The next day, the tension in the haveli was palpable. Meerab had woken up expecting another round of awkward confrontations, maybe some stammered apologies from Murtasim, and a few attempts from him to explain away his embarrassing behavior from the night before. But to her surprise, the house was unusually quiet, and so was Murtasim.
He was nowhere to be found. Not at breakfast, not in the study, not in the courtyard. It was odd, to say the least. Meerab shrugged it off at first, more than happy to enjoy some peace without having to deal with his antics. She hummed to herself while having her morning tea, basking in the quiet that she normally didn't get.
Good riddance, she thought to herself. Let him sulk somewhere else for a change.
By noon, she realized he hadn’t tried to seek her out once. No apologetic glances, no sidelong stares. Nothing. He was avoiding her like she had the plague, and though that should’ve been a good thing, it started to grate on her nerves.
Fine, she huffed, pacing around the house. Let him stew in his guilt.
But as the day wore on, something nagged at her. Usually, by this time, Murtasim would have tried at least five different ways to get on her good side. He’d either show up with her favorite tea, awkwardly hover around her in the hopes that she would talk to him, or just sit near her pretending not to notice her, all while clearly trying to catch her eye.
But today? Radio silence.
By late afternoon, Meerab found herself oddly restless. Where was he? What was he doing? More importantly, why wasn’t he doing what he usually did? Why wasn’t he chasing after her, annoying her with his insufferable apologies or awkward attempts at fixing things?
She sat in the living room, arms crossed, her leg bouncing impatiently. She hadn’t realized how much she’d gotten used to his hovering, his attention... as annoying as it sometimes was.
Wait, what am I even thinking?
She didn’t want his attention... right?
Meerab shook her head as if trying to clear the thoughts away, but they kept circling back to one annoying fact: she was missing the attention. Ugh, what’s wrong with me?
---
By evening, Meerab had had enough. She’d spent the entire day in an internal battle, trying to convince herself that she didn’t care whether or not Murtasim was around. But now she was annoyed. Not with him, but with herself.
She stormed through the house, determined to find him. When she finally located him in the garden, sitting on the patio with his back to her, her irritation only grew.
There he was, lounging around as if he had no care in the world, sipping his tea, completely ignoring her existence. How dare he?
“Murtasim!” she called out, marching up to him.
He glanced over his shoulder, a mildly surprised expression on his face, as if he hadn’t expected her to come looking for him. “Yes?” he asked, completely calm and casual, as if nothing had happened.
Meerab stared at him, completely baffled by his nonchalance. “What the hell are you doing?”
Murtasim raised an eyebrow. “I’m having tea. What does it look like?”
Meerab rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I meant! You’ve been avoiding me all day!”
He blinked at her, confused. “Wasn’t that what you wanted? You told me to stay away from you.”
Meerab opened her mouth, then closed it. Well, yes, she had told him to stay away. But she hadn’t *meant* it... not like this.
“Not like this!” she snapped, throwing her hands up. “You’ve been acting like I don’t exist!”
