33.

                                    

                                          
Farjaad rarely ever looked forward to something to the point where he lost sleep, lost appetite and felt his heart at verge of bursting into a million pieces. First time in his life it was a level of anxiety which he was unable to control that left him pacing around his room and the backyard until he was breathless. But it was happening, and it was for an ulterior motive.
When he heard the judge slam her gavel onto the sound block and announce his uncle's time to be spent in prison with a sickening probation, the restlessness did not go away. When his mother and sister walked up to him and hugged in relief, the anticipation did not go at ease. It sunk in that he won over his father's legacy and got it justice, yet he was still waiting for something, the emotions were not at halt. It almost felt as if the declaration made no difference to him.
Because it didn't. Farjaad almost stopped caring about the case, about winning it, because he knew that was bound to happen. The balance scale in his head gave him enough of an insight that things would be in his favour considering the hours he put into it. However, something the balance scales didn't give him enough insight on was thinking how things with Umeed were going to go. 
It had been two weeks, he called her every single day, she did not answer. He left a text every single day, 'please answer the phone', she did not even read it. He wondered if her read receipts were turned off, or whether she had completely archived him and ignored him. She had not blocked him yet, which Farjaad used as drops of hope that he could turn things around.
But the sudden victory gave him hope and motivation, as well as a push that would not stop until he made up to her, until she was smiling once again and they were sitting back in his living room with an annoying cat interrupting them every five minutes. Farjaad wanted to turn things back. And if he was able to get back a company he felt he was not even worth, he was confident that everything else will settle into place.
The anxiety was present but the relief was taking place as he walked to his car. He had sent Nighat and Maryam home with the driver since he wanted to discuss final matters with his lawyer, but the excitement was visible on his face when he got closer to his car. He felt as if his feet were chained the past two weeks, unable to do much. Even taking a flight in the morning and arriving back at night was not an option, that made him feel like he was also imprisoned. But now, he was ready to take the next flight back and resolve everything, and in his heart, he had a feeling everything will be fine.
As he got to his side of the car, he was stopped. 
"Tum aesa kar ke kese itne sukoon mein ho? How could you? Tumhe zara sa bhi bura nahi lag raha?" Reena folded her arms and looked into his eyes, he could see the pain in them but this once it did not have any effect on him. Farjaad was indifferent to whatever was breaking loose onto her. No sympathy, no guilt. 
"Nahi." He shook his head, taking off his sunglasses and looking behind him to see that everyone had pretty much left. Farjaad made sure to put the spotlight onto his disinterest talking to her.
"Farjaad how could you do this to me? Wo tumhare chachu hain, he is your family. He is your late fathe-"
"Don't bring my dead father into this." He raised her finger, his tone stern as it could get. "Tumhare baap ko ye khayaal nahi aaya? Before committing such crimes. Paisa itna zaroori tha?" 
"Farjaad mera to sochte." She sighed and took a step closer to him, her eyes pleading him. It was a little senseless considering it was all over now, Shumail was going to jail, the bail sum was large. On top of that, there was a large amount of money he owed to the business, so it was looking very rough for him. 
"Kyun? Pehle konsa kuch socha hai?" He stabbed through her skin with his harsh words, not feeling any sympathy. It was constantly frustrating going over the same things again and again, showing disinterest and trying his best to respectfully let every party know that he was not interested. But it felt like no one took him seriously, no one listened to him or considered his acts of kindness. Her asking that question angered him to his core because it could not have been more obvious that thinking about her was the last thing he wanted to do. He had no option but to vent it out.