Knight Syndrome

Ameena

It had been a long day, but Ameena was happy to be spending it with her friend Rida who was humming a tune, scrolling through posts. They had just finished grocery shopping for the week.

"It's EmpressNotes again. This guy Ren in our year is an heir to a tycoon in the medical industry."

"Oh, juicy...There's more. He's dating someone. The girl's name is not there. Only a photo."

"Wait I've seen the shrug somewhere. Ameena! Is that yours?"

Embarrassment clearly visible on her face, pink as a tie.

Mental Note: Don't be friends with people who have photographic memory.

With that Ameena turned and started walking the opposite way to meet Ren at his apartment complex trusting that he would have better ideas to be rid of the gossip.

"Where are you going?" Rida called after her.

"Will see you at the dorm".

Her hand just trembled as she pressed the elevator buttons.

The door was partly open — Ren had a guest. She waited in the corridor hoping to ring the bell.

"This girl Ameena is clearly interested in you. And you keep playing hard to get?"

Thyme?

"I don't like her. She's not..."

Silence.

Making no noise of her presence she tiptoed to the stairs. She exhaled, her heart racing at the close call.

Once at a safe distance, at lightning speed, she ran recklessly as far as her legs could take her.

A sharp pain in her side made her stop in her tracks, she clutched her stomach and bent over holding onto the pain. It subsided after a few minutes, and she found a good spot near the library. She settled in and over the course of the next 2 hours managed to drain all the thoughts that flowed.

The things she wanted to hear were heard. There is no universe in which they can be together, the dream has gone. It was time for her to get the job done. Dig up what Parama is hiding from its competitors.

She has no idea what kind of threat she will face as she wrestles her way into the system and tries to find her way back out.

Her trump card — Parama Advertising Agency. Thanks to a drunk assistant at the party, who kept mumbling about Thyme's lack of attention to them.

"Hold on... " a breathless voice called out, she panicked fearing the worst.

Ameena and Ren stood on the street corner in silence for a few beats. Their eyes darted to the tall buildings surrounding them.

"I saw you before you tried to sneak away. Listen, I took care of the photo." Ren said.

She nodded not saying more.

"We are going on a trip. It's just friends, but I wanted to invite you." Ren said.

There it is, the truth. You will never become one of us.

"There is no need for you to invite me out of guilt. Everything is forgotten."

"No, not that. I wanted to get to know you and I haven't been interested in someone like this in a long time."