Sadqay Humare.

eleven

It was hard to recognise Minal in her much different dressing sense. Instead of the short shirts and the open trousers, she was wearing a long shirt and chooridaar pajama. With her golden jhumkas and white dupatta, she looked just as regal as she used to, except that she hard dark circles this time. It wasn't hard for Aaina to guess the reason behind that

She stood near the entrance, greeting her whole heartedly as Minal entered the Prime Minister House.

"Salam alaikum." She greeted Aaina with a Salam, formally air kissing both her cheeks.

Aaina returned the gesture with a smile.

"Walaikum Salam, please come." She guided the woman who knew each and every room of the very large Prime Minister House.

Minal entered the familiar area, sitting in the living room. She was quite confused about Aaina inviting her. At first, she thought it might have been Zaydaan inviting her for lunch or something but that clearly was not the case since the Prime Minister couldn't be seen anywhere.

"Just the two of us?" She enquired, Aaina arched an eyebrow.

"Mhmm. Were you expecting someone else?" She questioned her back, Minal nodded without any hesitation.

"Kind of. We've never really talked in all these years." She admitted.

Aaina understood why this was confusing for Minal but she also knew that talking to her would only do good for the both of them. If she had to get over her insecurities, she had to be more open and talk to Minal.

"Yes, we haven't. But no time better than the present, right?"

"I guess so."

She settled down on the sofa beside Minal, looking at her. There was a time when she would simply look at the woman and find flaws within herself. Now, after all these years..she had grown confident enough. She understood that two women could be different in the way they looked and still be beautiful.

"Zaydaan told me about your separation, I'm sorry." Aaina started off, Minal sighed.

"Yeah, me too." She murmured, The first lady continued.

"The fact that you stood up to your own husband for the sake of mine, it means alot to me, Minal. You defended his honor knowing how big the cost might be." She said out loud, all the words that Zaydaan had wanted her to say, the words that she needed to say.

"And you did it in front of the entire world, so thank you." She thanked.

Minal smiled at Aaina, feeling satisfied that she had got out of her shell of insecurities.

"I didn't do it for you. I did it for him." She stated.

Zaydaan and her were so alike in some ways.

"I know. I still am grateful."

"He's my friend, Aaina. If I was in his position, he would have done the same for me." She simply told her like what she had done was not about her love for the man but it was about morals and ethics.

She did not boost or feel proud that she had done such a huge favour to Zaydaan, she just did it like it was the most normal thing to do. Even when it meant that her own life could go up in flames.

Aaina nodded.

"I never got to thank you for anything. I was too jealous and insecure to do so." Minal upon hearing the apology, felt slightly shocked.

She did not expect the first lady to thank her, let alone apologize. She knew her insecurities since Zaydaan was too straight forward when it came to telling things.

When Minal had got married, Zaydaan had called her up two days before the wedding and simply said that his wife did not want for him to go to the wedding.

I wish you a happy life and I know you'll understand why I can't be there. He had said before hanging up the phone.

So Minal understood.

"There's nothing to thank me for." She shrugged Aaina off, telling her that there was nothing she needed to thank her off.

Aaina clicked her tongue, insisting that there was. Minal wanted to chuckle, it had been a decade and yet Aaina hadn't lost her touch of being polite the way she used to be. Even when she was trying to be a b***h to Minal, she had still been polite.

Aaina let out a sigh, speaking up again.

"There is. All those years ago, my marriage was on the verge of breaking and you loved him so much. He wanted to marry you and you made him realise who he truly loved. If you hadn't done that, maybe my life would have been very different."

She said it out loud, only feeling the impact of her own words once they had left her mouth. Minal gulped remembering the hard times, the time where she had convinced the man she loved to be with the one that he loved. Her heart broke every time she remembered those days, how hard was it? How had she even gathered the courage to do something like that?

She swallowed the bile down her throat.

"He would never have gone through with it. I didn't do anything." She denied, continuing.

"And I did some terrible things at the start too, Aaina. I never apologised for that."

Ofcourse she did. From making her friends almost threaten Aaina to leave Zaydaan, as if that would have worked..to making her feel unloved and insecure, to insulting her in her own House, Minal had done some crazy s**t for the sake of her love.

Aaina smiled, shaking her head.

"There's no need." She mumbled, quickly placing a call in the kitchen for tea.

"I can tell you this though, you proved me very wrong." Minal pointed out, the first lady looked at her in confusion.

"I never thought that you'd grow into such an amazing first lady, into this incredible woman. You were like a scared puppy at one point." Minal said with laughter, Aaina laughed too.

"It's clear that you blossomed under his love and he changed under yours."

They didn't understand how they were having such a mature conversation about it all, how they were so casually talking about the things that had hurt them to the core in the past.

As Sana arrived with a trolly of tea and biscuits, ready to pour it down into two cups, Aaina shook her head and asked her to stop.

She stood up herself, ready to pour it down. She believed that there was a certain comfort that could be developed between two people by good hospitality and conversation.

Sana left with a nod and the first lady looked at Minal.

"Tea?"

"Yes, please." She poured it down into a cup and placed it in front of Minal.

She poured one cup for her own self and sat back.

"I used to hate tea back in college. Zaydaan's obsession with tea made me habitual of it too." Minal said with a chuckle, remembering the past.

Aaina didn't say anything. She felt slightly weird, discussing how Zaydaan used to be with her in the past was not something she was comfortable hearing about.

It was true though. Aaina herself wasn't a fan of chai, until Zaydaan arrived into her life with a motto.

Aaina, chai. Two words. And now she had gotten obsessed with it too. She would atleast drink three to four cups a day.

She felt the silence between them as both of them drank their tea.

Aaina thought about how she should question her, how she should ask. She didn't want to intrude, she didn't want to ask anything that would make her uncomfortable but she just wanted to know. She didn't know why, there was no specific reason behind it but she just wanted to know.

"If it's not too personal, can I ask you what really happened between you and your husband?" She questioned cautiously but seeing Minal's sigh of relief, she almost felt confused.

Minal put the cup back on the table and looked at Aaina.

"Honestly, I just need someone to rant out to at this point. Everyone thinks of me as this tough person without any  feelings." She said out loud, making Aaina nod at her.

"I wanted to talk to Zaydaan, I won't lie. He understands me the best but I know how you feel about us talking and I didn't want you both to argue because of me."

How thougutful yet brutally honest was this woman?

Aaina bit her lip, shrugging.

"I get it." She murmured, waiting for Minal to start her story.

She started off by telling Aaina the wonderful story of how they met, it was almost emotional yet so very sweet..even romantic.

Aaina listened attentively, grasping onto each and every word that Minal told her.

She poured down some more tea for herself, listening to the woman.

"Since Shahid and I always lived separate from his family, we never really had any issues of that sort. It all started after his mother came to know of my decision to not have kids."

She didn't want to judge Minal over the decision. Every person had a different priority in life and yet she couldn't imagine her life without a kid, or kids for that matter. Zayla had brought her and Zaydaan much more close.

"It was a mutual decision by the both of us. Once Shahid took an early retirement so we could spend more time together and maybe just think of a child again, rethink our decision and if it was right to do so, his mother insisted that we move in their mansion. She's quite old now and I felt bad for her. I was reluctant yet I agreed."

"We moved to Lahore. His younger sister is friends with Maria's sister. She visited our house and kept rambling about Zaydaan being a harasser. I was shocked when I came to know that Maria had actually started this entire thing. I wanted to talk to her but I knew that my words could be used against Zaydaan so I kept quiet. "

"His sister unfortunately didn't. The next day, she started to taunt me over my failed relationship and my broken dreams of being the first lady. I told her to shut up but she didn't."

Aaina was so glad that she never had to deal with trouble from the in laws. It was just dirty politics and husband's initial cruelty. She suffered, yes. But suffering at the hands of her mother in law or Ahad, it would have f****d things up.

"Then she started to talk utter crap about Zaydaan and I couldn't take it anymore. I defended him. Shahid was right there. His mother and sister started to feed him with crap that I didn't want kids with him because I didn't love him. I Loved Zaydaan. I told him not to believe it but they frustrated him to the core where he uttered the word talaq."

Minal hissed, remembering the painful words.

"I left the moment I heard that word. He has been regretting it ever since. He says that he got emotional, that he has bought a house for the both of us, that he loves me. But I'm not sure." She told her next.

Regret came with love in every relationship. Zaydaan regretted the way she had treated Aaina. Aaina regretted the way she hadn't stood up for herself when Zaydaan had been cruel to her. Ahad regretted falling in love with Saaniya.

So much love and so many regrets.

"You're not sure that he loves you?" Aaina questioned her, trying to understand her mind.

"I know he loves me. But what if he gets emotional again and does the same thing? What would I do then?"

A woman could be strong and independent and yet so very confused when it came to the man that she loved.

If Aaina had thought the way Minal was thinking, she didn't think she would have been Zaydaan's wife right now.

"If someone loves you and apologises for his mistake, you should forgive that person. Have faith in the man you chose to marry." She advised, Minal merely shrugged.

If there was love, there had to be forgiveness too. If there were regrets, there had to be ways to make it up too.

Minal didn't say anything, just trying to cover up her hurt.

"I'm sorry that his mother and sister were such bitches to you." Aaina joked after a while, she let out a laugh.

Minal took a bite of her biscuit. Since the situation had got a little too personal, Aaina decided to turn the conversation around.

"Did you think that Maria would turn out like this?" She enquired, Minal shook her head.

As far as she remembered, Maria was the most hardworking and kind woman. God knew what kind of blackmail the Chaudhrys had in store for her, or maybe it was just the allure of money.

"Money can buy anything and anyone. That's the power of it. Besides, it's way too easy to manipulate people these days."

Aaina sighed, feeling worried again. How crazy was it that even a country's Prime Minister was not even safe in the hands of his own people?

"You don't have to worry. Awan can try all he wants, Zaydaan will know how to handle him." Minal tried to assure her, Aaina was ready to reply when all of a sudden, a very familiar face entered the very large living room.

His face exhibited his shock but still, a very playful smile graced his face as he came near them.

"Oh Oh! Where did the sun rise from today! Who am I looking at?!" He exclaimed, shaking hands with Minal.

Minal greeted him with the same playful smirk that she had perfected for him.

"Well hello Ahad! You don't look too good." She greeted back, insulting him immediately.

Ahad let out a laugh.

"Wrinkles don't suit you too much, darling. You got old." He teased.

Minal shook her head at him as he sat down.

"I literally have no wrinkles on my face." She said, almost too proud of herself that she had managed to look good even in her forties.

"The power of makeup." He shot back.

Aaina sat back, listening to them. She didn't understand how they hardly ever got offended upon hearing each other's insults.

"I still remember the day little baby Ahad came to propose me for marriage. Remember?" She reminded him.

Ahad let out a sigh of relief, winking at Aaina.

"I tend to forget my horrible days." He replied.

"Yeah, no wonder your exes run after your brother then." She stated, he just rolled his eyes.

Aaina jumped into the conversation.

"I don't remember a single time I have seen you both actually have a decent conversation without insulting one another." She said, confused by their banter.

Minal smirked.

"What can I say? I see his face and I can't help myself."

"I would call you a b***h but I've grown up to be a reasonable man now." He shot back.

Minal suddenly turned serious, looking at Ahad.

"I heard Saaniya's hearing is soon." She trailed off, Ahad frowned upon hearing Saaniya's name. He couldn't believe that cheating b***h could stoop so low.

"Yes. It is." He affirmed.

Minal leaned a little towards him.

"I'll tell you what, her only weakness is that she succumbs under pressure and Awan doesn't. If you can get her frustrated, she might have a slip of tongue." She advised, knowing the girl way too well.

"And don't feel embarrassed about anything. Tell the truth if you're asked about it, you were wronged by her." She continued, telling him how they could fight better.

Ahad understood her words but he didn't want Aaina to worry about the case so he simply put his teasing smile back on and just looked at her.

"Ab aap apne walid Sahab ko sikhayengi?"

(Now you'll teach your father?)

Minal groaned, hearing his words.

"And here I thought you had grown upto be a reasonable man." Sarcasm evident in her tone as she finally stood up, giving both of them a friendly smile.

If she was being honest, she was glad that she had accepted the first Lady's invitation. She was always coped up in her home, thinking about how her life had turned around all of a sudden, how horrible it was to live without her husband and yet how confused she truly was.

"I'll leave now, thanks for inviting me." She thanked Aaina, shaking hands with Ahad as she bid him goodbye.

"Thank you for coming." Aaina replied, walking by her side as they moved towards the exit.

"Ofcourse. It was nice to talk to you."

"Yeah, it was."

She reached her car and Aaina looked at her, speaking up yet again.

"Minal. Do you love him more than you loved Zaydaan?" She suddenly questioned, not knowing where the query had come from.

"I'll never love him as much as I Loved Zaydaan. It's not humanely possible."

Aaina felt so damn insecure at her brutally honest response that she almost felt angry. But Minal's next words, they changed her entire perspective.

"But there's not just love in a marriage, there's friendship, respect, mutual understanding, no ego, no selfishness, just plain passion for one another. Marriage is an addiction, much more important than my love for anyone in my past." Her voice was a little shaky and eyes a little teary.

"He's my husband." She said it like it was the most amazing thing in the world.

Aaina merely smiled.

"Then why don't you forgive him?" She asked.

Minal just sighed out loud.

"That's something I have to think on. You don't have to be threatened, I won't try to steal Zaydaan just because my marriage might be over."

She said it so bitterly that Aaina frowned at her words.

Was it so hard to believe that she just wanted Minal to be happy?

"No, no. You're taking it wrong. I want you to be happy because you deserve it. I know the kind of woman that you are, Minal. You sacrificed alot, just like me. You deserve happiness." She told her, Minal looked so overwhelmed by Aaina's words that she just nodded, opening the door of her car.

"I-uhh, thank you, Aaina."

The first lady bid her off, satisfied and contented.

She had set one thing straight in her life but there were several hundred complications just along the way. 

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