CHAPTER 4 - DISTANCE MATTERS

'Congratulations on your promotion and transfer. We are looking forward to your full commitment to us. Do get back to this letter at the earliest with your answer.' Read the crafted piece of paper. Ahmed's parents were delighted and jumping with joy. They were chanting 'Alhamdulillah' fervently while Aliza stood confused. She could not make anything of this news because Ahmed's promotion meant everything to her. But his transfer would only mean that Aliza must stay back with her in-laws while he would visit only during weekends. She would happily do so, too, if not for her unsupportive mother-in-law.

Aliza wanted to cry, and her eyes brimmed with tears that the world looked like a smudged canvas laying still in front of her. She looked at Ahmed pleadingly and waited until 10 to ask him if he really wanted to go. Asking in front of her in-laws would only mean the end of her good days. Ahmed did not look up because he knew what his transfer meant for both of them. He was lucky to have been promoted shortly after his marriage, but the transfer came like a buy-one-get-one offer out of the blue. If he rejected his transfer, it meant he must give up his promotion too, which would be the stupidest thing to do. 

'When do you have to leave?' Aliza asked straight away because she knew asking if he wanted to go was not an option. Otherwise, he wouldn't have avoided her gaze all the while eating. 

'In two days, if I accept the offer.'

'What do you want me to pack apart from your dresses and toiletries?'

'Aliza, it will only be a few months. Once I achieve my target in the new office, I could request a transfer back.'

'Mmmm', Aliza shook her head in response removing his shirts from the cupboard. 

'And it's not like you can't come with me.' For a moment, Aliza's face brightened up, and she thought it was really possible. She imagined her moving to Bangalore and starting a new life alone in a modern apartment with a spacious kitchen and a hall for herself. She imagined going on daily morning walks in the parks as she had seen on tv and making new friends. All of this in just a fraction of a second until Ahmed resumed talking.

'I would go first and find a good place to stay. And then let me ask ammi and abbu for their approval for sending you there to stay with me. I would do it if not for their ill health. By then, we could also sort that out. What do you think, Aliza? It sounds like a plan, doesn't it?'

Aliza nodded, putting on a weak smile though she knew Ahmed's words were like those written in water.

'I will come home every weekend. Don't you worry.' He squeezed her hand and kissed it gently. 

And just like that, two days sailed off, and the family departed to send off Ahmed. Aliza's parents had also come to the railway station to send good wishes to their son-in-law and to request that Aliza be taken home with them for a while, and they were outright denied. 

Aliza's mother-in-law praised her as a lucky charm that Ahmed got promoted after she came home. She suggested it's time to see if their grandchild should make his way into this world for even better fortunes. Though Aliza liked the idea of becoming a mother, now, with Ahmed gone to Bangalore, her prospects of getting pregnant looked slim. And even if she did manage to get pregnant, she wouldn't be able to make it without Ahmed's support at home. With all the household work to cope and sick in-laws, she considered not getting pregnant would be wiser until Ahmed decided to take her to Bangalore too.

To be continued…

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