Of Fallacies And Fate

s i x t e e n

#12 in Spiritual. Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah :')

"This would be hard for you if you were weak, but you are not weak". -Anne Carson.

s i x t e e n

The sun played hide and seek with the clouds against a warm blue canvas. Birds sat scattered on trees as they twittered merrily. The ground was littered with dry leaves and fallen flamboyant Gulmohar flowers which rustled with wind. A branch of that very tree hung low over a bench eclipsing it as it provided shade to it while it nestled against the trunk. The melodious chirping of birds was now punctuated by harsh crunching of the dead leaves and flowers that lay on the path, as Rayhaan made his way to his favourite bench.

The pleasant weather starkly contrasted his tempered state. He hardly sat there for a minute, head hung low while elbows burrowed in his thighs giving rise to hands that tightly interlocked, before he was accompanied by his friend who silently took seat next to him. He sat stooped in the same posture without acknowledging him, who himself didn't make a sound either to divulge his presence. The two of them sat in silence for some time, each one being too stubborn to be the one to break it.

And then, Rayhaan finally lifted his head and looked up at the sky which he gazed for some time, while his head swayed towards the chiming birds and he gave a long sigh before he interrupted the silence.

"Even the birds are mocking me along with the weather"

Nikhil gave a sideway glance, amusement colouring his face. "Mocking you? For what?"

Rayhaan sniggered and looked away, not bothering to answer his question. Only looking back a few moments later, when Nikhil tried to continue the conversation.

"This anger. It is not valid. You can't be angry that finally she is moving on".

His temper flared as Nikhil's voice resonated inside his mind. He wanted to be silent, because he knew he might end up telling things he didn't mean in his anger.

The way he tautly grinded his jaw showed how much he tried to control his vexation. Then he spoke through gritted teeth.

"She isn't moving on. Not with him"

"Why not?", Nikhil countered. He was indignant that this time, he wouldn't let the topic slide off, this time he would definitely make Rayhaan realise.

"Soheb and her? Not at all. He is just not good for her", Rayhaan tried to calm his disposition.

"What's wrong with Soheb?", Nikhil asked.

No sooner had he taken his name, they were startled by his very own voice as it called out "Nikhil".

Nikhil and Rayhaan looked up to see Soheb jogging towards them. Rayhaan not wanting to even face Soheb, fished out his phone from his pocket and pretended to be busy.

Sure, Rayhaan had spoken to Soheb before and he had liked that guy. Soheb was a sincere, untainted, raised-by-a-goodmother kind of guy. The kind of guy who contradicted Rayhaan and he didn't want to taint him by his friendship. And so, he had maintained distance with him.

But now that he knew that he liked Samairah, he didn't even want to spare Soheb a glance. A good person or not, Soheb would only deserve Rayhaan's detestation. And the fact that there was a chance that Samairah liked him too, only increased the intensity of hatred that Rayhaan had newly acquired for him.

That question revolved in his mind over and over. Did she really like Soheb now? Why had she accepted the rose? Why did she look so happy? He just couldn't fathom the thought of her liking someone else. Yes, he admitted that it was very selfish of him but he just couldn't. His line of thoughts was broken by a greeting.