Love found me

14.Where is Farisha?

"Isha, Isha, no… stop," She screamed as she ran behind her 4 year old who was hell bent on troubling her mother. 

"Farisha, stop right there," Her squeals and laughter died down a second she heard her mother call her with her full name and she stopped in her track, stiff and upright. 

"Come here right now," She waddled towards her mother, cautiously gauging her expressions. 

Her mother looked furious and exhausted. Before she could continue with her stern attitude, Farisha hugged her mother's legs and looked with puppy eyes. "I love you, Mumma."  

She melted at the spot and a smile threatened to appear but with quite a difficulty, she maintained her tough exterior and gestured towards the breakfast. "Finish it."

"Yes, mumma," as she said, her chin wobbled. 

Dua kept a stern expression on because she knew if she would be lenient right now, her dear daughter was not gonna listen to her. 

She watched as her daughter finished the remaining oatmeal, washed her hands, rinsed her mouth and then looked at her mother proudly. 

"Let's get you ready for school," Dua held her hand and padded towards Farisha's room. 

After wrapping her up properly according to school, she held her close. "Mumma loves you too."

The kid loosened up and hugged her mother tight. She was mischievous but she couldn't bear her mother's silent treatment. 

"Mumma, you are not angry?" She asked leaning back to look at Dua's face. 

"Nope," Saying she smothered Farisha's face with kisses and she giggled feeling ticklish and happy. 

"Wait here for mumma, she will get ready and then we both will head out." She nodded like an obedient kid and Dua rushed to get ready. 

****

"As she entered the office building, she heard Eric's cheerful loud greeting as usual. She greeted him back but didn't bother to stop for him but she could hear his footsteps hastening. 

Soon he was walking beside her, cracking his stupid jokes. 

As usual, he came to drop her to her work place before heading to his. She knew he liked her even though he didn't say it but she was once bitten by the same feeling and until now she wasn't able to recover. She pretended to not know Eric's feelings and she dreaded the day he would confess because she didn't want to give him the feeling of rejection. 

She sighed inwardly before getting started with yet another hectic day. 

The day went well and usual with loads of work. 

In the evening she drove off to Ghazal's place. 

"You are late today." Ghazal spoke as closed the door behind her. 

Taking off her coat, she wandered her gaze around. "Where is Farisha?" 

"She is sleeping in Ayesha's room. She was tired after running around continuously." Ghazal filled her up with information. 

"Where is Ayesha?" She asked about Ghazal's 3 year old daughter while gulping a glass of water. 

"Sleeping." Ghazal replied while striding towards the open kitchen. "Do you want to have a coffee?" 

"Ahh, that would be nice," She relaxed on the sofa and sighed as she felt her stiff back muscle relaxing at the much needed support. 

When Ghazal arrived with two cups of coffee, she had almost dozed off. 

She sat up straight as Ghazal nudged  her and held the forwarded cup."Thank you."

"You are welcome." They both sipped coffee while filling each other with random information. 

"I should leave," she said while keeping the mug in its place after washing and drying. 

"Let's have dinner together," Ghazal offered but she started putting on her coat. "Maybe next time."

Picking up Farisha's sleeping form, she sauntered out, bidding bye to Ghazal. 

"Tomorrow, Ahsan planned to take Ayesha for a little outing, make sure to drop Farisha early in the morning, we will take her along." Ghazal had informed her as she made Farisha settle in the car. Nodding, she drove off. 

As they reached home, Farisha was wide awake. 

"Mumma," Farisha snuggled in the crook of her mother's neck, as she unlocked the door. 

"Yes, meri jaan(my life)."

"I missed you," she pouted as Dua put her on the sofa. "I missed you too," Dua flicked her nose. 

She giggled and jutted out her chin proudly, showing three fingers to Dua. "I missed you three."

"But I missed you more," Dua tickled her and she rolled on the sofa, giggling. 

As their little moment ended, She freshened up, helped Farisha with her homework and cooked a light dinner. 

After dinner she let Farisha watch TV for half an hour before tucking her under the covers and reading her a story, a daily routine. 

Tomorrow was the weekend and she didn't have to go to the firm that she worked from Monday to Friday but on the weekend she worked in the nearby cafe for three hours. 

Laying on the sofa, she switched on the TV to ward off the haunting silence while knitting a cardigan for Farisha. She learnt knitting when she was pregnant and since then it was like a hobby for her. She used to knit while her mind wandered off to the past more often than not and it always left her depressed. Had it not been for Farisha, she would have succumbed to the depression but every morning as she saw her face, she felt a new energy to face the world for her sake. She was the only light in her life and she didn't know what she would do without her. Choosing to live in Vancouver was just to protect her baby from getting snatched from her and she didn't regret it doesn't matter if Ghazal called her selfish in that regard. According to Ghazal, the child should not be deprived of her father's love but she didn't know Zaviyar hated her and regarded her as immoral and cheater and it wouldn't have been surprising if he would have filed for Farisha's custody. Also it was more likely for him to win the case because of course he undoubtedly had a tremendous amount of influence. 

She snapped out of her musing as some character screamed in the TV drama. She looked up and found a character crying over the dead body of her lover. She didn't know why but it did something to her as the knitting needles fell off her hands and a sob left her throat. She didn't know when the sobs turned into full blown cries. She wouldn't have snapped out of it if not for the incessantly ringing phone. 

Happy reading!!!