Chapter Two – An Unintended Introduction

He found himself focusing the lens on the girl. His lips curved into a smile as he saw the capture he was going to get. In the next second, he clicked. With the flash and sound that came with the click, the girl in front of him got startled. Her light brown eyes were open wide as she looked at him. When Zayaan realized what just happened, his smile faded as he lowered his camera. The girl stayed in that position for a few seconds that stood up to her feet with a start and lowered her gaze nervously. Zayaan didn’t know why but his hands were getting cold for some reason. He felt too uneasy to say anything yet he felt obligated to do so.

“I…I’m sorry…” he said.

“It’s okay…” she said as she looked at Zayaan for a split second before she turned around. She began to walk back into the forest in a hurried manner. But before she could reach her shoes, Zayaan’s heart skipped a beat when he heard her voice in pain.

“Ouch!” she said as she stopped in her tracks. When Zayaan looked down, he saw that she had stepped on a small twig with thorns.

Zayaan heard another sigh of pain as she moved her foot away from the twig and he saw the blood dripping from her foot covered with a black sock. Zayaan expected her to turn around and ask for his help but to his surprise she took another step forward with great difficulty.

“Wait! You’re bleeding!” Zayaan called out.

“I know…I better head back to the camp as soon as I can.” the girl said as she made an effort to take another step.

“Its better to patch up your wound first. I have a first aid kit in my car. Wait a moment!” Zayaan said and looked at the girl’s feet before rushing away to get the first aid kit.

Zayaan came back to find the girl sitting near the river. It occurred to him just how painful going to that point must have been to her. Even more so, as he saw the prints of blood on dried up leaves that he passed before reaching her.

“Here! Let me help you.” Zayaan said, bending to his knees right next to her with the kit.

“Thanks!” the girl said, opening the kit herself before Zayaan could. He was taken aback as the girl began to search through the first aid kit herself. He thought it was his turn to play the hero. Scenes like this occur in so many of the TV soaps that his mom watches. The girl is supposed to act all vulnerable and be the damsel in distress in this situation. But the girl in front of him was not giving him a chance to be the knight in shining armour.

“May I help you?” Zayaan couldn’t help but ask when the girl took out the bandages and antiseptic.

“I could help myself. Learned the basics of first aid just last year. Um….would you mind turning around?” the girl asked, as she was about to remove her sock on her injured foot and looked at Zayaan. Zayaan wondered why at first and realized that he wasn’t supposed to see a hijabi’s foot uncovered.

“Sure!” he said and then turned around to take a few steps away from her. He could not stop himself from looking at her from the back as she began to fix her wound herself. Her unexpected chain of behaviours made his heart flutter for a reason he didn’t know. Perhaps because he has never seen a girl like her before.

Never seen a girl like her before…

The thought made Zayaan wince. Maybe because his heart knew deep down that this girl is going to have a special place in his life. Maybe his conscience made him realize the strength of commitment he must have for the kind of girl her saw in front of him. Or maybe because he knew within the depths of his soul that he would be with her for the rest of his life.

It was several minutes before the girl was fully done bandaging her wound. Zayaan saw her as she stood up to her feet along with the first aid kit.

“All done! Thank you so much for this. I should be going back to our camp now. They must be on their way to leave.” the girl said as she came to Zayaan and handed the kit.

“Are you sure you are going to be okay?” Zayaan asked, looking at her injured foot which now had a small bulge from underneath her sock.

“Oh no! My battery died! I don’t think I can find my way back without the GPS!” the girl said in a panicking voice.

“I can take you there if you’d like.” Zayaan found himself saying.

With those words, he had the girl’s light brown eyes fixed on him. He saw a hesitation in those eyes that he found hard to comprehend. He thought that she would decline his help once again, before he finally found her nodding her head lightly. Zayaan gave a tight smile and then went to take her shoes before showing his hand to her in order to help her walk. Once again, Zayaan found her being hesitant and told him that it was okay and then began to walk on her own.

Zayaan realized at that point that she was just a conservative muslim girl. He thought to himself just how much she must have been abused to be forced to live that way. It didn’t occur to him at first that she was being modest on her own accord. Until she chose herself that she will stay in the back seat. And how she lowered her gaze when he looked at her through the rear view mirror. And how she didn’t start a conversation with him like most girls he knew would. Most girls he knew would take this chance to hook up with him. Especially if he had shown the tiniest bit of interest. But this girl didn’t happen to notice it. Or was she ignoring it? Or was she just being rude?

Zayaan wasn’t sure. All he knew was she was a girl with good character. Specially after hearing the conversation she had with her friend on his phone to let them know where she was.

“Okay if you insist…I’ll go home and get some rest…But hey! Could you tell Nadha that she would find my sweater in her bag? I’d kept it for her since she forgot hers at home. I don’t get cold as much. So she can have it.”

Zayaan had listened intently to that conversation while feeling a warmth in his heart.

Zayaan’s Tesla reached the girl’s house within 10 minutes or so. It was a small, cozy house with flower pots hanging on the walls. Zayaan could not believe that he ended an entire trip with a girl without even knowing her name. He felt like asking her the moment the car had stopped yet hesitated due to her firm personality that made it clear that she didn’t want to chit-chat with a strange man.

Regardless, Zayaan got himself out of the car and she tried to do so, with pain. The girl got out and persevered to stand on her own while holding the open door of the car with a pained look on her face. Just then, they both heard an old man’s voice from inside the house.

“Saba!” the man’s voice came out with a worry. Zayaan looked at the girl as he heard the name. And ended up repeating the name in a whisper as he thought how beautiful of a name that was.