Where Shadows Reach

The Unravelling

"Mari, something is really wrong with me. My memory has gaps in them and it always happens when I am at home, never at work."

"What about all the doctor's you have been seeing? Do they know what is happening to you?" Mariyam asked worriedly.

They were in Meerab and Murtasim's room, seated on their bed.

Mariyam was staying with Meerab while her brother was away at the estate dealing with some issues that could not be resolved without his presence.

Mariyam had chosen to keep Meerab company for the few days her brother was occupied.

She was set up in the extra room but Meerab preferred to have Mariyam in her room.

She still had two more weeks to finish her internship and she did not wish to delay it any more by taking a break to accompany Murtasim.

Meerab was actually glad to have a break from Murtasim.
Recently he had been hovering around her too often.

She had caught him looking at her worriedly more times than she could count.

Some times she had even noticed a sort of fear in his eyes, but the moment she looked at him he would suddenly change his expression.
As if a mask had dropped over his eyes, he would smile widely and distract her with something.

Meerab felt like he was hiding something from her. Some times he would not take his eyes off her as she worked around the house.

She was not complaining, she loved when his gaze lovingly followed her every move, when his eyes raked over her face and body as if he could not stay away a minute longer.
Those times he looked at her with a hunger that made Meerab blush.

It was his other gaze that irritated her, the one where it felt like he was waiting for her to trip or make a mistake.

Murtasim was not a violent or an angry man.
He may some times be a little impatient but never aggressive, especially not with her.

Meerab knew within her heart that even if she did make a mistake he would be the last one to berate her or point it out or even mention it.

They would probably laugh about it at some point.

She could not explain exactly what she did not like about him staring, but she felt an inner voice mention that 'Maybe Murtasim did not trust her.'

Her mind had begun to be a little suspicious of Murtasim especially when she had found him scribbling away in a small notebook one day.

She would have thought nothing of it except for the guilty look on his face when she walked in on him.

He quickly shut the book and put it away along with the papers on his desk.

Meerab had searched for it later, a small brown coloured book, the size of her palm.
She had been unable to find it, not that she had put in a lot of effort in her search.
She was too tired to search properly.

Her physical exhaustion on most days was unbearable.

If she was home it was like her body simply drained of energy. Her sleepless nights did not help either.

The weird thing was that the moment she walked out of the house and on the way to work, her tiredness slowly faded.

She was full of energy as long as she was at work or outside the home.

At the office Meerab was doing the work of two people since Zaiba had fallen sick and was on leave until she recovered.

Meerab did not mind the work load, it kept her busy and away from overthinking.