Part 184- Revelations (Final Part)

As narrated by Nemo :

What makes you and what breaks you. What forms the foundation of your existence and what shakes it faster than the blink of an eye..

Life cannot always be smooth sailing, we are constantly faced with challenges and trials that threaten to rip our confidence apart and leave it hanging at the seams…but we rise, we fall and we ultimately rise again.

Laeeka and Zainab didn’t pitch up for our date night and Riza was a mess. I was numbed when he had told us that Laeeka could never have a child and I noticed Maariah clutching tightly at Immy’s hand when Riza explained that he had known about it for a few years.

Laeeka had understandably not taken it well and wanted to tell Riza’s mother about it. Riza on the other hand was petrified of losing her.

I understood both sides of the story. ..us guys are not simply interested in how many children our better halves can sire because when you truly love someone, you love them for who they are and not for what they are not.

From Laeeka’s point of view I am certain that she felt incomplete and that she worried that his mother wouldn’t take it lightly.

No one else spoke about anything else as Riza cried his heart out in front of us. To see him like this made my hair stand…this was the guy who had enough strength to help me when his love was fighting for her life. ..

“The cure for pain is in the pain”-Rumi

And Riza knew it all too well. But to cross that bridge would take mountains of courage. .for both him and Laeeka.
Arshoo asked for this date night but waved it off as not important and he said that Riza’s problem was far greater than his own and that we would talk about it another day. I noticed that his beard had gotten longer and he had come for date night in a kurta!

After everyone left, Aara slumped next to me on the couch.

“I’ve tried Laeeka several times but she isn’t taking my call not even on the landline”,she whispered

” Give her some time. ..maybe we can go see her tomorrow? ”

” Ok”,she smiled

“I noticed that you were smiling to yourself before Riza came. ..any particular reason? ”

“Ummmmm”

“Ummmmm?”

“I was just thinking about Zoheb’s first date night with us”

” Miss him alot?”

She just shrugged her shoulders. ..

“You know, you shouldn’t be mad at him for going. ..work stuff is always hectic”,I said hesitatingly

“Since when do you advocate for the Z factor”,she said as she frowned at me

“Since the day that he decided to sacrifice his feelings for my sake”,I said in my head

” I was mad at him. ..very mad at him because I couldn’t understand why. ..I still don’t understand why. ..but Nemo I guess people come into our lives for a reason and change everything. …even with just a single dimpled smile. ..how can I be mad at the one who taught me to love again? Even if he leaves for good. ..I can’t force myself into his life I have to accept it although a part of me will go with him and remain with him until my last breath”,she said as she quickly wiped away a tear

I had a lump in my throat as my mind drifted back to the conversation that I had with Zoheb this morning after I filled him in on the whole Amreen Vawda thing

” How’s Aara? “,he asked, his voice trembling

“She misses you bro. ..come back please”

“Nemo we decided. ..once and for all, some kind of closure is needed…I trust you ”

” But Zoheb…”

“It’s killing me Nemo..every second is another eternity…take care of her”

The sound of Aara’s phone ringing snapped me out of my thoughts.

“AB wants to meet now”,she said as she stood up

“What? Now? “,I said as I looked at my watch

“Come come Nemo”,she said as she grabbed my car keys

Aara switched again. This was unhealthy for all three of us and it was all my fault.

Perhaps instead of trying to win her over. ..I should try and bring back the old Aara. …

——————————
As narrated by AB

I felt obligated to help Aara after she told us about Aadil. I wouldn’t want him to do the same thing with her. ..that he did with Amreen. It was easy to lay the blame on Nemo. Guys like him didn’t think about the consequences of their actions, but Aara made me understand that perhaps Amreen was equally at fault in her obsession with him. It’s a bitter pill to swallow but the truth always is.

When Amreen suddenly left campus, she confided in me about her love for Nemo. She had slipped into a major depression that eventually built up a huge dark cloud over our family. Amreen was our sunshine, the life of the Vawda family and to see her in that state broke every one of us. I hated Nemo with a passion. I observed him and saw through his flirtatious nature. That’s when I saw her too. ..so it came as no surprise when Yusuf told me that Aara was with him.

Then Aadil came into the picture, as her friend and initially I wasn’t very happy about him being around her but she reacted positively to him. He would read to her and make her laugh. Finally, there was hope again. Until one day that Amreen said that Aadil was becoming increasingly possessive and she felt as though she was suffocating whenever he came home.
I remember being angry with her and accused her of not knowing what she wanted.

If only I had read the signs then
..if only I had taken heed. Because the very next day we found her hanging from the fan in her room. …the room had been trashed. We untied her immediately. ..she was still breathing. But that’s something that we hid from the world. Amreen Vawda died on that day and Saadia Jeewa was born. Nobody knew, not even Nemo and Aara. And until I got my answers, I wouldn’t tell them either. Agreeing to Aara’s idea was step one in getting closer to that scoundrel Aadil.

But there was something else too…

“Aara, I’m with you in your plan”, I said as she stood in front of me

” What plan?”,Nemo asked looking quite confused

And I briefed Nemo quickly

“Are you mad???”,he asked looking at both me and Aara

“Relax Nemo I’ll have to wait for Aadil to call first before any of this goes into play”,Aara said casually

“Let’s get the bastard”,I said as I walked backwards towards my car

“With pleasure”,Aara said as she gave me a thumbs up “with pleasure”