The journey remained mostly silent, with occasional exchanges between Maya and Durri. Hamza stared out of the window, lost in his thoughts, while Aslam drove the car carefully. The distant hills and valleys seemed to reflect the uncertainty that loomed over Hamza's mind.
Upon arriving at the house in Islamabad, Hamza's demeanour changed. As soon as the car stopped on the porch, he opened the car door and dashed out towards the entrance door without even a glance towards Maya or his mother. The atmosphere was palpably strained as Hamza, consumed by his frustrations, made his way into the house.
On the other hand, Maya was so absorbed in the pain of her loss, that she did not even notice Hamza's actions, she was unfamiliar with her surroundings and looked at her Phuppo nervously. Durri, who did not like the way Hamza was behaving, tried to ease the situation by engaging Maya in a polite conversation.
"Don't worry, beta. Hamza can be a bit impulsive at times, but he will calm down. It's just a matter of time," Durri reassured Maya, trying to offer comfort.
Maya looked at Durri in confusion and the realization hit her, she was married to Hamza, and she was here not in just the capacity of her phuppo's house but as a wife too. She just looked down and followed her inside the house and took the sofa where she was shown to sit.
Meanwhile, Hamza stormed into his room, frustration and anger boiling within him. He closed the door behind him, and took a deep breath, trying to collect his thoughts. He started pacing back and forth, contemplating the recent turn of events. His mind was a whirlwind of conflicting emotions, and he knew he needed to sort through them before addressing the situation. After some time, he took a deep breath and decided to confront the issue. He walked back downstairs, making his way to the living room where Maya and Durri were sitting. The room fell silent as he entered, Durri looked at him with questioning eyes, however, Maya kept looking at her hands, and all he could see were very fair hands and a big dupatta covering her.
"Mom, I need to talk to you," Hamza said, in an aggressive tone, motioning for her to join him in the other room. She looked at Maya, who looked indifferent to their conversation and nodded to Hamza.
They stepped away from the living room towards the drawing room, relatively away from where Maya was sitting.
"Mom! I have done this for you, but you need to understand, I can't accept it." He tried to make his mother understand his point.
"Accept what?" Durri did not let his emotional demeanour change her authoritative tone.
"Accept Her! As my wife" he got a little louder.
"Awaz neechi karo," she was very firm in talking to him, "Aur accept tau tum ne kar liya when you said "Qabool hai" tau phir ye sab ka kya matlab hai."
Durri was sure to try to bring him to his senses.
"Mom, I was blanked at that moment, the situation was such that I couldn't say NO to you, but I cannot live with her, I don't know her, I don't like her." He again tried to explain his point.
"You will have enough time to know her, we are anyways not doing your rukhsati for now, until 40 days before Feroze's death, you can try to know Maya in the meantime." She again tried to explain to him.
"It's futile talking to you Mom, I am leaving." He just turned and left the room. When he came out of the room, he saw her sitting in the same place in the same position, he just shrugged his head and dashed to his room.
Durri came out and walked straight to Maya, "Chalo beta, I will show you to your room. She didn't notice the expression on her face, and she started walking towards the stairs, where Hamza rushed a while ago.
Maya hesitated for a minute, seeming like wanting to say something, Durri was walking when she noticed that Maya was not following her, she turned to her, saw her facial expression, and came back to her, squeezed her hand and said, "Your living arrangements are done in the guest room for now, Faiza must have set it".
Hearing this embarrassed Maya but at the same time, she was relieved.
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Maya's POV:
"Don't worry, beta. Hamza can be a bit impulsive at times, but he will calm down. It's just a matter of time,"
"What is Phuppo saying? Why will I be concerned about how Hamza is behaving." Maya was so engrossed and depressed with her father's death that she completely forgot about the fact, that she was not in this house in the capacity of a niece, But as the Bahu of this house.
Just the thought of it made her nervous, she doesn't know Hamza, and she has not seen him in that way or any other way for that matter. The past few days had been so chaotic and distressing, although she had spoken to him briefly, all she could recall about him was that he had a deep voice and a polite way of talking.
Phuppo had always been very caring, but she has hardly met Hamza. In past years too she just came to this house maybe once, 10 years ago when her mother died and their father came to Islamabad for some legal work. That one time she stayed in this house with Phuppo while her father visited the court. Hamza was in Lahore for some summer school, and she only saw his pictures in the house.
She did not observe Hamza's behaviour towards her in the last 3 days, but a little while back when he took phuppo in a separate room to talk, she could hear them. She heard him telling his mother that he could not accept this marriage, she couldn't hear phuppo or the conversation after that because they might have lowered their voices, but she heard enough to know that "She had been thrown in his life without his consent".
Maya's heart sank as she kept replaying Hamza's words in her mind. She had never envisioned herself being the cause of such turmoil in someone's life, let alone her own husband's. The weight of her father's recent passing had clouded her perception, blinded her to the complexities of her new role in this household.
Maya couldn't shake off the feeling of unease that had settled deep within her. She knew she had nowhere to go, and she must spend the rest of her life as an unwanted person. She must accept the situation, there was a hazy cloud around her, and she knew she couldn't do anything, especially since they were practically strangers to each other.
Drawing a deep breath, Maya resolved to gather her courage and followed Phuppo to her room. As she approached the room where Phuppo led her to, Maya's footsteps faltered momentarily, doubt crept into her mind, whispering tales of rejection and disappointment. But she quashed those doubts, reminding herself of the fact that "there is nothing she can do about it."
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Dear Readers,
Here's a small update that I wrote half some weeks ago and couldn't complete. I want to continue again .. but I thought it would be good to post whatever I have already done.
Enjoy reading and do comment.
Love MD
YOU ARE READING
Khamosh Mohabbat
RomanceA story about Hamza, Oxford Graduate, rich cousin, forced to marry a his poor cousin Maya out of sympathy to give her roof over her head. Hamza is already involved with his friend Ayesha ( UK Graduate). The twists and turns of the lives, love tri...
