The Winter's Widow (MISHBIR VERSION)

Part Five~

A comfortable silence had sat beside the newly married duo for the most part of the day, but Abir had already had his fair share of quiet during his time alone, now if it lasted even a minute longer it would verge on torture. He loathed the times where no noise could be heard around him because that was when everything within became louder. “I seem to have lost my number, may I have yours?”

Flinching at the sudden disturbance, she gazed over her book with a strange expression, then looked around the room slowly. Pointing to herself, Mishti raised a brow “Me?”

His lips curled “Well there’s no one else here”.

Her eyes surveyed the room as if checking he was being honest before she placed the book down. “Uh, I don’t have a phone, I thought, I thought you knew that” if she was honest, she didn’t really understand what was going on here, the question was odd and so was his behaviour.

He did know that, and that was the problem. The pickup line he’d used wasn’t one that would work, so the next one had to be better. Biting down on his knuckle as he thought through a few he knew, his eyebrows merged. When he was younger, he’d learnt the hard way that to grab a woman’s attention it was best to be funny, so he’d memorised the corniest phrases known to man and used them whenever the situation allowed. If it wasn’t already crystal clear, his goal was to make her laugh again and if that meant some inadvertent flirting, then so be it! Inwardly praising himself at the idea, he crossed his right leg over his left knee “Are you religious? Because-“.

“No” she cut him off, “I lost any faith I had a long time ago”. She appreciated his effort at trying to get to know her even though his technique of doing so seemed weird, people rarely bothered to ask her anything, so she supposed she didn’t exactly have the right to question the way he did.

Huffing at another failed attempt, he muttered under his breath: “Because you’re the answer to all my prayers”.

Her head shot up “Sorry?”

“Nothing” Abir groaned, his cheek pushed up by his palm as he rested his face on it to keep some semblance of balance in the absolute mess he was creating. This really wasn’t going the way he’d wanted it to, was it because she really didn’t understand or because she didn’t want to understand? Whatever the reason, he wasn’t going to give up just yet. Moving to sit beside her on the sofa, he rested his back on the arm of the chair “The voices in my head told me to come and say hi” he winked dramatically.

Sliding away from him, she pulled her knees to her chest “You, you have a mental illness?” Not that she would ever judge him for it, it was just the first time she’d heard of his struggles, she wished she would have been informed earlier, that way she could try and support him because at that moment she had no idea how to even begin.

His head shook vehemently “No, no I don’t, I“ huffing and puffing loudly at the misunderstanding, he eyed her desperately, hoping she would somehow work out what he actually meant just by looking in his eyes.

“Then why did you- “.

Taking a calming breath, he reached for her hand “What I’m trying to say is, I hope you know CPR because you take my breath away”.

Jumping up from her seat, she stood over him, her eyes murky with concern “I don’t, I don’t, shall I call an ambulance? Are you okay? Shall I get some water?” Her hand was an inch from the telephone when he pulled her back onto the sofa and threw himself on her lap.

Throwing his arms up, he collapsed his head into his hands “I give up” he pouted. “Just read to me, Mishti, I’ll go mad otherwise”. He had no intention to blame her for her oblivious innocence, it was different to anything he’d ever seen before and that made things a lot more interesting, but it also made things a lot more difficult.