Addiction

Addiction -2

As soon as the phone alarm went off in the morning, Ava woke up. With sleepy eyes, she got out of bed, freshened up, finished all her household chores, and entered the kitchen. After preparing breakfast and lunch for the day, she had her own breakfast and started getting ready for the office. At exactly 9:20 AM, Ava was ready and left her room. The building's elevator was broken, so Ava took the stairs down. After waiting on the road for five minutes, a bus arrived and stopped. Ava breathed a sigh of relief and went to sit on a seat. She was happy to have gotten a seat today and thanked Allah. After a while, the bus stopped in front of the office. Ava got off and walked slowly into the office.

Nivan was sitting in his cabin, working on his laptop, but unable to concentrate, he put the laptop aside. Not having slept all night, both his body and mind were not in good shape. Again and again, that girl's teary face appeared before his eyes. No matter how much he tried to avoid it, his mind and brain kept reminding him over and over. He couldn't understand why the girl's thoughts kept coming to his head. Nivan had developed a severe headache. So he called Rameez and asked him to bring coffee to his cabin. A few minutes later, Rameez entered Nivan's cabin with a mug of coffee in hand. As he handed the coffee mug to Nivan, he said, "What's wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell?"

Nivan took the coffee mug, took a sip, and replied, "No, just a slight headache."

Hearing Nivan, Rameez frowned and looked at him, saying, "When did you sleep last night?"

Without answering his question, Nivan asked him, "Why?"

"I think you stayed awake all night, right...?" Rameez said with a crooked smile at the corner of his lips.

Nivan was quite surprised and said, "How did you figure that out?"

"If I didn't understand, how would I be your best friend?" Rameez said, looking into Nivan's eyes.

Nivan was staring at Rameez in surprise. Seeing Nivan staring like that, Rameez said, "I think you've fallen in love with that girl."

"What love...?" Nivan said with considerable irritation.

"Not just love, what they call love at first sight," Rameez said in a light, smiling tone.

"What nonsense...?" Nivan said angrily.

"If you don't believe me, think about it," Rameez said and left Nivan's cabin.

Bir had just woken up. So he got out of bed, somehow freshened up, and went to the kitchen to see what breakfast had been made today. Looking at the breakfast, he thought he'd try it to see how it tasted. So he sat down to eat. After finishing his meal, he got ready and left the room.

Ava's work was done, but Rima's work would still take a few more minutes. So Ava was waiting for her. Rima was Ava's colleague. Over the past few months, a very good friendship had developed between Rima and Ava. A few minutes later, Rima's work was finished, and the two of them went to the canteen together for lunch. Ava was having lunch when she received a call on her phone. Ava looked at the screen and saw that an auntie from their neighboring flat was calling. Ava answered the call and greeted her. The woman returned the greeting and said, "Ava, where are you now?"

Ava replied to the woman's question, "I'm at the office, Aunty. Why, do you need something, Aunty?"

The woman then said, "Actually, on my way to the market, I saw your husband sitting and talking with a girl, but on my way back, I saw several boys beating him up, and that girl was standing nearby. So I called you."

Hearing the woman's words, Ava told her, "Okay, I'm coming."

Without saying anything to Rima, Ava left her food unfinished, washed her hands at the sink, took emergency leave from the office, and rushed out. Ava reached the spot but found her husband was not there. So Ava returned home, but she couldn't find her husband there either. Ava took out her phone from her bag to call him. But her hands were trembling with fear. What if he said something to her again if she called? What punishment might he have in store for her when she returned home? But the next moment, she thought again, what if he was in some danger? So, trembling with fear, she picked up the phone again and called her husband's number. It rang, but the call was disconnected. Ava called a second time, but again it rang and was cut off. Ava's anxiety began to increase even more. Without wasting any more time, she left the room to search for her husband. As far as she knew, wherever her husband frequented, Ava started searching there. After searching for several hours, there was still no trace of him. So Ava was forced to return to her flat. As soon as she opened the flat door, she could hear her husband and a girl talking from inside her room. She didn't need to understand anything more. With a disappointed heart, she left the room and went down to the garden and sat there. A gentle, cool breeze was blowing all around, which brought at least some peace to Ava's mind. Meanwhile, Ava's phone rang. Rima was calling. The first call went unanswered. Ava didn't feel like talking right now. She wanted to be alone for a while. The phone rang again. Rima had called many times since Ava had left the office, but Ava hadn't answered. The call was disconnected again. The phone rang for the third time. A strange smile appeared on Ava's face. For some reason, this person felt very close and dear to Ava. Ever since Ava had met her, she always took great care of her. Always checked in on her. Valued her likes and dislikes. These little acts of care reminded Ava of her parents again and again. Sometimes Ava felt that if anyone had loved her after her parents, it was Rima. Ava answered the call. She picked up but remained silent, saying nothing. After Rima said "Hello, hello, Ava, can you hear me?" several times from the other end, Ava said calmly, "Yes."

"Why did you just leave the office like that without telling me? And even if you did leave, that's fine, but why aren't you answering my calls? I've been calling you since forever, right? Didn't you feel the need to answer even once? Where are you now? Is everything okay?" Rima said all at once.

But Ava didn't answer any of the questions; she just silently held the phone to her ear. Not getting any response from Ava, Rima got scared and said in a trembling voice, "He...llo..., A...va, are... are you okay?"

Ava finally composed herself and replied, "Everything is fine, and I'm fine too. I'm hanging up now." She wasn't in a state to tell Rima everything right now, so without saying anything more, Ava hung up.