The Shades of Spring

Time, the fabled healer

Dedicated to @Zainbz1999
for always reading and voting and commenting. Your words make me feel special and help me to keep writing even if no one else is reading
Also, ever read this heading somewhere? 26.06.2020

He woke up to the sweet calling of a bird be didn't know.
Ayaan rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and reached for his phone.
"Fifteen mess- sixteen messages from seven different chats...man, why???" Lying on his back, he scrolled through them all and sent them replies
"How am I doing? Thank you, I'm fine. Have I settled on a Law School? Man I wish I have. Is the roof in place? Why wouldn't it be? Oh wait. Because I'm home. Funny Sara. I'm rolling with laughter. Also...You're....such a... jealous jelly bean..."

"Ayaan, if you're awake, come down here," Mas'ud called from somewhere below.
"I'm still sleeping!" Ayaan yelled back; but nevertheless, he swung his feet over the side of the bed, lifted his hands skyward to make Dua and blew over himself, then ambled downstairs to see what dish was scenting the house.

"Assalamu alaikum," he kissed the top of his father's head before proceeding to rinse his mouth in the kitchen sink. "Let me guess, French bread with cheese and that spicy Italian thing?"

"Yes. Also don't wash here. Go to the bathroom."

"Papa, I'm rinsing my mouth. Not taking a shower."

"The size of the sink is the only thing stopping you.

Ayaan laughed merrily. "Taking lessons from your daughter?"

"Her brother is less merciful at wordplay."

"You call it semantics."

"Whatever. Go get ready. We're going for a walk. Plus, you're cooking lunch for the rest of your stay."

"Aye aye Cap'n!"
The phrase reminded him of her, so he made a collective Dua to all his friends back in Crest.
______________

They returned from a calm morning at the lakefront.
Mas'ud found it amusing how much Ayaan kept gushing about every little thing. Another characteristic of Areefa.
"I'm going to take a shower. Cook and call me. Okay?"
"Okay."

Ayaan set up his laptop in the kitchen table until the beef cooked in the gravy. His emails were full of brochures from various Law School, most of them located in the outskirts of Crest Falls. He narrowed his eyes at his options.
Until he got back home, Crest felt irreplaceable as if he belonged to that city and was sucked in by its charms. But two days in his hometown and he was already started to turn back on that view. He weighed the pros and cons of going back to a city he had horrible memories about, yet, he was running out of time to make up his mind. If he didn't apply now, all the good spots would be taken and then he'd be forced to react to the situation. Ayaan hated reaction. It was a great disadvantage to have to base your decisions on what was beyond your control. Being proactive saved time.
With a shrug of his shoulders, he filled in applications to three Law Schools down here and for the sake of it, two back in Crest.
________________

Every time a person walked up to her, she unconsciously scanned for threats and possible items to give her leverage. After a long day of work, every nerve in her body was jumpy and jittery like a small metal ball in a massage chair. Kevin waved at her from the opposite desk and gave a thumbs up, just as Musa returned to check on her like clockwork. Glad as she was for their attention and concern, it was starting to gradually suffocate her.
By all means, she knew her frustration stemmed from her own inability to focus in her duties and the way her thoughts constantly frightened her, but a little moment of peace was indeed a dire requisite.

Excusing herself, she followed a narrow corridor and all but ran into the ladies room and bolted the door after her. It was nearing two in the afternoon which meant everybody was waiting for lunch break, which also meant they were not allowed to use a bathroom break, which in turn meant she had a few precious minutes to herself.
Her head was hurting with the excessive thoughts.
She held her hand under the warm water until it stopped trembling, then lightly patted her face with wet fingers.
"It's okay, it's okay," she chanted to her face in the mirror until her pulse returned to the normal rhythm. Again, she wondered if she was doing the right thing.
The management welcomed her back with open arms and made sure she was comfortable in every way; even Musa and Kevin were assigned permanently to the same floor so she had a familiar face to look at all the time.

Sighing, she unbolted the door and walked away with a convincing display of nonchalance. But anyone who looked well enough would see the tension between her shoulders.
_______________

It took time but she gradually learnt to set aside her personal issues when she walked into work. Because even a small lapse of focus was sure to draw pitying glances and sympathetic smiles from people who truly wished her well; but she didn't like it.

Amanah watched her daughter get up and go to work like the old days, except she worked the mid day shift now so she didn't have to stay out after dark. Initially, Sidra protested the change but gave in because Jameel was adamant that the time change if she wanted to work at all. So there went her hopes of watching the night sky through the dome.

Meanwhile, she was secretly applying to other jobs in hopes of reclaiming her life. It was very taxing in terms of emotions because every email informing her they had no vacancies was like a punch to the gut. Being rejected from unis last year seemed like piece of cake. Day and night she spent supplicating for help, and invested her spare hours to spend time with her brother.

Thahani was a constant supporter who, though unwillingly, supported her ideas solely for the sake of it. Zubair quietly agreed with his wife.
_______________

Again, winter set in, rousing in her heart painful memories of a similar winter gone by. Did she even dream of the turn her life would take? Not in a million lifetimes. Not once in a gazillion dreams.
But here she stood looking up at a gray sky that slowly sent snowflakes to the earth bound.

Stop monologuing, she told herself and started to walk away.
Time was flying without giving her a second to stop and re-order her life; or perhaps she was moving too fast to give herself the time. Crazy busy was a temporary tactic she expected to employ, but now the momentum of it refused to let her slow. The only respite she had to discard her act of strength was either when she was in her bedroom behind a closed door, or walking down a street by herself. She felt the need to talk to someone, but the idea of being treated like a fragile thing again was too much to bear; she needed a vent but she didn't want anyone finding out. Sidra asked herself when she became so moody and hopeless and so....so glum. Like, really really prone to dissociation at the oddest times.
With a firm resolve, she recited Ar Rahman till her feet deposited her at the gate. A big, bright smile plastered itself on her face as she walked through the door and straight to the kitchen where the aroma of slow cooking beef wafted out of a crock pot.
_______________

"What's tall and sturdy and still melts in front of chocolate?" Musa riddled his friends sitting at his lunch table.

"A marshmallow!" Kevin answered.

Sidra laughed at his response "Where do you find tall marshmallows, kid?" 

"Then you answer, genius."

"Easy. A stick of vanilla," she declared triumphantly.

"No. It's Sidra," came Musa's voice.

Sidra was the only one of the five who groaned at the answer. The boys high fived; Mel K and Tessa laughed loud.

"Haha Bin Malik. So funny. Watch me cry. Hahahah," she muttered without a trace of a smile.

"Okay. Next," Melissa cut in. "What's big and fair, but dense as stone?"

"A rock?"

"Marble?"

"I don't know."

Sidra smiled at her hot chocolate, "Musa." Tessa smacked the hand she held up.

"That's mean!" the man in question groaned this time.

"It's obvious I was going to drag you in," Melissa howled with laughter. Soon, silly riddles about each of them were invented on the fly, sending a merry wave of laughter through the party each time. It was no longer a game of guessing what as much as guessing who.
Attracted by the jolly sounds, various patrons of the coffee shop turned to look at them and walked away with their own smiles lighting up their eyes. The staff were clearly enjoying the spectacle which made for a nice change from the usual quips of business deals they always heard within the four walls. The good mood spread throughout the large room, and the riddles that infected the staff as small whispers first, was soon a game with patrons joining in on the guessing.

One of her earliest good memories after her return to Myrethorne was the day their playground insults went viral and filled an entire coffee shop with laughter.