Kinza - The Dark Love

Chapter 12

NOUMAN 

The office felt like a cage. Fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, harsh and unyielding. I could barely see straight, my eyes heavy and dark from too many sleepless nights. It had been two weeks since I saw the car burning, two weeks since Kinza's accident. The police couldn't find her body. They said she was gone, but I couldn't believe it. I wouldn't believe it.

My head pounded with the memories, with the last words I said to her. For the first time, I told someone what was in my heart. I told her I loved her. And now... now she's gone?

I stared blankly at my computer screen. The words and numbers blurred together. Nothing made sense anymore. The noise of the office buzzed around me, but I felt detached, like I was watching everything from far away.

"Nouman," Ahad's voice cut through the haze. He stood in the doorway of my office, looking at me with pity. I hated that look. "You need to stop. This isn't good for you."

I glared at him. "No. She's alive, Ahad. She has to be. She can't leave me like this."

"Nouman, everyone else has moved on. We had her funeral. We... we have to accept it."

I stood up, slamming my hands on the desk. "No! I don't care what everyone else thinks. I know she's out there. I can feel it."

Ahad took a step back, his eyes filled with concern. "You're hurting yourself, man. This... this isn't healthy. You have to let go."

"I can't," I whispered, my voice breaking. "I can't let go. I won't."

Ahad sighed, running a hand through his hair. "What if you're wrong? What if she's really gone? You're torturing yourself."

My chest tightened, anger and despair mixing into a toxic brew. "I can't accept that, Ahad. I won't accept it. I confessed my feelings to her, for the first time in my life, and now she's just... gone? No. She has to be alive. She has to be."

Ahad stepped closer, his expression softening. "I understand you're hurting, but you need to take care of yourself too. Kinza wouldn't want this for you."

I turned away from him, unable to look at the pity in his eyes. "You don't understand. She can't be gone. Not after everything."

He reached out, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Nouman, please. For your own sake, try to find some peace. Even if she's... even if she's really gone, you need to keep living."

I shook my head, the weight of his words pressing down on me. "How? How can I live when the only person I ever opened up to is gone?"

Ahad squeezed my shoulder gently. "You have to find a way. Maybe... maybe talk to someone, a therapist. You can't keep doing this to yourself."

I shrugged off his hand, the anger flaring up again. "Talking won't bring her back."

"No," he said softly. "But it might help you heal."

I sat back down, feeling more exhausted than ever. "Just... leave me alone, Ahad. I can't deal with this right now."

Ahad sighed but nodded, walking out of my office. I watched him go, the emptiness inside me growing. Two weeks since the fire. Two weeks without Kinza. And still, I couldn't let go. I wouldn't let go. Not yet. Not ever.