My Improbable Theories On Her.

23. The Night Stroll.

This is a pretty long chapter, so I suggest you take some time out and read it peacefully without any interruptions. You will get to know why :)

I hate to inform this but this is the last chapter :(

Well, not technically last as I have released a small epilogue too, which I suggest that you read immediately after this without any break, so as to retain the emotions and feelings that you all will feel in this chapter.

Another thing, I have never, I repeat NEVER, given so much thought to what I will write and present in any chapter except this one.
Each word, each syllable of this part is very close to my heart.
So, I have a chhotu sa request to you all. I know many of you comment on every chapter. But I would really like to know each one of your thoughts in any specific line or just about the whole chapter/ whole story in general.
I love to know what goes in that reader's mind of you all when you read a particular line.
So, yeah, do express your views.

And yeah,
happy reading :)

****************

It happened so slowly.
Like a typical, slow motion film.
I don't know if it was natural or my eyes were playing some sort of sick joke on my mind.

There she was, in an oversized tank top and shorts that stopped just before her knees.
She wasn't exactly standing still; but swaying slowly as if to the beats of a song just like her long hair flowed effortlessly.

She was shimming her shoulders (pakka listening to some kind of music; that's basically what most of her life comprised of), and then she turned around.

The shock was such that I hadn't even blinked my eyes, forget about thinking of nearing her.

She saw me.
Although, she had seen me so many times and I had seen her so many times, it still felt like we were seeing each other for the very first time.
Maybe we were.
After the things we knew about the other, I think we were really seeing each other for the first time.

I don't know why she seemed speechless even though she already knew me, but for some seconds she stood in the pitch darkness and just looked at me.
And then if shaken from a sober trance, she proceeded towards me, removing her earphones in the process.

It was her.
So, it was her all along.
KissMyAxe, you really are very good at surprises.

A foot away from me, she said softly without any basic merth, "Khalid? Hey."

What do I say?
May it be her texts or in person, she leaves me speechless.

I opened my mouth and whispered her name.

"Mehreet."

Somehow, saying that out loud felt like a confirmation.
In answer, she smiled and said, "You speak my name like a sigh."

"You never thought it would be me, did you?", she said.
When I didn't answer she chuckled merthlessly and said, "I don't blame you. You see, this is the image that I have of myself; that I have created of myself over the years. No one even dreams about-"

She stopped abruptly and shook her head dismissively as if to shake away those thoughts.
"Anyways, how are you? How have you been holding all this...shit up?", she asked and flailed her arms in order to explain.

It was as if I was looking at a whole new person; listening to a whole new person; talking to a whole new person.
It was as if I had known her all along, but at the same time, I haven't even catched a glimpse of a hint of who she is.
Oh lord, how can you know someone and not know them at all?