The diamond sparkled in the light that trickled in through the blinds,as they occupied a table in a realtively secluded corner of the bustling restaurant.
It was the same place,where he had taken her to,on their first date after marriage.And strange enough,they were occupying the same table that they had occupied back then,and twenty five years later,they were still the same.
The table was for two,and the distance between them,small enough for her to lean across the table and stretch out her hand to fix the collar of his shirt.When her eye fell on the wisps of grey hair peeking out of the black,the grey hairs,which he had adamantly refused to dye,claiming that he was in favor of aging gracefully and refusing to accept the fact,that he was doing it because they grey hairs,made him look even more handsome.
There was a small smile lingering on her face-a small peaceful smile.It was as if an impatient urge in him was asking him to take in all of her..every bit of her,all the nuances that lay bare across her face.
Maybe she had realized that he was unabashedly staring at her.
The quick flutter of her lashes showed perplexity,while her eyebros knit together to complete the look of bemusement.He was mesmerized by her eyes as he looked riht into them.The dark hairs that followed the shape of her eyes could one moment make her look more intense by squinting or more beautiful than the star,when she smiled.
Quicly tearing his eyes away from her,he looked down at his plate of food,which ahd long gone cold.
"Remebering those days..?"It was more of a statement than a question.He looked up at her,as the words fell from her lips,breaking the ubiquitous silence,within which they were imprisoned-an affable imprisonment,albeit.
A silence which was away from the fracas of the streets or the rising and ebbing cacophony of the other diner.
Zian Abdullah stretched his hand out and clasped her small palm in his ,entwining their fingers before bringing it to his lips.
"twenty five years-it's a pretty long time,isn't it Aal-ya..?"More than his question,it was the way her name sounded when his faint red lips parted to address her.
"hmm.."
She was unusually quiettoday,Zain noiced ,or maybe from the past couple of days, when he had found her lost in her own train of thoughts,or festering about small things,that didn't matter to her, until then.
Like the other day, when she had ranted about how forgetful he was becoming when he had missed to take his Thyroid pills or the time when she had insisted on making list of his daily routine, his diet chart and medicines, his contact list and then out it up in different corners of the house.
A quiet apprehension drew across his face, when he found her unblinking eyes fixed on his face.
...
..
..
"Do you love me Zain..?"
He would have laughed it off, had it been on some other day, but he knew that she was not pulling a prank on him today.
"25 years of marriage,and you still have-doubts about it?"the corner of her mouth twitched as she tried to force a smile..
"I wish I did.."
"is everything alright Aal-ya..I don't know why..?"Zain couldn't complete his sentence,deep down,somewhere his thoughts crumbled into pieces and disarrayed into something,which his mind couldn't comprehend.
"Zain?if I ask you-f-for s-something,will you give it to me..?"
"Aaliya""but the silence which had risen above the cacophony of the diners,now seemed like a noose around their neck.
"What if I ask you to prove your love for me..?"
The silence that followed this time was different from others.It was pretty much similar to the words dropped from the end of a lonf sentence.
"What?"
"Yes,Zain..Will you be able to live without me,without seeing me ee=veryday,without talking to me,without listening to my voice..live as if I don't exist -anymore..?"
Tears stinged the corner of her eyes,but she wouldn't fall apart.
She looked into his eyes and for the first time in 25 years, Aaliya Zain Abdullah failed to read his thoughts.
...
...
...
"yes.." A part of her,a very small part of her,wanted him to put up a fight,reason out with her,ask her why she was behaving so strangely and maybe even refuse to consent,ask her why she wanted him to prove his love for her,by staying away,when he had been proving it every day for the past 25 years.
"Do you want some time off"our marriage,Aal-ya..?"
"Zain"I.."
"Aal-ya,you"you do love me,right? You're not tired of being with me..just say it for once,that you -love me..that you're just testing me..just say that you're not in love"with-someone"e-else..just say it,because I know I'll not get the answers to my why's' ..Aal-ya..how long..for how l-long..?"
She was standing in front of him..clad in the beautiful pink saree which he ahd gifted her on their 25 marriage anniversary...and had picked it out for her to wear it today.
Aaliya brought her hadsn up,to cup his face.His eyes closed on a refelec,when he felt her lips on his..a soft..like out of habit,as if they would do it every day for their rest of their lives..
But it was a moment..an ephemeral moment,because when he opened his eyes,she was not there.The warmth which he had found in her lips,was not there and the void had been filled with cold loneliness once again..
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When she walked out of the restaurant, Aaliya looked up at the sky.It was as brilliantly blue as any other summer day, impervious to the carnage below. It was a cruelty, an evocation of summers past when they were whole and young, not decimated by this senseless conflict, not burying a loved one every other day of the week. It was a reminder too of their mortality and that their great troubles were insignificant to the world. The azure wash above will be there next year and every season to follow whether she was there to witness it or not.
With each stride her mind became more clear, more resolute, as if the growing physical distance between them had now become an emotional chasm.Abruptly pausing to close her eyes,Aaliya took in a deep breath of the dewy air, she steeled herself to only think of her future from here on in. A future full of uncertainty.
(6 months later)
He reached the navy double-doors with their plastic band fastened midway and their dull chrome handles. He pulled his eyes from the highly polished linoleum floor to catch a glimpse of the hallway that stretched beyond, cut into tiny squares by the thin wire in the window panels. Without pause he pushed with his body weight, but he needn't have, it swung open soundlessly and with ease. A draft of air hits his face, warm and with a tincture of bleach. Ahead of him lay magnolia walls, decorated with old black and white photographs of hospital staff- most likely either deceased or rocking their nineties in some retirement home. He could fit at least two of him with arms outstretched across its width. Instead of straight walls the hallway had a curve, disappearing from sight in a hundred meters or so. Every few seconds he pass a different set of doors with a hand-sanitizer dispenser: to neurology, to geriatrics, to maternity. Zain bypassed them all heading for oncology, because that's where she was.
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Tada..this was the first part..next update very soon.Feedback will be appreciated:*
From
Ann
Health and Fitness
