ArHad FF: I Love You ll Readers read page 19 - Page 6

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Fahad looked at Mr. Kumar in shock. He had always been an incredibly handsome man with his thick, dark hair and piercing brown eyes. Now, he looked tired and flushed, as if he had been crying. Fahad could smell the booze on his breath and that shocked him. Sudhir Kumar had never taken a drink before in his life. He had worked so hard to be a good parent to Bharti, a mother and a father in one.

"Where's Bharti? I know you don't want me to see her but I need to. It's really important."

"She's gone," he said and Fahad watched as her dad broke down into tears.

"She left me."

"What?" Fahad was certain that his ears were playing tricks on him. "When? How?"

Tears ran down his face. "She told me that she was going to leave but I didn't believe her. She wrote me a note and now she's gone. My little girl is gone."

Fahad felt his heart explode in his chest. Bharti has said that she was going to run away but he didn't believe her. She wasn't the type to do something like that. She had always been so level headed. He watched as Mr. Kumar took out a crumpled piece of paper from the pocket of his shirt. He gave it to Justin.

Dear Papa,

It hurts me so much to do this but you have no idea how I'm feeling. I'm going to have my baby whether you like it or not. You disappointed me in the way you've been acting. I know this hurts you but you have to accept me no matter what I did. I'm still your child and you have treated me terribly because I am pregnant. You and Fahad both disappointed me and I will never forgive you for that. I am sorry that you won't be able to see your grandchild when he or she is born. I just want you to know that I will always be a good parent to my child. Up until this happened, you were a good parent too. I love you, Daddy. I wish I could forgive you.

Love always,

Bharti.

Fahad felt tears mist his eyes. "This can't be."

"Well, it is and it's all your fault." Mr. Kumar snatched the paper out of his hand. "If you would have kept your..." he shook his head, "my little girl is gone. She's gone."

Fahad watched as he went back in the house, sobbing. He slammed the door in his face.

"It can't be," he said to himself again and he sobbed too.

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Maria's eyes sparkled with tears. "And that was the last you ever heard from her."

He nodded. "I don't know where she is. I have no idea where she went."

"What about her father? Did you ever see him again?"

He shook his head as he grabbed his can of Coke. "That was the last I ever saw of him. We moved to Doon after that."

"Do you think she ever went back home?"

"I don't know. Bharti was always pretty stubborn about things. She was so angry at her dad and I. She wouldn't even speak to him. He was so set on her getting the abortion and that hurt her a lot."

"Maybe you could try getting in touch with him. It has been four years, Fahad. Maybe it's time to set things right."

"What difference would that make? He always blamed me for everything that happened. My parents blamed her. Things were so screwed up."

She sighed and set her sandwich down. "Why did you leave her, Fahad?"

He stared at her. "What do you mean?"

"I want to know the real reason for you leaving her. Was it because of your parent's demands on you or were you just afraid? I know you really loved her. Why did you leave her?"

He crumpled up a napkin and threw it in the wastebasket. "I was scared out of my mind. I wasn't ready to be a daddy. I didn't even have a job then. My parents were taking care of me to insure that I could just focus on my education. I didn't want to fail."

"But you did. You failed the minute you turned your back on that poor girl."

Maria took a sip of her cola. "I know you were both young but you obviously had something special together. She got pregnant... these things happen. You were both dead set on her not getting an abortion. You left her because you were scared. That's understandable but think of how she must have felt. She was the one who was pregnant and she left because she felt like everyone had let her down. You, her father, everyone. I'm sure she must have struggled. She was just a child herself and yet, she sounds so mature to me. She had no choice to be. Wouldn't it have been better to be scared for awhile than to live with this regret?"

He nodded as he picked up the cup that Bharti had given him. "I still love her," he whispered. "That has never changed."

"And it's four years later. Aren't you the least bit curious to see if she reconciled with her father? Don't you want to know your child?"

He nodded again and a tear fell down his cheek. "That's the part that hurts me the most. I don't even know my own baby. I let her down. I let the both of them down and I did it because I was jerk. I was too afraid to face the future. I was too afraid to hurt my parents."

"So you hurt Bharti instead."

He nodded. "I was scared."

"I'm sure she was too."

"She was always very strong. That's what I loved about her. She never let anything get her down. I knew she could handle anything."

"Except a broken heart."

Fahad sighed again and put the cup down. "I miss her,Maria. Not a day goes by when I don't think about her, obsess about her. I wish I knew. I just wish I knew."

"Why don't you call her father? It might do a world of good for you."

"I don't know. He was pretty sore at me when I left. I don't think he'd appreciate hearing from me."

"Fahad, it's been four years. It's time to forgive and forget. At least think about it. Okay?"

He saw her smile and felt her encouragement. "I'll think about it."

"Good. That's all I want to hear." She pats him on the hand and they finished their lunch in silence.

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