Trapped

Chapter 6

Alisha is lost in her thoughts when her telephone rings, bringing her back to reality. She leaves her glasses on the table, not bothering to put them back on her eyes and hurries up towards the ringing phone that is just beside the stairway.

"Hello." She answers monotonously and soon the voice on the other end brings out a feeling of happiness in her. "Hello, Alisha." Her father's deep voice brings back the thoughts she had this afternoon in the park. "I was going to call you today." She replies, her fingers clutching the phone receiver tightly. "Maybe that's the reason I missed you too much and ended up calling you." Her father answers with a chuckle, his smiling face visible to her in his words.

"How are you doing, dad?" "Everything's just the same. I am fine here. It’s you I am worried about." A slight concern audible in his tone that she successfully picks up. "I am just great, dad. There is nothing to worry. It’s actually... I miss mom." Those last three words has left a lump in her throat that is slowly growing with the seconds of silence that are passing by. "Oh, I miss her too." He finally breaks the piercing silence, stating the truth, casually.

It’s this quality of her father that always helps her overcome her difficulties. He keeps her calm, makes even the largest problems appear small with his casual tone, lightening the heavy atmosphere around her.

"So what is my girl up to?" His fatherly voice asks her, changing the topic for her convenience. Because he knows, how sensitive she gets when it comes to her mother, who died when she was only fourteen. Tragic accident and painful goodbyes. It all keeps coming back to her.

She smiles to herself, playing with the telephone's spiral cord as she slowly settles down on the second last step. "The job is getting hectic these days, I blame the holiday season." She tells him, making a silly face just to show that she really blames the coming holiday season, even though no one can see her.

The conversation goes on for long, as she talks about her jobs while he talks about his own, sharing experiences and advises. This is the father-daughter bonding time that she really misses which she compensates by long calls to her dad. She laughs, she smiles and nostalgia brings few tears in her eyes but nonetheless, it’s one of those conversations she always waits eagerly to have. They call each other only when time permits (considering the time difference in their different zones) and when the pain is too much to be handled alone.

The one hour long call has somehow, mended back her heart that was shattering slowly with the sad memories, scratching its sensitive surface. Each crack is slowly and eventually fixing itself, leaving back a tiny scar because things like these leave their marks on us, they just don’t disappear.

She settles down with her dinner that she finally made herself and she wonders how fast this day just went by. Sundays are always shorter than other days of the week, she thinks to herself even though she knows the truth but it feels good to blame the day, like a child would. She knows tomorrow will be one more hectic day in her life which will be followed by a series of hectic days until next Saturday arrives but that's her life and she will be fine.

The night is calling her to weave a new story in her dreams as she yawns twice in a row while watching her favourite show. Alisha knows she has to sleep now for her to wake up on time. She keeps her clothes ready for tomorrow, nicely ironed. After changing into a comfortable pair of clothes, she switches off her light and closes her eyes.

While on the other side of the city, Zayn is prowling on the streets like a tiger, chasing his prey. Yes, tonight he has some work to do rather than just moving around. He is following his target tonight and the best thing that has happened is, he has no thoughts of her, his busy mind doesn't have time to think of her and that is a relief for him. The other best thing is that Max and he have finally teamed up for this one mission. The moment Max was called for this one task to assist him, it has been practically impossible for him to wipe that grin of his face.