All is Fair

Chapter 11

    Rasheed's phone rang for the fourth time. His friend, Deepak, made a sound of annoyance.

    "Your phone's ringing again and again. Why don't you just pick it up?" Deepak demanded.

     Rasheed looked at the time. It was 3. "If it's Sanaa, tell her I'm in the washroom or something."

     Deepak looked at Rasheed, frowning. "You are in the washroom, shaving your non-existent beard."

     "Stubble. I have a stubble. I don't grow beards."

     Deepak rolled his eyes at him. "Yeah, ok. Non-existent stubble."

     The phone rang again. Deepak asked, "Should I really pick it up?"

     In response, Rasheed closed the washroom door and bolted it from the inside.

     Deepak sighed and picked up the call. "Hello?" he whispered hesitantly.

     "Rasheed, I'm really not feeling well." Sanaa said, barely able to speak. She was lying down on her bed "Can I please rest for today? We'll go out tomorrow? I'll come out and be with you the whole day. Just not today. Please?"

     Rasheed, who had come out of the washroom and put the phone on speaker out of curiosity, couldn't stop himself. "'Not feeling well'? You mean to say you're going out with someone else. Tell me, what's his name? Who's he? Is he just a lover or is he something like a friend.......with benefits? Ok, just tell me something. How many set-ups do you have?"

     Sanaa held in her emotions. "I'll be there at 4. I'm sorry I called you."

     "No, da! You have to tell me now. What? One night stand or two weeks setting?"

     "I'm sorry." she sobbed. "I'll come to the park at 4. I'm telling you that I'm sorry, na? I'll be there. Please stop talking so rudely to me. I'm sorry."

     "The next time you call to cancel plans.....well, let's just hope there's no next time for your sake. You don't have to come to the park. Just wait in that street near your house. I'll pick you up."

     "Yeah, ok. Bye."

     Rasheed cut the call to meet Deepak's disapproving face.

     "What?" Rasheed demanded.

     "She did sound terrible."

     "You don't know about girls these days. Fit enough to win the Oscars."

     "At least you shouldn't have been so rude with her. What did she tell you? That she couldn't come out with you just for today. She was willing to make up for that by going out with you tomorrow."

     "You don't know about girls these days. If we don't keep them under our control now, then they'll start dancing atop our heads soon."

     Deepak folded his hands together in mock respect. "Appa, sami! I'll accept that only you know about 'girls these days'. I haven't had a love story, right? Only you have a love story. You carry on."

     He went back to the movie on his laptop. After sometime, however, Deepak looked up. "Is this about that girl? Your ex?"

     Rasheed looked intently at the game on his phone, biting his fingernail. Deepak threw a pillow at his friend, forcing him to look up. "Is this about Ameena?"

    Rasheed got up from his chair and paced around the room. "Yes, this is about her. I care for her. It just hurts me to be away from her. Her sister apparently 'cares for her' too much to let her be with me. Doesn't she see that I'm the only one keeping her safe? But of course no one sees it that way. People always see me as either charming or sweet. The only ones who know about my 'hobby' think that I'm wicked. Doesn't anyone care to know who I really am? Does no one care about what I really want? But of course, no one knows my story."