Resurrected

by Natasha Nozer Mehenty

  He sat down at the table and said, “Sorry Afrin, but I don’t love you. If my friendship made you fall in love with me then I am ready to break it.”

  Afrin’s face turned pale. She was very unhappy. In a soft and shaky voice she asked, “But hope you will be my friend forever?”

  Smith shook his head and said, “No Afrin. How can I promise you to be your friend in future? Who knows where destiny will take you and me in future. So let’s not predict future, instead live in the present.”

  Hearing this, Afrin could no longer control her emotions. She broke into tears.

  Looking at this, Sam told her softly, “Afrin we must live life as it comes, and not the way we wish life to be. Life doesn’t give us everything we want. If something is written and destined for you, nobody can snatch it away from you.”

  Sam went away because his presence would hurt her more.

  One of Afrin’s friends commented, “I wonder how bad Zaib must have felt when Afrin had declined his proposal.”

  CHAPTER 10

  FRIENDS UNITE

  After a few days, Zaib met Sam on his way. The two friends hugged each other. Zaib took Smith to his house. They talked about the upcoming football match for some time and their college life.

  Sam asked Zaib, “How come I don’t see you in college anymore? Hope you haven’t quit college because of that insensitive girl whom you had liked in college?”

  Zaib felt as if somebody was pressing a painful nerve. He took control of his emotions and replied, “No, my dear friend. I haven’t been bunking college because of her, but it is simply because I’ve joined my father’s business.”

  “Oh, that’s great! Looks like you’ve moved on,” Sam replied.

  “I haven’t moved on because every time I breathe, my heart reminds me of her,” Zaib muttered to himself.

  “Sam, how is your college life going?” he asked, changing the topic.

  Sam told him how he loved his college and how much he had contributed to his college by winning various trophies. He then told Zaib about Afrin. How she had helped him and that she had proposed to him. He told Zaib that she had cried when he refused her proposal.

  Zaib was lost in his own thoughts after hearing whatever his friend had just told him. He went to the kitchen and after sometime, returned and sat next to Sam. He looked at Sam and smiled.

  He told him, “Sam, if Afrin loves you with all her heart, why don’t you accept her?”

  Sam replied, “No, Zaib. I want to keep myself away from girls after the most horrible experience of life with Alina.”

  Zaib tried consoling him and said, “If one person has ditched you it doesn’t mean that another girl will do the same.”

  “No Zaib, please. After that incident I have lost faith in people. I was a very kind hearted and loving person but my experience with Alina changed me forever. I don’t know why, but I have become a rude and stone-hearted person,” Sam replied, recollecting his past hurt.

  Zaib did not give up his efforts. He said, “Sam, whatever happens in life is for our best. God might have taken away Alina simply because he had destined another better lady for you. May be that is Afrin!

  “Anyway, tell me one thing, did you feel that Afrin words came straight from her heart? Do you feel she is honest? Did she always think well about you?”

  “I guess, yes,” Sam replied.

  “Then it simply means that she truly loves you,” Zaib said.

  “One more question, even after you made her cry on her birthday declining her proposal, is she still talking to you?”

  “Yes, every day,” Sam replied.

  “So Sam, even after you have hurt her, she still prefers speaking with you. It simply means that her love is true,” Zaib said.

  “You are right. Maybe, I should think about her. Anyway, she doesn’t look bad,” said Zaib firmly.

  “No, Sam. Don’t go for the looks in any person. Like the person for her feelings and love towards you,” said Zaib firmly.

  Sam left the house and kept thinking about whatever Zaib had told him. After reaching his own house Sam called Afrin.

  She picked up the phone and said, “Hi Sam! How come you called me after such a long time?”

  “Afrin, I need to tell you something,” Sam said softly.

  “What?” Afrin enquired in a shivering voice.

  Sam continued, “I love you Afrin…”

  Afrin shouted with tears of joy, “Sam, I love you too!” and she kissed her cell phone before disconnecting it. Afrin’s life changed from that moment. Her serious and studious nature turned into a stress free and happy one. She remained cheerful and a smile was always seen on her face. She began to observe herself and would often stand near a mirror and look at her young beauty.

  There was another change in Afrin. She had stopped concentrating on her academics. She had started delaying all her work because she was always busy with Smith. When they were in college, they would bunk their class. Afrin had discontinued all her hobbies. She would waste all her time chatting with her boyfriend. Love had disconnected her from the real world.

  One day a guy from Afrin’s class had approached her for help in studies. She told him to meet her in the library. While she was helping him out with his difficulties, her phone kept on ringing.

  She picked up the phone and said in a soft voice, “I am busy Sam. Talk to you later…”

  She later kept her phone on silent mode. Afrin tried her best but could not solve all the difficult problems of her friend.

  She told him, “We shall go and solve our questions with the concerned professor.”

  She was standing with her friend outside the class waiting for the teacher to finish her lectures. Since the teacher was busy, they went to the canteen to have coffee. Afrin had forgotten that she had kept her cell phone on silent mode and Sam had been calling her continuously.

  Sam was very angry because Afrin was not answering his call. He came angrily to the college but right at the entrance he met Zaib. He told Zaib how angry he was with Afrin for not answering his call.

  He said, “Zaib, I am going to go to the class and shout at her.”

  Zaib stopped him and said, “No Sam! Do not create such nuisance in the class. You have built a good reputation. Why do you want to spoil it? Come into the canteen and sit till your anger calms down.”

  They went to the canteen. Sam saw that Afrin was busy chatting with some guy and having coffee with him. He stood near her but she did not notice his presence as she was busy chatting.

  Zaib was standing with Sam to prevent him from doing anything rash. He kept his hand on his friend’s shoulders and said, “Sam, don’t get angry. This guy is only her friend and she is just chatting with him.”

  “Her friends are more important to her. She does not respond to her boyfriend’s phone but has time to chat with other guys!” Sam replied loud enough for others to notice his anger.

  Afrin’s eyes went on Sam. She looked at his angry face and got frightened. She looked at him and asked, “What happened, Sam?”

  Sam took out a ring from his finger and said, “Take your ring back. You are no more my girlfriend, because you don’t deserve to be…” He left the canteen in anger.

  Afrin’s eyes flooded with tears. Zaib kept staring at her face.

  He ran after Sam. “Hey Sam, why did you do that? I mean why did you just break up with her?”

  Sam looked at Zaib and said angrily, “I was foolish to trust another unfaithful person!”

  Zaib got worried that Sam might take some drastic step, so, he took him to his home. They were resting for some time when somebody rang the door bell. Zaib got up to open the door. On opening the door, he saw Afrin standing outside.

  Afrin looked at Zaib with angry eyes and shouted, “Why the hell did you come here?”

  Zaib was shocked to hear
that but he understood that Afrin was angry with him. Zaib stayed silent and looked down.

  Afrin knew that Zaib would not speak rudely to her. So she screamed again, “Zaib, I am sure, you have only forced Sam for the breakup. You can harm my life just because I…”

  Before she could speak anything more, Sam came there and stopped her.

  He pushed her out of his house and said, “Who the hell are you to question my childhood friend like that? In fact, I should ask you why you have come back even after knowing that you are no more a part of my life. Just get lost!”

  Afrin stood there, crying but did not utter a word. Zaib knew that if he didn’t intervene, things would go out of hand.

  Zaib kept his hand on Sam’s shoulder to calm his anger. He said, “Sam, please do not insult her. Let her come inside. Clear your misunderstandings.”

  Afrin looked at Zaib and shouted, “Why do you interfere in our matter?”

  “Shut up, Afrin!” Sam screamed pointing a finger at her. “Zaib has always spoken on your behalf. In fact, it was Zaib who had convinced me to accept your proposal. And when I did breakup with you, he was very unhappy. He kept on telling me to forgive your mistakes. Come inside now!” Sam growled.

  Hearing this, Afrin was instantly ashamed of her behavior and quick assumption. She looked at Zaib and said, “I am very sorry Zaib. I judged you wrong.”

  “It’s okay,” Zaib replied with a smile.

  Afrin’s detestation for Zaib vanished from her heart forever. She smiled back at him.

  Zaib moved towards the door and said to Afrin, “I am leaving. You both need some time to discuss your personal lives.”

  Afrin stopped Zaib and with a smile replied, “You know everything, Zaib. Now help me to solve my problem and convince Sam.”

  Afrin went into the hall and sat opposite Sam. Sam was still upset and he turned his face away from her. For a few minutes there was no conversation. Then finally Zaib said, “Sam I know you are hurt. The only way to heal it is by speaking it out in front of the person who has hurt you. Now tell Afrin where did she go wrong?”

  Sam shouted in anger, “Afrin is unfaithful. She is giving importance to some other guy. He is more important to her than me…”

  “No! No! No! Sam, that is totally wrong.” Afrin said shaking her head in sorrow. “I do not love anybody more than you!” Sam started bawling more and said, “I had called you in the afternoon and you disconnected my phone by saying you were busy. When I came to college I saw you really busy chatting with that guy. He and his talks were so much important that you did not pick up my calls thereafter.”

  Afrin stopped him and politely said, “No Sam, this is not true at all. I had actually kept the phone on silent because I was in the library. One of our classmates had some queries which he requested me to solve but even I couldn’t understand them!” She explained the entire incident and Sam started to relax.

  Zaib told him, “Sam such misunderstanding would shatter you both if you do not clear them out. In life, if you have complaints against anyone for doing something wrong with you, always clear your misunderstandings.”

  Sam said, “You are absolutely right.” Afrin looked at him and smiled.

  Sam went and hugged Zaib. He said, “Zaib if you were not here, I would have never listened to Afrin…”

  Zaib caught Sam by his shoulder and said, “Sam, if you love someone then have faith in that person. Do not feel so insecure. Have patience and understand things.”

  “Yes buddy, you are right,” Sam said with a smile.

  “One last and most important thing, Sam. Always respect your partner. Never put her down in front of others,” Zaib advised him.

  “I am very sorry honey, forgive me,” saying this Sam kissed Afrin on her forehead. Afrin also hugged him.

  Looking at this, Zaib left Sam’s house. Afrin and Sam kept talking with each other for few hours. Then finally, Afrin looked at her watch and said, “It is getting late. Drop me home, please.”

  Sam started his car and Afrin sat in comfortably. She looked at Sam and said, “Zaib is a real nice fellow.”

  Interrupting her, Sam asked jokingly, “So Afrin, I think you love him. Ha ha ha..” Hearing this Afrin sat still. Her face turned woebegone.

  She looked at Sam and said, “No Sam, I never loved him. But he did love me. He had also proposed to me. But I had denied. I even stopped speaking with him because I abhorred his family. Still, he has forgiven me and been my well wisher.”

  Hearing this, Sam stopped his car and asked Afrin, “Did he really propose to you? You also had stopped speaking to him?”

  “Yes. Zaib did admire me,” Afrin replied.

  At this Sam recollected the incident as to how miserable Sam’s life had been made and that girl was nobody else but Afrin herself.

  Sam got lost in his thoughts. He felt sad that he had taken away the true love of his childhood friend.

  Afrin looked at Sam, lost in deep thoughts with a wretched face.

  She kept her hand on his shoulder and asked, “What happened, Sam? Why do you look so upset?”

  Sam pushed away Afrin’s hand and moved away his face. Afrin got worried with Sam’s unusual behaviour.

  She felt that she had made a big mistake by telling Sam that Zaib had proposed her. May be Sam was angry because he felt…

  But she took off all her thoughts and asked, “Sam if you have any misunderstanding then please clear it out. Please Sam…”

  Sam looked at her and asked, “Why did you stop speaking to Zaib? You had told that you did not like one of his family members…”

  Hearing this Afrin felt that Sam was showing sympathy towards her and being angry on Zaib because of his family being bad towards her. Thinking all this, she replied, “Zaib is a kind person. But I hate his family… especially his father. When I was small I used to go there and play with Zaib’s sister. One day his father molested me. I got afraid and did not speak out. The hurt in my heart turned into resentment. I felt that even Zaib might be a bad person just like his father. So I stopped speaking to Zaib.”

  Sam looked at Afrin in anger and said, “Just because of his father you assumed that even Zaib has a bad character. How can you judge any person by his family? It was stupid of you to be angry with Zaib just because his father misbehaved with you. Zaib is a different person and his father is totally different. You should not have behaved impolitely with Zaib and punished him because of the wrong deeds of his father!”

  Afrin felt that whatever Sam had spoken was true. Zaib was not bad at all. He had always respected her and been a very good friend. She looked down with a regretful face.

  Sam further continued, “I know that many young girls are molested by pervert men like Zaib’s father. Unfortunately, the injustice done with them goes unnoticed. The culture of our society does not allow such victim girls and their family members to reveal the truth to outsiders. Fingers are pointed towards the poor girl to make her feel ashamed for the unfortunate event in her life instead of helping her out to fight back. On the other hand, such perverts roam freely.”

  Afrin was looking down with shame on recollecting her bitter past.

  Sam wanted to console her but simultaneously pretended to be angry. He said, “You felt that Zaib’s father did wrong with you and has not received any punishment for it! Afrin, who are you to decide that God also did not punish him?”

  Afrin got confused with Sam’s talks. She asked out of curiosity, “How did God punish Zaib’s father?”

  Sam took a deep breath and said, “God took away Zaib’s sister, Rinky ten years ago. God took away their only child. Now imagine the pain hidden inside his father’s heart.”

  “But Zaib’s sister wasn’t their only child. I mean Zaib was also there,” Afrin corrected Sam.

  “Zaib is not his son,” Sam replied.

  “What??” Afrin was
shocked. “Then why is Zaib staying with him?”

  “Zaib’s father, Mr. Anthony was a professor and lived a very simple and decent life with his wife and son. He was a very helpful and kind person. Unfortunately, a year after Zaib’s birth, his father met with a car accident and died. His mother got a shock and went insane. Zaib was very small at that time and nobody was there to take care of him. Therefore, that man who misbehaved with you adopted him as his son and tried to come out of the grief of his dead daughter.”

  “How sad!” Afrin said realizing her mistake of ill-treating Zaib for no fault of his. She thought for some time and asked, “But Sam, how did Rinky die?”

  “She died because of some prolonged illness,” Sam replied.

  Sam dropped Afrin at her residence and went back home. He made up his mind to meet Zaib and tell him that he would break up with Afrin.

  The entire night Sam couldn’t sleep in peace after realizing that he acted like a villain in Zaib’s life by stealing away his true love. On the other hand, Afrin slept peacefully because all her hatred for Zaib and his adoptive father had died.

  CHAPTER 11

  SITUATIONS CHANGE, PEOPLE DON’T

  Next morning, Sam went to Zaib’s house. Zaib was sitting eating his breakfast.

  Looking at Sam, he tried to smile and said, “Hey, want to join me for breakfast? It is great to see you. I am sure my day will go very good after meeting you.”

  Sam kept staring at him. Even after having his love taken away from him, Zaib still liked Sam. He felt fortunate to have a friend like Zaib.

  Sam began to think, “If I was in Zaib’s place, I would have cursed and hated the person taking my love away.”

  Looking at Sam lost in his thoughts; Zaib stood up from his chair and offered Sam a glass of juice.

  “No, thanks!” said Sam.

  “Drink it and cool down,” said Zaib and winked at Sam.

  “Thank you, Zaib.”

  “Be less formal with your friend.” Zaib gave a blow on Sam’s back.

  “Zaib I need to talk with you on an important matter,” Sam looked serious.