Addiction

"Ahh! God save me, I think my waist is broken!" Ava screamed out loud.

"Can't you see where you're going? Did you leave your eyes at home?" Rameez said in a rather annoyed tone.

Hearing these words, Ava lifted her head and looked forward. Two people were standing in front of her. One of them had visible irritation on his face. Ava understood that perhaps she had bumped into him. She glanced once and then lowered her eyes. Rameez extended his hand and said, "Here, miss, get up."

As Rameez extended his hand, Ava said, "It's okay, thanks."

Saying this, Ava slowly got up with her aching body. Her waist was hurting quite a bit. Still, she said "sorry" to the two people standing in front, walked past them, and entered the cabin slowly. Seeing Ava in this condition, a few colleagues rushed to her. Ava told them that she had fallen and it was nothing serious. Ava went and sat at her desk. Sitting at her desk, she started muttering to herself, "Damn, why did I have to wear these shoes today? I should have worn other shoes. Now my waist is really hurting, and when I get home, I'll have to hear more complaints. Whatever, let's deal with that later. Let me focus on my work now, or else I won't finish on time," and she started her work.

Nivan asked his PA, Rameez Sheikh, "Who is that girl?"

Rameez replied with slight irritation, "She's an employee of our company."

"Which department?" Nivan asked.

"She works in the Sales Department," Rameez answered.

Rameez was sitting in Nivan's cabin with visible annoyance. Seeing Rameez sitting like that, Nivan said, "What happened? Why are you sitting with such a long face?"

"Did you see that girl's attitude? I extended my hand to help her, and she ignored me...?" Rameez said in disbelief.

Hearing Rameez, Nivan said, "What was your need to help that girl? This is what happens when you try to help someone out of the blue. Now forget all this and focus on work."

Not getting the response he expected from Nivan, Rameez went to his desk and started working. He had thought that Nivan would scold the girl, but instead, he blamed him. However, he decided in his mind that he would definitely teach the girl a lesson.

Meanwhile, Nivan's phone rang. He took the phone out of his pant pocket and answered the call. From the other end, Naushad Khan said, "How are you, son?"

Nivan replied in a normal tone, "Alhamdulillah, I'm fine, Papa. How are you?"

Naushad Khan smiled slightly and said, "I'm also Alhamdulillah fine. Don't forget to let me know if you face any kind of problem, okay?"

"Okay, Papa," Nivan said and hung up.

The afternoon passed, and the onset of evening began on the earth. As soon as the office closed, Ava took her bag and left. She bought some painkillers from a pharmacy in front of the office and waited on the road for the bus. After a while, a bus stopped. Ava got on and stood. The bus was so crowded that there was no place to sit. It took only half an hour for Ava to come to the office from her room. She commuted by bus every day. After half an hour, the bus stopped at a place. Ava got off and walked a few steps to enter the gate. Coming to her room, she freshened up and entered the kitchen to cook dinner. But seeing the condition of the kitchen, her mood soured. Some spice bottles had fallen and broken on the kitchen floor, with glass shards scattered. Now how would she cook curry without spices? So she got ready again and headed out to the market. After buying some vegetables, spices, and other necessary items, Ava returned to her room. Since the market was nearby, it was quite convenient for her to shop. She entered the kitchen, picked up the broken glass pieces from the floor, then cleaned the kitchen thoroughly and started cooking.

As night fell, the day's heat had subsided considerably, and a gentle cool breeze was blowing all around. A sense of peace was felt in the air. Light clouds were gathering in the sky. It seemed like it would rain within a few moments. The bright, vibrant streets of the city were bathed in the soft glow of yellow and white lights. The sound of vehicles on the night roads was relatively less. Nivan was sitting in his room. A strange restlessness was stirring within him. So he picked up his phone and called Rameez. Within a few moments, Rameez arrived at Nivan's house. Nivan asked Rameez to sit on the sofa. As he sat down, Rameez said, "What happened, buddy? Why did you call me at this hour of the night? Is there any problem? Are you feeling unwell? Should I call a doctor?"

"Hey, calm down and sit first. You don't need to call anyone, do you?" Nivan said with a hint of irritation.

Nivan sat quietly on the sofa. Seeing him like this, Rameez said calmly, "Did you call me just so I could sit quietly? What happened, man? Will you tell me? Is there any problem at the office? Or some other issue?"

"I don't know why, but I'm not liking anything. I can't sleep at all. Whenever I close my eyes, I just see her face," Nivan said in a low voice.

"Whose face?" Rameez asked in astonishment.

"The girl I bumped into," Nivan said.

"Whattt...?" Rameez said in surprise.

"I'm telling you the truth... Whenever I close my eyes... I just see that girl's face. Since I saw her, only her thoughts are circling in my head. I'm trying to avoid it again and again... but I can't. Why is this happening to me? Tell me... What should I do now?" Nivan said in a worried tone.

Getting no response from Rameez, Nivan looked at him and saw he was lying on the sofa. When he called out to him, he realized he had fainted. Nivan was utterly surprised and splashed water on his face with irritation. Rameez slowly opened his eyes and looked around. He looked as if he had heard something terrifying moments ago. Nivan said to Rameez with irritation, "I asked you the reason for this, not to faint. Go and sleep now; you're not going to be of any help. What was the point of calling you, God knows!" Saying this, Nivan strode off to his room.

Rameez stood dumbfounded, staring at him as he left. The words hadn't quite sunk in for him. He couldn't believe his own ears. It was beyond his imagination that his friend could have any girl on his mind. Rameez's thoughts were deeply troubled by what Nivan had said.

Ava was sitting in her room, waiting. Suddenly, the sound of the door opening made her get up from the bed. Bir entered the room, saw Ava, grabbed her by the throat, pushed her out of the room, closed the door, and lay down stiffly on the bed. Ava stood outside the room. Salty tears rolled down her cheeks. Light raindrops were falling outside. Ava wiped her eyes and went to the adjacent room to lie down.