Forced

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

When Kiran woke up in the morning she realized she was extra warm. Even with her eyes closed, she felt like they were stiff, and there was a very fluffy blanket wrapped tight around her – probably the reason for the extra warmth.

It was quite a task to open her eyes, and as she cracked them open to a bare split, the dim sunlight, muffled by curtains, stung her dry eyeballs. The dark shadows of the room’s furniture and objects was unfamiliar, till Kiran realized – after a few seconds of sleepy confusion – that this was her new room and new life.

“ ’llo!” a voice squawked in her ear, making her jerk up in fright.

Kiran sat up, looking around frantically. The duvet slipped from her shoulders exposing her upper body to the chills of morning air, lingering around the bedroom. The dress she had fallen asleep in last night was made of quite a thin material, and it wasn’t very good at keeping the small breeze away.

A humorous laugh had her turning her head to the right side. Kiran glared at Haroon, who looked as if he had already showered. He was wearing a white, full sleeved shirt, and jogging pants and he looked very relaxed. For a moment Kiran assumed he had been the one to make that funny sound, till she saw the green bird perched on Haroon’s fingers.

“Oh my god,” Kiran gasped, scooting back, “It’s a parrot.”

At the back of her mind she remembered Jannat telling her that Haroon owned a parrot. Some little animal he’d saved some time ago and decided to keep. Kiran had never really considered the idea that she would be bumping into the creature any time soon. In fact, she had forgotten him.

“This is Gobby,” Haroon was looking at her with amusement clear in his green eyes, “He’s my best friend who can’t keep any secrets and picks up on words well.”

The parrot was smaller than a pigeon and bigger than a budgie. It had streaks of yellow on its small head and as Kiran made contact with his beady black eyes, it cocked its head side wards, and blinked at her in a very intelligent manner, that made Kiran think of a middle-aged scientist in spectacles. How she made the connection, she had no idea.

Not that it was relevant at the moment. There was a possibility that the bird – as tame as it looked perched upon Haroon’s curled fingers – would peck her, and it definitely wouldn’t be the sweet peck.

“Make sure he comes nowhere near me.” Kian looked at Haroon sternly, while scooting further back till her back was flat against the headboard.

The bird was still studying her, as if she was the creature and he found her fascinating. It was quite disturbing, and Kiran had already forgotten that, not even a minute ago, she had been asleep.

“He’s harmless.” Haroon assured, stroking the bird’s head with his other hand.

“Sure,” Kiran muttered sarcastically, “And I’m the queen of Sheba.”

That was the wrong thing to say, or maybe it was just the wrong moment to speak. Gobby straightened up and began squawking like there was no tomorrow.

“I’m the Queen of Sheba! I’m the Queen of Sheba!”

Kiran stared at him eyes wide. Haroon shook his head, removing his fingers from the bird’s head and pressing his ears that were, most probably, throbbing. Kiran couldn’t stand the screechy voice of the bird from a distance and Haroon was very close to it.

It took a few minutes for Gobby to lose his hype. He was buzzing off the new sentence and Kiran stared at his open beak, speechless.

“You shouldn’t speak much in his presence,” Haroon warned her when the bird had calmed down and resumed studying her again, “His like a clever kid – picks up words and sentences really quickly.”