Another Forever

1 8 | a l o n e

• n o o r •

The last thing you want after your hectic wedding week is a 20 hour flight, especially if that's the first flight of your life. It takes toll on your physical and mental health and having a 6'3" statue sitting beside you doesn't help either.

Faaris had somehow managed to sit through the whole flight without showing any discomfort. He didn't move, didn't bend his legs repeatedly, didn't stretch his arms over his head multiple times, didn't massage his neck, didn't go to the bathroom every hour or didn't make whining noises, unlike a certain someone.

By the time the flight landed and we walked out of the plane, I was pretty sure some nerves of my legs were dead. "Slow down, will you?" I groaned at Faaris who seemed to have all the energy in the world.

"Why are you limping?" He asked when he noticed me lagging behind.

"My legs hurt." I said.

"Who asked you to wear heels during a 20 hour flight?" He said in a mocking tone and I rolled my eyes.

"I didn't know the seats would be this uncomfortable." I replied. "You could have warned me."

"I did. Remember, I asked if you're sure you should be wearing this and you said pretty sure." He said.

"Whatever." I said, feeling defeated, and walked in front of him despite the pain.

It took us about half an hour in all the formalities of checking out. As soon as we walked out of the airport building, Faaris got busy in a call with the cab service while I looked around, trying to adjust to my new surroundings.

The air of Seattle had a stark difference from the air of Lahore. The air was more humidified, the area was much greener and the sun was far less scorching. But that's not the thing that startled me. My relation to this city has less to do with it's appearance and more to do with the fact that Usama lived here.

The minute I stepped out of the airport, I could almost feel his presence around me. The feeling was so surreal that it made my heart ache to see him. It felt like any minute now, he would walk behind me and whisper in my ears, "Welcome to Seattle, Meri Jaan."

"Noor!" A voice called my name, breaking the trance. I turned my head to the source of the voice, who happened to be Faaris. He was standing near a cab, waving at me, waiting for me to reach him.

Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I dragged my suitcase to the cab. Faaris helped load the luggage in the cab and then we both seated ourselves in the back seat.

The car started and soon, we were on our way to the Humayun house. For some reason, my heart felt a lot heavier now. It felt like there was a stone crushing my chest, rendering me unable to breathe freely. No matter how much I wanted, I couldn't stop myself from thinking about him; his beautiful smile, his comforting presence, his expressive eyes, his deep voice and everything else about him. How I wish I could see him just once more, so I could commit each part of him to my memory.

Ya Allah! Heal my heart, for this pain is unbearable.

"Our apartment is about half an hour away from the airport." Faaris said, pulling me out of my chain of thoughts.

"Apartment?" I asked.

"Yes, my apartment." He said.

"You live alone?" I asked. My eyes widened in surprise. The last thing I wanted was to live alone in a house with Faaris, with nobody else to act as a barrier between us.

"Yes, I moved out recently. You didn't know that?" He asked, taking his eyes off his mobile.

"No, I didn't." I said and shifted in my seat.