“Unknown Number, Known Heart”

Unknown Number, Known Heart

Subtitle: A call from nowhere, yet everything felt familiar

It was just another quiet evening. I had just returned from work, changed into my home clothes, and sat on the edge of the bed. The fan above made a soft humming sound. My phone buzzed beside me. I looked at the screen.

Unknown Number.

I almost didn’t pick up. Who calls from a hidden number these days? But something, I don’t know what, made me answer.

“Hello?”

There was silence for a moment. Then, a voice.

“Fareed?”

I froze.

The voice was soft, unsure… but there was something about it. Something in the way my name was spoken. My heart skipped a beat. It was a voice I hadn’t heard in years—yet somehow, my soul still recognized it.

“Who… who is this?” I asked, but I already had a guess.

There was a small sigh on the other end. “You still remember me?”

Memories rushed in. Her laughter. The sound of her bangles. Her way of saying my name when she was angry, and again when she was gentle. I hadn't heard it in seven years.

“Zoya…?” I whispered, like saying her name might break the moment.

She didn’t say yes. But I heard her quiet breath. And I knew.

I stood up. My hand was shaking. “Where have you been? Why now?”

She stayed quiet for a few seconds.

“I just wanted to hear your voice once. I don’t want anything from you, Fareed. Just… once.”

I sat back down. My knees felt weak. “You left without a word, Zoya. No messages, no goodbye. Nothing.”

“I know,” she said. “And I’ve hated myself for it every day.”

There was pain in her voice. Not fake. Not forced. It was real. I could hear it. And for a moment, I didn’t know whether to cry or scream.

“Then why did you leave?” I asked again, softly this time.

“I was scared,” she replied. “My father didn’t want me to talk to you. He found out. He threatened me. I didn’t know what to do.”

I closed my eyes. I remembered the time when Zoya and I were everything to each other. We didn’t care about rules, or class, or what people said. But her father did. And one day, she disappeared. Just like that. And I waited. Weeks turned into months. I finally forced myself to move on.

Until now.

“Are you married?” I asked without thinking.

“No.” Her voice cracked. “I couldn’t.”

There was silence between us again. But it wasn’t empty. It was full. Full of pain, love, regret, and words we couldn’t say.

She spoke again. “I don’t expect anything, Fareed. I just… wanted to know if your heart still remembers mine.”

I looked around my quiet room. The bed. The walls. The photo frame still hidden in my drawer, the one with her and me smiling on a sunny day.

“I never forgot you,” I said finally. “Even when I tried.”

There was a long pause. Then I heard her sob. A quiet, soft sob that broke my heart all over again.

“I should go,” she said quickly. “I don’t want to bring trouble to your life.”

“Wait,” I said. “Tell me where you are.”

But she didn’t.

“I don’t deserve to come back into your life, Fareed. I just… needed to hear you once. That’s enough for me.”

“Zoya—”

“Goodbye.”

The call ended.

I stared at the screen for a long time. The number was still unknown. No way to call back. No way to know where she was. But my heart... it was no longer the same.

She was gone again. But this time, it didn’t feel like the end. It felt like something unfinished.

That night, I didn’t sleep.

Because sometimes, a voice from nowhere can come and shake everything inside you. And even if the world forgets, your heart never does