The Girl In Black [On Hold Till Further Notice]

The Privilege of Becoming Friends

Dedicated to DrWidAA for being the most amazing supporter of 'TGIB'.... ^_^ You are hands down awesome!!

PLZ VOTE + COMMENT + SUPPORT

Note: Do read the Author's Note in the end. 

_________

When Zahra got back to her kitchen once again feeling physically and emotionally spent, she was horrified to find the refrigerator switched off. God! She had been out since the last four hours, and she had no idea for how long she had left it that way. Man, the food must be smelling bad by now! "Sh*t!" she cursed. Her hand automatically flew to her mouth when she realized what she had just said. "God! Did I really say that?" she thought out loud. Her vocabulary was sure getting bigger. Note the sarcasm!

But the problem at hand was not the kind that could be rectified. The poor things inside were ruined and that was the end of it. If she had to eat anything tonight besides a single chapatti that was saved, she'd have to fix up something for herself real quick to go with that thing. She didn't have any kinds of fruit to eat either. Huh! So much for keeping oneself from starving. The idea of ordering some takeout did cross her mind, but she was tired of eating everything artificial.

Now there was only one thing left to do. Make some toast and eat that, which made her cringe inwardly. She didn't know why but she always thought of it as sick people's food. Maybe because she'd had nothing but that when she'd been advised bed rest after her accident. She was contemplating whether she should make herself some toast anyway, when the doorbell rang, again. 

Now what?! Who was this crazy to call on her at 9 o'clock in the evening? She wasn't a very social person either to have sleepovers with friends, nor did she ever want anyone to invade her personal space. Avi and Laura were just about the only two persons whom she could tolerate living with.

This time, Zahra was extremely cautious not to let anyone inside without asking their identity first. She stood on her heels and stared across the door from the peephole to make out if it was someone she knew. And to say the least, she was surprised to see David standing outside the door, shuffling his feet and looking around him in uncertainty. Zahra had just bade him goodbye, leaving him outside her apartment building, when they had returned from the police station after getting Adel arrested. What was he doing here still? Or had he come again? She didn't want to open the door yet, so she asked who it was in a shy voice.

"I know you can see me from the peephole Ms. Fatimah. So just open the door please. I won't eat you up, you know," came back the reply. His tone was filled with amusement. "Oh...okay. Just wait a second." Zahra quickly pulled off the sheet from her bed in the next room and wrapped it around herself, trying to make up for not wearing abaya in front of him. Sure enough, when she opened the door, she saw David leaning against the door-frame. 

His smile spread when he took in her appearance. "Is this your 'specially designed for household purposes robe' or something?" he asked, the corner of his mouth lifting up into a smile. He perfectly well knew what she had wrapped around herself in a hurry. And to state the truth, he was very much disappointed with the addition of the bed sheet to her ensemble. He wanted to see her dainty little form once again but...good things don't happen too often, do they?

"I...um...uh...huh," Zahra began clumsily, trying to explain what crazy thought had made her wrap the sheet around herself, out of all things. But her eyes widened when she saw a very familiar notebook clutched in David's left hand. "Where did you get that?" she asked pointing a finger towards her notebook, her tone laced with surprise. "I'm pretty sure it's mine." David's grin grew even bigger as he held it up for her to take, and she quickly snatched it from his hands, holding it close to her heart.