Sadqay Humare.

thirteen

Aaina x Zaydaan. 

The only voice that could be heard in the room was the voice of the television reporter than kept on reading the news over and over again.

Her face showed her emotions, the utter feelings of displeasure as she read the news that no Pakistani ever wanted to read out loud.

Aaina gulped, glancing at Zaydaan.

She did not even know how she felt about the entire news, she was too shocked to even utter a word. It had been ages since she had even read a word about any terror attack taken place in the country and now here they were, in the middle of the night, listening to the news of the worst terror attack possible.

Zaydaan stayed quiet, eyes focused on the television. There were better sources that he could turn to, better sources that could tell him what actually had happened and what was the current condition but his mind felt numb and he just sat there, listening.

"The last time a terror attack took place in the country was eight years ago. Sources say that the attack was brutal, several people have been reported dead."

Aaina switched to another channel and saw the same news.

"We bring you an extremely saddening news. It is said that the attack took place around an hour ago and there has been no count of how many people are injured in the vicious attack."

"The armed forces have took charge of the area. There were threats looming in Balochistan which is why security was high alert in the province. While the armed forces and the police were busy patrolling the streets of Quetta, the terrorists attacked the city of Bahawalpur. "

Punjab. The most important province of the entire country and those f*****g enemies of the state had done just that.

She didn't want to feel selfish at the moment but the thought of Zaydaan's hardwork going to waste, all those nights where he had chaired security meetings, all those days where he hadn't eaten because he was so damn busy, it had all gone to waste.

"There has been no condemnation or statement by the Prime Minister, chief minister or the army Chief. Once again, it is being said with extreme grief that Pakistan has been struck with a terror attack just an hour ago."

Finally, upon hearing his name over and over again on the television screen, Zaydaan finally stood up from his place, shaking off the shock.

"What are you going to do?" Aaina asked, standing up as well.

"I'm going to Bahawalpur."

She frowned. Was he not going to ask any suggestion? Was he not going to consult it with his team?

"At this time? Zaydaan, it's three." She mumbled in worry.

"I know, Aaina. They're my people." He replied instead.

And she understood. People, they were his responsibility. He was responsible for the well being of an entire nation and it was not an easy job.

He needed support in this moment and he needed his sheer confidence, not a coat of self blaming but a coat of self belief.

She put a hand on his shoulder, looking at him.

"I should come with you, right? I should visit the people that are affected." She asked, knowing that it was the noble thing to do.

She had always been known as the people's lady, the woman who didn't hesitate in picking up an orphan child off the street in his muddy clothes.

"I'm not sure if it's safe. Stay home." Zaydaan told her but his voice was genuinely unsure. She felt like he was silently asking her to come with him and yet his over protective husband instincts were telling him to not let her come with him.

"If it's not safe, you shouldn't go either." She argued.

"I can't abandon my people." He stated it like a fact.

She nodded.

"I'll come with you then. I'll pack some stuff."

Zaydaan let out a sigh, whispering an okay.

"I have to go to the office. I'll inform you of the details later." He told her, squeezing her shoulder just a little bit.

"Alright." 

After bidding him off, Aaina quickly packed some important stuff needed for a day's visit, she put a spare suit for Zaydaan as well, knowing that he might need it there.

Zayla was still fast asleep, she was a heavy sleeper, no amount of noise could ever wake her up.

She walked outside, knocking at Noora and Ahad's bedroom. Noora opened the door, eyes half swollen but awake.

"Hey..you're awake?" Aaina entered her bedroom, looking around for Ahad who was nowhere to be found. The television was switched on and the same news was being displayed over and over again.

"Hey. How can I sleep? I just saw the news." Noora replied, seeing Aaina in her night and clothes and half swollen eyes, just the same as her.

"Where's Ahad?"

"He left with Zaydaan bhai."

Aaina nodded in understanding, looking at her sister in law.

"I'm leaving for bahawalpur as well. I need your help."

"Ofcourse, anything." Noora responded without any hesitancy.

"Can you please take care of Zayla for the day? I can't trust anyone other than you." Aaina could not trust anyone other than Noora and Ahad when it came to Zayla. She just could not.

And Zaydaan, he trusted Ahad with Zayla more than anything.

"Ofcourse, I can. Don't worry about it."

"You know what my mother tried the last time, please..just take care of her. Don't let her go to anyone other than you or Saira." Aaina explained, slightly worried.

"I'll take off from work, I'll be with her at all times and I won't leave home. Okay?" Noora said all the things that she knew would urgently calm Aaina down.

She breathed a sigh of relief, thanking Noora.

"Thank you."

Aaina said with gratitude, walking out of the room.

The first lady changed into a simple lawn dress, applying just a small coat of foundation and her lip balm. She didn't want people to critisize her at such a time so she made sure to tie her hair and even kept a spare dupatta in her hand, just in case. 

As she got escorted towards the government owned private jet, she wondered about how the situation in bahawalpur must be.

She had received a call from Zaydaan, telling her to just arrive at the noor Khan airbase on her own. She had said her goodbye to her sleepy daughter, kissed her head and told her that mama, baba will be back home soon.

She entered the jet, looking around for her husband. The first sight that greeted her was Javed Khan, the Prime Minister's advisor and a very important part of his cabinet.

"Salam bhabhi, how are you?" He greeted the first lady with a small smile.

"I'm good, Javed bhai. How is everything?"

"Very busy as you can see. It's good to see you accompany the Prime Minister though." He added, Aaina nodded.

"Yeah, I couldn't stay back home at such time. They're making a report on the injured and the dead. I'll visit the families and the ones in hospital." She told him.

Javed moved at a side, walking with the first lady as she had her eyes set on the Prime Minister.

"That's a noble thing to do. The chief's wife might accompany you as per our info."

"Okay,"

She sat by her husband's side, mumbling a Salam. Zaydaan had his glasses on, as he read something eagerly from the laptop that was placed in front of him.

"Javed." He said, not looking up.

Javed, who was just about to sit on his own seat looked at the Prime Minister.

"Jee, sir?"

The Prime Minister glanced up at him, taking off his glasses.

"I want you to make a report on the meetings we've had on national security and the things discussed in it. I'll need that."

Javed understood, nodding his head.

"I'll get on it right away."

He sat on his seat and switched his own laptop on, scanning through a bunch of files.

Zaydaan looked at Aaina next.

"Zayla was okay?" He asked his wife,

"She was throwing some tantrums since I woke her up but Ahad stayed back, she was okay." Aaina assured him, over looking the report that Zaydaan had been reading earlier.

The casualties were upto sixty five now, several women and children among the dead and injured.

"I told him to handle the news channels for the moment. Truth is, I just wanted him to stay home because I trust him more with Zayla." Zaydaan admitted.

Aaina let out a small chuckle even at the time of such distress.

"I got that the moment he came home." Aaina replied.

The Prime Minister closed the laptop as the plane took off, his eyes closed as a deep sigh escaped his mouth.

"I am dreading reaching Bahawalpur." He admitted silently, voice barely audible to anyone but Aaina.

"It's going to be okay." He heard Aaina whisper to him as she closed her fingers around his hand.

He opened his eyes, turning his head to look at his wife.

"I feel like it all happened on my watch and it makes my blood boil, Aaina. I feel guilty and at the same time I feel enraged."

He was being so honest in that moment, showing that he felt vulnerable as well, that he felt guilty for something that wasn't really his fault.

Aaina knew that it was her duty to console him right now, not just as his wife but also as his first lady.

"That's understandable, Zaydaan. They're your people and they're hurting. You're supposed to feel this way." She told him, looking around to see all the ten people on the plane working on their laptops and cell phones.

Her husband still didn't look too convinced so his wife, without caring about what others might think, grabbed his face and made him look at her.

"Look, all you can do right now is help the injured, pray for the dead and make sure that something of this sort never happens again. Eight years, Zaydaan. Eight years of utter peace, it can't be disrupted again." She tried to give him some sort of confidence.

"You and the army chief have to come to a decision together. Whatever happened was God's will but the almighty has given you the power and the brain to help your people. It will be okay."

She consoled. She wanted his mind to be completely calm and at peace so that his decision making wouldn't get affected.

"I don't even know." She heard him mumble, face showing concern and worry.

Aaina swallowed the bile down her throat as she spoke again.

"I'm here, with you. You need to stop feeling bad about what happened and move on from it. You have to help the people and you can't do that when you're so glum and out of your own zone, Zaydaan."

Zaydaan clenched his jaw and closed his eyes yet again, leaning back on the seat.

There was nothing but quiet for a while. Zaydaan thought about how he was going to meet the victims, how he was going to chair the meetings, how he was going to manage it all, how he had to make a decision and give a go to the army chief, so much s**t that he had to do, so much that he could have done, so much that he already did but clearly it wasn't enough.

"Distract me." She suddenly heard Zaydaan say.

Aaina frowned in confusion, looking at him.

"What?"

"Take my mind off it all till we reach there." She looked at her watch, seeing the time. They had fifteen more minutes to reach bahawalpur.

"Fifteen minutes?"

"Yes." He nodded.

"umm..okay.."

Aaina thought about what to tell him, maybe about the new food drive or the recent kids from Thar but he knew all of that already.

Maybe, about the talk with her mother? No. That was upsetting.

And then it clicked. She knew what she had to talk about.

"Did you know I met Minal?"

Zaydaan groaned upon the mention of his ex's name. He didn't want any more whining about the matter.

"Aaina.." He trailed off, she clicked her tongue asking him to just listen first.

"I'm serious. I called Minal over for tea and we had the best conversation we've had in years." She stated, smiling at him.

"What did you talk about?" Zaydaan questioned, almost mumbling in his own mouth with his eyes closed.

"My husband, her husband. How she met her husband and the ongoing tensions between them. I apologised for some of the things I've said or done and she did the same." She explained, continuing.

She knew that he didn't know the exact story of how Minal had met up with her husband so she decided to tell Zaydaan exactly that.

"She said that she met Shahid on the defense day parade for the first time. She said that she could never tell you what actually happened on that day because the story was just a little embarrassing for her."

"She met Shahid on that day, he was on duty and we had just arrived. She said that all she could hear was the applaud and cheers as the Prime Minister arrived with his first lady. She said that suddenly her heart broke all over again and she couldn't control herself. "

Aaina gulped as she recalled the entire story. Knowing that her happiness was the reason of someone's tears, it made her feel almost guilty.

"There were so many cameras around that she had to rush and hide at a side so she could cry. She was actually crying when she met that man."

Zaydaan opened his eyes and looked at Aaina, confused.

"She told you all that?" He couldn't believe that his wife and his ex could actually get along like that.

"Yes, now listen." She told him to just listen, just get distracted.

So, he listened.

" 'You can not be here, ma'am. It's a restricted area, only for army officials.' He said to her but upon seeing her cry like that, his heart softened and he gave her a tissue. He told her to calm down and gave her a glass of water."

Zaydaan couldn't help but compare it to his first meeting with Minal. Her, sitting next to him and telling him that her father knew his father, his subtle nod and icy cold eyes. Her, offering him lunch since he had no food of his own, him shaking his head and walking away. He was so different back then.

He was an insecure teenager, wondering why his mother didn't love him enough, a boy who just covered up all his hurt with cold anger.

"Once she had calmed down, he told her to leave the area since it was restricted, she told him she was General Ashfaq's daughter and nothing was restricted for her. He just laughed at her arrogance. One moment, she was crying and the next, she was showing him attitude. "

Zaydaan couldn't help himself as he smirked at her.

"Sounds like you have it all memorised." He commented, Aaina shrugged.

"It's a sweet story." She said, then continued talking.

"Anyway, she got annoyed at his laughter but couldn't help but laugh out loud as well. She literally had a mental break down on defense day with a man she didn't even know. He told her his name was Shahid and if she ever felt the need to talk to someone, she should give him a call. "

"Minal told him she wasn't interested but somehow she found herself calling him two days later. It's crazy how people find love like that."

She couldn't imagine finding love that way. Love came to her so painfully, yet in such a beautiful manner that she couldn't help but fall in its trap.

Her love for Zaydaan didn't come instantly. When she met him for the first time, she felt scared of him, she felt intimidated by his scary yet handsome demeanour. When she began to live with him, she feared him even more. He was like a ticking time bomb. But somehow, along the way..his soft words and his silent caresses, his care got to her and she found herself falling for him, even though she knew he might never feel the same way.

Her love story was painful but Minal's story was sweet, fascinating. Atleast she felt that way.

Upon hearing her say that Minal's story was sweet, her husband looked at her.

"Aaina, most people meet that way." He told her.

She raised an eye at him.

"Yeah, not really. I remember how we met. You gave me lessons. My word is the last word, yes?" She teased, Zaydaan leaned forward.

"Are you mocking me?" He asked in a hushed whisper, holding her arm.

A few years ago, when he used to look into her eyes, she would feel intimidated and look away. Now, she'd just stare back with so much love that even if he felt angry at her, his heart wouldn't let him lash out.

As she stared back at him a smile slipped his mouth.

"Atleast I got you to smile." Aaina murmured, smiling back at him.

He leaned back into his seat, looking ahead at his team getting ready for landing.

They were putting their laptops back in their bags, now talking among themselves.

"I'm glad that you made up with Minal." Zaydaan told her as they felt the plane touch the ground.

"Because of you. I didn't want you to think of me as an ungrateful immature girl." Aaina responded, Zaydaan let out a sigh.

"You're not, you know that." He unfastened his seat belt, as Aaina did the same.

"We're here." His advisors, a few of his ministers and his security team stood up.

The Prime Minister stood up as well.

"Ready, Mr Prime Minister?" Aaina asked in a hushed whisper.

Zaydaan Ziagil looked back at her, eyes fierce and face showing his confidence.

"Always." He replied.

And Prime Minister Zaydaan Ziagil truly was ready.