Under That Niqab

59. In another life time

Being welcomed by the absolute silence of the living room was more haunting than ever, he was used to it but now that he expected certain someone to always be present in front of his eyes his anxiety shot up to extreme levels, it was difficult to breathe, to comprehend any thought other than just continuously praying for Haya to be alright.

He moved the curtains of her room away, calling her name in the process to meet with the deadly silence again, the only noise was from the continuous patter of raindrops on the lawn.

"Haya, where are you?" He shouted his voice echoing down the hall. As he turned away from the room, he noticed the door of the prayer room about to shut due to the wind. A glimmer of light caught his attention and he hurriedly ran to catch the door before it could get closed completely.

As he entered the room, he noticed that the atmosphere was colder than the rest of the house. His eyes adjusted to the dim light, and he saw Haya sitting on a prayer mat, her arms tightly wrapped around herself as if she was trying to hold herself together. Her body was shivering, and he could see her breath in the air. The sight made him rush towards her, dropping down on his knees beside her.

"Haya", he uttered, voice soft and pillowy trying to blend into the chilly air and the continuous rumbles, not to startle her by causing any kind of disturbance in her surroundings.

"Petal, can you hear me?"

Her body was stiff, frozen in place as if she had turned into a marble statue. She seemed distant and disconnected, lost, and did not respond to his words. Despite his efforts to reach out to her, it felt like his words were falling on deaf ears, not having any effect on her.

"Are you cold? tell me. How will I know if you won't tell me, huh?" He asked carefully tilting his head, peeking into her eyes which were wide, and glossy shining like pearls as she trembled and continued to look at him. Shavez felt her head moving in denial and broke into a small smile. "You don't like the sound of thunder lighting?" He asked as she nodded quickly fear evident in her features.

"Me too," He said, deciding to sit down beside her completely, resting his back on a wall. "I don't like rain. I didn't see the weather forecast today, else would have returned earlier."

This was the first time in ages someone had come to her aid when she was amidst a storm, even if it wasn't to make the storm halt but the willingness to stay with her and help her sit through it, such compassion and the feeling of not being abandoned as it was always that way, she was beyond grateful.

The storm didn't seem so scary anymore.

As she sat there, the closeness to the man beside her stirred up an unusual sensation within her. With just a slight movement, their sides would touch, and she found herself intrigued by his presence. His eyes were fixed on the ceiling, lost in deep thought, and she couldn't help but wonder what was going through his mind. She longed to understand what made him show such compassion towards her, or whether it was just a façade. Her insecurities got the better of her, always.

"Let's play a game" he chirped beside her, turning his direction towards her completely, sitting cross-legged now. The warmth from beside her was gone and she missed it the next moment, it was cold again.

"We can take turns asking each other questions, and if the other person doesn't want to answer, they can share something about themselves instead. How about that?" It was not his plan, but the distraction was needed to tear her mind away from the sound of rain.

"Okay-" She mumbled.

"Shall I go first?" He proposed to which he bobbed her head and he began again, "Um, What hobby do you enjoy the most?"