A tale of love, loss, and new beginnings.
Hareem wants to start over, Momin is stuck in the past. Can a newly wedded couple learn to love and accept one another while also dealing with an uncertain future and a haunting past?
Trigger warning: ptsd...
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Chapter Twenty
The call from Nauman Zulfiqar, the investigator, had caught him off guard.
He had been reading through one of Professor Hammad's publications when his phone screen lightened up with Mr. Zulfiqar's name, after which the office had flooded with the ring tone. Momin had abandoned the papers and dashed out of the office, glad that the professor had left only minutes ago to grab lunch.
"Have you looked into the girl?" Mr. Zulfiqar asked after exchanging pleasantries.
"I haven't," Momin told, lowering his head in embarrassment. He stood outside the department building, where fresh air hit across his face. "I have had some family commitments."
"I understand, I know that you're a family man," the investigator spoke. "My heartiest congratulations."
Congratulations? Color rose to his cheeks instantly.
"Not like that," Momin quickly corrected.
"Oh I apologize. In'sha'Allah, Allah will make it easy for you. It's a common problem couples experience these days."
No, you don't understand.
"I have some news for you though," the investigator said before Momin could correct him again. "We have combed through phone records and addresses based on the name you provided, but we haven't come across your brother yet. Is there any other name your brother was called? Or any other leads you have been able to think of?"
"No." Momin leaned his head against the wall.
"We need your permission to expand the search to national level. We can start with Punjab and the move on to other provinces, perhaps he settled in some other area. Can you recall a particular city that your brother liked? Some place where you have good memories from?"
He massaged his temples, thinking. Ashiq used to travel to Islamabad often for MUN conferences, or to Karachi for science fairs, yet he couldn't recall if either of those cities had any significance to him. He thought about the cities they traveled as a family when they were young, could he be in Abbottabad or Skardu or even in Hyderabad? The possibilities were endless because they had been to several cities.
"I don't know," he finally announced, ashamed that he didn't have an answer.
It pained him to realize how little he knew about his younger brother.
"We'll find him, Mr. Mehmood," the investigator assured him before hanging up.
Momin felt a bitter taste in his mouth as he slipped the phone back into his pocket. He wasn't sure how they would find Ashiq, but he was determined to exhaust every lead.
He had to ask Hareem as soon as possible about the girl Ashiq had been involved with.
