CHAPTER 10 B : THE SILENCE OF THE LONELY NIGHT
A heavy silence setteld over them ,thicker than the uneasy tension in the stmosphere,as their unsettled eyes glanced unceremoniously around and tried to avoid catching each others glances.
Osman and Surraiys stood greeting their guests and ushering them to the living room,completely unfazed by the reality that their son'd ex-wife was married to a guy whose sister was their son's would -be wife.knowing glamces were passed between the couple,their glance often skittering over to their son- Zain who was unsually quiet that day...
Zara was rapturously blabbering about something which failed to perk his interest.His mind was off somewhere else,in a third space which he once shared with her,and which had now turned into his own painful retreat.His eyes captured her every smile,her every
laughter,as she transformed herself from a known figure to a stranger,who had never walked down the halls of Barkat Villa.,as she hid her identity from her new family and whitewashed her past with her reality-her prsent.He wished he could stop the clenching of his heart,the bunrning of his lungs and the tears which were fighting to break free.He wished he could turn back time,and erase his mistakes,he wished that she wouldn't-but who was he kidding.She had every right to move on,after what he had done to her,after the promises that he had broken and the trust that he had conveniently effaced.He thought that their eyes met for a moment-just a fleeting glance.He hoped that there had been a streak of recognition in them-but there wa snone.
It was as if she was ashamed to recognise him or her past,it was a s she did'nt want to digopen the old wounds and put herself through the excruciating pain once again...Zain Abdullah,unwillingly teared his eyes away from the couple sitting in front of him and focused his attention on the woman stiiting beside him,as he tried catching the track of her current topic of discussion,the woman who was his future,and would soon become his present .
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The lingering light was obliterated by the rapidly falling night.the one salmon and ourple sky transformed into a vast expanse of jet black that engulfed the speeding city lights.A canopy of luminous stars materialosed amongst the ocean of impenetrable and disorienting blackness.
Some were dull,merely flecking into existance,every now and then,but there was an adequate amount of shimmering stars to illuminate the dark moonless night.the house which had once been her home-her safe haven,now depicted an obscure cavern of brimming darkness.A soft zephyr was soothing her amidst the darkness and lightShe had been sitting by the poolsode which had once been her favourite spot amidst the vast expanse of the house,the place whoch held innumerable number of memories which she had safely tucked in one corner of her mind came flooding back to her.An overwhelming apprehension and ambivalence about her decisions and her reality flushed her mind. And in the expanse of few minutes she saw the kaleidoscope of her life and the moments that she had spent with him and her family within the walls of the house.Moving away from him and to the US had helped her numb the pain in her heart,but she knew that if she would'nt have done it then she'd die a slow painful death.So she collected her strength that was left and picked up the broken pieces of her heart,to carve out her destiny.The faccade of happiness around her helped her push away the staccato burst of loneliness and despair that would envelope her and slowly break the walls that she had build around her.\self.
She felt a slight shiver,with his arrival.She scooted further away from him,fearing that his presence would break her resolve.from the moment she had come to know that her husband's sister was going to marry him,she had practised herself to accept the reality,that also came with the assurance that it would be an affair of few days,after which they go back to their respective lives.
Zain looked at her ,while she was looking away.She still looked the same,with her brown curls gently fanning her face,her slightly freckled nose,her porcelain skin that glowed in the darkness.he wanted to ask her so mant things?He had been practising since she had arrived?He wanted to ask her about her life,about her husband?He had a litany of queries,but then they had turned into strangers who had no asnwers for each other,so much so that she had reused to recognise him.He undrstood her hesitance in not letting others know about their history,but he had hoped for a glimmer of recognition and not unfazed rejection in her eyes!He looked ahead at the shimmering lights of the stars on the cerulean bue waters of the pool,and memories came back to him on a carousel.
Aaliya looked at him,lost in thought,it was the first time she was looking at him closely.She wondered what was going on in his mind.there was a time when she could read him like a book,complete his incomplete sentences,a time when she had answers to his every question.She wanted to ask him so many things,things like how he was doing and all?They had miles of broken promises ,hurt,anger,anguish and a gamut of other emotions between them.they were from two different universe,they now did'nt share their third space hat they used to.
The bond that he had shared with her had been like a bridge out of his fortressed mind,it allowe him to set foot outside its protective compound and explore the sun-warmed grass on the other side.the day she left,the bridge got severed.no matter how many people surrounded him,he always felt alone.
His heart wanted a closure,a chance to tell how sorry he was,that he still loved-no he had no right to disturb her life,no right to take away her happiness.but the thing that he was doing was it right?He was binding himself in a loveless marriage,knowing fully well that he'd never be able to love Zara,and that marrying her would only be for the self-gratificatio of his parents.SHe would have all answers for his queries,he wished he could talk freely with her,the way the used to,even befor etheir marriage,when they were just friends.He wondered if she could give him something,something to hold onto that would help him survive without her in his life...
Slinebce gnawed at her insides.Silence,hung in the sir like the suspended moment before a falling glass shatters on the ground.the silence was like a gasping void in her heart,needing to be filled with sounds,words, anything.The silence was poisonous in its nothingness,cruelly underscoring.The silence was eerily unnaturallike a dawn devoid of birdsong.Silence clung them like a poisonous cloud that at any moment would choke the life out of them.Silence creeped into their bones,paralyzing their speech...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm sorry that I have to say this..but friends if you don't let me know whether you are liking the story or not then I have to rething on whether to continue with ot or not.😔
Edited by AnnRosewood - 10 years ago
comment:
p_commentcount