Chapter Nine – Wish to meet
It was half past 10 at night when Saba went into her room rubbing a towel on her wet hair while wearing her casual white top and loose pyjama pants after taking a shower from the bathroom across her room. Hamadh insisted that he stayed with Sameer that night so Saba had the room to herself. She walked to the cloth hanger in one side of the room and hung her towel there before letting out a tiresome sigh. It was an exhausting day at the university since she had classes to attend from 6-8 as well in addition to the classes that morning. She’d attended the student council meetings and planned the upcoming activities in between those classes instead of going home. So she was exhausted beyond words.
She’d imagined herself getting to bed and dozing off into her dreams as soon as she felt the softness of her bed. Nonetheless, she didn’t lay down immediately when she sat on the bed. Her new habit dictated even though she was tired and she found herself reaching for the drawer on her side table. Inside the drawer was the dark blue glass photo frame, with a picture in it. She took it out and held it with both hands. She smiled, as she thought that she indeed looked good in that picture, for the first time in a long time. That thought didn’t just end with a sense of confidence in herself, but also the thoughts of the person who made her feel that way. Zayaan.
Saba remembered the day he’d given the frame to her as a gift about a week ago. How they’d met each other on the street. How he’d helped her with her nervousness for the interview. How he’d mistakenly admitted that he was staring at her through the window. And how that didn’t feel like he was being a creep or a pervert because of the hesitation she saw in him later on. And the words that he said as he gave her the photo frame. …would be a shame to do away with it completely.
Saba blushed as she remembered those words with her cheeks reddening along with a smile that grew wide. At the same time, there was a disturbance in her heart, as she realized she might be developing emotions for a man once again. The thought itself was terrifying. But she found herself drifting back into his thoughts for the second time. She remembered how he’d seen her waiting near the street outside the MCN studio’s building, waiting for the traffic lights to change color. It was getting darker by the minute as the sun was setting. He’d called her by her name and she looked back to see him. She automatically reflected the smile that she saw on his face as he caught up to her.
“Sorry that I had to go before you could say what you were going to. Sam needed me at the time so I had to go as soon as he called.” Zayaan said, as Saba too was reminded of how he had to leave all of a sudden before she could say anything about the gift.
“Oh no it’s ok really…”
“Glad that we met again….how do you like the gift?”
“Well…..I’m not really a fan of my pictures but I’m touched at the moment that someone went out of his way to get it framed so beautifully. So thank you.” Saba said and they laughed together as the traffic turned green. Saba began to cross the street assuming Zayaan would stay where he was. But to her surprise, he began to walk with her.
“It was my absolute pleasure to do it. As I said, it would be a shame to do away with such a beautiful click.” Zayaan said as they both crossed the street together.
“Yeah your photography is amazing I must say! I saw some of your works at the studio. But photography could only do so much. I might need a Photoshop make over to make my picture pretty.” Saba laughed as usual as she highlighted her ‘ugliness’ while pretending she didn’t have a tiny heartbreak as she said those words.
“Well I don’t think so. I guess beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder and I personally found the girl in that picture quite beautiful. One of the reasons why I couldn’t bring myself to fully get rid of it.” Zayaan said as he casually walked with Saba on the pavement across the street. Saba felt her heart flutter at those words. She felt her emotions getting carried away as she felt like she found someone she could lean on. Her tired and weakened heart seemed to find strength but at the same time felt apprehension at the thought of getting close to a man. Thus she changed the subject quickly.
“Where are you going? Isn’t your car in the office’s parking lot?” Saba said and all of a sudden she found nervousness on Zayaan’s face.
“Well….I….let’s just say I felt like having a small walk and thus I came along to walk you to the bus stop…” Zayaan said as he himself realized at that moment the real reason he came along in the first place. He’d wanted to spend more time with Saba dreading the fact that they may not be meeting again. Saba thought the same about the motivation behind Zayaan’s ‘small walk’ but couldn’t bring herself to believe that a man would do such a thing for her as she considered how a man treated her about a few months ago. So she shook the thought away from her mind.
“I see….we’re almost there….your office building is quite close to Hamadh’s school now that I look at this area carefully. Yes it is….the school is a few blocks down this street.” Saba said, looking at the building nearby.
“Good news, I could catch up with him some day to play a game of UNO. That lad had beaten me badly…” Zayaan said as Saba laughed.
“Not an easy task that is. I’d taught him to play the game. He told me that I was the only one who could beat him.”
“Interesting….Then we should play it….me versus the master of the boy who beat me.” Zayaan said and Saba laughed again as they reached the bus stop. Saba had her eyes on the bus that was reaching the stop and looked at Zayaan.
“We will if we meet again….” Saba said with a smile and she saw his smile fade with the uncertainty of ‘if’ in her sentence. She stopped herself from thinking further about it though and looked back at the bus that taxied to stop right in front of them. Saba gave a light smile to Zayaan who, in return showed a forceful smile. She’d seen him even after she sat in the bus. He was looking towards the window and caught her eyes a few seconds after she was seated. He waved goodbye just as the bus began to move and Saba found herself waving back with a smile. She’d noticed a sadness on his face as they parted ways.
Saba squinted her eyes and shook her head as she remembered that face so vividly even as she sat on her bed a week later. What was going on with her? She didn’t want to be daydreaming about a man. She didn’t want to get her emotions involved with another man. Her past experience forced her mind to repeatedly remind her that it was going to be another tiring journey for her heart if she did. But at the same time she wasn’t able to help herself. She wondered if this was a rebound, as a counselor had warned her. It has been a few months after her break-up with her last lover but she wasn’t fully healed yet. She wondered if she ever will either. The pain of that break up still lingers in her chest.
If she was building up feelings for Zayaan just as a replacement for the guy who left her, she didn’t want it to happen. She didn’t want to hurt Zayaan, knowingly or unknowingly. She would stay away from him, even if he tried to come close. That’s the right thing to do anyway too. But why was she thinking about him when there isn’t even a possibility of them meeting again? He would have probably forgotten about her, though she has been obsessively thinking about him.
But he was thinking about her. And they were going to meet, in the most unexpected way just the next day.
