Episode 2

Part 1 – The Search

“Hey, what are you guys doing on Tuesday? Let’s all go out for lunch,” Sana asked as everyone sat drinking juice after getting tired from playing games.

“Sure, I’m free, but Ahmad usually has lunch with his family on Tuesdays,” Armeena explained.

“Ohh, that’s the reason,” all three turned to look at Ahmad.

“Y-Yeah, she’s right. Let’s plan it for another day,” Ahmad confirmed what Armeena said.

“Okay, but Armeena, why do you call Ahmad by his last name ‘Orhan’? It’s such a sweet name,” Dua asked curiously.

“That’s a secret between me and Ahmad,” Armeena replied and winked at him, making him smile.

“Well now, my mission is to find out that secret,” Hasan jumped in.

“You should aim for something better, like me,” Sana said proudly.

“Oh really? And what’s that?” Ahmad asked.

“I want to invent something that no one has even thought of before,” she said excitedly, making everyone laugh.

“Forget her—Orhan, what do you want to do?”

“I just want to be like my father.”

“What about you, Armeena? What’s your aim in life?” Hasan asked after a while.

“Umm... I haven’t really thought about it yet. Or maybe I just haven’t found something that feels like my true purpose,” Armeena replied thoughtfully.

———

Everyone had left except Armeena. She was waiting for Anmol, but she still hadn’t shown up. Her phone was also turned off.

“Still waiting for Anmol?” Ahmad asked, walking up to her.

“Yeah... Maybe she forgot,” Armeena replied, not knowing what else to say.

“Come on, I’ll drop you home.” Ahmad headed to his car, and Armeena silently followed.

“Want to eat gol gappay (spicy street snacks)?” Ahmad offered, and Armeena nodded excitedly.

A little later, they were eating by the roadside when suddenly a black car sped past them. Armeena got scared and turned to stare at it disappearing into the distance.

“Come on, Armeena. It’s getting late,” Ahmad called out.

“Hmm, let’s go.”

———

15 minutes later, she was at home. Ahmad had dropped her outside.

She came in, greeted her mom, and went straight to her room.

“Armeena! Where’s Anmol? Wasn’t she supposed to come with you?” Saadia Begum came in from the kitchen, worried.

“Mom, Ahmad dropped me off,” Armeena replied.

Saadia Begum got anxious. Armeena checked the clock—it was 9 PM. Anmol usually came by 7. Why hadn’t she shown up? Her phone was still off.

“Mom, don’t worry. Maybe she had an extra class,” Armeena tried to reassure her.

———

Time kept passing. An hour later, the doorbell rang. Saadia quickly opened the door, hoping it was Anmol—but it was Ali. Seeing his mother’s teary eyes, he rushed in.

“Mom, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?” he asked, looking at Armeena, who was also worried.

“Will someone tell me what’s going on?” he shouted.

“Anmol hasn’t come home yet. She was supposed to pick me up, but she never came,” Armeena explained.

“You could’ve at least called her!” he snapped, storming out of the house.

———

“She left the university at 3 PM, the guard confirmed. She’s not there either,” Mr. Sajjad said, sitting with his head in his hands.

“Bring my daughter back!” Saadia cried uncontrollably.

“Don’t worry, Mom. When the university opens at 6 AM, we’ll check the CCTV footage. That might help,” Armeena said.

Now, everyone was just waiting for 6 AM.

———

At 7 AM, Ali and Mr. Sajjad came back home. Saadia rushed to them.

“Where is Anmol? Did you find anything?” she asked eagerly.

Mr. Sajjad looked at her with tearful eyes.

SLAP!

A loud slap echoed through the house. Armeena rushed to her mother, shocked. In 28 years of marriage, this was the first time Mr. Sajjad had hit Saadia.

“Dad—” Armeena tried to speak.

“Silence! I raised my daughters like sons, and look what Anmol has done. She’s left me disgraced!” he cried.

“This is all because of your upbringing. You’re responsible for this,” he said, blaming Saadia.

“Dad! Brother! What actually happened? Why are you talking like this?” Armeena shouted.

“She got into someone’s car—shamelessly destroyed our family’s honor,” Ali said angrily. It was the first time Armeena had seen this kind of rage in him. Everything had fallen apart in just one night.

———

The whole house was silent the next day—like a graveyard. No one ate, no one spoke. Then the doorbell rang. Armeena had just finished praying and started walking toward the door, when someone grabbed her hand.

“Where are you going? Huh? Are you going to run off like Anmol too?”

“Brother, I just wanted to check who it is,” Armeena replied. But in her brother’s eyes today, she didn’t see the love she had seen yesterday during breakfast.

“Go to your room,” Ali said coldly and walked to the door himself.

“Yes? What is it?” he asked the man outside.

“I was told to deliver this letter to this house,” the man replied.

“Alright, you can go,” Ali said, shutting the door after taking the letter.

The envelope had “Anmol” written in big letters. As Ali read it, his expression changed from shock to anger. He threw the letter on the floor and ran outside.

Armeena picked it up and began to read:

"Peace. I hope you’re all doing well.

I’m really sorry for everything I’ve done.

There’s a boy I really like.

Armeena, you might remember I once said that running away from home is foolish—but only if you don’t leave a letter.

Well, that boy is Christian... and we’ve gotten married.

Please forget me."

To be continued...

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