A Voyage Within Qalb

Chapter 13: Blurring The Lines

He wasn't sure why he was thinking about it so much, perhaps because his heart craved for something that his mind had forgotten how to register. There was something about her that made it seem like he knew that gentle soul long before he met her.

The 'thing' he seemed to have for her blew out of proportion when he found out that she was organising a Zakat depository by tying up Vitals Hospital with Diamond Masjid Group. It was planned such that whoever paid their Zakah to Diamond Masjid Group would be indirectly helping the sponsorable patients at the hospital.

He thought that was beautiful. Paving a way for others to collect good deeds seemed to be a thing he could attribute to her.

Finally rushing out of the elevator he had taken, he walked towards the library. His hand was already hurting under the weight of the heavy book as he reached the counter.

"Mrs. Shelly, can I--?" Laeeq stopped speaking abruptly, for in place of the Librarian, stood Leila Muhammad.

"Yes?" Leila asked.

"Uh... I was looking for Mrs. Shelly." Laeeq said, confusedly. The hospital's library was always teeming with readers, but not to the point that Mrs. Shelly would need a helper.

"I'm Mrs. Shelly for today." Leila spoke. "She's unavailable at the moment due to an emergency."

"Aah, okay." Laeeq relaxed, for Leila's sudden appearance had left his mind a little disheveled.

"So what do you need help with?" Leila asked, catching his train of thoughts.

"I wanted to return this book." Laeeq said, putting a heavy medical journal on the counter between them. "And also pick out a fictional one."

"Okay." Leila said, finding the bar-code reader to enroll the book into the library again.

"I thought you were in the Finance Department?" He wondered aloud as she typed away at the computer.

"I am." She confirmed, her gaze resting on the screen.

"Then how are you here?" He asked.

She probably felt a little weird at my sudden interest.

He thought, and mentally smacked himself.

"I am a reader too, that's why. Mrs. Shelly trusts me, don't worry." She raised an eyebrow, as if asking if he had an objection. "I know library politics."

"I didn't know people who liked numbers, liked words too." Laeeq spoke.

"I didn't know people who liked sewing skin together liked fictional worlds either." Leila shot back, a little hurt.

Laeeq laughed, her smart replies rendering him speechless before his mind pulled him back to the real world, with a few sparks going off in his head.

"I think it's a side effect of having a writer as a best friend." She spoke, his laugh making her smile. "Her ID is @KareemaHussein if you ever plan on reading poems."

"In Shaa Allah, I will try to find time for that. And... The fictional book isn't for me, it's for my sister." He clarified.

"'Aisha?" She asked, referring to the overly-chatty girl who had come to deliver a cake the other day.

"That's her." He nodded, surprised that Leila remembered.

"Okay, all the best finding a suitable book." She said, handing him the library card.

"Actually, I was hoping Mrs. Shelly would help me through it." Laeeq said truthfully. "I am not a regular visitor over there."

"Mrs. Shelly to the rescue, then." Leila said, walking around the counter and asking him to head towards the Fiction Section.