ABEER:

When I woke up, it was the pressure of a hand that had caused me to open my eyes.

"Welcome to New York", Sahir said and I stood up.

We got out and waited for our luggage. When I stepped out of the airport with him, it was early morning and among those hundreds of faces that were there, I found a familiar one and almost ran towards him.

"Whoa..." he said as I slammed into him and embraced him into a right hug.

My eyes began to become misty again.
My face was wet when he left hold of me.

"Come on girl, you've grown up", he said wiping away the tears from my cheeks with his hands.

"I've missed you", I said taking the tissues that he had taken out of his pocket.

"I missed you too", he said caressing my cheek.

"Hello", I heard Sahir, whom I had left behind in the intensity of my emotions.

As I stepped aside, he extended his hand towards Kabir.

"Come here man!" Kabir said opening his arms and closed Sahir in a manly hug.

"Finally... I have found a handsome face for the beautiful name", he said as they parted.

Sahir's driver took away our luggage as three of us walked towards the car with Kabir's arm around my shoulder.

"When did you come?" I asked from him as we sat inside.

"Yesterday evening", he said.

"You must be very tired. You could have taken rest...the driver would have picked us up on his own", Sahir said.

"I already took plenty of it. Thanks to the hospitality of your family", he said and Sahir just smiled.

"Who else came?" I asked.

"Mom, Dad, Sania, Hoorain.....the whole family. Definitely no one would miss your engagement", he said and the simple mention of the engagement threw cold water at my better mood.

It wasn't that I was being forced to do it. Dad had asked me before accepting the proposal that Sahir's father had taken to my parents in Pakistan. I tried to shrug off the feeling, hoping that I would forget about it now that I was away from him. The gates of Afridi Mansion opened to embrace us and when we entered through the main door into the lounge, almost the whole family awaited us.

"Mom, Dad...." I said as they stood up and I almost rushed towards them, not knowing whom did I want to hug first.

"You've become weak", Mom said holding me from both my shoulders as Sahir who was right behind me greeted her.

"Come on Mom... My sister has been studying hard", Kabir answered to my ease.

After giving a formal greeting to Sahir, his wife and Mr. Afridi, I moved towards Kashish who was now in her late teens and her beauty was increasing with her age.

"You can't imagine how happy I am", she said giving me a tight hug and despite my effort, I couldn't manage more than a slight smile.

"I guess Abeer's tired. She seems a little down", Sahil's wife, Mawra, said.

"Sahir you should have delayed the flight. She must have been tired after the function at your University", Mr. Afridi said.

Sahir looked towards me.

"No, I am alright and....in fact, I was the one who stopped Sahir from delaying the flight. Everyone was waiting here and...considering that the function is two days from now, we had to be quick", I tried to justify.

"My brother has found a wise girl", Kashish said with a playful smile.

"Alright.... Sahir, take Abeer to her room for rest because she needs to be fresh for all the work that needs to be done", Mawra said and I started following Sahir upstairs.

We didn't speak anything as he led me through the corridor. Opening the door of a room, he stood outside.

"Thanks", I mumbled entering in.

He only smiled.

I would have walked straight in but he stopped me.

"Abeer.... Are you happy?" he asked looking straight into my eyes.

Those grey irises, they held warmth, love, affection and although he was asking me that question for me to be honest, I could see that there was hope in his eyes....the hope that I would say that I was happy.

"Of course. Which stupid girl will not be happy with you?" I said and I wasn't lying but the only thing was that I was a stupid girl.

He smiled. But it was painful...the smile didn't reach his eyes. I didn't know what the hell was happening with me. Whoever did I choose, I was going to break two hearts anyway.

"Take care of yourself", he said looking at me with a flood of love in his eyes before leaving.

I didn't know what was it in me that they both loved. I was really not the girl who deserved any of it: not the love of any one of them.

ASAD:

When I woke up, it was someone calling my name that had caused me to open my eyes. It took me a moment to adjust my vision and realize where I was. I was lying face down on my bedroom floor next to the ashes and discarded cigarettes and it was Waqas who had knelt beside me to wake me up. I tried to straighten up and sat on the floor, resting my weight against the wall.

"Are you okay?" Waqas asked.

"When did you come?" I asked instead of answering his question.

"Just now", he said.

I glanced at my watch.

"Its 7:30 in the morning. What the hell are you doing at my house?" I asked and he was confused.

"I came to make sure that....you were alright", he said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Hammad told you everything. Right?" I asked.

"I told him not to do this but he's....." my voice had just begun to rise in anger when he interrupted.

"Wait Asad, it wasn't Hammad", he said.

"Then how do you know? Have you installed CCTV cameras in my house?" I asked sarcastically.

"I knew it from a week ago", he said looking down.

"What.... What did you know from a week ago?" I asked.

"That....she isn't going to choose you", he said without looking up.

"How did you know that and..why didn't you tell me", I don't know why but I lunged forward and caught hold of his jacket collar.

"I tried to but... I couldn't and I thought that Aamna could make her change her mind", he said and I left hold of him.

"Did Aamna talk to her?" I asked.

He just moved his head slightly in disagreement.

"Wait... I'll talk to her....I'll talk to Aamna. We still have time", I said searching for my mobile in my jeans pocket.

"No, we don't have anymore time", he said and my moving hands stopped.

I looked towards him and the sight of his face told me that there was something else too that I had missed.

"They have left for New York. Abeer's family has arrived from Pakistan and two days from now, its their engagement", he finally spoke reluctantly.

For the split second that followed, I couldn't decide how many control signals had my brain generated simultaneously. I smashed my mobile against the floor, punched the wall and continued to do it. The pain was intense but not intense than that in my heart. Before my vision blurred, I saw Mom entering through the door but then the moisture in my eyes flowed out.

_______________________________

Aks Sanjarani was shocked at the sight of her son and she almost ran in through the door. It was an awful shock for her and Mr. Sanjarani, who entered behind her to see Asad sitting on the floor, looking terribly battered and crushed as tears flowed down his cheeks. It was as if all the joy in him had been snatched away, leaving a pale wraith behind. She wanted to reach out to him but he had closed his arms around himself. She caressed his cheek.

"What happened?" she asked politely.

"I was late Mom..... I couldn't do it in time", he said as more tears cascaded down his cheeks and it took a moment for Aks Sanjarani to realize what her son meant.

She looked towards Waqas. Mr. Sanjarani was confused but  that dreadfully upsetting image of his son caused an ache inside him. He sat on the bed and looked as Asad sobbed against his mother's shoulder. He was their only child and they had never let him get hurt even in his childhood. Seeing him so broken now, when he was a grown up was an ordeal.

"Its alright... Don't cry like this", Aks tried to speak but her voice cracked.

Asad separated himself from her and wiped the moisture off his cheeks. His eyes were red and glassy. He held both his mother's hands, who was partially relieved that her son was regaining his composure, but suddenly, he raised her hands to his face and made her slap himself.

"What are you doing Asad?..... Stop it!" his mother tried yo free her hands of his grip and his father stood up, advancing towards them quickly.

"Punish me Mom... Slap Me. Please!" he was shouting.

The tears flowing down Aks Sanjarani's face became frequent.

"Why didn't you ever punish me. I would have known that I did not have to bully people, I had to be like Sahir..." he turned towards Waqas.

"And you guys.... You always told me that it was cool, not caring, making fun of others.... But it is not. It is not!" he said punching his bleeding fist against the wall again.

"What has happened to you Asad? You were never so weak...." Waqas almost shouted as he tried to take hold of his hand. The sight of his broken knuckles was sickening.

"I had never fallen in love before..." Asad replied and the pain in his voice was so intense that Waqas fell silent for a while.

"Don't worry, you won't see even the trace of any moisture in my eyes in New York", he said.

"New York?" Waqas was surprised.

"I am going to attend the engagement", he said looking straight ahead.

"But Asad...." Waqas tried to say.

"I swore it to her head...... Don't try to stop me" , he said and Waqas became silent.