The World Between Us by Sara Naveed

Author:Sara Naveed [Naveed, Sara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789353057756
Publisher: Penguin Random House India Private Limited
Published: 2020-02-06T00:00:00+00:00

Amal

I dropped my bag on the floor and lay down on my bed, my eyes smudged with mascara streaks. I hadn’t envisaged the disappointment that this project would turn out to be. Or rather, that Qais would be such a let-down. He had stolen my thunder.

Whenever I was close to an achievement, something invariably deflected it. Qais was a bad omen for my success. With him in the office, I couldn’t dream of improving my career prospects because he was the blue-eyed boy.

I realized that the only way to get noticed was to work independently, without involving any other team member. I would do my work and submit it to the boss, as I did before. There will be no middleman between me and the boss.

I didn’t realize when sleep engulfed me. I remember Ammi waking me up in the middle of the night and asking me if I was hungry, but I refused dinner and went back to sleep. She shook me awake again to ask if I was feeling okay, which I wasn’t exactly but, as I couldn’t do anything about it, I lied to her.

The next morning, after I woke up, I took a shower and changed into a shalwar kameez. Ammi and I had breakfast at the dining table and she updated me on the household matters. She asked me why I had retired to bed so early the previous evening, but I made up some story to satisfy her. There was no need to saddle her with my woes at work. I had vowed to never bring my office problems home ever since the day I started working; I didn’t feel the need to do so now.

Slinging my handbag over my shoulder, I kissed Ammi on her cheek, bid her goodbye and then climbed into the autorickshaw. When I got to office, I was not surprised to see Qais’s car already in the parking lot; he always turned up early for work. I marked my attendance on the biometric machine and headed for the stairs. As I set my bag on my desk and started up my computer, I noticed the office boy carrying a tray of food into Qais’s cabin.

‘Rameez, come here,’ I called and he immediately walked over to me.

‘Yes, madam?’

‘What’s this tray for?’ I observed the desi breakfast arranged on the tray.

‘Qais sahib has ordered breakfast.’

‘Breakfast?’ I asked, staggered. ‘How long has he been here?’

‘I think he came here at around 3 a.m.’

‘What? Is he mad?’ I exclaimed quite loudly.

‘I think he is,’ Sabeeka interrupted us, placing her things on her desk. ‘By the way, he did look upset yesterday. He tried to talk to you, Amal. You should have given the poor guy a chance.’

‘Are you on his side now?’ I crossed my arms, looking peevishly at her.

‘It’s not about choosing sides, Amal. It’s about letting someone own up to their mistakes. That’s about it,’ she shrugged.

‘I can’t be bothered with this. Anyway, I’ve work to finish,’ I pointedly turned my back on her as she gaped at me in shock.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.