Of Broken Hearts and Tears

Chapter 7

Maya led Areesha's family into the living room where her mother greeted them cheerfully. Saima auntie and her mother had clicked so fast. She had gotten the attribute of making good friends from her mother but she trusted people far too easily. Whenever she made a new friend she thought of them to be like herself. She just assumed that they would be nice and trust worthy.

"How are you Maya beta?" Saima auntie asked her and she smiled politely. With the whirlwind of emotions going inside her it was very hard to smile.

"I am fine. Alhumdulilah." She said politely."What would you like? Tea? Coffee?" She asked when she caught her mothers eye. 

"No nothing. I am fine." Saima auntie said politely.

"Saima you have to taste her tea. She makes it really good."

"Is it so? Lets try it then." Saima auntie replied with a twinkle in her eye. Chai or tea is a weakness of every desi aunty. 

"Would you like a cup?" Maya asked Zayan.

"Sure." He said with a small smile.

Maya went to the kitchen and made the tea. She put some cookies in a plate as they were the best thing with tea. She assembled all the cups in a tray and carried it outside.

"How much sugar?" She asked aunty.

"None beta. I can't drink chai without sugar at all but thats what diabetes does to you." She complained and normally Maya would have laughed at her desi way of complaining but today she wasn't in the mood. Her mind kept going towards what Daniyal had said.

She looked at Zayan to ask him how much sugar he added."Half a tea spoon."

She added the sugar and handed the cups to everyone.

"Where is Areesha?" Zayan asked her after a while. She was sitting with the guests only to distract herself. If she was alone she would start thinking about him again.

"In her room. I'll go call her." She said.

"No no. I'll go to her room myself, to surprise her." He smiled.

"Thats a very good idea. She is feeling very down lately. Maya take Zayan to her room." Her mother said.

She nodded and started going towards Areesha's room. Zayan followed her.

"The tea was good by the way." Zayan said to her.

"Thanks." She replied emotionlessly.

"Are you okay? You don't seem your usual self." Zayan commented. He was a lawyer trained to notice these little things. How could such a thing go unnoticed by him. The usual cheerful Maya annoyed him but he asked her anyway making small talk.

"N-no nothing." She stuttered as he took her by surprise.

She was very surprised at that to say the least. Even strangers had noticed her attitude? How could people see right through her? Was she that transparent? She had let go of the mask she was wearing. The mask that hid the turmoil she was facing inside.

She had to take off that mask for good. She had to fix herself before it was too late. She had to pick up her pieces before they fell apart forever. She had to make herself strong to face life. But she didn't know that what destiny had planned for her was too hard for her to handle all alone.

***

"Bhai?" She called as she knocked on his bedroom door. She had decided to tell him about the pictures and how he was blackmailing her. Her mother had asked her about the guy she wanted to marry and with much difficulty she had diverted the topic away from that. 

She cringed at that very idea. Even though it was a lie she couldn't bring herself to spare a single thought about that. She would just tell her brother and get it over with.

"Yes?" He called from inside. 

She opened the door slighlty and saw that he was sitting on the bed with his laptop in front of him.

"Are you free?" She asked him as she sat down.

"Yeah what happened?" He asked her looking up from his work.She rehearsed what she was going to say to him in her mind. She couldn't believe she felt so nervous talking to her brother.

"I just wanted to talk to you." She said in a small voice without looking at his face.

"Hmm?" 

"I-" she started but her voice got caught in her throat. 

"Maya? What's wrong?" He asked her putting his laptop away.

She looked down. Her throat had constricted and she wasn't able to speak.

Fawad pulled her towards him and she rested her head on his chest and a lone tear escaped her eye.

"Is there something bothering you?" He asked her cautiously, getting concerned about her odd behavior.

"Ye..No. Nothing." She mumbled.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked her tucking away the bangs that were coverinng her face.

"I don't know." She said again. She was so conflicted about everything. She wanted to tell him but she couldn't imagine his reaction. She was scared in case he might blame her and tell her that it was her fault. 

She knew it was her fault. She shouldn't have instigated him in the first place. She knew she wouldn't be able to face it if he thought that way too so he was better off not knowing.

Just the thought of her brother being against her made all her ideas about telling him go down the drain. Her mind went blank and she couldn't form the words.

Even though she did have a loving family, she never worried them about her troubles. She didn't care about lying to them about small things to make them happy. After all they had done so much for her. The least she could do was not worrying them. But her brother was always there, no matter what.

And this time she just couldn't bring herself to tell him that.

She didn't know that this one attribute of hers would lead her life to be somewhere she never, even in her wildest dreams, dreamt it to be.

"Maya sweetheart I'm not going to force you into telling me. Take your time. But you do know that I am always with you, don't you?" He said rubbing her back.

She nodded slightly without looking up at him.

Fawad kissed her forehead. He was getting worried about her but he knew he couldn't force it out of her. He couldn't guide her through every single phase of her life and he wanted her to learn that too. He didn't want her to be emotionally dependent on anyone. Even though she was his little sister he could not spoon feed her about everything so he just let it be hoping she would tell him in her own time if she felt the need to.

She had never been this quiet and this really bothered him and he prayed that whatever it was would be fine.

"Where's the smile that I always love to see?" He asked her in an attempt to cheer her up.

She smiled slightly and kissed his cheek.

"You're the best brother." She said sincerely.

"I know. I've been told." He replied smugly.

"I only inflated ego didn't I?" She said rolling her eyes.

"Hey! I don't have an inflated ego okay?" He said playfully.

Little did he know that the next day would destroy everything.

***

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