Lost

Chapter 16: Opposites misunderstand?

Yet, when he opened his mouth again, he could not bring himself to call her out on it. Perhaps, because deep down inside, he knew she was going to react this way. That her reaction was justified even if he did not understand it.

"Hey," Zayn called her softly. "I didn't mean to hurt you, yeah? It was an accident."

Salma said nothing. She either ignored him, or probably didn't hear him at all. Zayn sighed.

"You're obviously shaken, given your no contact rule and all," he continued, "So I'll leave you be to compose yourself, but I just want you to remember, what happened was not your doing, and I did not mean to do that. I lost my balance. Honest."

Like hell I am! He added in his head angrily.

Shooing that thought away, Zayn ignored the fact that he was not being completely honest with her as he backed away to leave her be. He had very much meant what he had done, and he had no intentions of letting her know that. He wanted to give her a friendly hug and so he did it.

***

Salma watched the sky bleed a pinkish orange as the sun set behind the mountains. She was in no mood to go back to the shelter but it was getting dark and a chilly wind had picked up about an hour ago. She was shivering uncontrollably as she sat huddled by the tree near the stream, in just her long sleeved shirt and tights. Her nails had turned blue and she could barely feel her fingers. The fact that she had taken a bath - and washed her mud clad clothes - did not help her case at all.

When the sky turned purple, Salma knew she had little choice. Forcing her numb butt off the ground, she picked up her now clean clothes and scarf where she had left them to dry. Pulling her dress and abaya over her cold body and pinning her scarf in place, Salma starting walking back to the shelter with a heavy heart.

She was not sure what to expect of Zayn, or herself now. What happened a few hours ago was so inappropriate. Her throat constricted painfully, and her stomach churned just by thinking about it. For the past couple of hours, she had been pathetically crying, and consoling herself, and then crying some more.

She felt violated, and the fact that Zayn did not understand that, made it all the more complicated. The stark difference in their approach to the concept of modesty did not make it any easier. Did Zayn pull her closer on purpose, or was it an honest mistake? It was the core question, to which, she had no answer. Whereas Zayn insisted on the latter, Salma's mind was quite adamant on the former.

Taking in a few deep breaths to calm down, Salma willed herself to stay composed. It was embarrassing enough that Zayn had seen her at her most vulnerable a couple of times already. She did not want to start weeping like a child again. Determined to put up a strong front, Salma tried to distract herself by focusing on the eerie silence in the now dark forest.

It was nerve wrecking walking through the trees at dusk. Ever since she came across those footprints, Salma was scared to venture the forest in the dark when she could barely see five feet ahead of her. Her coming across signs that indicated human presence should have been comforting. It could mean help, but for some reason, her gut feeling said otherwise.

Threading her way through the trees, she let out a breath of relief when she reached the clearing. At the same time, her body tensed at the prospect of encountering Zayn. Salma dreaded explaining her complete emotional meltdown earlier. She was clueless how things would go between them from this point on.

"BOOH!"

Salma jumped away from her rock, managing to stifle her scream just in time when she saw Zayn double up in laughter. Not amused, Salma glared at him, forgetting her previous awkward encounter for a moment.