Making the turn

Turning point

Anyone could spot that thoughtfully shaped face in the crowd, hiding her beauty under a pair of black rimmed glasses, there she was, with a new kind of light in her face. Her big almond shaped eyes outlined with black eyeliner demanded attention and they certainly got mine. I was enjoying her sight to my heart’s content for her radiating appearance gave me goosebumps. The charm her smile had was contagious, It had become my habit to wait for her, just to see her lips curl in joy.

It was our last year as o’level students, who’d know where we’d all go after that? Which was why the school had held a farewell for us. I must say, she looked ravishing in the saree she wore which was compulsory for all female students. The dress was of navy blue colour boarded with a eye catching silver lace which complimented her once pear shaped figure. She had changed quite a lot through the years, getting better with time.

We were good friends, although we never really talked in public or very often but when we did, we hit it off pretty hard. For that I give credit to our common interests and similar attributes. I was crazy about her,  every aspect of her and I wanted her to know that. The problem was the fact that I was a hopeless romantic and she wasn’t the type to think of anyone in they way I thought of her. She was a modest and decent girl who belonged to a well respected family , I couldn’t just go to her and say ‘hey, I love you and we should totally be together’.  I don’t think I could face the consequences,  not that the inevitable slap from her would question my masculinity or any other kind of nonsense but because it would ruin what we already had and I wasn’t ready to risk that.

I was so lost in her trance that I didn’t even notice my friend waving his hand in front my face until he pinched my arm and I heard him say “hello! Can you hear me?” to which I replied, “ouch! yeah totally man, of course!” Ali smirked a little and said, “Good, now if you’re done stalking her, could you please focus on the party? Farewells don’t come everyday you know?”

Ali was a good friend of mine, I’d known him since grade one and was my confidant. He knew everything about my feelings for her and he’d tease me about it now and then. He was a little more tanned than a normal Lahori would be for which I blamed his passion for football, it didn’t matter if it was too sunny or too cold or if the ground was too muddy, all conditions were football playing conditions to him and that is why he was one of Lahore’s most demanded players. He looked classy in his tux that evening which he wore with a black bow tie. He had set his hair flat and they were gathered towards the left side. Things were going good for him, he was the school’s football captain and had been offered a handful of scholarships.

Ali went on to say “hey look! It’s her, she’s coming here man. Just act cool and try to not embarrass yourself, okay?” and I rolled my eyes and with a sigh I said, “dude, I think it’s you who needs to calm down, not me. Now will you mind?” I pointed towards the food, Ali loved food and he got the message that I needed to talk to her, alone.

She was the type of person who’d glow in anyone’s presence, which was felt by her company because she was seldom around people to be tired of them. The girl was timid and had not the slightest confidence in her but loved the rush she felt when taking a risk, how did I know that exactly? 3 solid years of observing and stalking, my friend led to the knowing of all this but there’s more. They called her chipati because it somehow suited her bubbly and warm personality but personally, I liked her real name better, which was Salma, Salma K Haq. Since neither me nor my friends knew what ‘k’ stood for,  we called her potassium if she was nearby, just to make sure she didn’t know what we were saying.

There she was walking through the crowd, just to talk to me or maybe she wasn’t, I wouldn’t know since I was only focusing on her and that I was falling harder for her by the minute. The curly hair bouncing above her shoulders and her waving to various people as she passed by the crowd, was driving me insane because every aspect of her was so elegant, so flawless. She waved at me with excitement and came hurriedly toward me. “Jamil!” my eyes were drawn towards her lips as they said my name, no one made it sound better than her, no one.

 As soon as she reached me, she was out of breath and asked to be given a moment after which, my friends did the most outrageous thing to annoy me, they started to whistle at us. I think I caught her blush but she ignored it and continued “hey again! By the way, you’re friends are really weird” to which I replied with a fake laugh, “yeah, I’m still working on them, development is in progress” she chuckled a bit and I melted inside. Then she got straight to the point and asked “so Jamil, how do I look? I’ve been asking everybody this evening and I just remembered that I didn’t ask you, so tell me”

I thought my jaw had dropped that very moment but thank goodness it was my imagination for I would have suffered a great deal of mortification. She was looking at me with high anticipation and I had no idea what would be the most adequate answer. Would saying ‘drop dead gorgeous’ give away too much? Or should I settle for a plain and dry ‘fine’? The questions were suffocating and I didn’t have the confidence to open my mouth but I couldn’t keep her waiting. I shook myself a little and then tried to make my expression as placid as possible.  I went on to say with a little comforting smile, “you’ve cleaned up nicely Ms.Haq” her cheeks met her eyes and Salma’s whole face lit up, it was like those words were exactly what she needed.  

“thanks Jamil! You’re so sweet. So what’s up, you seem a bit lost” was what she said with genuine concern. I was about to say something when all of a sudden one of her best friends shouted “yo chipati! Get over here, we’re taking a class photo in a minute!” She made a ‘I’m so sorry’ face and said “as you’ve heard yourself, my friends are calling me. So, I’ll catch you later then. Bye! nice talking to you by the way”

They say it doesn’t matter how many breaths you take, just the moments that take your breath away, now I’m not trying to sound morbid or anything but looking at her did that to me and that’s what I loved about her, she mattered. Which is why, I mustered up the courage to say “hey wait!” and she turned.