25
Searching through seldom crowds of people Rehaan finally spotted his wife with the man he'd been hating and was ready to bury in the ground ever since he'd seen him. What Rehaan witnessed there made him stop for a moment and then he began observing his wife with a keener eye.
She was laughing and having fun. She looked like she was actually enjoying herself right now.
He didn't know what the reptile was talking about but he had not once seen Dur e Shahwar behave so freely and openly ever since they'd been married.
Was she like that around her friends? Or was it her feeling like she was on a restraint around him?
She looked so happy right now pointing at different things and then reacting to it all with a completely different attitude towards the man who was next to her.
Rehaan had come to realize that his own behavior was the thing that looked odd, showing up there only because he knew she was with a man and not a woman friend of hers at a place he'd once brought the woman he thought he loved and had confessed his feelings to her. Why was he even there?
"Rehaan?" Dur e Shahwar came walking towards him and the reptile was doing the same. They'd seen him.
"Is everything alright, Rehaan bhai?" Now the reptile was speaking and Rehaan made a bitter face at him but he seriously wasn't understanding.
"I was a little worried since you didn't come back after late night." He said though he knew there was more to his intentions for being there.
"But it's not even late?" The reptile spoke again making it difficult for Rehaan to stop himself from punching him.
"No, Khizer it is." Shahwar checked her phone for the time. "Rehaan's right. I'm sorry, I worried you. Let's go home." She suddenly went back to the same Dur e Shahwar she was around him, unlike the one he'd seen seconds ago.
"Oh, well sure thing love. Good night then I guess. I'll text you later." Shahwar smiled at him and Rehaan's gut was twisting.
He didn't know anything about his own wife.
This guy would text his wife and he had never ever done that either.
Would she have been happier if the reptile would've been her husband instead of the Rehaan Kazmi?
It made his heart shudder and he turned to walk towards the direction of the car without waiting for Shahwar to start walking.
"Uh, Bye, Khizer." She said hurriedly waving at him and then walked as fast as she could to reach her husband's side.
Shahwar suddenly sensed there was a change in the atmosphere as she glanced at Rehaan. When they got to the car she saw that he had driven there himself as he took the car keys out and sat on the driving seat. She wondered if the meeting with her friend had caused any unsaid problems for them.
"Are you upset with me?" She said when he had been quiet for more than half of the route to their house.
"What—" He said as if he'd been thinking deeply about something, "Uh, no." He didn't even look at her while talking to her.
Shahwar took his free hand trying to hold it, "Shahwar, let me drive." He pulled his hand out of hers the moment she'd tried to take it.
Now this was definitely something she wasn't expecting.
She was starting to tense up but then decided to talk when they'd be in the house.
She didn't say anything the whole time after that and when they got home Rehaan went upstairs to the room, before Shahwar could speak he had left the room saying he had important work to do taking some files in his hands.
The next morning she thought of fixing whatever she didn't know Rehaan had been upset about by making new things for breakfast for him. She was getting late for work but Rehaan hadn't come for breakfast yet. Shahwar waited till he'd come, she didn't want to leave without seeing him.
Twenty minutes later he came down and sat at the table. "Good morning." She did her best to sound like she was cheerful like always.
Rehaan nodded at her and started eating without greeting her back. Almost done with his breakfast he cleared his throat and Shahwar who was already looking at him the whole time understood he wanted to say something, "I'm leaving for three days to another city for work."
Her heart sank at the announcement he'd made. "You'll leave me here?" She replied wanting him to meet her eyes.
"You'll have time to yourself, you can go and spend it with your friends." His tone was emotionless, as if reading a document.
"I don't want to be alone in this house." She set her fork aside with a frown.
"Shahwar." He sighed.
"I will go with you." She got up leaving Rehaan in a sudden shock at her spontaneous plans moving to the bedroom to pack her things.
Before Isabel could follow to send someone for helping her pack Rehaan walked to the bedroom which made everyone stop in their places.
"Shahwar, it's a long tiring road trip. You're going to get exhausted." He said shaking his head as he watched her squish her things inside a small cotton shopper bag moving around the room.
"I'm going." She said continuing her task.
"What about your work? Your boss will trouble you if you leave uninformed." He did his best to come up with reasons trying to stop her from coming with him. Reasons that didn't exist.
"I'm going." She persisted trying to close her bag with the button in the center of the opening which was becoming more and more difficult as the bag was overloaded.
"This is ridiculous." He took the bag from her but she snatched it back instantly and started doing what she had been, pulling the sides of the bag using both her hands with force.
Rehaan exhaled out loud at the sight, creasing his forehead giving up on trying anymore.
He left the room and waited for her to come down.
His bag had already been taken to the car and Shahwar came down holding her bag that looked plump and stuffed up hanging on her shoulder as she walked holding it from the middle to stabilize it on her small body.
She wouldn't give the bag to anyone from the house-help thinking that Rehaan might ask them to take it back to her room for not letting her go with him. Rehaan couldn't believe how she was behaving, his exasperation heightened watching her walk down the stairs.
"Give that to me." He moved his hands to the slings of the bag on her shoulders.
"No." She tightened her fingers on the bag with a deep frown.
"I said give that to me Shahwar." His scolding made her tears reach her eyes as she defeatedly gave the bag to him thinking he'd send it back to the bedroom.
"Go inside the car." Her sobs that were about to reach her throat vanished instantly and she blinked back here tears with a smile walking to the opened car door hurriedly.
Rehaan passed her bag to the house help to place it in the car storage area. The driver started the car when Rehaan got inside. Shahwar kept on smiling at him trying to make him lessen his stern demeanor, though it was all in vain as he didn't even look at her.
The car drove out of Paris and the two hour silence between them finally broke when the car suddenly stopped on a completely empty road near countryside.
The driver got out and then came back telling Rehaan that they had a punctured tyre.
Rehaan groaned in frustration. "Ab kya hoga?
" Shahwar said in her tiny innocent voice.
(Now what will happen?)
"Tyre change hoga Dur e Shahwar." Came his sarcastic remark as he got out of the car.
(The tyre will be replaced Dur e Shahwar.)
Itni jalan hai Kazmi ko. Tauba.
??