Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Usaam had parked his car outside the park Arham and Zari were in, and Tabeer counted down the minutes until they'd finally reappear and she could return to her safe haven.
Half an hour had passed, yet there had been no sign of either Arham or Zari.
The silence in the car was deafening, almost engulfing.
Tabeer wrung her fingers together while Usaam tapped his against the steering wheel, and as a gust of wind blew past the rolled down windows of the car, Tabeer's heart palpitated at such a pace she feared Usaam could hear it.
And then, Tabeer allowed herself a glance of the face that had appeared both in her night and daydreams. And just as her eyes had come to settle on him, so had his on hers, and Tabeer saw their surroundings melt away.
Usaam's lips turned up into the softest smile, and Tabeer immediately averted her gaze.
A deep rumble of laughter escaped Usaam and Tabeer bit her lip.
"I had tons of chances when we were in college," Usaam began. "So many, I'd lost count."
"Chances of what?"
Usaam stared at the side of her head. "I know you know, Tabeer."
Tabeer should have denied the premonition. But she didn't. "Usaam, please don't."
"Arham came and bagged Zari and left me wondering why I always held myself back around you."
Tabeer sharply turned towards him, eyes wide with disbelief. But Usaam was staring up front.
"You always stood out to me. Like a constellation in a sea of stars. You always made so much more sense than everyone else." His voice shook. "At least to me you did."
Tabeer lost her voice.
The car was closing in on her and her lungs were running out of air.
"I've loved you, Tabeer. Ever since I can remember. And every time I see Arham and Zari, I want nothing more than to hold you close to me too."
"Usaam," she whispered as her waterline filled up, and the tears she'd held back the entire night finally spilled through, long overdue. "Don't."
Black dots appeared in the corners of her eyes, and Tabeer put a hand out to the dashboard, gripping something, anything at all to center herself back into reality.
I cannot fall. I cannot fall. I cannot fall. Not for Usaam.
Tabeer's throat tightened up, the weight of her mistakes, the consequences of her sins flickering through her mind. She could not fall into the same trap Zari had fallen into. She could not.
Tabeer roughly pulled her hijab away from herself, the heat on her face and neck burning and scalding her. She could not take it any longer.
She was done waiting, she was done counting down seconds. She was done listing excuses for Zari's behavior until she'd run out of words. She was done standing up for her before her mother, even when the one person who loved her more than anyone else in this world warned her against her.
Why had she not listened? Why had she not halted Zari in her steps and continued to tread on the same path as her?
Tabeer had to get out. She could not sit next to Usaam, and she didn't know how long it'd be before she'd give in. Her fingers fumbled with the door handle until she managed to open it, her ears deaf to Usaam's screams to get back in the car.
Because just as Tabeer's lungs refilled with air, she did not see the vehicle that failed to skid to a stop.
