Must Read: The Silent Lover - Season 1 - Episode 36

7 years ago

Must Read: The Silent Lover - Season 1 - Episode 36

He almost choked on his tea. The implication of her words rocked him. His breath caught in his throat.
He groaned, wanting to shake her.
“I want you to go inside, within five minutes!” She issued coldly.
He stared at her, shocked and dazed by what his mother had just said.
“This is rapidly turning into one of the worst days of my life.” He said aloud. “What are you talking about?”
“Didn’t you hear?” His mother asked roughly.
“You’re kidding right?” He gasped. “Mother, you can’t be serious. Are you?” He chewed his bottom lip.

“I’ve never been this serious about you Aariz.” His mother answered before Aariz could ask more.

“Damn it, Mother, you know I’m not used to such jokes.” He growled.
She didn’t reply.

“What’s my fault?” He asked quietly but refusing to whisper.
“You have no fault.” She said rigidly. “That’s why I think you’re perfect for marriage.”
“Mother, this is injustice.” He cried, trying to reason with her.
But she ignored his comment.

“Please mother……” He cried silently one last time. He begged with his eyes, pleaded with all his might.
“Come on. People are waiting for you to recite your Nikaah.” With the final command given, she turned and left him.
He wanted to run. He wished he could shout, scream and yell. But he found no power to move or even talk. He felt like a child who is unable to speak because of a piece of bone in his throat.
Stunned and humiliated, Aariz watched, eyes blazing.

He stopped at the silhouette, not letting himself go inside. He knew that, once he crosses this, there would be no turning back.
His mother’s figure appeares again. Her hand gripped his wrist, pulling him inside. He felt suddenly imprisoned. Panic rose in his throat and he struggled to keep it down.
His head felt painful and heavy; perhaps he was losing his mind and senses. Weird thoughts begin to form horrible images in his imagination.

This was not his mother, but a cruel, harsh butcher.
He was not a man, but a poor, helpless lamb.
He was not getting married, he was getting slaughtered.
Feeling like a lamb being led to the slaughter, he let her pull him.
Now he knew what this was all about…..why he had been brought up here….why he had been treated this way.
His fate was joking with him, playing with him, making him feel dumb and stupid and he knew that he could fight with anything but not with his fate.
He had no choice. He couldn’t disobey his own Mother.
His jaw was hard, all expression held tightly in cheek. His face had turned pale, when he entered the room where his uncle lay, surrounded by three or four men now.
His eyes moved to his uncle. For the first time, he was seeing a man dying.

Aariz’s mouth became compressed in a taut line as his gaze slashed from his uncle to his mother.
“Do you accept……..
Someome was taking someone’s name. He couldn’t hear anything; he had become blind, deaf and dumb.
“……Daughter of Abbas Hasan as your bride?”
Someone was reciting the Nikaah, his marriage contract, and was asking for his permission.
Someone was asking about his ‘will’, which he’d already gifted to someone else.
An icy chill settled over him, helped along by the frost in his mother’s eyes. His throat felt dry and when he opened his mouth to speak, it seemed to grow drier still.

Komal’s face came in front of his eyes. No, not smiling but crying this time, asking him, not believing if he could betray her like this, leave her, run in the middle of all this, leaving her alone.
“I……am….I’m sorry Komal.” He couldn’t stop his tears.
What?” Someone asked. “We can’t hear you clearly, son.”

For several spine-tingling seconds, his eyes held his mother’s.
“YES, I accept her as my wife.”
He then rose tremblingly to his feet and left the room.
Not after long, a volley of piercing screams shattered the still evening air. Almost automatically, he went back to the room where his uncle was.
He stared in horrified alarm as he saw Abbas Hasan doubled over in pain and collapsed in agony to the floor.

Naturally, he reached with his hands, to hold his weak, weightless body. Slowly, he carried him back to his bed.
“He needs to be in the city hospital as soon as possible.” His doctor murmured, as he prepared few injections quickly.

“There’s no need for that now.” Abbas Hasan m0aned weakly.
“Where’s my daughter?” He murmured helplessly, his eyes opening and closing rapidly.
He first glanced at Aariz, amd then over his shoulder to see someone.
He was coughing so intensely that for a minute Aariz thought his lungs would burst at any second.
“Aariz, son…..” He said when the cough siezed. His voice lower than ever, he was fainting. “Come here.”
“My son, do love her, always.” As he spoke, Aariz saw blood coming out of his mouth.
“Do something, Aariz.” His mother shouted from the back, praying for him. But perhaps, the time for acceptance of prayers had already passed.
“No….” Abbas Hasan gripped Aariz tightly, not willing to let him go. “Listen to me….

Princess is always very silent, calm and patient. She has not seen much love and happiness in her life. If you give her these things, she’ll not need anything else.”
Aariz raised his brows in question, not quite understanding what he meant.
“My daughter.” He tried to smile helplessly. “I call her princess.”
He coughed even more vigorously then. Aariz tried to shift him into a more confortable position but it was too late. Suddenly his body jerked upwards, amd with one last short gasp, it went completely silent, swaying in Aariz’s hands. With half open eyes and partially opened mouth, he truly presented the picture of a dead man.

Gently, Aariz disengaged his body from his own and put him back to the bed.
“We’ve lost him.” The doctor announced as he examined his eyes and pulse.
From behind, he could hear someone screaming and crying intensely. With slow, tired steps he moved away from the bed.
Once at the doorway, he stopped and turned back to look at his mother. From her red eyes, he could see she was trying her best not to cry but at last, she couldn’t stop. Her body shook with sobs, until it hurt.
***********
Her skin bristled at the touches of relatives and strangers who asked if she was alright, if she would be okay. Touches meant to be kind and consoling instead became cruel daggers, digging into her skin.

Later, she saw a blurred image of movements and voices. She felt a bright light shining in each eye.
“Abboo!” Remembering her father, she cried as she stood like a stone statue in the room.

Everywhere was pain. As she tried again to move, the pain rolled over her…..carrying her with it…..somewhere.
Someone limped over to put an arm around her shoulders in silent comfort, and heavy sobs began to shake her shoulders.
“It’s alright.” It was her aunt’s voice, caring and comforting.

Burying her face in her hands, she started crying. She leaned on her aunt, unable to stop the flood of tears. Sobs racked her shoulders, tearing her apart. There was no relief from the pain inside.
“You are coming with us. There’s no point in staying here now.” Her aunt urged.
“Let’s go.”
She let herself be turned towards the outside, leaning heavily on support of her arm.

Too blinded by tears to see where she was going, she simply let her aunt lead her.
“Crying isn’t going to help. If you keep this up, you’re going to make yourself sick.” Her aunt was saying.
“Weldone mother!” Aariz said in his heart, tossing a sarcastic look at his mother.
“Need a trophy for your forced, self-made victory?”
“But it would be my turn now.”
As she moved towars her aunt’s car, she saw many children with angel-like faces had surrounded her.
“Sister, are you leaving?” A little girl asked.
“Sister, don’t leave us.” Some of them were crying.
“What about our daily night stories?” Another young boy had asked, not wanting to leave her hand.
“Sister…..my alphabets are not finished yet. Won’t you take your classes now?” A little girl also asked.

Nodding silently, she wiped away tears from their cute, innocent faces, without caring about her own.

Aariz was sitting at the driving seat when his mother called hin, his head resting on the steering wheel. His mind and body was devoid of any s£nsat!ons and feelings now. He felt like he was an automatic robot or some hypnotized man whose mind had been controlled very cruelly.
“Aariz.” Mrs. Ali called. “Open the side door for Zeest.”
“Zeest?” Unfamiliar with the word, he looked at his mother again. “Who’s that?”
“Yes, Zeest Zehra.” His mother told him plainly and pointed out toward the dark, shadowy figure standing behind her.
Aariz’s eyes narrowed, as his body became intensely warm with the flash of anger and hatred for the woman who had destroyed all of his plans, and hopes. Yes, she stood behind his mother, all wrapped in a big black veil, her face and body hidden from his eyes.
“Your wife!”