me something about you, have you fallen in love yet?" Ashar asked with an innocent, smiling face.

Tahira got up. She couldn't hold back the tears, which had gathered in both corners of her eyes.

As tears crawled down her plump cheeks, she walked away. There was too much pain for her fragile shoulders to bear.

All these years, she had sucked all the love from her heart and poured it into a glass jar, sealing it for Ashar so that one day she could hand it to him.

Now she will try to break this jar. She knew she wouldn't be able to break it, She has to throw it into the river and allow it to float into infinity.

She should have handed it to someone else. But she couldn't. This jar was for Ashar, only for Ashar.

As she walked, the cold breeze ensnared her throat making her shiver. The golden, reshmi churiyan on her wrist clinked against each other.

Her dupatta flew in the air behind her, as Atif Aslam's soothing voice from downstairs floated around them, "Kaise bataayein, kyun tujhko chahe, yaara bataa na paaye.Baatein dilo ki, dekho jo baaki, aankhein tujhe samjhaye. Tu jaane na."

Ashar gaped with wide eyes at the girl in front of him. Was he slowly falling in love with her?

⭐

This chapter about Tahira and Ashar is written by one of my best friends who wishes to remain anonymous -
This was a one shot about Maha's friend Tahira. As for what happens next to these characters ...it's up to my friend. She said she'll continue with their story if this gain's a good response (:

So do shower her writing with lots of love and let us know your opinion!