And we found us [Completed]

Chapter 19

Waking up to a sunny day was a gift from Toronto especially in October when the winters were taking over the air of Canada. Snow, wind, rain and even storms were building up to a cold winter. Unable to get out of her comfy blanket, Inaya wanted to keep the warmth around her which was making her lazy to get up so she could get ready for work. Finally she fought with her laziness and walked over to the window to admire the beauty of a sunny Toronto.

Her apartment was right in the centre of the city. Tehreem, her phopho (aunt) insisted on Inaya staying with her but she wanted to be independent and preferred a place of her own. Inaya looked around at the tall tower buildings, the traffic and then her eyes stopped at the sky where she spotted an airplane preparing to land. It was a British Airline plane, seeing it reminded her that it's been 2 years since she came from England and chose a life different to what she originally planned.

Inaya was struck looking up unable to get over the gorgeousness of the blue sky beaming with the sun's bright light. She loved Toronto, the city vibe always excited her, but by no means she forgot London. London's warmth and its liveliness was something she still missed. Underground trains or busy roads, tourist attractions or University of Central London or be it the Starbucks Cafe she loved visiting at the start of her day to get herself her favourite kind of coffee: Cappuccino. Starbucks was her favourite coffee shop, she was grateful that there was one near her appartment and her office too.  Thinking of Starbucks reminded her of someone she enjoyed visiting Starbucks with, someone she called a friend and someone who she missed every day despite her being away from him for  two years.

To say, her flight from London 2 years ago was a pleasant journey, it would be a lie for her. She cried, she slept and she cried again throughout. She didn't eat in an 8 hour long flight but whenever she was awake she thought of her family and Ahsan. Inaya exactly remembers her journey only because she wasn't confident with the decision she made but ofcourse a plane was not as easy to get out from.

She forced her eyes a blink to get rid of these memories that were taking over her mind and she went to the bathroom to get ready for the day.

*******

"The exam went really well! Finally, done with the degree. I just hope the result is good." Ahsan said with a cheerful smile on his face while giving a tight hug to his father. He had just returned from university after sitting his very last exam and now it was time to look for a job.

"I am so proud of you my boy. InshAllah (God Willing) you have done really really well!" Colonel Hussain patted Ahsan on his back and smiled at him with full confidence and love.

"I will just go up and get fresh."

********

Ahsan came over to his room and his eyes immediately fell on the picture from one of his initial days at UCL during year 1. The picture was from the induction week, he picked it up and stared at it for a good few minutes. Then he said out the names of the people who were in the picture: "Sarah, Livsy, Shawn, Lewis, Rebecca" and before he could utter the next name, he went still for a moment. "And Inaya and I."

Ahsan struggled when Inaya left since they hadn't ended on a good note. Inaya was furious at him when she left. But Ahsan eventually moved on, he kept their good memories together in his mind, had no grudge against her and continued with life. Studies had got him so busy that he eventually did get over the fact that someone called Inaya was a really important part of his life. He loved her, he confessed it so by no means he forgot her so much that he was over his love too but fairly enough those feelings and emotions took calm.

As he looked at the picture of the group, he recalled all the time he spent with her. He recalled how he read her story in a newspaper and how they met at Umair's wedding. He also remembered how they ended up being in the same university on the same course and how they empowered and helped each other. Amidst his thoughts he also remembered their underground rides and coffee meet ups at Starbucks. Starbucks. "Inaya's favourite coffee shop." He uttered as his lips curled into a smile. "Two years, its been two years since she left." Ahsan placed the picture back on the shelf because he didn't want to dwell on those memories he still struggles to completely forget.

*******

"Heyyy you are in early today, well way early! Your shift doesn't start till afternoon. What's up?"

"Matt, I love this office, I can come in whenever I want."

"Just this office? Hello?"

"I love this office a little more than I love you." Inaya winked at him with a teasing smile on her face.

"You were off for two days woman, I missed you!"

Inaya ran up to him to embrace him with a hug and responded, "I missed you too Mr Smith! Now lets get to work."

********

Matthews Smith was one of the interns Tehreem employed at the same time when Inaya joined in. Matt and Inaya have been great friends since then, they have hung out, worked on many projects together and incredibly trust each other. Last month, Matt invited Inaya at a restaurant for a dinner and she went taking it up as a catch up with her friend who returned from Los Angeles after two weeks of vacations.

There, Matt did something Inaya didn't expect. As she sat opposite to him on the table, he looked right in her eyes and spoke: "I don't know how I am going to do all this but bear with me. Inaya, we have been friends since the past two years, this is long enough time for us to believe each other that we are both honest and trustworthy. I respect you a lot and I value your friendship so much. In this time, unknowingly and perhaps unwantedly I have developed feelings for you, I don't know how you will react to this but I really like you. So I wanted to ask you, can we give our friendship a chance to develop into a relationship?"
A confused look shot Inaya's face. Seeing her, Matt quickly spoke: "I am sorry if this hurts you in any way, if you say a straight no to me right now, I honestly will not mind, all I want is whatever you decide, just don't end our friendship. I will never ask you anything related to this again if you say so. But please keep our friendship."

Inaya just stared at him for a good few moments as she tried to comprehend what she had just heard.
"Urm... I... Matt, first of all, I do value your friendship, I honestly do. I really respect you too and you are one of the closest friends I have here in Toronto, there is no doubt in that. I can't believe I am saying this... this...this is difficult for me and I also don't feel ready for it yet. I don't think I am in the position to have a relationship at this moment. I am so sorry. But as of our friendship, this will always remain the same. I hope you don't mind what I said."

"No, absolutely not. I respect your decision and like I said earlier, our friendship has worked for this long, and we will continue to make it work. Don't you worry!" Matt assured her with a smile.

Since then, Matt or Inaya hadn't talked about this until Tehreem mentioned his name in front of Inaya a few days ago. "He is a nice boy, so sensible and so mature!"

"Yeah, he is very mature and sweet."

"You both are good friends, aren't you?"

"Yeah. So?" Somehow Inaya could sense where the conversation was going.

"So... I am amazed why in the two years you haven't made it official!"

"Official? Making what official? He is just a friend phopho!"

"Friends can become great life partners you know?"

Inaya gave Tehreem one of her looks that suggested clear frustration and annoyance. "Well he proposed me last month, I said no. I am not ready for anything like this yet!" She blurted.

"You are an idiot! Yeah don't say yes but you could have given it a chance Inaya, he is a really nice person and you both are compatible!"

"I think I should go back to my office and continue with the work!"

******

In the evening when Inaya got home, she was drained and physically exhausted due to a long hectic day.
"There's no bad in giving a relationship a job chance, giving someone a chance who could prove to be a good partner..."
Tehreem's words kept taking over her mind and then she began to think alike her.

Unable to make up her mind, she finally picked up her phone and texted Matt, "I want to meet you tomorrow, at Starbucks near my apartment. Be there at 10!"