- What if the world told you 'men never change'. Would you still believe in redemption?
- What if your whole life is shrouded in secrecy. Would you shed your mask for one person anyway?
- What if an avatar intrigued you. Could you fall in love with...
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Ameerah
Twilight embraced Karachi as the sun's golden rays faded over its horizon. In most places, this would be a time for the day to bid farewell. Yet, in this city of contradictions, people appeared to have come alive even more. Where there were just a few people strolling along the sandy beach, there were now hordes of families, young friends and old acquaintances delighting in the cool evening. Amidst them all, I sat alone in the car.
Waiting, and waiting, and waiting.
Yet, Zain never showed up.
Neither was there any indication of where he might have gone. The last I saw of him was when he disappeared behind a large truck that had now driven away exposing a strip of drab mid-sized shops. Just as I was gathering the courage to get out of the car and explore the area in search of the grumpy man, a knock on the window startled me.
"Fiza?" I quickly unlocked the door to the woman dressed in dark jeans and a plain black blazer. "What are you doing here?"
She didn't look pleased at all. "Babysitting you, apparently. God forbid you and Zain give me a moment of peace."
Any relief I had felt at seeing her went straight out the window. I did not need babysitting. "Well I didn't ask you to come. So, you can leave."
Shaking her head, she reached out and grabbed the car keys from me. "Yeah, but Zain asked - that too nicely. And he warned me you'd say that. In fact, his exact words were - 'I bet that stubborn woman will still be sitting there and will tell you to leave. Stay with her. Please'"
Miffed at both her smug tone, and Zain calling me stubborn, I tried to argue back, but she was having none of it. Instead, she made me move over to the passenger side and slid into the driver's seat herself.
"Aren't you going to go find him?" I asked when she shut the car door.
"No."
"But he's been missing for half an hour."
She looked at her wristwatch. "It's been twenty-one minutes to be exact. Besides, he is not missing. He's just following up on a lead for an investigation we are doing."
There were so many questions going through my mind; what investigation? Who did Zain see? Why did he call Fiza? How did he know I wouldn't leave?
Yet, none were as important as this - what if something were to happen to him?
I understood the nature of his work. With Fiza scanning our surroundings and her gaze repeatedly going towards that strip of shady-looking shops across the beach, I could even guess the general area where Zain was. What puzzled me was her remarkable calmness about it all.
"How can you just sit there when your colleague's life is in danger?"
She stuck a chewing gum in her mouth and chuckled. "Oh I can sit quite comfortably, because 1. I know my colleague is very capable of taking care of himself, and 2. I don't have a massive crush on him."
