REMARKABLE

16

Ahsan played with the pen in his hands, the sun had long dipped in the horizon and he was still sitting in his office with a case file open on his desk but his mind was no where near its contents, the words on the green sheet a blur and his mind clean of every thought that didn't concern her.

Months. It's been months and I still hasn't moved on from her. What's wrong with me?

A light knock forced him to sit up straighter in his seat,'Come in, Miss Marie.'

Marie stepped inside the room, closing the door softly behind her, 'Sir, I need to leave. It's going to rain, again. Do you need something?' Ahsan rubbed his eyes as he gazed at the night sky, enveloped in the Navy dark.

'No, I don't. It's already drizzling. Go before it begins pouring buckets out there.' Ahsan said, bored out of his mind as he glanced at the tiny pearls of rain water rolling down the window panes, Marie followed his line of vision and cursed, loudly. It was an everyday occurrence, nothing special.

Marie stopped short before closing the door, her movements hurried.
'Yes sir. Before I forget, Miss Anaya called.'

'Called? When? What did she say?' Ahsan asked, loosening his tie and suddenly, very tired. 'I have been free for a few hours now. I could have taken a call.' He raved a hand through his hair, irritated.

'Around 6. She asked me how you were doing, I told her I could direct the line but she didn't want to disturb you.' Marie said, wringing her fingers together as she bit the inside of her cheek.

'That's it?' Ahsan was unsure. Why didn't she talk to him?

'Yes sir.' Marie said, almost too quickly and it would have been a miracle if Ahsan missed the panic in her voice but it wasn't because he caught on it, all too soon as his eyes narrowed in a warning.

'What did she exactly say, Marie?' Marie would have collapsed if not for the chair beside her which she had gripped in her small hands for support.

A direct account, God forbid if she missed, anything, unintentionally, of course.

Marie had been standing near the fax machine as instructed by Mr. Ahsan, waiting deligently for a fax that was to arrive in a moment or two when the phone rang across the room. Marie shrieked in surprise and covered her mouth behind her hands.

God! Please don't let him hear this.

Phone or fax?

Marie stood stock still for a second deliberating on her options before she settled with phone. It was more immediate and she was doomed either way.

'Hello, You have called on the connecting line to Mr. Ahsan Bukhari.' The Bukhari came out mangled beyond recognition. She had worked with Mr Ahsan for almost a year and half and she had yet to learn how to say 'Bukhari.'

'This is Anaya. Am I talking to Marie, Mr Ahsan's secretary?' A lovely voice, asked her.

'Miss Anaya or should I say, Mrs Ahsan Bukhari. It's me, Marie. It's lovely to hear from you, again. When will you come, here?' Marie spoke with excitement evident in her voice.

'Oh! No-No, Marie. I think you got it all wrong. I am not- He- He didn't marry me. We didn't marry. It wasn't me.' Anaya scrambled for words that had deserted her the minute she had heard Marie.

'Oh! But I thought... Oh! I am sorry. I am so sorry for mistaking you for someone else.' Marie uttered, sincerely. It had always been fun being their message girl. For a year and a half she had been attending to that duty with utmost dedication. Marie's eyebrows dipped in confusion, hadn't he left England to go home and marry? If not her, then who? Good, whoever she was didn't get married to him.