Daniya's POV
Gauhar gave me a look to stop back as everyone moved towards their rooms to freshen up and rest after the exhausting flight. I followed her as she led me through the back doors of the house, to reveal a beautiful garden that looked like it was maintained in pristine condition. The orange flowers of the gulmohar littered the grass over here as well.
"Damn, you've really been severely underselling this place haven't you Haru?"
"Baba had a gardener look after these when we had left." She ran a hand through the trimmed bushes filled with white roses "He used to take care of the garden before he was kicked out of the house, and he wanted them back here when he finally got a hold of this place again."
Although I was surprised by her words, I made sure that she didn't see that expression on my face. Not that it made any difference, as her dark eyes were focussed on gently, almost reverently stroking the petals of the delicate roses.
"When we came back here, the garden was entirely destroyed, it was as if they had taken out all the resentment that they felt towards baba on the plants that couldn't complain or protest. Except for this tree here" she slapped the trunk of the tree that was shedding its bright orange flowers across the grass "clearly, they couldn't destroy it even if they tried."
"Who are 'they' Gauhar?"
Looking up from the bushes she gave me a bitter smile "my grandparents."
I bent down to inhale the scent of the exquisitely white blooms, finding the almost too-sweet smell oddly calming "I'm sure there was a reason behind the vehemence, I don't think parents can abandon their children so eas-" I bit my lip as I realised the irony of what I was saying.
Gauhar gave me a smile that was more sad than anything else, as if reading into the reason I had stopped myself.
She turned her gaze towards the sky that had gone pink with wisps of grey clouds that floated around. Taking her bottom lip between her teeth she stayed silent for a while as if she was contemplating the best response to my words.
"Sometimes it is easy for parents to let their children go if they feel like they were a burden to them, and to my grandparents my baba was nothing but a disappointment." She turned towards me with a smile, an unfathomable depth shining in her almost black eyes "and I guess my father was a failure for them. And maybe a lot of people might agree with them."
Her words caused a twinge of pain in my heart. They hit home closer than she might have intended them to. Being a disappointment to my father from the day I was born, I still couldn't understand what I'd done wrong.
But I chose not to contemplate on that as I followed her as she sat down under the tree that was the only thing that had survived her Grandparents' contempt. To me it was a symbol of strength and resilience.
The leaves of the tree left shadows on her face that enhanced her brooding expression. Picking at a dry piece of grass, I looked up at her "why do you think he would be seen as a failure by others ?"
"Because you see, he strayed away from the path that everyone normally took-" she took a deep breath, "or at least was expected to take, you see it was from a young age that he knew he had problems with studying. He couldn't understand and retain the facts and figures taught to him, no matter how hard he tried."
She looked down to her lap, her fingers playing with the hem of her grey t-shirt "so he knew that his fate lied in something else. Which is the best decision he made because he is diagnosed with dyslexia now, but that's something he found out a lot later. His parents and even he wasn't aware of that back then."
I saw the dry strands of grass in my hand blow away along with the mellow breeze, the smell of earth and safety enveloping us. I brought my legs closer to my chest as I looked ahead in the direction of Gauhar's gaze.
"Do you think that he was a failure?"
"Nope, absolutely not. He's what I believe is the epitome of strength and I look up to him for guidance. Though of course, I know better than anyone that even my hero has his flaws, that however does nothing to reduce his amazingness."
I was jealous of her to have experienced such unwavering trust in someone who was flawed. It was difficult for me to understand and maybe it showed on my face because Gauhar smiled at me and asked,
"Wanna know why Dani?"
Smiling back at her I nodded "yeah."
"He worked as menial help at restaurants, cleaning the dishes and mopping the floors. Sometimes he even carried bricks and concrete to provide labour when there was help needed at construction sites. He also worked as a gardener for a few of the rich households around here and that hurt my grandparents' feeble pride. But yeah, that was how he fell in love with plants, and you see those white roses" she cocked her head towards the bushes, I silently nodded.
A warm smile spread on her face, making her striking features soften "That's how he impressed mama. She found a rose everyday at college. Baba was saving the money from his jobs to invest in a business venture of his own, he eventually dropped out of college and started working full time and that was when my grandparents kicked him out for good."
"But he managed to build his own company and he is a successful businessman now." I turned towards her, she was chewing on her bottom lip her face pensive.
"Yeah he did finally achieve his goal I guess." Her tone was silent lined with confusion, and it made me wonder why she was so uncertain about it "At the end baba did get this house back, his parents left the house for him. Maybe they were sorry for treating their son the way they did."
"He never met them again after being kicked out?"
"Nope, the first time he saw them after being kicked away was at their funeral."
"This house must be a sort of apology from them then. A sign that they still loved him after that had happened."
She shrugged nonchalantly "It might be, it might not be. We'll never know, they aren't here anymore."
"Who would it have gone to if not for your father?" I asked wanting to pull her out of the dark mood she was in.
Bracing her hands at her sides, she watched the silent rustling of the leaves above us "It would have gone to Uncle Alyan, he was the only family left after all. Maybe it would have been his if baba had never come to attend their funeral."
"How does he feel about it?" it would definitely have to be a bitter feeling to be deprived of having ownership over your parents' last relic, seeing it go away to the brother that had been abandoned and shunned by the family years ago.
Knowing that the place filled with the memories you made your entire life was going to someone who had become a stranger.
Gauhar let out a soft laugh, as if she read my thoughts and thought they were absurd "He didn't care at all. Once he moved to London, he never had the desire to come back here ever again, as you can see he's still not here so I don't think gives a single damn about this hellhole. And I think I completely understand him."
I pulled a lone orange petal that had tangled up into Gauhar's coppery brown hair and brought a finger to my lips "shhh Haru, don't you know even walls have ears. You might just hurt it's feelings. If nothing else, this house is at least extremely pretty."
I turned my gaze towards the cream window panes that welcomed the pleasant breeze inside the house, where a sparrow hopped near the windows in search of a few grains of food.
"Dani, remind me to never trust your taste, you fall in love with the weirdest stuff I swear." She wrinkled her button nose, her eyes failing to notice the charm that I saw emanating from these old and rustic walls.
I rolled my eyes, stretching my feet in front of me "I am telling you, once I earn enough and get myself a good man, I am gonna shift into a house just like this one."
"Who's shifting where?" I bright yet heavy and velvety voice chimed in, making both of our heads whip up.
"What are you doing here?" Gauhar squinted, craning her neck up to meet his eyes from her position.
Pushing his unruly hair away from his eyes, he plopped down beside his sister roughly bumping his shoulder with hers and earning a glare from her.
"I am sure you're aware that answering questions with questions is counter-intuitive."
She narrowed her eyes at him, opening her mouth to give him a scathing retort before abruptly closing it. Her eyes momentarily glazed as if she suddenly had an epiphany before breaking her face into a wide grin.
I felt a chill run down my spine, as I inched away from her. I could never trust Gauhar when she had that look in her eyes.
Pushing her away and Muqeet scrambled backwards looking at her in alarm "What's the matter with you? Why are you looking at me like that?"
Despite being an uninvolved onlooker, I felt chills pass through my spine as her eyes glinted evilly, for a brief second I had the urge to flee away from her just because she looked possessed.
I felt bad for Muqeet who was looking apprehensively at his sister, as if waiting for her to wrestle him into a chokehold or smother him in kisses either of the scenarios equally probable.