Raaz ( Mystery)

Chapter 17

Find what you love and let it kill you
Charles Bukowski

Asher :
After picking up Mihrimah's belongings they had reached the airport just in time. The boarding process took some time but they found their seats easily. Their seats were by the window. Asher didn't ask her if she wanted to sit by the window or not since they didn't really talk on their ride to the airport after they picked up her luggage , throughout the check in and the boarding process. He just took the seat by the window and she sat on the seat beside him. He could feel his heart racing while listening to the preflight announcement. Asher wanted to ask Mihrimah to switch seats due to his claustrophobia but he felt like it was already too late. He took a quick glance at her who was wearing airpods while looking at something on her phone. She looked extremely calm and composed. The plane was about to take off when he felt hot rushes throughout his body making him sweat and shiver. It was a sudden choking sensation leaving him out of breath. That's when he heard her voice "take this " she said while offering him an earpiece. He didn't know what to say so he took it from her hand. "Listen to this it will help you" she said asking him to wear it. He wore the airpod and it had Surrah Duha playing on it. Mihrimah called the air hostess and asked her for water. He only realized it was for him when she handed him the disposable glass. After drinking water he closed his eyes and took deep breaths. He felt a sense of relief throughout his body, his stiff muscles were calm now and he wasn't out of breath anymore. He found her looking at him when he opened his eyes. "Are you okay now ?" She asked curiously. " Yes I feel better but how did you know?" he asked in a low voice . " My father was claustrophobic so taking flights wasn't easy for him" she replied without looking at him. After this they didn't exchange words but he still felt comfortable with her.

Arhaan :

"Get it together what are you doing?" he said squeezing her shoulders with his hands tightly. That's when he heard the sound of smash coming from the door. He saw her standing between the half opened door with a broken vase on the floor. He kept looking at her dumbfoundedly . She looked back at him without an ounce of expression on her face. It felt like his feet were glued to the marble flooring.They stood there staring at each other longer than they realized. By the time he started processing everything she had already turned to walk away. He came after her to the hallway but couldn't keep up because of the crowd. He watched her disappear into the crowd from a distance. He watched the one person he always wanted to keep close to him leave. Arhaan woke up with the howling sound of wind. His heart was pounding faster than the speed of light. It was 7 Am in the morning and he was in his bedroom even though the doctors had told him to stay at the hospital but he left because he couldn't sleep anywhere else other than his own room. After taking a sip of water he came out of bed and walked towards the window. A cool refreshing breeze entered his room as he opened the window. The sky was dark it looked like it was about to rain. He sat on the couch Infront of the window looking outside. There was a lot going on in his head which he needed to sort before leaving for work.

Fajr :
It looked like the cloudburst wasn't going to stop anytime soon. She looked at her sneakers that were fully soaked in rain water and her socks were completely wet too. She hated this feeling of cold water inside her shoes. "I hate myself how stupid can someone be ? It clearly looked like it will rain today why didn't I bring my umbrella?" she said while putting her hand on her head. Mihrimah had already left for home with her father even though she offered to drop her off but Fajr refused because her bus was usually on time. She had been standing there for thirty minutes outside the school but the bus was still nowhere to be seen. Raindrops were soaking her clothes wet, she was covering her head with both her hands. At one moment the water wasn't dripping her hands anymore so she looked above her head only to find an umbrella covering it. When she looked beside her he was standing there covering her head with an umbrella. "Why are you standing in the rain without an umbrella? What if you catch a cold ?" he asked her in a concerned tone. At first she couldn't find words to answer him. "I am waiting for the bus" she managed to say.
"You should at least carry an umbrella with you" he said with a poker face. "The bus is here , take this with you" he said pointing at the umbrella. "No I can manage you should take this" she replied hesitantly but he didn't wait to listen he walked quickly through the rain covering his head with his bag. She stood there looking at him for a few minutes before closing the umbrella and entering the bus. All the seats were already occupied so she had to stand in between the bus. Leronim who was a class fellow offered her his seat but she refused politely. "Please take it this your seat" he insisted continuously. " But I just entered right now how is it my seat?" she asked curiously. "Arhaan asked me to save it for you. You get uncomfortable while standing with the guys right?" He said in a low voice. She got utterly dumbfounded by his answer. " Please don't tell him I told you about this. You won't right?" He asked her sincerely. "Yeah thank you so much" she managed to say. Arhaan had stopped traveling by bus because he bought a bike recently. She couldn't help but think that how much he noticed every little thing. It was true that she was uncomfortable while standing between the boys but she never told anyone about this. "When did he ever notice this?" she kept thinking to herself.
Looking out the glass window at the raindrops she snapped out of memories when an old lady sat beside her in the subway. Fajr's car had broke down in the morning so she had to take the subway and it was the moment she entered the subway when it occurred to her that she had forgotten her umbrella again. "Who is gonna save you now ?" She chuckled thinking to herself.  While walking out of the subway terminal she saw him covering his head with a newspaper rushing in the rain towards his car.  She never really believed in fate but it was that moment when she realized if it's real it will never end.

Author's note :
Salam I hope y'all are doing good. I'm so sorry for updating very late I'll be consistent from now on Inshallah. What do you think will happen next ? How is the story going? Which part of today's chapter was your favourite?