Nayab, a brilliant and meticulous MBBS student, possesses a mind built for calculations and precision. Her dreams are set on excelling in her medical career, leaving no room for frivolities or romantic distractions. Meanwhile, Danish, a vivacious an...
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Nayab finished chopping the lettuce on the chopping board and transferred it in her salad bowl that already had chopped red onions, cherry tomatoes, cucumber and avocados. Then she brought out grilled chicken from the microwave, cut it into bite sized pieces and put it on top of the veggies. Finally, she poured readymade salad dressing.
She mixed it all up and carried the bowl to the living room. She picked up the tv remote and settled on the couch. She was midway through her dinner when her mother called her.
"Hey, maa," Nayab paused her tv show before answering.
Gulshan's warm voice came through. "What is my almost 24 year old daughter doing?"
"Eating salad."
"Salad? On the eve of your birthday? That's a little sad."
Nayab rolled her eyes. "I had a tiring day at the hospital. So salad was all I could manage."
"You should have just let me come down to celebrate your birthday." Gulshan said, sadly.
"Maa, we already went over it. I have a 24 hour duty tomorrow."
"Fine. You make sense." Gulshan sighed. "I will call you again at midnight to wish you."
"No, please. I am really tired and I want to sleep. So wish me tomorrow."
"Okay, then."
"Bye, take care."
"Goodbye, sweetheart." They hung up.
Nayab, really, was very tired and wanted to sleep. But she couldn't. She kept on turning sides on her bed. It was the first time she was spending her birthday without her family. And as the clock was nearing midnight, it was just making her more upset. Her brother wouldn't be bursting through her doors at 12, with the rest of her family following with the cake.
At 11, she finally gave up on trying to sleep and threw her blanket away. She wanted to go out. Somewhere where there would be people around. The noise of strangers appealed to her more than the deafening silence of her apartment at that time. She left her apartment in her pajamas and took the lift to the underground parking, where her car was parked. Yes, her car, which was gifted to her by her brother a week after she shifted to Mumbai. Hamza called it her early birthday gift and argued that a car in the new city would make her life a little comfortable. Nayab had gotten angry at first at the extravagant gift and pointed out how it was completely unnecessary, but it was Hamza who won at the end by emotionally blackmailing her.
She got into the driver's seat of her Nexon and took a while to decide where she wanted to go. Somewhere nice, peaceful yet loud, was what she wanted at that moment. And ever since she had come to Mumbai, she had been thinking about Danish a lot more than usual. Her memories ran back to the night they took a walk on the beach. And so, subconsciously, she started driving towards Marine Drive.
