Qurban

•44• Fear / خوف

Thump of feet echoed on tiled floor as the girl ran like a wind. Her long hair waving with air like leaves on a tree. Her long yellow dupatta flowing like a kite stranded in the open sky. Her sandal clad feet were pale and small, but speedy as she ran and ran toward the end on the corridor before rounding on a corner and finally stopping when she reached her destination.

The wooden door before her was slightly ajar. Thin ray of light falling onto the floor and illuminating a small vertical portion of the carpeted floor. Her breaths were coming in puffs due to her constant running. After she gathered her breaths, she tiptoed toward  the room and peaked her head in only a slightest bit.

Her eyes welled with tears as she saw the boy of her dreams packing his life away in a carry on. He was aggressively tossing clothes in the suitcase, not bothering to even fold them neatly to create space for all those heavy books he was still to pack.

She watched, silently and sad. Her heart was breaking. He was leaving. Leaving the house. She knew it was all a lie that he would be back after finishing his masters. No, he won't be. He would never come back. Not after the major fight that occured not too long ago. He had chosen his path.

Her steps quickly retreated and she ran upstairs and barged onto the terrace. The wind was crispy and cool on her skin, but the salty taste of tears was not lost on her. Looking up at the sky, her glossy eyes searched for an answer.

Why? Why was it happening? Why was he leaving? Why him? Why him of all people?

But her questions had no answer. She was to just accept the fate and move on. But she couldn't do that. Wouldn't do that. She would find a way. She would crave it out by her fingernails if she had to, but she would.

Because there was no her without her Altamash.
******************

Altamash was hiding something.

Zainab was sure of it. He had been acting weird since the last two nights. She remembered him coming home late at night. His shirt crumpled, jacket long forgotten in the car or may be at the headquarters. For all she remembered, he was clutching a brown envelope in his hand, but before she could ask him anything about it, he disappeared inside his room.

Zainab knew something was wrong. He had never acted that aloof. He must be hiding something. Or may be there was something that worried him. She didn't get a chance to talk to him, because deliberately or coincidentally, she hadn't got a chance to talk to Altamash. The other morning when she woke up, she saw a note on the fridge door saying he left for work early in the morning and would return late at night.

The routine followed for another day and somehow she got the hint that he didn't want to talk about it. But not talking about it was what making it so curious. What really was something that he was hiding?

She hadn't received any updates on the photograph she received on her phone a while ago nor there'd been any information about the sender's identity. It was all a one big mess. She felt it growing bigger and bigger. Like a parasite, eating away at her brain and sanity.

She was brought out of her thoughts by the echo of footsteps. She turned around and her eyes clashed with the steely dark ones.

"Mr. Yuves."

She said when he shortened the distance between them with ease.

"Micheal please."

He said while he was at an arm's length to her. Zainab involuntarily took a few steps back to put distance between them. Something about the man didn't make her feel comfortable in his presence. There was a vibe to him that always made Zainab feel anxious, like water was sloshing in her stomach or her heart was squeezing in her ribcage too tight.