Wallflower

5

"I have not seen her for once in my life. She looks disconnected and disoriented." Hadeed cut a slice from his pancake and spoke lowly as concerned of guests' presence.

"She is new to the city." Waleed seemed busy in assembling the breakfast table as he tried finishing up the discussion.

"Do you know her? Have you guys met already?" He asked. His sharp brown eyes inspected the facial reflexes of his brother who seemed totally unbothered.

"If you consider spending less than fifteen minutes on dining table qualified enough to be called as a meeting or knowing each other already, then yes." He answered him politely, "Am I through?"

Hadeed placed the cutlery back into his plate, chuckled awkwardly and nodded in approval. "I trust your credentials, Barrister Waleed Sikander. Your eyes are too deep for me to understand."

Waleed smirked and lifted his eyes to look into his; carefully focused and confident, while his hands halted for a while.

"Okay, your eyes say something. What are you hiding from me?" Hadeed, exasperated, said in confusion.

"Do you really think my eyes would tell you if I ever hide something? We don't play like this. So easy? No." He smiled under his lips and laughed looking at the almost-flabbergasted face of his brother.

"You are too much of a lawyer, dude." Hadeed shrugged his shoulders.

"Would you mind doing the honours of calling them to the breakfast table?" He was questioned with utmost seriousness.

"You look amazing when you wear white. It is after ages that I have seen you in this colour."

"I wear white everyday. Go."

"Why don't you call your super arrogant guest yourself? Do you secretly have a thing for arrogant girls?" Hadeed never spared his brother a sigh of relief.

"Is everything okay with you, Hadi?"

"No. I am sleepy. And I thought this breakfast was exclusively for me. And I don't like sharing my food that you know really well." Eyeing the muffin placed in the platter against the first side chair Hadeed exhaled tiredly.

Exactly seven minutes later her eyes shifted from the muffin to the pancake and the very symmetrical slit managed to grab her attention.

Why her platter was given extra special concern? The fork disturbed the unity of both pieces as she saw Dadi cutting the piece out of hers.

Her heart had been giving her signals.

Her life had been bitter lately but now it was maybe the season for baby lemons. Lost in the moment, configuring his tenderness and finally starting to believe in the specie of men he belonged to, she noticed a benign birthmark just under his neck, a little into the hollow of his throat, a little under his chin. The smile forced upon her lips inevitably and she just switched her gaze to the fluffy pancake.

Before she heard his husky chuckle, everything was almost fine.

...

A mild shiver ran through her body as the subtly cold breeze touched her ankles. Karachi was finally welcoming its signature weather; dry, rough and harsh on skin. A sigh escaped her lips. Sitting right behind the giant tinted casement of lounge she stared at the fence of baby lemons and a small curve stretched her lips. Her heart had never been in peace before she entered these four walls. The changes were astonishing but crucially important.

Was she feeling safe? Her eyeballs travelled all the way to the lines in her palm and a deep wave of pain twitched her heart. It had been two years that she came to Karachi. Not to forget that dead of night when her life took a major plot twist when everything just everything got changed. The fifteen years old bubbly, spontaneous and high-spirited Merjan Ghazi transformed into a victim of how fate could have it. Not a bit of what happened was her fault. She never knew when her wavy hair snarled into a mess, the loops of her sharp braid attacked by the immorality of those three hands.

And the shudder claimed her entire body. Holding the arm rest her elbows started losing their strength. Her lips quivered. Her teeth barged into her tongue. The bitter salty taste of blood spread all over her mouth and she closed her eyes forcefully.

The voices echoed in her mind, crashing down all the sanity she had. She looked around; happy faces, satisfied smiles, lit smartphones, appealing ambiance, a giant television screen telecasting the final of soccer, everything so beautiful except her ugly stained self. The remorse building up fiercely began choking her throat and she gulped visibly.

Why did she go there to ruin herself?

A throbbing sigh stopped the passage of air into her lungs and she nearly collapsed. Sitting in the corner of the lounge had been her savior as the mild panic attack would easily have disclosed who she was in real. And she never wanted that to happen.

Taking along her multiple identities had never been easy. Her mind, heart, skin all used to tell different stories. Her will power was decreasing, inner health going down. Relaxing her back and tilting her face to the window again she saw him standing just beside the lemons talking on phone. A smile so exhausted appeared over her lips as she observed him taking a stroll while his free hand tucked into the pocket of his trousers.

Deep inside she knew that she was changing and the change was inevitable. Something not-so-mysterious about him was constantly intriguing her mind. He was too old for her age. He had nothing to do with her. Who was she? A vulnerable seventeen years old girl? The classical misfit in his system? One who had never been exposed to explore other than what life taught her and the hard way? She closed her eyes but he did not go away. He did not seem like going. She, frantically, hurried to imagine small, dainty greenish lemons and there he was trimming the drying leaves. Nothing was working out. He had captured her mind like any sacred ritual.

It seemed that her life never had much choice. She nevertheless had to open her eyes.

He was now laughing with his eyes scanning the dying leaf of some plant.

...

AssalamoAlaikum! 

Such a short read after such a long time but don't worry I am on it!  The worst nightmare is writer's block I swear.

Does Wallflower make sense to you now? There's much more to be revealed just by the way! 

Please help it grow! 

Much love, 

Sarah