Raanjhana | رانجھانا

CHAPTER-22

Aaj saqi sharab rehne do,

Tishnagi kay azab rehne do.

Ponch dalo na aankh se kajal,

Kuch tou khanjar pay aib rehne do.

Tum sawaro apni zulfo ko,

Meri halat kharab rehne do.

*****

"Take her inside, she will have to get married to Ishfaq", Rukhsana begum held Hadia's wrist and roughly pulled her.

"Chaudhrani Sahiba, please have some mercy", Bua pleaded but Rukhsana begum dragged Hadia inside.

"Moulvi sahb begin the Nikkah",

"No", Hadia called out.

"You have to do it", Bua's voice vibrated. "That's the only way out",

"Start the Nikkah.... Start the Nikkah...that's the only way out", Rukhsana begum's and Bua's words rang in her mind simultaneously.

"No...NO", A screech came out of Hadia's mouth and she opened her eyes. Taking deep breaths she stared at the ceiling. The chain of her nightmare was finally shattered for which she was extremely grateful. The thunders and wind storms were opening the box of her memories that she was not ready to face again.

"Hey, are you okay?", Zain asked.

She turned her head to the left side and found Zain standing beside the bed. Slowly, she sat down and pressed her back to the headrest of the bed. Zain switched on the lights and filling the glass with water he stepped towards her. She was breathing heavily, with sweat bathing her face.

The clouds roared followed by a boom of loud thunder and lightning. She flinched with the sound of thunder.

"Drink some water", forwarding the glass in her direction his voice came out as tender as it could be. She took the glass from him and he kept standing beside the bed with his eyes fixed on her. It was the third consecutive night that she was having nightmares due to the thunderstorms.

"She can't be afraid of thunders", he had a firm opinion. "She never was".

She took the glass near her quivering lips. Her hair hung in tendrils about her face. Taking a few small sips she was about to move forward to place the glass on the nightstand but he extended his hand instead and took the glass from her hand.

"Can you turn off this please?", her voice came out as a weak whisper as she wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.

"Sure", he picked up the remote and pressed a button to turn off the air conditioner.

Tonight, she did not tell him to go back to sleep, and thankfully he didn't go back on his own. He kept standing there. His presence made her feel a little less lonely. Picking up the cushion she hugged it tightly, curling up her body the side of her cheek resting on the cushion.

"I don't like these rainy seasons", he said out of the blue.

She lifted her eyes, "Why?"

"Because everything becomes wet, dark...", he hung back to think of a word "and gloomy".

Her eyes shifted towards the window as the rain drummed wildly on the fiberglass shade outside the window. The rain had finally started after days of storms.

In a heartbeat, she put down the cushion on the bed and put her feet on the cold marbled floor. Walking bare feet, she went towards the balcony door and opened it. A gush of freezing wind tousled her long loose hair. The wind held the smell of raindrops on the parched soil.