Ishq Kinara[Love Ashore] Complete

43. Warm

It was the blinding light. Or maybe it was her lack of focus on anything else but the stage and the agenda file. Whatever it was, it made her oblivious to her surroundings and when she finally looked straight ahead, she forgot to look away.

Mr. Raza's rambling was a background noise. The eyes of other people around didn't even register with her. She stood straight, rooted to her spot and kept on looking at the person standing at some distance of mere feet.

All those years, even in hindsight, even as a possibility, Elaf never let herself envision this moment. She never thought it was something for her. It was too good to be true.

So now, when she was standing in this very moment, she didn't know what to do or say. She just kept on looking, getting her fill. Of him. Of his face. Filling the crevices of her memory where he was vivid but in a bygone detail, something that had passed and was no longer a part of him now.

Sarim was aware of the exact moment her eyes fell on him and then forgot to blink. He let his gaze linger on her. Years of longing and when you finally have the person you are so used to seeing in your dreams, the reality becomes so good that you start second guessing it.

This wasn't the Elaf he had seen in that hospital room all those years back. And he was pretty sure he wasn't the same Sarim for her as well.

She tucked her hair behind her ear.

Hair. Long strands which were coming out of her catcher. Gone was the shoulder length cut he was so used to seeing. Also gone were the baggy, and sometimes simple comfortable shirts and jeans. Clad in a long shirt and trousers with her shawl on her shoulder, she was not the Elaf Sarim was used to. But she was still Elaf.

Maybe.

Her eyes had left him and that's when the spell was broken. Mumbling her apologies to Raza, she almost fled the room and Sarim's gaze followed her till she was out of the door.

And without even trying a sigh left his mouth.

Relief? Dread? Anticipation?

Maye a mixture of everything.

But he had finally seen her.

After six long years.

_____

She didn't know how she reached her desk but the moment she did, she was surrounded by her colleagues.

"Did he scold you?"

Ali asked. He was talking about Raza sir but Elaf couldn't even place him. Her mind was too jumbled up with just one man and one name.

"He must be. He can never leave a chance of rebuking any of us. Nothing new."

Mahnoor added. She was relieved that finally the file was there with Raza and now they could breathe in peace.

"Did you see the new head though? How was he?"

Areej wasn't going to back down without getting any details about this new change, the anomaly in their monotonous routine.

"Changed."

Elaf mumbled in a daze. Areej raised an eyebrow. Elaf looked at her and then shook her head. She needed to be in control of whatever whirlwind of emotions was going through inside of her. This wasn't good. She couldn't just lose her sanity like this.

"I just returned the file to Raza sir."

She made it clear that she couldn't give any answers to Areej's questions and that was disappointing, for Areej at least. She huffed and nodding at Elaf sat in her seat.