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T H I R D - P E R S O N

Apathetic restlessness, agitation and an uncomfortable fear gripped Sahar's heart when she strolled behind Shahveer. Her throbbing heart made her feel baffling emotions. She gripped onto the strap of her costume. Shahveer entered the master bedroom with the interiors of turquoise colour. She stood near the door, gazing at the room.

Turquoise was Myza's favourite colour.

Her heart skipped a beat realising it. A lump formed in her throat, making it her hard to walk inside. "Come inside Sahar," Shahveer called her. With tiny steps, she walked inside. Hues of turquoise colour are found in every corner of the room.

She stood in front of his huge king-sized bed. There he was, Shahnawaz Siddiqui. Laidback with his eyes closed. The glooming sundown lurked through the long drape, the AC made the room's temperature medium to cool. Shahveer sat beside Shahnawaz's laid back self. He called out, "Taaya Abu?"

Shahnawaz was a light sleeper. He slowly opened his eyes, staring at Shahveer, he didn't notice that his daughter stood behind him. He slept on the right side whereas Sahar stood on the other side.

"How are you?" He asked. "Stop making me feel like I am old, you young man!" Shahnawaz stated making him chuckle. "Not at all. Mr. forty-seven-year-old young lad," Shahveer teased him along.

"I will come back to my business soon," Shahnawaz muttered. "Yes your throne is empty without you," He stared at Sahar and then back at Shahnawaz.

"You wanted something, didn't you?" Shahveer asked. "You already gave me what I wanted." After a pause, he continued,

"My daughter forgave me but somewhere deep down I feel empty."

"I know what you wanted, Taaya Abu. You asked something else too," Shahveer reminded. Shahnawaz started to think about it but nothing seemed real to be completed to him. He gazed at him with knitted brows and asked, "I know I asked to bring Sahar but she might not come to me. She hates her father to death," He shuddered.

"Well, anyways! I bought someone to meet you." Shahveer avowed.

"Is it Mr. Qureshi again for business meetings? Tell him to bring the files to my study room. I will look up to it," Shahnawaz said closing his eyes again.

"I know you are a workaholic but how much will you talk about business, old man! Grow up, we have someone else," Shahveer chuckled. "Don't tell me it's Isha or Tahir! I don't want to see them. Not after what I found out recently I had a daughter. My heart crushes more when I see them."

"Ya Allah, Taaya abbu! Thora toh ache logo'n ke baare mein soch lein."

(Think about some good people too)

Frustrated with his answer Shahveer groaned and declared, " Your daughter Sahar is here. Aapki beti aayi huyi hai!"

(Your daughter has come)

Shahnawaz sat up with shock written all over his face. Shahveer signalled in her direction. There she was, standing with her eyes staring straight at his. He stammered looking at her, "S-Sahar-r"

He called out. "I'll leave you father-daughter alone." Shahveer walked out of the huge master bedroom.

"Sit down beta," He said making her feel a little easy. "Thank you for coming. I feel greatly happy to see you here."

Sahar nodded her head slowly. Shahnawaz added, "And thank you for forgiving me-"

"Honestly, I hadn't," Sahar cut him out in between in a tender slow voice. He sighed realising that his uneasiness was not waste or lie. It was all true she had not forgiven him heartily. "I just couldn't forgive you with my whole heart."

"I knew. You are not at fault. I understand and I do deserve it."

"It's not about you deserve it or not. It's about my mother's sufferings, Mr. Siddiqui." His heart clenched when she called him Mr. Siddiqui. "No matter how much she kept telling me that you loved her and she loved you, all I clearly remember is how she used to cry at night remembering you."

A tear escaped his left eye, pain, regret and guilt clenching his heart. Sahar looked up at him when a tear formed in her eyes remembering her mother.

"Trust me, she loved you with all her heart and never told me anything bad about you but when I was in college. The actual truth unfolded in front of me through my relative."

Shahnawaz glanced at his hands and blinked slowly. His heart cried over his broken love story. No one could give him peace the way Myza did but fate played a nasty game.

She wiped the tears dropping down from her eyes and looked towards the window. "Why is the interior of the room turquoise?"She asked.

Shahnawaz couldn't help but smile, "You and I both know it beta." Sahar glanced back at him when he added,

"She loved the colour turquoise more than anything. It's just the way since she had gone."

He knitted his brows and foretold, "I never dared to change anything. Not even a vase. Everything in this room is precious to me because the things in here are all selected by her."

Sahar couldn't help but cry for the fate of her family. She stood up and sat beside him. Shaking off the further growing thoughts; she said, "Shahveer told me that you are sick. Did you had your dinner? So that you could take your medicines."

"She raised you so well." He whispered. She gazed at him, emotionless.

"I feel like my daughter is here. I don't need any medications anymore."

"It's not something you could play with Mr. Siddiqui," She called out. He chuckled, "It's a miracle that I am alive after suffering the guilt for so many years. If not for Shahveer and Meesha, I would have died then and thereafter knowing the truth and now you have been added to that list."

"Until high school, I knew who my father was. I knew that he was rich and powerful but I didn't who he was. So many times I used to type your name on the internet but never dared to tap the search icon nor did Ammi forced me to see you. She used to have a frame in which your wedding picture was printed but I never peeked at it. I just couldn't no matter how much I tried."

"I am sorry beta. I couldn't be the father you expected. I couldn't be the husband Myza wanted. I was blind by venomous lies. I couldn't take anything but Myza was my wife until her death. I never gave her a divorce. My heart never agreed for divorce deep down I knew that it might be a misunderstanding but circumstances lead to a way that I didn't understand what was happening." He sighed. Sahar couldn't help but sob. A sob left her lips making her feel restless and emphatic.

"Excuse me," she got up and left the room as hopeless as she could be.

• ° • ° •

Meesha opened her eyes after taking a nap while sitting on the couch of the upper lounge on the first floor of the Siddiqui Mansion. Shahveer and Rayed sat opposite to her talking about something. Meesha stared for a while confused, getting up she washed her face and came out of the common washroom on the floor.

"Be embarrassed a little, Meesha. You slept during the game. We had to discontinue playing ludo," Rayed groaned. "Stop overreacting like it's a game from the Olympics. I was bored of playing with you because you two were losing every round."

"What a lie! What a lie! Ms. Meesha Siddiqui. Says the ones who lost every time." Shahveer declared. Meesha sat down silent surfing through her phone. The duo chuckled at her antics.

"Rayed, what happened about the investigation?" Shahveer questioned changing the topic. The investigation of Rayed's sister Falak's death. "It's going on. It's proved that it was not suicided as they were marks around her head which can be easily noticed. It was a murder." His voice lowered at each word he said.

"Don't worry. They will catch the murderer soon," Meesha spoke few words of comfort. Shahveer nodded, "Ask me anytime you need help with the investigation." Rayed agreed.

Sahar, on the other side, stood in the washroom. Washing her face again and again. Her father was sorry for all the things that happened in her life but somewhere her heart wasn't ready to accept it all. It churned with a constant fear of something she was unaware of. She stood there for a while, calming herself down.

Walking outside the washroom; she entered the lounge where Shahveer, Rayed and Meesha were seated engaged in a deep conversation.

"Am I disturbing you guys?" She asked as she walked in. "No, not at all. Sit down Sahar." Meesha called her in. Sahar sat beside her when Shahveer teased, "Has the duo of mother-daughter united?" Sahar passed him a gentle smile. "If you don't mind to answer, what's your age?" Meesha questioned.

"I am 24, you?"

"Great. I am 22," Meesha responded.

"Then you and I are the old men here," Rayed chuckled.

"I am so happy to have found you, Sahar. As a sister, as a cousin," Meesha said. Sahar couldn't help but feel better with her. She gently beamed.

A worker entered the lounge as soon as the clock hit eight. "The dinner is served, sir." Sahar with Meesha, Shahveer and Rayed descended the stairs towards the dining room.

Rayed had an important meeting at the dinner time so he left towards his destination. Sahar roamed her eyes around the huge dining room. Her heartbeats became faster searching if her father was there in the room.

Jahangir called her in, "Come inside, beta." Slowly coming in, she stood beside Meesha. She made Sahar sit down beside her comfortably to which she mumbled a small 'thank you!'

"Faheema, Did you inform Bade Sahab about the dinner?" Zeenia asked referring to the dinner of Shahnawaz.

"Yes, I did. But he said he doesn't have an appetite for it now. He told me to bring the dinner to his room an hour later," Faheema answered backing off as she kept the last bowl filled with Kadai chicken.

Sahar knew the reason behind the lost of his appetite. She knew it very well. She stared down at her hands before Jahangir asked, "Did you meet Bhai, Sahar beta?"

Sahar nodded, "I met him."

"Great." Jahangir nodded when Zeenia started serving everyone and sat beside Shahveer at the end. Sahar ate a little amount of food as her whole heart was somewhere else. Her mind thinking about several things. Shahveer and Jahangir were talking about business when Zeenia intervened, "Can you two please stop? What will Sahar think of you guys?"

"It's alright, Mrs. Siddiqui. I am used to it through Hashir Mama and Izhaan," They chuckled at her words including Sahar herself. "Trust me at times. It irritates me a lot," Meesha started eating a morsel of roti dripped with the delicious gravy. Sahar agreed.

"By the way, don't be so formal beta. I am Chachi for you." Sahar nodded.

After finishing the dinner, Sahar went to the kitchen and asked Faheema to inform her before taking food for Shahnawaz.

Zeenia took Sahar to a room corner on the first floor; besides Meesha and opposite Shahveer's. "We quickly changed the interiors within three days. It was all planned by Shahveer as he is an architect." It was fully decorated with a colour of wooden black, white and beige. Soothing and relaxing when they entered. "Shahveer told me that you were mostly wearing light black, beige and white. So he thought to make it that way."

He noticed so much about me. Heartbeat raced faster knowing how of things he had noticed about her.

"It's absolutely beautiful. Yes, those are some of my favourite themes," She smiled. Zeenia kept a hand in Sahar's and spoke, "Shahnawaz Bhai Sahab has been alone ever since Myza bhabhi departed. I can say he was very alone. Only Shahveer and Meesha gave him happiness but I surely know, he loves you more than anything. I know it's not easy but please forgive him, beta."

Sahar gently smiled and kept her left hand in Zeenia's and began, "Trust me Chachi, I am trying."

Faheema entered the room by knocking and stated, "Sahar bibi, Shahnawaz Sir's dinner is ready." Zeenia sighed and signalled her to go. She zoned out looking at the tray, Faheema was carrying.

• ° • ° • ° • ° •

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