Incandescence

Chapter 4

Two Years Later

"Alisha, your mother is on hold on line 1." My personal secretary, Sarah said as she poked her head in the office. She was leaving for lunch as it was already fifteen minutes past the lunch hour. I usually took my lunch in my office, because I always had lots of work to do.

"I'll take it now." I told her and smiled politely.

"Sure. Do you want me to bring something for you on my way back?" Sarah asked her usual question.

"Yeah, please. Grab a Sub-of-the-day from Subway when you come back." I said as I picked up the receiver and pressed the line 1.

"Alright." Sarah said and closed the door. I turned my chair towards the window and relaxed back. Greeting my mom, I stretched my legs in front of me. The mornings were the most busy part of the day as I had to update clients, go through the reports that my writers had already written but still I wanted to see that everything was up to perfection or not.

"Busy day?" Mom asked me. In all this time, mom was the strongest pillar I had while I started working on my software house. Today, I had an adequate standing in the IT industry as well as I've been interviewed by many prominent magazines in Islamabad.

"Too busy, mom. How was your day?" I asked.

"It's going good. Your dad and I are going to play golf at the club today. Are you sure you can't join us?"

"Mom, I have a lot of work to do. I will try to join you guys as soon as I get free." I said and turned towards the computer screen, where a new email had popped up. I guided the cursor towards the bubble and clicked to open the new email.

"I hope you could join us tonight. You know your dad's friend, Saleem, is also joining us today. You could meet his son, Haashir." My mom hinted. The email was from Sadaf, who was on a vacation to Cayman Islands, for their honeymoon. She had married Shahmir two weeks back and they were now enjoying their vacation there. I smiled. I was sure that there must be more pictures that she couldn't wait to send me. I refused to use WhatsApp or Viber, the newly introduced social media mobile applications. I believed that they would hinder my work and disturb my concentration. I'll see the pictures once I was done with my mother.

Argh! She's starting her matchmaking again. I hated it when she started her matchmaking with anyone she found suitable for me.

"Mom, I have to go. I will try to make it to the club in the evening." I said abruptly. I didn't want to get into an argument about her wanting me to get married. I wasn't ready to get settled down just yet. I was really enjoying the independent life that I was living right now.

"Alright, Alishah! Do let us know if you decide to drop by." Mom said and then bid me goodbye. Now, I wouldn't even dream of dropping by at the club because I knew that my parent's friends would be there. Mom believed that I worked really hard and played less which wasn't exactly true. I did have recreational time with Sadaf and Shahmir whenever they were in town. These days they were on their honeymoon so what was I supposed to do.

I turned back towards the computer screen and opened Sadaf's email. Indeed, she had sent me yet more pictures of Shahmir and herself. She looked beautiful in a skin-tight jeans and tank top which had spaghetti straps. The sunlight kissed her hair, making it appear almost golden. I loved the shade so much. I smiled as I went through the pictures, looking at the newly married couple happy together. I picked up the receiver and dialed her number.

After exchanging greetings, I said.

"You guys look amazing together. Love both of you."

"We love you more." Sadaf said. "Wish you were here with us."