"I cannot believe I let my son marry a girl like her," Danish's mother sighed unable to answer anything Naila asked and proved. Naila even showed her the manipulated messages, audios, and things he shared with his lawyer to picture Naila as a bad wife. But despite showing all the proofs that proves her innocence, this is all that woman could say. "I cannot imagine what all he would have gone through," Naila smirked and looked at her mother.
Sarah had tears in her eyes. A pain that was evident. Naila eyes whelmed with tears, wondering if her mother understands her at least now.
"What about me? What about everything I went through? What about having to put up with a man who always was in love with another woman? What about my feelings? The precious years I lost living with him? The mental trauma that I survived through, constantly feeling that I'm not good enough for him because he treat me that way?" Naila could no longer hold back.
Sarah rushed towards her daughter. She held hands. "Don't cry Naila. Don't cry," Sarah said. "Answer her, or leave. I don't want another word from you, supporting your son, pretending to be oblivious to what my daughter has gone through," she said and looked at Zakir.
Zakir said nothing and walked to his room. The decision was made there. "So it is ending in divorce then," Danish's mother said and left the house.
Naila locked herself in the room and skipped dinner. And Sarah let her daughter be. Sarah sat alone, going through the wedding album. She saw a happy right young girl dressed as a bride at a very young age. She regretted it. She recalled the day Sarah and Zakir decided that Naila should be married off soon.
"Let me go for post graduation, I have really good mark across the semesters. You know I don't even have that many friends or hang out with anyone. I don't even know what's the world out there like. What are you afraid of? I have always been a good girl as you wanted. Heads down, say yes to everything you say, and what more do you want? All my classmates are going to pursue post graduation or the job they like after graduation. Why can I not do it? Please let me study. Please give me two more years. Please..." Naila begged so much and spent the whole night crying. But Sarah said nothing and let her daughter weep.
"If only I listened to her then, she would not have led a miserable life with him.." Sarah sobbed.
A week more passed. Naila's wait continued while she attended many other interviews. She hid it from her parents.
"Go for shopping or something. Why are you just sitting at home all day?" Her father asked out of the blue one day.
"It's fine, I'm fine," Naila said sipping her coffee. He handed her a credit card.
"If this is what is troubling you," he said and left the table. Naila felt bad again. It felt like accepting money from a stranger and not her father. She looked at Sarah who encouraged her to take it.
The phone rang at the same time. Naila rushed to her bedroom. She answered.
"Hello," she said.
"Am I speaking with Naila?" The voice on the other end asked.
"Yes," Naila grew tensed.
"I'm calling from Green Valley Global School," the lady said.
"Yes, yes, tell me," Naila's started pounding fast.
"Congratulations Ms. Naila. We would love to have you on board as the homeroom teacher for primary. Are you free? If so I will brief you about your role and the next steps," Naila was shocked.
"Oh yes, of course. I'm free. Tell me. Thank you for the call," Naila smiled. She couldn't stop smiling. The sense of achievement. It made her feel really good.
"You have to join the school from May 14th, our training begins them for all the teachers for the new academic year. I will be sharing the offer letter with you shortly. There will no meal but you can avail the transport. Please go through the offer letter and be ready, I will call you again tomorrow for confirmation. Also, please acknowledge the email," the lady said.
"I will. Thank you so much gain. We will discuss tomorrow then," Naila said and hung up.
Her face beamed with happiness. A joy in the middle of chaos. The first step turned successful. She downloaded the file and started reading through it.
At that time, someone rang the doorbell. "Danish, come in, come in," Naila heard her father greeting him. Naila opened the door and stepped out immediately. It indeed was Danish.
"What are you doing here?" Naila asked.
"Can I not come search for my wife I'm still legally married to?" Danish and Naila stared at each other. "You left without saying a word," he added.
"Says the man who spent weeks in Europe without informing his wife. You didn't even care to tell me about yours travels and now suddenly you feel wronged because I left?" Naila smirked.
"Danish you went to Europe?" Sarah asked.
"Yes umma," Danish replied. I reached back yesterday.
"Then why didn't you take Naila with you?" Sarah asked again.
"We are not in great terms at this moment. So ended up going alone," Danish replied.
"But you would have prepared for it for months. And everything was fine at that period. And you still chose not to tell her?" Sarah did not give up easily.
"Can we talk alone?" Danish ignored her parents and asked Naila for a private surrounding.
Naila took him to her room and closed the door behind her. "What is it?" She asked him.
Danish smiled and pulled Naila closer. He then lost balance and both collapsed on the bed.
"Danish, wha the..." Naila then fell silent. He had placed his hands on her waist. Danish looked into her eyes, for the first time in three years.