My light in the dark!

Present day.

Zarak looked at Ameerah for the tenth time. He was getting worried now. She was never this quite.

He parked the car outside the mall, and looked at her again. She had her face turned towards the window.

“Ameerah,” he called her.

“Hmm,” she replied back, not paying attention.

“You look really good today,” he stated.

Ameerah was taken aback, and turned her head to look at him.

“I knew this would make you look at me,” he said with a slight smile.

Ameerah looked down at her hands. Her hair had fallen to the side, hiding her face.

“Ameerah, you can tell me dear.” Zarak said, tucking her hair behind her ear, so that he could see her face.

“Dad is having an affair, Zarak,” she said looking at him, tears welling in her eyes.

Just then, Zarak’s phone began ringing.

“Yes Ahmad, no I said, in the evening,” he answered his phone, not taking his eyes off Ameerah’s face.

“But I won’t be coming today at all. No, I have something more important.” He said while wiping a single tear that had fallen on Ameerah’s cheek, with his thumb.

“Yes. Ok bye,” he said, hanging up the call.

“Don’t cry, Ameerah,” he said with a soft voice, concern evident in his eyes.

“I feel sleepy, Zarak, and tired,” she said with a weak voice.

“You didn’t eat anything since yesterday, did you?” She shook her head.

Zarak started the car. “We are going to my apartment.”

After making her eat a sandwich and some milk, they reached his apartment.

“You had your band practice today?” She asked him, sitting on the edge of the bed. Zarak pulled up a chair and sat opposite to her.

“Why don’t you get some sleep? You probably didn’t sleep the whole night,” he said ignoring her question.

“You didn’t have to miss your practice, zarak. I am fine. You could have dropped me home.”

“Ameerah, why didn’t you call me or text me about it?” Zarak enquired, taking her hand into his.

“I didn’t want you getting worried. With your show coming up, you are already too stressed. And I was fine, really.” She tried to convince him.

Zarak put his hand on her cheek and made her look at him. “Fine? That’s why you didn’t sleep or eat anything? Ameerah, love, you can take me for granted. Anytime you need me, I am here for you always,” Zarak said sincerely, with a serious face.

Ameerah laughed lightly. “Look at you, getting all mushy. I think I should cry more often, to have you showering love all over me like that.” She laughed again.

Zarak smiled heartily, looking at her laugh. If only she knew how much her tears hurt him, he thought.

“Okay, now just sleep. I am going out. I’ll get something for lunch. We’ll have lunch together.” He got up and kissed her forehead. “If you need anything, just call me. Okay?”

“Okay,” she replied and laid down. She felt really exhausted. He switched off the lights.

“I love you, Zarak,” she said in the dark.

“I love you too, sweetheart. Don’t worry about anything. Everything will be alright.”

“Hmm,” she nodded her head slightly. She found his words soothing to her ears, and her heart. She fell asleep, forgetting all about her dad’s affair and her mother’s crying face for a little while. Her heart was content, at the moment.

Ameerah woke up two hours later due to the noise coming from the kitchen. She got up, and went to the kitchen. Zarak had his back towards her, and was busy looking for something in the upper shelf.

“Zarak?” She called out. Zarak turned to look at her.

“I am so sorry. I woke you up,” he said apologetically.

“No, I had to wake up now. I’ve been sleeping for two hours. What are you doing?”

“I made you lunch, and I bought your favourite cupcakes. Why don’t you go, get fresh. I’ll set the table.”

“Okay.”

They sat at the table, and had lunch together. Ameerah realized how hungry she was, when she had eaten three slices of pizza and also some pasta that Zarak had made.

“Okay, I think I am ready for the cupcakes now,” she said giggling sheepishly, at the amount of food she had eaten.

Zarak looked at her intently, and said, “You will only get them, once you promise me that you will never keep anything from me in the future, just because you don’t want me getting worried.”

“Okay Zarak, I won’t. I promise.” She got up and started clearing the table.

“Leave the dishes. I’ll do them later. Come here, I have something to show you.”

Zarak uncovered something in the corner of the kitchen shelf. It was a stack of chocolate cupcakes. It was so beautiful, perfect chocolate cupcakes stacked on top of one another.

Zarak had in his hand, a larger cupcake, with white and pink frosting, on a plate. There was a sugar cube, on the plate, with the words, “forever and always” written on it with chocolate.

He kept it on the table, and moved towards her. He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. “I love you so much Ameerah.”

“I love you too, Zarak.” She had tears in her eyes. “I can’t believe you did this.” She laughed lightly.

“Hey, I know I don’t usually do such stuff, but you were sad, and I wanted to make you happy.”

“And you did,” Ameerah said, looking at him lovingly.

“And after I am finished eating this heavenly cupcake, I want you to drop me at college. I have some work to do in the library.”

He parked his car outside college, and looked at her. Her eyes were still sad, but she looked much better than in the morning. “Are you sure you don’t want to go home to your mom?”

“No Aabira is with her, and I just wanted to spend some time studying, to get my mind off things.”

“Okay. Take care. And call me if you need anything,” he said.

She got off the car and went inside.

Zarak kept looking at her, until she was inside. His days were happier when she was with him. He had a strong urge to go in after her and to sit and talk with her. He hated the fact that she was upset, and didn’t feel like leaving her alone. Maybe, she just wants to spend some time alone, to deal with what’s going on, he thought. He decided he’ll call her later to check on her again.