Bowled Over By The Broken

Chapter 3: The Sound of Heartbreak

30th March, 2016

"And [remember] when your Lord proclaimed, 'If you are grateful, I will surely increase you [in favor]; but if you deny, indeed, My punishment is severe.'"

[Surah Ibrahim]

Chapter 3:

The Sound of Heartbreak

She was never the kind to stand out. She could easily pass unnoticed in crowds and if there was a group of ten, she wasn't the girl who caught your attention in the first few seconds.

She was always the quiet kind. She hated crowds, and she was a nature freak. She didn't mind that she wasn't too popular or have a huge set of friends because to begin with, few people meant lesser issues. She'd rather escape to a hill station or stay cuddled on the couch with her favourite book than actually go out and interact.

And no, she didn't want to change a bit about her. Passing unnoticed meant maintaining the mystery in her life. Not fitting in meant she had a chance to make her own mould. Not too worried about what others thought about her meant she could follow her heart.

And most importantly, not being a people's person did not make one any less confident.

She was fierce, she was content, she was kind and she was that girl who didn't catch your gaze the first instant, but once she did, you wouldn't want to take your eyes off her.

She was an undiscovered beauty, you wouldn't look at her and say she was beautiful. You'd have to look in her to get lost in her charm.

Anabya was aware of some of the charecteristics in her, while others, the positive ones to be precise, she chose to stay ignorant about. Whatever the case, the fact of the matter was, for as long as she had known, she was fine with herself. She hadn't really felt the need to change herself.

However, her thoughts were taking a different route today.

Maybe she should have been more vocal, display love for things even if she didn't like them, talk more, show more energy. Maybe she should have been like those girls who bewitched you with their charm.

Maybe she should have been like Hafsa.

Maybe then, Fadil Ahmed would have fallen for her.

At the thought, her hands stilled in typing on the keypad and she had to take a moment to calm her volcano sized thoughts.

"Were you able to come up with sufficient icebreakers for the women's session we're conducting the day after?" Hafsa's voice jolted Anabya of her thoughts, bringing her back to reality.

"I managed to get a few innovative ones," Anabya started, her features giving no hints to the wounded chambers in her heart. "What about you?"

Hafsa sighed dreamily at that and replied, "My mind has stopped working, its preoccupied with someone else's dreams."

A pain she didn't even know she could experience gnawed at her inside as Anabya saw Hafsa peek over the desk and look towards Fadil's office.

Did she really have to witness all this?

Maybe because the news from yesterday's phone call hadn't settled in yet, the universe was doing its best to throw it at her face.

"Are you almost done with yours?"

"Almost," Anabya replied, her gaze flickering to Hafsa.

"So can I fill you in about last evening?" She asked, her lips curving up as her eyes held stars.