Her Soulmate Chapter 13

 

Mid December

"Raise your words, not voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder. "

(Rumi) 

Faris entered the kitchen and saw Ayesha was taking glass from the counter. He too wanted to drink water so he also walked toward that side. He stood behind Ayesha and picked glass for her. Ayesha's body became rigid at this. Faris gave her glass which she took with trembling hands. While taking glass, their fingers clasped each other and here, Ayesha started weeping and shrieking. That body touch triggered her off and she started trembling and shouting. Faris became confused at this. Daneen and Salma entered into the kitchen, and they quickly came near Ayesha. 

"What happened dear? " Salma asked anxiously. 

She didn't reply, just kept on weeping. 

"I just gave her glass and she started trembling and shouting. Is she insane? " Faris said with irritation. 

Salma understood the reason of this trembling and her heart filled with sadness. 

" What has happened to us? How will we come out from this crisis? " she thought with utter helplessness. 

"Sorry sir. She just got scared. " Salma said and quickly took her out of the kitchen. Faris's eyes narrowed with suspicion. There was something which was clicking in his mind

Salma took her to the lounge and gave her water. Child had calmed down and she was clutching her mother, who was staring at her with pain and helplessness. And in that moment, her mother made a bitter decision. 

Salma at last made that bitter decision which she wishes to avoid for a long time. 

        .........................

Daneen and Faris were standing in the kitchen. 

"They both are here now" Faris said, pointing toward Salma and Ayesha." So you are not alone now. And I have to leave." 

He quit the kitchen after saying that but Daneen stopped him. 

She called his name and his steps were halted.

"Actually the grocery is getting finished so I have to do some shopping," Daneen said. 

Faris closed his eyes with irritation. 

"Ok, at noon we will go." he said and left the house. 

He was driving the car and a scowl was on his face. 

"Money is getting finished because I am still jobless. Damn it! How should we do shopping? " he thought and hit the steering wheel with anger.

At this moment, his phone rang. He saw the caller's name and his expressions became soft. He  swiped his thumb on the screen and put it near his ear. 

"I am on my way. Just coming in some minutes........ Umm, I want to borrow some money from you.... Ok, Thank you" he ended the call with a smile. 

Now, he was speeding the car. 

              ........................

Hassan was lying on his bed and was using his mobile. He opened his gallery and clicked a picture. In the picture, Bridal Daneen and Groom Faris were standing with each other. It was the same picture which his cousin sent to him at the wedding night of Daneen and Faris. 

He zoomed the picture and his gaze fixed on Daneen. Sadness seeped in him at seeing her getting someone's else. Then, his gaze shifted to Faris and his eyes narrowed with confusion. He had seen that man before. After pondering for some minutes, he zoomed the picture and took a screenshot of it. He entered his picture in his record. After some minutes, his system was giving him the information about Faris Khan. He was bewildered at the information appearing on the screen.

 Faris Khan had both, patriotic and criminal record, in their data.

                      ......................

Daneen was sitting in her bedroom when Salma came into her room and told her that someone had come to see her. She became curious and quickly came out of the room. Her steps halted at stairs when she saw the person, he was Ahmad. A frown settled on her face at seeing him. 

"What is he doing here? What he wants? "

She approached him with slow steps. 

Ahmad was critically eyeing every nook of the house with a frown on his face. 

"Assalam o Alaikum" Daneen said with a low voice. 

"How are you Daneen!?" He asked with a wide smile. 

"I'm fine. Please take seat Ahmad" she said while sitting on a single sofa. 

She was a little bit anxious about Ahmad's visit and also scared of Faris's reaction to it. 

"How is everything going on? Your married life? " he asked with a concern. 

"Alhamdullilah, all is fine. I'm happy and satisfied with my life" she replied with a smile. 

"Are you really happy? I mean in this small house, how are you managing the things? " there was shock and a hint of pride in his tone. 

"Yes I. Am. Happy, Ahmad." she said while emphasizing on words. Anger had started to build in her on Ahmad's inspection. 

At that moment, Salma entered the lounge with Orange juice. She placed the tray in front of them and left the lounge. Silence remained between them during Salma's work. 

"You are getting angry without any reason. I am just concerned about you. You know how much I love you. It hurts me that you are living in such a small house with a jobless person. You are getting decayed, Daneen" Hint of arrogance was still in his tone. He was looking down on everything related to Faris. 

"You have no right to be concerned about me. I'm satisfied with my life. This house is small but it is my house. I'm the owner of this house. Secondly, Faris is not jobless. He is doing a job. And at last, you never love me. It was just lust which makes you attracted to me. So Ahmad, get lost from my house" Her volume was rising with every word. 

"Calm down, calm down dear. I just came here to invite you and Faris to my house. I just get upset on seeing your condition and your house. And, my heart aches on seeing that you don't know anything about Faris. He was a criminal and at this moment, he is jobless. He has no money to take care of you" he said while coming near her. 

"I don't need your invitation, now get lost" she said while pointing toward the door. 

Tears welled up in her eyes at his words.

Ahmad saw her for some seconds and then left the house in anger. 

Daneen sat on the sofa with dejection and started weeping. Ahmad's words echoed in her mind. 

Faris is jobless at this moment? Then where does he go everyday? 
She thought. 

Her eyes traveled at every nook of the house. The house was truly small, this was house and the lifestyle due to which Ahmad had insulted her, the was her lifestyle due to which she had been looked down by others. 

" Why has this life been chosen for me? Why do I always get insulted by others? "

Her mind started roaming in the past. 

Start of October:

It had been five and half months since his father's death and after it, she had to shift into Jalal's mansion. After the death of Anwar Khan, nothing remained the same for her. She was forced to shift in this house where everyone's attitude was weird or cold with her. Uncle Jalal had only interest in her property and after snatching it, he was careless about her. Mrs. Jalal had no interest in her as she always remained busy in her social activities. Hania ( their daughter) remained busy in her college life. And Ahmad, he did care of her but there was something weird about him. There is something which she couldn't figure out. 

Nevertheless, all the realities of people and the bitterness of life had started unfolding for her. And these realities had made her sad, alone and broken. The most bitter thing about a person is perhaps his inner self or his real face. That's why, people preferred to conceal that face from society. And also, other people preferred to see the mask of a person. Because real faces of people could break you, just it had broken our Daneen. 

She didn't want to live with them but she had no other choice. She wanted to escape from those cold and selfish people but she had to wait for some days. 

Life was continuing with this rhythm when that incident occurred. 

The time was 8 pm and Daneen was sitting on her bed, reading magazine. All the members of the house were in their rooms. 

The door of her room opened and Ahmad entered into the room, without knocking or asking. 

"What happened Ahmad? " she asked, bewildered at his action. 

But Ahmad didn't answer her. He was just stalking toward her. The word which came out of his mouth is

"Mine! " 

Daneen became shocked on listening to the word. Ahmad's gait was imbalanced and his eyes were red. He approached her and grabbed her arms. Daneen became fearful at seeing his expressions. 

"What are you doing Ahmad? What happened to you? " 

"I love you Daneen. You are just mine. Parents wanted to marry you with someone else, but I just want to marry you. You can't marry anyone. You are just mine! Mine! " he said with a loud voice and lowered himself on her. 

"Are you insane? Just let me go"

The smell from Ahmad told her that he was drunk. She tried to free herself but she was not able to do that. 

Ahmad laid her in bed and also laid with her. Daneen became horrified at this act. She was wearing tight pants and a short shirt. In the process, her shirt had raised up to a dangerous level. Horror filled in her eyes and she screamed. Ahmad quickly put the hand on her mouth but he became late. Hania entered the room and saw the incident. She shouted for her parents and Mr. And Mrs. Jalal rushed toward the room. Servants also came on this side to see the scene. Shock and horror was evident on every face. 

Mr. Jalal slapped Ahmad and dragged him to his room. Everyone left the room, except for Daneen. She became shaken by the incident. In the room, she could listen to Jalal Khan and Ahmad Khan shouting at each other. Later on, it became clear to Daneen that Ahmad wanted to marry her but Mr. Jalal wanted him to marry in a noble and rich family. 

After the incident, Mr. And Mrs. Jalal became worried. Because, that incident will get popular in their circle as servants will spread the news. It will harm their reputation in the circle and also, no one will want to make new relationships with them. So, they did the thing which is becoming very common in our society. They started blaming Daneen for it. In the circle, they spread the news that Daneen was interested in Ahmad, and she seduced him. They started to make Daneen's character doubtable in front of society. And our society, without investigating and just for the sake of gossip, started commenting and discussing Daneen and Ahmad. Due to that gossip, she was facing problems in her married life, and this thing is also getting common in our society. After the incident, Mr. Jalal decided to marry her with Faris. And due to that incident, Daneen was in this house. 

Mid December

Daneen's mind came back to reality. Her eyes were filled with tears and she is seeing her surroundings with dejection. In the lounge, there was still the scent of Ahmad's expensive perfume. And Daneen could smell onion and sweat from her body.         

  ..........................

Sun was going to set, leaving the alternating hues of darkness and light on the sky, but then stopped, and curiously started staring at mother and child who were going toward police's station. There was dejection in their gait and tension on the face. Little girl, seeing the police station, sensed her mother's intention and started weeping. Her body started trembling and she tight her grip on her mother's hand. 

"I don't want to go. He will kill us. I don't want..." she wept with fear. 

"Ayesha, stop weeping my child. Be a brave girl " Mother tried to calm her, despite her own shivering and thudding heart. 

"I don't know if I am doing the right thing or not. But, please Allah help me. Have Mercy on us"

She prayed and took her daughter's hand. 

"Don't worry Ayesha. Your parents are here to help you. You are only daughter of us, how can we see your life getting ruined. I think this is the best way" Salma soothed her weeping daughter. Ayesha, while busy in weeping, didn't notice that her mother had used the words "Parents" and "us" in her sentence. Or maybe, Salma had also not noticed this thing. Maybe, this was in her subconscious, maybe this was the element which made her take this bitter decision. 

She was moving toward the police station with a throbbing heart. 

"What if, Sohail doesn't support us? What if he rejects his daughter? " Those thoughts came in her mind, but she rejected them and started praying to Allah in her heart. 

They arrived at the police station and stopped by a constable, who was really a bulky person. 

"What do you want, woman?" he asked in a harsh tone. 

These officers, who had low rank, behave harshly to poor people. In this way, they satisfied their desire to dominate the other person. That servant of the nation was trying to do the same thing with Salma and Ayesha. 

"We have come here to meet ASP Hassan, " Salma said. 

"He is busy. So leave" he said with the same harsh tone. 

His tone and his figure was making Ayesha scared, and she was gripping her mother's hand tightly. 

"Please let us meet. We have to file a report. I am from Shaheenabad. " Salma beseeched. 

"Don't you understand me. He is busy"

Ayesha started weeping hysterically at his tone.

At that moment, Sohail passed that corridor and saw both of them. He became shocked on seeing Salma, and approached her as quickly as possible. 

"Nazim, what happened?" he asked his officer. 

"Nothing sir, they are just disturbing me" Nazim said in a humble and respectful manner. 

"We are here to meet ASP Hassan. I have to file a report against a crime " Salma said quickly to Sohail. Her heart was beating very hard on seeing him again. 

Sohail noticed tension, sadness and helplessness in her eyes, and his own heart ached at seeing those emotions in her eyes. They both looked in their eyes for some seconds and then Salma shifted her eyes toward weeping Ayesha. Sohail followed her gaze and saw the weeping child. His heart got anxious at seeing that fearful and crying child.She shifted his angry gaze toward Nazim and said to him with anger. 

"I will see you after some minutes' ' he said to him and started moving toward ASP's office. 

Salma quickly followed him, ignoring Nazim who was now quiet. 

They entered Hassan's office, who was busy reading files. He saw them coming into the office and averted his full attention toward them. 

"Yes, Sohail? What is the matter? "

"Sir, this woman has come to meet you," Sohial said, while standing in one corner. 

Salma came near the desk with shivering and weeping Ayesha

"Assalam O Alaikum" she said. 

"Walaikum Assalam. How can we help you? "

"I have come here to file a rape case. I live in Shaheenabad" Salma said quickly. 

Sohail's eyes widened with horror and Hassan became alarmed at listening this

"Yes, tell me. What is the matter? " Hassan asked

"A few days later, while I was away, a man came into my house and raped my daughter, Ayesha. " Salma said pointing towards anxious Ayesha. 

Sohail and Hassan's eyes shifted toward that timid girl. Hassan had pity in his eyes and Sohail, he had confusion and pain in his eyes. This whole scenario was giving him weird vibes. 

"Come here, child. Tell me, what happened that night? " Hassan said with affection and pity. 

Salma gently tugged Ayesha towards Hassan.

"Tell me, what did that person do with you?" Ayesha just kept on staring at her feet. So Salma explained a little bit about the act. She was also feeling uncomfortable with the situation but she was bearing it, and on the other side, a frown was settling on Sohail's face. 

"Ok, tell me, how does he look? "Hassan asked her. 

"I don't remember him," Ayesha said in between hiccups. This whole situation was making her more scared and more timid. 

"OK " Hassan nodded his head. And tried to pat her head but she shrunk in fear, so Hassan retrieved his hand with pain jabbed in his heart. Same condition was of Sohail. 

"Tell me her full name and full details," Hassan said to Salma.

"Her full name is" Salma said it a little bit loud while tilting her head toward Sohail  

 "Ayesha Sohail Jameel"

Sohail became shocked on hearing the full name. That moment was the scariest and painful moment of his life. Numbness seeped into his heart and mind. 

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