"There was a wild pig," Sony cried.
"My goodness," Naila leaned and helped Sony stand up. "I told you. I asked you to go home early many times," Naila said. "Why did you stay back? Why did yiu miss the bus?"
"I wanted to go to Christmas but you said you're going back to room, so I came alone," Sony explained.
"Can you walk?" Naila asked.
"It hurts," Sony said. It looked like Sony sprained her right foot.
"Thank god that pig ran away," Naila said. "Do you realise how dangerous things could have gotten?" Naila could not imagine.
She helped Sony and walked towards the dorm's direction. She asked the staff, Dina for help and somehow reached third floor. Naila took Sony to her room.
"Bring me an ice pack Dina," Naila said and made Sony sit on the chair.
Naila sighed. "Is everything okay?" She asked Sony but Sony remained silent. "Is everything okay Sony? Why didn't you go home?" Naila asked again.
"I was spying on my ex," she confessed.
"What?" Naila was surprised and she couldn't hide. "Seriously?"
"I saw him with another girl. The girl he is dating currently. And I just stalked a bit and then saw you," Sony explained. "I heard that he is serious about her," she suddenly sounded sad. Naila sighed and patted Sony's shoulder. "I broke up with him because he said he does not want to marry anytime soon while my parents keep pushing me. And now he is serious and wants to marry that lady," Sony sounded really upset.
"Men!" That's all Naila said.
"How could he deceive me?" Sony had tears in her eyes.
"If there's one thing you should do, it's to stop following him or keep thinking about him. You should choose to live without the past," Naila said. "Forget it. Just believe that if it did not stay, then you were saved from something bad, something dangerous, something harmful. It left you for your own good," Naila tried to cheer her up.
"How can you forget just like that. One whole year around the sun. I spent one year with him," Sony said instead of trying to calm down. "Maybe you can pretend that there are no issues in your life, maybe live away from your husband, and just live in ignorance, but I'm not like that," that was a stab Naila did not see coming. Naila went speechless. "Sleep," She showed Sony the lower bunk and then climbed onto the upper bunk to rest. There was complete silence for some time.
"Was that your husband, one you were talking to?" Sony asked. "You looked serious. Did I interrupt you guys? Why did he leave? Was he just visiting?" Somy kept shooting questions. Naila heard all of them and she chose to ignore it. She pretended to sleep and then she indeed drifted off to sleep.
Sony could not. She got up just to check if Naila slept or not and slowly lay down.
Naila did not have the energy to narrate the whole story or argue with Sony. She did not have the energy to explain how broken she is. Or probably she no longer trust Sony enough to share anything anymore.
Naila held her tears back till she was sure Sony was asleep. Love, betrayal, she felt really familiar with all of it. She could understand Sony's pain. Feeling neglected, abandoned, lied, left alone in the middle of the journey with no harsh reasons. Memories started to flow in. Every argument and every blame that she had to carry. She could not control her tears and it completely wet her pillow. Naila took deep breaths couple of times and forcefully stopped herself. 'I should sleep,' she kept telling herself. And she slowly drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, Naila got up and informed her coordinator about Sony's injury. Both were given permission to take leave and set out of the campus and Naila was given the responsibility to drop Sony at home and report to work the next day while Sony will get another day off to recuperate.
"Thank you Nora ma'am," Naila hung up and waited for Sony to wake up. It was already 7 AM and Sony looked sound asleep. Naila scrolled through her social media account. She has not posted anything for almost a year now and she has deleted all her posts with Danish.
Naila had been closely tracking Danish's movements. She patiently waited for him to come back for send the divorce notice. But for past seven months he never contacted her. Naila wiated for him to call, to avoid what he would name it as nagging. She saw his stories everyday. Either a new town, workout, or at a restaurant, or holding a coffee, or with friends. He appeared to be enjoying a haply rich carefree life. One who does not know him would assume he is single.
For the first time, she made up her mind. "Call me when you're free," she sent a DM on Instagram. Around 8.30 AM, Sony woke up.
"Good morning," Naila wished.
"Morning," Sony yawned and greeted while stretching her arms. Her eyes still looked sleepy.
"You may sleep in. We are granted permission to take leave today," Naila informed Sony. The moment Sony heard it, she laid again and closed her eyes.
Naila smiled and continued doom scrolling, waiting for his response.
Bye the time the two left the room, it was already 12 PM. "Are we late?" Sony asked
"Not at all," Naila replied.
"There is a bus to my village around 1. Do you mind waiting? "
"Absolutely not," Naila replied. "We have time. If you want, we can quickly grab a cup of coffee from some place," Naila smiled.
"I will order, I hope you like filter coffee, it's their new special item," Sony said as she walked into a pastry shop outside the school gates.
"I'm fine with any," Naila assured and walked behind Sony.
"Wait," someone shouted from the back as she entered.