Deadly Stalker

Chapter I: Hello!

"Zaraaaa"

Who the hell in this world is shouting like a maniac. I rubbed my eyes and looked in the direction of the voice. My brother was standing at my bedroom door looking somewhat relieved. But after I laid back again on my soft and comfortable bed he looked panicked. He left the doorknob that he was holding and walked beside my bed. He stretched his long arms and starting tickling me.

What the heck?! I thought to myself while giggling.

"Stop.... Ple... ase... ", I managed to speak two words while laughing. He suddenly stopped and gave me a warning look that said 'if-you-sleep-again-then-you-see'. I immediately jumped up from my bed and gave him a wide grin. I was fully awake by now. Like who wouldn't be?

I walked to bathroom and starting doing my morning routine that consisted of brushing my teeth, flossing, taking a shower, trimming my nails if they are big and things like that. After picking out my outfit for the day and changing into them, I headed down to the kitchen for breakfast.

While I was still on the stairs, I smelled the pancakes before my other senses registered their presence. The homey smell of frying butter reached my nostrils and assaulted my brain with mouthwatering images of fluffy, warm goodness. I walked into the kitchen to see my mother frying pancakes and humming a familiar tune, unaware of my presence. I snuck up behind her and snagged a soft piece of heaven off the platter stacked deep with the round, tan things. I grabbed a plate and retreated with my prize towards the syrup. After slathering the still steaming treat with liquid sugar, I gingerly cut off a bite and lifted it towards my mouth.

Pure bliss.

The first flavour to unfold on my tongue was the sweetness of the syrup, quickly followed by the delicate, buttery flavour of the pancake itself. The coolness of the syrup and heat of the pancake complemented one another perfectly and only served to bring out the subtle flavour of the pancake itself. I scooped up another bite to replace the one which was quickly dissolving in my mouth, and then another. Before I knew it, all that remained on my plate was dribbles of syrup. I didn't knew I was so busy in savouring my pancakes that when I opened my eyes, I saw my whole family staring at me.

"What?", I asked them.

"Nothing", they all said in unison and turned away to do their respective works. But a soft giggle did escape from my sister-in-law's mouth. A little embarrassed with myself, I got up from the island counter and made my way to the sink to wash my dish. After wiping my hands on the kitchen towel, I went through glass sliding doors of the kitchen into the living room, where Baba was sitting with a newspaper in one hand and TV remote in other.

I sat on the sofa, beside my Baba, and watched the news on the TV. At this moment nothing was going inside my brain. Looking at the bodies on top of another made it more worse. Baba was watching some Syrian news, and was so busy, that his eyes never even once left the TV. At that moment, Mama came in with two glasses of orange juice, one for me and one for Baba. I took my glass from her and starting drinking the juice, enjoying the taste of orange. After 4 or 5 gulps, the glass was empty. I kept my glass on the table, took my bag from sofa and after shouting Allah Hafiz, I walked outside to my car as the cool breeze wrapped me in its blanket.

******

"Hello, Good morning!", I said to Lily, the receptionist and then headed to my cabin. I am working with an interior designer company named Ethos and my boss who is a lady, Anna, is the most cheerful person I have ever met. We are currently working on designing a hotel and my job is to plan out all the hotel lobby and and the dining room.

I loved decorating rooms in my house since I was 12. I developed this habit of redecorating each room and thus I decided to become an interior designer. I still remember the day when I had decorated my brother's room before his wedding and how my cousins gushed at how beautiful it looked. That made my day and I still smile like a fool when I think about it.

After drawing and planning out the lobby, which I had been doing for the past two days, I went to Anna to show her my work. If she approved it then the workers would start working on it from tomorrow and then I would have to go to the site for work.

I knocked twice on the glass cabin door and waited for approval to come.

"Come in", Anna said from the other side of the door. I quickly pushed the door and went inside to a sweet smelling office. Anna liked to keep her cabin full of flowers so everywhere possible she would put flowers.

"I have completed the lobby part. Here, you can check it out", I handed her a few papers on which I had planned out the things to kept in the lobby and the design.

She looked at the papers and after a little while looked up at me. Her flawless skin shining under the light, making outline of different shapes. As she moved in her chair, the shapes too changed.

"Well, you have done a great work. But I will check it properly and then email you the changes. We can start the work from tomorrow", she replied in a sweet voice.

"As you have finished this work early" -she pointed out to the papers-"you can go home if you want"

I gave here a genuine smile and mentally patted myself for completing the work early. After enquiring a little more about the project, I left her cabin and headed towards mine, packed my bag, and left the office. On reaching my car, I called Tuba to check whether or not she was free. Tuba is a photographer and helps me in fashion blogging modest clothes.

She is my best friend since childhood. She has helped me with everything and anything. She has been a part of me since the day we decided to never end our friendship. She is my complete opposite yet we support each other in every aspect.

"Hello, young lady!", Tuba said from the other side. Even when she was not in front of me, I could say that she was excited.

"As salaam Alaikum Tuba", I replied.

"Wa Alaikum Salaam", she replied.

"Meet me at Starbucks as soon as possible", she continued in an urgent but excited tone. With this she ended the call.

I started the engine, and was soon out of the parking lot. I made my way to Starbucks wondering what news had made her so excited.

******

Salaam guys! How are you all? I hope every one is fine. So how was the chapter? Please comment. I need your feedback. It is important. At lease vote for it. :)
♥