Incandescence

Chapter 25

I knew that Anis was sending frequent glances towards me but I tried to ignore him. I was still shocked at what had happened in the coffee shop a little while ago. I hadn't realized that Hashim would be here, in the very hotel that belong to Anis. As much as I tried to run away from people, I was forced in front of them the more. I didn't want to explain to everyone what had happened to my face and beauty while gaining their pity and compassion. I didn't want that from anyone, not even Anis. A strange prickly feeling told me that Anis was looking at me yet again but I didn't look up from my tablet. He hadn't acted with calm and patience that I gave him credit for. I had never seen Hashim behave like the way he did in front of Anis. Both of them had acted like some animal trying to mark his territory. They were kids, both of them, and I felt angry at Anis for being so hostile to my friend so I had decided to keep my silence until my temper calmed and I didn't say something that I later regretted.

I had selected a corner in his office as soon as we reached and engrossed myself in my tablet. I needed to get myself up to date with today's progress at the office. I was going through the GitHub portal, which I had integrated with my development department to use so that I could easily monitor the progress of all the projects that were undergoing. I pulled up the new point-of-sales system that we were developing for a client and tried to review the latest update but couldn't because it was incompatible with my iPad.

"Anis!"

"Alisha!"

We both spoke together which brought a slight smile to his lips. I ignored that and looked him in the eye.

"Yes?"

"First you say what you were going to say." He said, relaxing back in his chair and looking at me.

"I was going to ask if I can use the laptop." I didn't explain why I needed the laptop when I had my tablet with me.

"Oh! Yeah! Sure." He said as he unplugged the cable of his laptop and brought it over to me.

"Thanks." I said and took the laptop from his hand.

"Alisha!" I looked in his eyes as he called me again. There was some sort of hesitation in his voice as he said my name and looked in my eyes. For the first time, I was unable to read his eyes.

"I won't apologize for what happened back in the coffee shop but I would appreciate if you would stop giving me those angry looks. I didn't do anything wrong."

"Oh! Really?" he had pricked my temper and now he was going to pay for it.

"Yeah."

"He is my childhood best friend, Anis. We knew each other since we were in kindergarten, when you didn't even know that I existed. I don't treat my friends like that ever."

"I was just looking out for you." He said in his defense.

"I don't need looking after, Anis. I'm a grown woman and I can take care of myself pretty well." I retorted and turned my attention away from him. I had wounded him but I was angry and he had pricked my temper really bad.

"Of course you can take care of yourself." He murmured to himself and retraced his steps back towards his desk in the middle of the room. I ignored him for the rest of the evening as he worked while I went over my projects and important matters back at the office. There were so many things that I had to take care of and then there were the payments of the renovations of the office. Sarah had mentioned in her email that the payments were pending and there was some issue with the bank account as well.

I responded to most of my clients, telling that all was well with me and I was working on their projects according to the normal time. With my ill health and now this, our clients were worried that I wouldn't be able to deliver on time. I was testing the software for bugs when my cell phone rang. Sliding it out of my pocket, I checked the caller ID.