In The Pursuit Of Love

A Concoction of Indignation and Protection

Don't depend too much on anyone in this world, because even your own shadow leaves you when you are in dark.' – Ibn Taymiyyah (RA)

Fear of death.

No matter how bold and courageous a person is, the fear of death is and will always be his or her downfall. And that's how Nargis was feeling right now. She had complete idea on what was going to happen to her once she puts her hand in the hive, but experiencing it was another thing. Initially, she had never thought that her life would come to this. But now, her future either seems getting chased or worse, dark. But she would never regret her choices and decisions.

At the moment she couldn't think straight, her heart was pounding, and her eyes filled with tears. But soon her vision cleared and fell on the person in front of her, and she never knew she would be so happy to see him.

Zeeshan stood in front of her, his hand covering her mouth, his side profile in her view, looking out probably for any danger. Now that she was seeing him from up close, she wouldn't deny that he wasn't good looking. And the sudden realization made her grasp the situation and the position they were in.

He was close.

Too close for her liking.

Their bodies almost touching. Almost.

And as if on cue, he turned his head and her breath hitched in her throat. Just a small movement and their noses would be touching. He was looking at her, most precisely her eyes. His gaze held hers, drowning in the depth of her dark brown ocean, as if wanting to stare for as long as he wanted and not look away even for a second.

A sudden commotion and deep gruff voices was all it took Zeeshan to move and close the mere gap between them. He instantly moved forward covering her with all of his body, his one hand on the wall and the other behind her head. Her body touching his, the only thing that kept them apart was her hands in between them, resting on his chest. Her palms clenched so tight that it would draw blood once she'd open them.

She had forgotten to breath, from the sudden closeness or from the danger outside, she had no clue. But the inclination was more towards the former.

A few seconds later, Zeeshan felt warm yet soft breaths on his body, just below his throat and only then he realized that how close they were. His heart running a marathon and he was sure she had felt it. In order to protect her, he didn't realize what all measures he was taking as this surely was not on his to-do list. Her continuous breaths were not helping at all and all he wanted was to run away from there.

He took a last and long look outside amidst his inner chaos, and then when he was sure that they had lost them, he abruptly backed away, his back meeting the wall with a thud, making him wince.

"I am sorry" he said in the process of rubbing his back watching her slowly get back to her straight position from her previous one which was her hands in front of her and fists clenched.

"Are you okay?"

They both asked simultaneously and nodded nonetheless.

He was looking at her with an intense gaze and she looked anywhere but him.

He crossed his arms above his chest and took a deep breath.

"Would you mind explaining all this?" his tone was stern, and she so knew that it was coming.

"Thank you Zeeshan for the help. I really appreciate it" she replied back with a straight tone and started leaving, but Zeeshan was not really going to let her leave just like that.

"I don't need the appreciation, Nargis, believe me. What I actually need is the reason why those hooligans are chasing you. And why the hell are you not taking help from the police?" he said getting riled up, he had no idea why.