Burn The World

Hard

“No way!” breathed Saba dramatically through the phone.

It was a lazy weekend afternoon. It had been two days since they had come back from the hotel. Meerab debated a bit about telling anyone about her and Murtasim’s agreement, but then decided telling Saba would be okay. She had just finished giving Saba an update on everything that had happened after she left the Gala over the phone.

“It was all your boob patch dress Saba! That’s the true culprit. That’s where this whole thing started.”

“Damn! I mean I wanted to get some reaction out of you two, but I didn’t think it would end up with the two of you sleeping together. You two turned out to be way more horny than I expected.”

Meerab bit into an apple and took her time chewing, deep in thought. “I guess I just couldn’t battle with the lust anymore. It was too overwhelming. There’s no other logical explanation for this.”

“Babe....I won’t lie, you two are damn lusty, but that’s not all of it,” said Saba. She slowly contemplated how best to word what she was about to add to the discussion.

“What do you mean?”

Saba went with simplicity as the best way to word her thoughts. “You do have feelings for him Meerab. I’m sure of it!”

“Saba, you said yourself that two people who don’t like each other can be in lust.”

“Meerab I gave you two reasons for being intimate with a person you hate. You fall under reason number two: You like him; you just haven’t realised it yet.”

“Saba please, that’s just so illogical.”

“Why don’t you ever consider this as an option Meerab? You went and slept with a man without marriage. Now you’re in a casual relationship with him. This is so unlike you. I’m telling you girl, you haven’t realised you’re doing it, but it’s like you’re grasping at whatever little you can have of him.”

“I’m not grasping at whatever little I can have of him!” said Meerab defensively. “I’m not some desperate pining lover. It’s confusing, but I’m sure I’ll get over it soon.”

“You implicitly trusted him. That trust didn’t come out of nowhere. Mark my words! Give it some more time for your feelings to simmer, maybe the two of you should also put aside your egos for like five seconds, and you’ll be screaming a love declaration for Murtasim from the top of the mountains.”

Meerab could only shake her head. Then she remembered Saba couldn’t see her through the phone.

“You watch too many movies. Please no more romanticising this, okay? Remember, he hates me. So even if I was to climb a mountain for a declaration, he'd push me off of it and watch me fall. And I reiterate, this casual relationship news stays a secret between you and me. Anyway, I’ll talk to you later. I gotta go now,” said Meerab.

“Ohhh, go and do what?” asked Saba with a mischievous lilt to her tone. “Do Murtasim?”

“Saba!” said Meerab blushing furiously. She hung up and headed to the kitchen to throw away her apple core.

It was silent in the flat as Murtasim was locked away in his study since the morning doing God knows what work and neither Mai nor Bakhtu were around for her to chat to. Meerab aimed the apple core at the trash can from across the kitchen and chucked it. It fell right in, making her smile happily.

“Nice shot,” came Murtasim’s voice from behind her, startling her. Before she could look around, she found her waist wrapped in his tanned arms and her back pressed to his chest.