His attention had invigorated her. He was immensely handsome and his irresistible charms carried her away. He was rich, powerful and flamboyant while she was destitute, surrounded in onerous circumstances and was overwhelmed by her poverty. She could barely survive on her own and desperately needed him. On the other hand, her beauty allured him, her enthusiasm impressed him and her innocence pulled him towards her. He thought he was doomed to fall in love with her. Their passion for each other was one of a kind. It kindled a fire of emotions, a giant fire, lasting for many years. It was filled with her optimism and was packed with his fierce commitment. Like any other couple, he pampered her all the time in the beginning. He caressed her and cajoled her to have her constant attention. She too reciprocated his affection with love. She comforted him with her dedication and soothed him with her devotion. She even helped him improve his relationship with his peers as a dependable and trustworthy partner. They hardly disagreed on any issue for a long time and made remarkable progress as partners. They promised and reassured each other all the time. Then one day, they faced their first roadblock — a bump in their relationship, when she had a miscarriage. The accident had resulted directly from her imprudence and impetuousness. She realised it and tried hard to put the grievous event behind them. But unfortunately, it could not happen and they failed to rebuild confidence in one other. The bump therefore grew unnecessarily bigger and led to a new beginning of a long contemptuous relationship. After a short period, she fell sick again. This time she was really unwell and needed to have her leg amputated. Devastated by the news, she turned to him for support and encouragement. He looked away. She did not get any help; all she received was apathy and indifference. She was sad, lonely and felt a deep sense of rejection, and that worsened her condition. Nevertheless, she mustered her strength, fought off the illness and resumed her life with an amputated limb, and a bruised heart. Even after these crucial events, the fire did not completely cool off and both of them still wanted their relationship to work. They were both bitter, yet they looked ahead and decided to have a baby. His financial situation was stabilisng after a bad patch and she had adjusted to the new status quo too, albeit nervously. She was ready to carry the burden of pregnancy. He started working day and night for their secure future and she went along with a complicated pregnancy. Her labour was life threatening, but she survived and gave birth to a premature baby. After the delivery, she was exhausted and wanted to lay her head to rest on his shoulders. She opened her eyes slowly and looked around, only to find herself alone. He was gone. He had betrayed her, once again. She was deceived, again. This time, it broke her heart. Something shifted. She started to resent him deeply; he had mutilated her soul and left her with nothing. With a broken heart, she put herself together and started raising the baby on her own. As the baby grew older, she suffered financially, got weaker physically and dipped into a major depression psychologically. Her bitterness amplified with time, and transmuted to their child too. He was spiteful and vindictive towards his father. He was a real Frankenstein’s monster, filled with darkness. Years went by. One day, when she was resting alone, someone knocked at the door. It was he. He was injured; she saw him, lying on the floor bleeding profusely. He needed help. She panicked. Her heart started racing. She picked him up, nursed him like a baby and even donated her blood to secure his recovery. In response, he was also appreciative and stabilized her financially; she did not have to worry about her daily expenditures for years. But as he regained his strength, he was increasingly mean and abusive towards her. He disregarded her simplicity, ridiculed her empathy and accused her of avarice. His allegations were not completely baseless. She was revengeful and not totally innocent. She had also continued to protect their child even after realising that he had played a duplicitous, bloody role in his father’s suffering. Their bonding with each other has always been odd — a love-hate relationship. It is an interracial marriage, knotted together with strikingly opposite backgrounds. She has been fervently religious and he is an eternal agnostic. She values loyalty and he prioritises his interests. For her, background and the family are important and for him, it is the future that takes precedence. For the first time, they realised their differences clearly, as he recovered from his injuries. They knew they could not rely upon each other anymore and yet they decided to stay together. They suffered with agonising mistrust and their relationship worsened by the day. Lately, he has even crossed the fine line of superficial respect. He has not only been verbally abusive to her but has physically attacked her a few times too. These assaults are unacceptable to her. Their future looks bleak. They argue constantly. There is only betrayal, contempt and mistrust left between them. They dip into a crisis, pull themselves back up and immediately sink into another one. The end of their marriage would be dangerous for many people. Their latent and obvious influence makes them responsible for a number of people. What is the fate of their relationship? Time will tell. Until then….God bless the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan…. The writer is a freelance columnist and can be reached at skhashmi@yahoo.com