Searching

Chapter 5

Searching
Katibah Elle
Chapter 5

Zuhair tapped his pen obsessively against his desk.
The numbers in front of him blurred into each other and Zuhair found it impossible to focus.
Which was a first for him.

With an exasperated sigh, he flung the pen across the desk top, and pushed his chair back.
Zuhair loosened his tie and rummaged his hair in messy waves.

After a moment of contemplation he stood up to stand by the window, watching the activity outside.
From his office view, he could see one lonely biker across the street.
Zuhair watched the biker with yearning.
How he would love to take a biker's trail around a scenic mountain lake right now.
A relaxing exercise to help him centre himself again.
He rubbed his strained, tired eyes, reluctant to go back to work. Again, another first.

Zuhair felt restless for a few days now, with a permanent choked feeling lodged in his throat.
He knew exactly what caused his distress.

It wasn’t just the horrible words, that he threw at the lovely Dr. Hassim, but the fear that he may have broken her fragile spirit.

Zuhair’s every waking moment haunted him by his reckless statement, that caused the light to leave from her pretty doe like eyes.

His job demanded that we be sharp tongued, but the young Dr was only doing her job and didn't deserve that type of treatment.

He became annoyed at the distraction of guilt tugging at his conscience, and he desperately needed to find a way to deal with this issue.
It was beginning to turn him inside out, and it frustrated him to no end. For his own peace of mind, he needed to figure out what can be done, to stop the flow of thoughts for the pretty Doctor.

Zuhair thought long and hard until his eyes lit up with triumph.

An apology! Yes!

That’s exactly what he needed to do, send her an apology.
A handwritten apology with a gift should be perfect.
OK, but what do women like? What would a young Dr like?

The usual type of gifts can’t be given to the likes of Dr. Hassim.

He definitely can’t give her a perfume nor jewellery, that’s too personal.
Roses or even any other flower seemed way too romantic and not what he was going for, and chocolate may be nice, but that seems a little impersonal, especially considering the words that were said.

There was only one person that could help him and so Zuhair made the call.
After a few rings, a gravelly voice answered, “It’s Ahmed Adam here. ”

“Asalamu alaykum, Dad.” Zuhair replied with an amused smile, “I see you continue to use your iconic line, even when you know it’s me. ”

Zuhair’s father chuckled, “ Wa alaykum Salam. Of course my son. A man should be proud of his birth given name. Now, are will still on for dinner tonight? I hope you’re not calling to cancel, your mother has been preparing a lamb roast all morning, with the works, and she’s missing you. You work too much, it’s time you take it easy. Maybe think about settling down, hmm?”

“Dad!” Zuhair pleaded, “I already told you, when I’m ready, then we can talk. Anyway, yes, I’ll be there for dinner. I’m bringing dessert. Look, the reason I called. I really need your advice. I uhhh .. I kind of upset this lady. I want to send her a gift as an apology, but I’m not sure what to get. Can you help me?”

“A lady, hmm,” Ahmed mused, “Well, tell me more about her, and what exactly happened?”

Zuhair paused, swallowing to ease his suddenly dry throat, feeling uncomfortable at his father’s tone.

‘Oh boy’, he thought, the only way to get help was to start from the beginning.

“I dislocated my arm again. Please don’t tell mom, it’s fine. I needed Dr. Miller to put it back into place but he wasn’t available that day. Instead there was this young lady, Dr Hassim. She was friendly and professional, but I made some snide remarks about her looking like a young intern and that she should be in the kitchen. I know! I know, it’s a horrible thing to say, but I couldn’t ask her to her face why she seemed so worn out, I mean Dad you should have seen her. Her cheeks were actually really pale!”

Zuhair let everything out in one huff, a little relieved now that it was said out loud.
He remembered how Dr. Hassim cheerfully greeted him the first time he met her, and that’s all he wanted for her.
To wear that beautiful smile all day.
The fact that he was one of the reasons that smile faded churned Zuhair’s insides with fire.
He really couldn't explain why she affected him so much.

Ahmed cleared his throat, bringing Zuhair back to their conversation.
“Son, it seems to me, that you need to do a little introspection and find out for yourself, why you are so bothered by the way she looked. I am extremely disappointed in the way you spoke to her, and you being afraid to say what you truly intended, is not an excuse. Perhaps you can learn from this. Your eye for the finer details has its benefit, but you can’t be intimidated by what you see, be wise enough to use that information well. As for the gift, I can’t help you with that. It needs to be something genuine. So think about it, and don’t be late tonight.”

Zuhair greeted his father and ended the call.

A genuine gift.

Zuhair hurriedly pulled on his jacket and grabbed his wallet and keys. He rushed out of his office, perhaps there was one thing that could be the ideal apology gift.

After buying all the items he deemed perfect, Zuhair returned to his office and carefully placed all the items in a huge carrier bag.
He sat down, pulling out a Parker pen and pearl sheen luxury paper, ready to pen down a note asking for her forgiveness.

'Respected Dr. Hassim
I would like to sincerely apologize for my undesirable behavior towards you and my inconsiderate use of words.
With all honesty I commend you for your professionalism as well as your composure during that time.
My words stemmed from a hidden concern and was very poorly expressed.
Please do accept my humble gift as an apology.
Ps. Remember to use this gift at any time you are overwhelmed with other patients sharing my (with a lack of a better word) half-witted actions.
Kind regards
Zuhair Adam'