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The last time Salman saw Jamil Bashir was at his fifteenth birthday party.
It was one of the most significant days of his life. His grandfather had arranged a party for the birthday boy at his countryside residence. All day, Salman waited for Jamil to show up. It had been months since he had last seen him, so his anticipation for his father was greater than the party itself. All of Salman's friends and cousins had been invited. They were excited to finally meet his father as well.
Jamil did show up. But when he did - he stayed for only fifteen minutes before leaving without any explanations.
Neela tried to explain to Salman later that Jamil acted the way he did was because of his perpetual conflict with his Nana Jaan, it had nothing to do with how he felt about him; but they both knew it did little to console the young boy's heart. The memory of that night was something Salman carried in his heart, even all these years later.
Salman kept checking the GPS as he drove down the unfamiliar street. Jamil Bashir resided in a two bedroom apartment near Rearview Lake - Salman had learned from his mother. The area was a quiet residential neighborhood - a place Salman did not visit often; yet, it was only a forty-five minutes drive from their apartment. His father had been only a forty-five minutes drive away for all those years and he never knew - the thought was strange to him.
Salman's mother was sitting on the passenger seat and his sister in the back, with her child. They had tagged along on his insistence. Salman cooked up the feeble excuse that Jamil had requested to see his grandchild - which neither women questioned.
Jamil had never made any actual efforts to maintain a relationship with either of his children. He occasionally called Neela to ask how they were doing, texted Salman after hearing about his engagement with Farrah, congratulated Malika on Facebook after seeing Aisha's picture. That was the extent of it.
Both Malika and Neela were casually talking and laughing. His sister was telling them that after attempting her hand at several career paths, she finally realized she wanted to be a stay-at-home Mom. She was just forcing herself to choose a profession due to the pressure from society, but in her heart she knew this was what she wanted.
Salman, on the other hand, could barely keep his thoughts straight. Neela had long ago healed from the scars her ex-husband left on her. Malika did not have sufficient memories with him to be scarred enough.
They arrived at their destination soon. The building was a sleek and contemporary structure surrounded by tons of greenery. The apartment itself contained modern décor. Salman's eyes caught a lot of geometric patterns and metallic splashes, with tall windows facing the jewel-toned green lake.
His father was waiting for them by the living room. Jamil Bashir was once a famous architect and interior designer, even more well-known was he for his devastating good looks and philandering ways.
