'You have come so early, anything special?' Aisha asked as Eifad comes into the living room. Eifad shakes her head and without a word goes into her room. Aisha frowns, as a mother she is worried for her daughter, Eifad's behavior doesn't seem normal. Many suggested, some taunted, to take Eifad to a good psychiatrist but Aisha didn't, she couldn't.

'My daughter isn't mad, she is just different' Aisha had said everyone who had suggested this. Like many others, Aisha too had the same mind-set- only mental patient visit the psychiatrist.

Eifad goes into her room; her lips twists into a dreamy smile. Shad is coming back. After two excruciatingly long years, he will be with her, in person. She will be able to touch him, hug him, talk to him, admire him. She sighed happily walking towards her wardrobe.

Black, Red, and White are the only colors that filled her wardrobe. She loves these colors as they reflect her personality.

Behind her wardrobe door is stuck with posters and pictures of Shad from child to a teen and to a gorgeous young, handsome man.

'Finally, you will be with me' she cooed, caressing his photo.

'Eifad, bacha! Come, have snacks and chai' Eifad hears her mother's voice call her. She sits up straight on the bed, twisting her body slightly she picks up the alarm clock that rests on the bedside table.

7pm

Eifad had gone asleep after she had come from work and now has woken up a few hours later to the calls of her mother.

Eifad opened the door and asked her mother to wait for her in the living room; she will be joining her in a while.

'Come soon' Aisha said, she held Eifad's cheek with her palm. Eifad simply nods her head and shuts the door. Aisha sighed and left.

Except for Shad, Eifad was the closest to her father, Rafi Hooda. Raafi owned chains of hospitals and was a successful businessman. But he liked to be simple and often came out as stingy. Living in a simple apartment rather than a posh Villa, driving a Mercedes than an Audi or BMW. He and Aisha often had fights and arguments because of this. Eifad started to distance herself from her mother; she didn't like her behavior towards her father.

Eifad used to share everything with her father; her father used to motivate her and compliment her. In fact, he is the only one to whom Eifad had confessed her love for Shad.

Eifad used to smile in the presence of her father and Shad, just them.

At the age of 19, when she lost her father to pneumonia she lost the little emotion she had. She blamed the death on Aisha; she thinks Aisha didn't take of her father properly. Had she paid more attention to him than arguing with him then her father would have been alive. After her father's death, she hardly acknowledged her mother. It is like she doesn't exist.

'Any news of Shad?' Aisha asked. She and Eifad sat opposite each other sipping tea in silence. The silence irked Aisha, and she decided to break the ice. Eifad silently sips her tea. When Shad had informed her that he would be coming she had decided she will not tell anyone, not even his parents. Not to surprise them but she wanted to be the first one Shad sees. She has also planned to spend some quality time with Shad.

Aisha asked once again; Eifad simply shakes her head leaning forward little grabbing a pakora from plate filled with pakoras placed on the table opposite. Aisha looked disappointed. She then asked if she spoke to him. Eifad ignores her mother and switches on the TV. Aisha opened her mouth to say something when Eifad increased the TV volume, and she leans back against her sofa understanding the gesture.

*

Eifad retires to her room early that night; she is just too excited to meet Shad. She lay on her bed staring at the ceiling. Sleep evades, all she can think of was Shad. She sighs and takes out her phone. A photo smiling Shad with his arm around a frowning Eifad pops up as her wallpaper. This photo had been taken on their trip to Goa three years ago. Eifad wasn't keen on having her photo taken, but Shad insisted and asked a by passer to click a photo of them. Eifad goes to her phone's gallery and clicks on a photo of Shad, dressed in a doctor's coat with a stethoscope around his neck and a bright smile on his lips; this was clicked on the day he got his medical degree. Eifad had clicked this picture. This photo is close to her heart mainly because it is special for him. Eifad turns around and smiles kissing Shad's photo

'What would have happened to me without you, Shad. I love you...' she whispered admiring Shad.