Valiqa raised her eyebrows before a pleasant smile made its way on her lips. "You seem to be in a good mood. It is nice to see that."

Haajar smiled as wide as her. "I just didn't have a very hectic day. That is a blessing."

"It sure is. We miss you a lot at home. As evil as that makes me sound but I hope he leaves soon and you return back sooner. I miss our dinner dates together. All three of us."

"I miss that too. It is very loud and admiring at Sufyaan bhai's house but I still miss our quiet and bright house."

Valiqa chuckled," It is very bright, isn't it?"

"It is. Sometimes my eyes get irritated."

"Mine too! I get angry at times but Rahemat likes it a lot. His childhood house was very bright it seems. He likes that feeling."

"It is not that bad. Just sometimes it's too much. But I love those dim and orangish lights. They feel good."

"I absolutely hate that one. I get anxious and nervous for some reason."

"Why? It looks so pretty."

"Scary, for me. That is why I never sit in the living room when that's on."

"And I sit there whenever that light is on."  Haajar chuckled making her mother smile. Just then Haajar noticed Rahemat coming to them.

"You girls didn't order? You should have. What would you like to have Haajar? Noodles as spicy as it can be?"  Haajar nodded her head making them laugh loudly.

It was a peaceful meal. They laughed, they ate, they talked and they smiled. They labelled it a lovely evening. Once they were done Rahemat dropped Haajar at Sufyaan's and then drove home. Haajar sat and talked to her cousins for ten minutes before departing to her room.

"What about that white shirt? It will look good on you." Manal said who was going through the closet. "What about this blue one? It's pretty."

"That is Haajar khala's. I do not want to go."

"We are not going anywhere. Just going through clothes."

"What is happening? Is there an event coming up?"

"Salam," Manal said with a smile. "We have an event at school and of course we are not going. But we can look at the clothes, right? Just imagine how we would look because we cannot go in real life. Our legs are tied."

Haajar kept her bag on the bed. "What did you do to anger our calm Manal? Did she say no to go?"

"I didn't even reply," Amal was quick to reply.

"I will stay here tonight," Manal said, "is it a problem?"

"Not at all. We love it."

"Thank you."

"Are you angry or upset about something?"

"No. I am fine. I just hurt my hand and that is making me irritable. Nothing much. It just hurt a lot." She closed the closet and sat on the bed.

"How did you hurt your hand? Let me have a look."

"We were walking here when a passing vehicle passed too fast and I got a deep cut. It is fine, but it is making me angry."

"Because it is not fine. Should we go to the doctor?"

"No, no. It is just fresh which is why it hurts. It will be fine by morning."

"Show me your wound. Did you apply something to it? Why didn't you wash the blood?'

" I did but it started to bleed again. Maybe I accidentally hit it while going through the clothes."

"Wash it again and I will apply the band-aid on it."

"Okay. Thank you."

Haajar smiled before turning to Amal. "Go and get the band-aid box."

"Okay."

Manal and Amal both left the room but in different directions. Amal went to her aunt while her friend went to the bathroom. Then as she was returning she felt thirsty so she went down to the kitchen. She pulled a water bottle from the fridge and walked to the kitchen counter. She was opening the bottle when her train of thoughts occupied her hands. She kept rolling the cap but the bottle stayed sealed. As her thoughts kept flowing her hands kept rolling. The bottle was about to open when the bottle was taken away from her. She looked up and saw Sufyaan standing on the other side of the counter.

"What is bothering that little mind of yours? Are studies difficult?"

"They are fine. I hurt my hand, nothing else."

"Then you would have cried. It does not seem like physical pain. Something bothers your heart. What is it?"

"I was thinking about something. Nothing else."

"What were you thinking? Is someone troubling you? Maybe something? You do not have to tell me. But I am sitting here and my ears are idle. They won't mind being used."

Manal chuckled making Sufyaan smile. He handed her the bottle which she gladly accepted. "It is nothing big. But baba is lost these days. He isn't smiling as much as he did before. He still smiles and plays with us but not like before."

"Afzal is always smiling and playful"

"Exactly but now something is bothering him. That implies something very big is in his life. That thought is scary. Nothing else."

"It must be scary. I haven't noticed him or else I would have freaked out too. If Afzal is worried that means the world is drowning. But it has been a little hectic at work nothing else. We have an important meeting coming up. Aman is the most affected but it will be fine. They are worried but I am confident. I know we can do this. I can understand you are nervous too but trust us. We got this. If you cannot trust my words then trust my confidence. If not even that then trust Allah. Everything will be fine and with everything, Afzal will be fine too. Allah's plans are better than we think. Much bigger than our worries."

Manal smiled and nodded her head making Sufyaan smile as well. Sufyaan spent a few more minutes trying to comfort Manal not realising someone was listening to them. Amal could no longer listen to them and walked up to her room. Her face was long and her mind was lost. When she entered the room she noticed nothing and went straight to the bed. Unlike her, Haajar noticed her and her blank expression. She sat next to her and asked for the reason for her distress. Amal sighed as she said, "Why am I so mean? How come I do not know when people are upset? I am so mean."

"Why do you think like that?"

"Manal is worried because her father is worried and Mamu said Dad is the most worried. I did not notice that."

"You are not home these days. And even when you are you only stay for some time." 

"But he calls me daily and even if I was home I would have not noticed it. You know me. I am too engrossed with myself. Why am I so selfish?"

"You are not selfish."

"I am. I am too much into myself."

As Amal kept talking Haajar looked down as a memory passed her mind. Biting her lips she patted Amal's back, however, there was no word that she could utter. Amal could not forget the thought that night hence she could not sleep, Haajar could not forget the memory hence she was restless. Even as she slept her eyeballs moved, and she twisted and turned. Just as uneasy the night was the morning was too. The memory did not occupy her thoughts but her energy was still its prisoner. So she walked around as slow as she could and moved only as much as her activity needed. Soon the girls left for school and Haajar was on her way to work. She regained her activeness when the work knocked but her soul remained uneasy. Nevertheless, she managed to escape the questions for her actions were not altered.

That night was different from others. It was the night of the first meeting of William's new support group. He had worked hard for it. He personally invited many of them, called a few more, messaged several and emailed old colleagues. Everything was ready the snacks, the words, the activities then in the afternoon he got a call which shattered it all. He had been dull since he opened his eyes as he had received many nos from the people around. He had been thinking to reschedule but his enthusiasm did not allow him however, it dimmed his light.  Then he was informed the room that he had rented was no longer available due to some emergency. That was the last straw that he could handle. For the past month every time he was anxious he was at the law firm but that day he didn't have the energy to leave his room. That was when Alessia came to his recuse.

"Yes. Okay. I can understand. No problem. Do not be too upset. Yeah. that is fine. Okay, call me later. Take care. Bye-bye." Alessia disconnected the call and turned around. "Okay people, William is still upset so our motto for today is very simple- be his people. Any questions?" Haajar, Nadia and Raiyan shook their heads in a no. "Good! Now I will ring the bell and we will conduct the meeting just as it was planned. Come one. Let's do this."

Raiyan chuckled as he followed the ladies. Alessia knocked on the door and soon everyone was in his living room. Raiyan and William brought the snacks from the kitchen, Haajar and Nadia arranged the chairs and Alessia was arranging for some soothing music.

"Why is there no music for this? Do you know anything soothing for this event?" Alessia sighed as she said.

"Why do we need music?" Nadia asked. "Let's just talk. That would be better."

"You think? I thought it would be nice. What do you think Haajar?"

"We are fine without it."

Alessia left the phone and it dropped on the sofa. "Haajar says we are fine then we are fine."  Haajar and Nadia smiled as they exchanged glances. Soon the men returned and they all sat together in a circle.

"Before we begin," William said, "I would like to thank Alessia for her kindness. I am so glad to have met her. And you all. You all are a blessing."

"You are a blessing too. I am so excited about this," Alessia said with a big smile.

"Me too. Now let us begin. Who would like to share?" William looked around and saw nervous faces. He smiled before chuckling. "I am not taking a test. This isn't your finals. Calm down, everyone. Just relax."

Alessia and Raiyan smiled while the other two remained unmoved. William smiled as he nodded his head. "Okay. I will begin. I saw this in the series Mom so I hope this is how it works. Hello, I am William and I am bothered. My life has been quite simple. I was raised in an upper-middle-class household. Soon after college, I started my business which did very well. Shortly was making more money than I could spend. But money never was an issue and then it was in abundance so I never had to worry or even think about money. Even today it isn't my pain problem.  Gladly that was never my drawback. I got married to a woman I met at a meeting. She was very beautiful and her words were enchanting. I proposed to her within a few months and we got married a few months later. It all happens in seven or eight months. Those were beautiful days. But thirty-one years later she asked me to divorce her. She said we are different people and can not be together. Funny how it took her thirty-one year to understand that. I was very, very hurt when we got divorced because I did, at least I think I did everything for her. I sold my flourishing business, and went to a farm to live which I didn't even want to do! She said she didn't want children and I said no children. She wanted to have a quiet life I led that life. She wanted to buy another farm and guess what I did? I did everything. What did I miss? I was attentive, I was caring, and I always thought of her first. I have been upset for long but these days there is one thing that bothers me a lot. Children. If I had children I think I would have been fine. I wouldn't have gotten involved with that jerk. I started the business with him only and only because I wanted to distract my mind and now look, three years later I am living at a law firm. But nothing matters. I just wish for children. Nothing else comes to my mind. But you know what, I thought I was not going to carry the baby so it was not my pain hence not my call. I can not and should not say a word about that. Do you think I was wrong?"

"That thought?" Alessia asked. "It was good that you thought of her and her pain first but of course if you want children you can have a say in it. Father's are important too. They do a lot of things. Yeah, they don't carry the baby and go through the pain but being a father isn't easy and their love is valuable."

Haajar clenched her thumps nervously. Alessia and William continued their discussion and Haajar continued to hear them carefully. With each word her nervousness increased and so did her heartbeat. Then came a point when she was biting her lower lip. She was occupied in her thoughts forgetting the world but she heard every word carefully.

"That is my story. Now, who will share?" William looked at each one of them when he noticed Haajar's lost face. "Haajar, would you like to speak?"

Haajar looked up at him and started for a moment before noticing the others. She smiled as she looked down. "There is nothing that has been bothering me a lot. But some old memories keep coming to me these days and they make me anxious. My time in India and my early days in America are not the greatest days of my life but those are the days that keep visiting me and I do not understand what to do with them or how to handle them. That is it."