Finding Love

Chapter 23

Kabir's eyes snapped open, suddenly, as it struck him, that he had forgotten to inform Qizar about the meeting the next day. He sat up quickly, and put on the night lamps.

'3:21 AM'

Immediately, he reached out for his pager, and paged the message.

'Be there at the Shah House at 10:30 AM. My apologies for informing you so late. Mr. Shah wants to have a meeting. Please be there.'

Sighing, he put the pager by the teapoy, and slid back under the quilt. Putting off the night lamps, he stared into the dark, his eyes aimlessly wandering, trying to catch the silhouettes of the objects scattered across the room, until a frustrated grunt slipped past his lips. He sat up, trying to hold back his thoughts, wild as the wind, untamed as time.

The thoughts, the miseries, the worries... the demons, were inching closer, with every passing moment. He could feel them. He knew, he could at some point, give up. He knew, that once he'd put down his bucklers, he would be a lost cause. He wouldn't have cared, not of the wide world, had he but been his old self. Not now. Not this time. He didn't want the Pandora's box to raise its clasps once again. His left arm resting on his thigh, he traced down the now invisible scars of slashes, across the length of his right forearm. Gluing his eyes shut, eyebrows furrowed, Kabir tried his best, to battle his emotions, that were on a constant rise since the past few hours. He had no idea, what had triggered it this time around. He didn't want to end up becoming a nervous wreck, subject to panic attacks every so often.

Getting off the bed, Kabir walked over to the wardrobe, and pulled out a massive spread of canvas, which was nailed onto a hard board. He paced towards the drawers, and snatched out the oil-tint paints, and grabbed a set of brushes and a palette, before leaving the room. Walking through the dim-lit corridor, Kabir intentionally kept within the shadows, his step soft, and his movements swift.

Once on the terrace, he found a ledge to balance the canvas board on, and picked up an ancient looking oil lantern. He stared at it for one long moment, contemplating on its existence in the Shah House, where no room was deprived of electricity. Not even the store room. Or the larder.

'Oil lanterns? Really?'

Shaking his head, to rid himself of his thoughts, Kabir lit the lantern's wick, before putting the brass lid atop the glass case, and placing it close to the canvas.

For a solemn moment, Kabir let loose himself, as he shut his eyes, gently swaying with the midnight breeze, tuning his mind onto a peace track. He let his imagination take control over his mind, as he left go himself, mind and soul, vulnerable to his thoughts and emotions. Gently opening his eyes, he stared at the blank canvas for a moment longer, before picking up the 7.0 flat brush and drenching it into Scarlet and Burnt Sienna, and etching a menacing line of tint across the length of the canvas. Dabbling with shade of yellow, brown, red, and black, with a hue of white, Kabir blended the tinges with ease, as a small trickle of perspiration treaded down his brows, and onto his cheekbone, down to his neck, before getting soaked by his grey cotton t-shirt. Eyes trained intently, Kabir seemed to be unfazed by anything around him, as he vigorously raced the brush against the canvas, extremely sure of the curves, straights, dots and dabs.

Once satisfied, Kabir glanced at his watch, noting the time.

'4:03 AM. Fair enough.'

Putting the brushes down, Kabir stepped back, to take a better look at the piece. A whole screen covered with roses, the deep of the red too surreal, almost blood-like. If not for the two white roses amongst the half bunch, anyone would mistake the canvas to be smeared with blood, and not paint. Kabir threw a scrutinising gaze over the painting, catching a few inconsistencies in his work, every few inches onto the canvas. Before he could take a step towards his scattered mess of tools, he heard a very small tinkle echo behind him. So faint, that he would have missed it, if not for the dead silence of the night.