Chapter 1
This is a story of the new age…
of relationships that have no name…
of waiting that goes to waste…
of the friendship Mahira offered,
and the love Mahir carried in his heart.
On the first day of university, she was quiet—
a little scared, yet confident.
In her small eyes, there were sky-sized dreams,
and in her hands, only threads of hope.
That day, she quietly entered the classroom
and sat in a corner.
Many eyes were on her—
many thoughts revolved around her.
Her first meeting with Mahir happened in a corner of the library,
regarding a topic they were both working on.
Mahir was a composed boy.
Before talking to Mahira, he hesitated—
but eventually he gathered the courage.
What began with simple questions and answers
slowly turned into friendship—
deep friendship, supportive friendship,
a friendship that listens and understands.
A memorable bond.
Gradually, Mahir became Mahira’s comfort zone.
If she talked to anyone else, she did it half-heartedly.
Mahir was becoming her habit—
a habit impossible to let go of.
Even if they fought, she couldn’t stay away from him
for more than a day.
This habit eventually began to suffocate her.
She prayed for freedom from it,
but every prayer returned unanswered.
She was no longer capable of being distant from Mahir.
Their endless conversations…
the strong evening tea…
studying together…
Mahira, as a friend, supported him in every way—
forced him to study, listened to his problems.
Since Mahir didn’t have friends,
she introduced him to her circle
and gave him an atmosphere where he could finally laugh freely.
Slowly, he blended in with everyone.
Time kept passing.
One evening, casually during a conversation,
Mahir said:
“I love you… since the first day…
the first moment…
when I only saw your eyes.”
Mahira laughed, thinking he was joking.
For her, it was a joke.
But Mahir said in a serious voice:
“I’m serious.”
Her laughter stopped—and so did her heartbeat.
She had never expected this.
“But… we’re just good friends.”
“No… I never saw you as a friend.
You were always more than that.”
Mahira fell silent on the call.
Her mind went blank.
It was a very delicate moment—
if she said yes, she would lose herself;
if she said no, she would lose a friend.
So she swallowed her emotions and said:
“I respect your feelings…
but I believe in destiny and in God.
If God wills, we’ll meet again someday.”
She said this to protect herself—
but for Mahir, it became a ray of hope.
He assumed her answer was a yes.
He believed she was now his.
With time, Mahira noticed how serious he had become.
The boy who once skipped even obligatory prayers
now woke up for tahajjud just to pray for her.
He asked her for prayers, for spiritual remedies.
He knew she didn’t love him,
yet he hoped she eventually would.
He once said:
“I will wait for your ‘yes’ until my very last day.”
For Mahira, he was always a wonderful friend—
a friend she could never forget.
And for Mahir…
she was his first and last love.
Mahira was a prisoner of her own habits;
she tried to stay away from Mahir,
but she simply couldn’t.
As if Mahir was stitched into the threads of her life.
Meanwhile, Mahir’s feelings grew deeper every week—
quietly, but mercilessly.
He never tried to force himself upon her.
He didn’t want to be a beggar of love,
yet the stubbornness of a lover still lived in him.
He left everything to destiny—
hoping fate would open a door.
Every night he raised his hands and prayed:
“O Lord… make her mine.”
But deep inside, he carried a bitter truth—
Mahira’s heart might open with prayer,
but never with pressure.
Mahira longed for the kind of words that melt the heart—
the words that heal the soul and protect it.
Words Mahir never said…
but a stranger did.
That moment became the turning point of her life;
that stranger’s words broke open the doors of her heart
without permission.
If Mahir had said those same words,
perhaps her heart would’ve beat for him…
but destiny had written something else.
The feelings meant for Mahir
awakened for someone else.
Mahira told Mahir before anyone else.
Drowned in heartbreak,
his reaction was like any ordinary human—
bitterness, silence, and a shattered heart.
Mahira wanted to remain his friend forever,
but that stranger pulled her so gently,
so sweetly,
that she forgot her own self.
For that stranger,
she distanced herself from Mahir,
cut ties with all her friends,
and chose only him—
as if he was now her entire world.
That was the moment
Mahira fell from Mahir’s heart, mind, and eyes.
In just one day,
she became a topic of gossip.
Her own friends—
the same friends she fought the world for—
started whispering about her.
Mahir’s friends told him:
“Mahira used you.
She’s a characterless girl.
She uses boys for emotional timepass.”
And sadly…
Mahir believed them.
He concluded that Mahira was a double-faced girl
who played with his heart.
Meanwhile Mahira…
after trusting that stranger,
found herself restless.
He made her wait,
commanded her,
lied to her,
and gave false promises.
Ten days later,
when she finally woke from that dream,
she realized he was a fraud—
a shadow, a lie, a deception.
She lay on her bed, broken.
Every door had closed.
When she returned to university
and saw Mahir laughing with his new friends,
her heart burned to ashes.
She wanted to talk to him—
wanted to tell him the truth—
but Mahir had erased her from his life
as if she had never existed at all.
She realized she had made the biggest mistake—
handing over her closest friend
to the harsh judgment of others.
The boy who once couldn’t look at anyone else,
was now happily laughing
with the same people
Mahira couldn’t even stand.
Seeing this, Mahira grew tired of the world…
and decided to return.
One evening—
she held a cup of tea in her hands.
The steam rose and dissolved into the air.
The sun was setting,
painting the blue sky with pink.
And Mahira sat alone—
with the biggest regret of her life.
She dialed Mahir’s number.
He didn’t pick up the first two times.
On the third—
and perhaps last—attempt,
he picked up.
His cold tone
shattered her heart instantly.
She asked how he was.
He replied shortly:
“I’m perfectly fine.
And very happy.
So happy that I don’t want you in my life ever again.
I have new friends now…
Don’t disturb me.”
He cut the call
and blocked her.
When she tried calling from somewhere else,
his friends stopped her.
They said harshly:
“Stop using him.
Stop playing with his feelings.”
Every path to Mahir closed forever.
Mahira surrendered.
With the weight of her mistakes,
she slipped back into loneliness.
She distanced herself from everyone,
cut every bond,
and tried once again
to live with her emptiness.
She burnt her hopes,
her dreams,
and every heartbeat—
into silent ash.
Yet one thing remained alive inside her:
a stubborn truth—
if anyone spoke against Mahir,
she was ready to fight the world.
But Mahir…
the same friend she considered everything…
mocked her with others,
made her shortcomings a topic of jokes,
never once thinking
what she must be going through.
He appeared every day—
laughing, smiling, carefree—
as though nothing had ever happened.
He truly… was happy.
Mahira never removed him from her heart—
she kept him safe
in a silent corner within her.
Smiling at his name
became her only cure.
When she heard the word “friendship,” she remembered Mahir.
When she heard “betrayal,” she remembered herself.
There were many questions in her heart—
questions she never got to ask.
She always believed that if she strayed,
Mahir would never turn his back.
She believed that if she returned after a mistake,
he would not scold her,
but hold her close
and wipe her tears, saying:
“I was here…
waiting for you.”
She believed Mahir was not like others—
that he was true, loyal,
someone who kept his promises
no matter what.
In her loneliness,
she prayed only one prayer—
and perhaps said it in her heart to Mahir too:
“If I ever return…
then let the reason for my return
be your waiting.”
They say a boy and a girl can never stay just friends.
One of them eventually falls in love.
And then…
they get tangled in those very feelings.
Friendship doesn’t survive,
love doesn’t settle,
and in the end—
all that remains
is silence
and emptiness.
