INFINITY

Chapter 18: So Long, Partner

24th Aug 2021

"For, behold, all who say, "Our Sustainer is Allah", and thereafter stand firm [in their faith] - no fear need they have, and neither shall they grieve." [46:13 ~ The Holy Quran]

CHAPTER 18

So Long, Partner

"Ever wonder how many people we might have seen for the last time and yet have no idea about it?"

"What?" Yazdan croaked, jerking back from his threshold consciousness state at Samah's sudden question.

Samah had been on call with Yazdan starting right after Fajr. Yazdan had a tough time sleeping these days but Samah had lost his sleep as well ever since he got to know his friend was leaving town.

"Sam, darling, you mind if we have these ominous conversations later on in the day...maybe today evening when we meet? Or at any other time...like normal people? And not at 5 a.m? Did you even get any sleep at all?" Yazdan accused, turning around in his bed, slumping on the cold side of the pillow.

Yesterday it was "ever wonder how many places we have been to for the last time and yet we do not know of it" (all because Sam didn't get a chance to say goodbye to his old bathroom since they shifted to a new house the last week) and the day before that it was, "ever wonder how different our lives would be had we been born in a world where we never met each other?...poof!"

Samah would keep him company for the most part of the night with his sometimes unimaginably deep and sometimes overly silly questions. As much as he appreciated the gesture, Yazdan didn't want Sam losing his sleep over him. Samah was clearly going the extra mile to compensate for the days to come. And it wasn't just Sam. It had been a week since Yazdan left school, so most of the days the gang either spent their time together in person or via the internet. Just the other day all of them had stayed up late well into the night on video call until their mothers came screaming at them to sleep(at which point, they continued the conversation under the blanket. Yazdan highly doubted Hafsa knew yet decided to turn a blind eye).

Of course, almost everyone was there on the video call.

All except, well...her.

Shazin had refused to talk to him, look at him or even acknowledge his presence since the day he had sprung the news on her. Now it was just like the initial days where Yazdan chased her while she pretended to ignore his existence altogether. Only this time round, the silence between them held a different meaning. Yazdan almost smiled at how they had come a full circle. It was brutally poetic.

"I know, I'm sorry," Samah began with a sigh as he looked up at the neon stars on the ceiling, "I just-I miss you, man. Are you sure you wanna do this?"

Yazdan had been second-guessing himself ever since his talk with Shazin. He needed to set his priorities straight. With just two days left to go, he did not want to keep hearing this question. He knew what he had to do, yet why was it just so difficult?!

"Nope, don't answer that," Samah corrected himself on second thoughts, "I'm just being plain selfish. You gotta do what's best for you, dude and I promise I'll be right here waiting to play catch with you once you return from your medico-vacay," Samah said trying to make it sound fancy making Yazdan chuckle in response. Leave it to Sam to look for the rainbow in the storm.

"Thanks, buddy. Needed that. Hopefully, everybody gets on board real soon," Yazdan replied genuinely hoping for it.

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry. Shazin will deffo come around eventually," Samah reassured, "Probably even sooner than we realise! You said you bought ice-creams for your party tonight, right? So, she's probably already inside your freezer then," Samah said in all seriousness.