The clatter of dishes drifted in from the kitchen, but my focus was on the notebook spread open in front of me. Numbers, equations, deadlines. Still, my mind wandered.
“Arham, have you eaten? You’ve been at that desk since morning.” Mama’s voice came from the other room, gentle but insistent.
I closed the notebook with a sigh. “I’ll eat later, Mama. You should rest.”
She appeared at the doorway, wiping her hands on her dupatta. Lines of tiredness shaped her face, but her warmth was still there — the kind of warmth that made me feel like no matter how heavy things got, she was carrying half the weight with me.
“You say that every day,” she said, settling into the chair across from me. “And every day you think I don’t notice you skipping meals.”
I looked down, avoiding her eyes. “I’m not a child anymore.”
“No,” she whispered, and the words cut deeper than I expected. “You stopped being a child far too early.”
The silence that followed wasn’t new. It’s the kind of silence that has lived in our house since Baba — Khalid — left us.
I cleared my throat, trying to lighten the air. “I’m just focused, Mama. I need to finish this project. This will change alot of things.”
Her hand reached across the table, brushing mine. “Things already changed, Arham.”
I clenched my jaw. I hated that silence always swallowed his name. I hated that Mama carried her grief quietly, never once showing just how much it must have broken her.
“Your father leaving us is not your fault. Its time you start looking for your own happiness ”
She placed her hand firmly over mine, her eyes saying everything she didn’t voice.But i knew what was going on in her mind, me finding a women getting married she doesn't want any more comfort she wants me to so called be happy with a women. Like that is going to happen.
From the other room, Aaliya’s laughter echoed faintly. My little sis. Nineteen and still so full of life.
“ Mama don't i am happy, i have you and am sure Aaliya's screams are more than enough for this house ” To which she just stared at me with a sharp look in her eyes
I don't want women or whatever she says about love etc etc. Those things are fantasies, any women will only want me for my money which my dear mother won't understand. She is very innocent gets in words of any girl that comes to her saying “ I love your son ” by which they actually mean “ I love your son's money "
There no women who could make me think otherwise.
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