Besabriyan

40|FORTY

Dejected, Maheen stared at the monitor. The records she had gathered and the data in the database were far from matching and that set her brain on fire. She was expected to submit the work before she left for home and from the way it went on, she didn't think luck was on her side. She wanted to dip her head and cry. Works related to academics had never been a headache to her but works related to business sure were.

Every day after that evening in Ahmed Residence, Zaviyar made sure he showed his love in action and not only in words. It took a lot for them to be there and it would take a lot to move further. A red flush stained her cheeks as the thought of his warm hands holding hers. The love between them flourished and she was coddled- swinging between his love and protectiveness. The way he would randomly drop down to his knees to hug her waist and bury his head into her stomach, the way he would casually bend down to plant a kiss on the tip of her nose and the way he would tease her for her pink ears afterwards. The happiness that erupted whenever he was near was surreal and so heart filling.

She looked above her cubicle to find someone to help with the data when her phone vibrated from beside the keyboard. Editor, it said. Rolling her eyes at the editor's now predictable demand, she took the call and placed the phone between her ear and her shoulder. The book that was in discussion was yet to be completed.

"Assalamualaikum." She answered the call with what felt like a fake excitement, even to her. Cringing at her own actions, Maheen continued to type in the data from the reports with a hope to match it with the ones from the database.

"Layah, meri raat ki chandni, mere din ke taarey!" The editor beamed at her the moment the call connected. Maheen giggled at the words thrown at her before she flipped to the next page, her hands still working on the keyboard.

"Baji soch kar bola karain, din me taarey dikhne lagaye toh aap ke liye qayamat aa jayegi." Maheen could hear the woman huff in annoyance, earning another fit of laughter from the intern. Muntaha Jahangir, the woman that brought her to the world of publication and the woman that made it possible for Maheen to earn money from her books after finding a random excerpt of one of her books on social media.

"Do you have a manuscript ready?" The woman spoke no nonsense and jumped straight into the topic. Maheen's hands stopped for a flash second before she continued with her work, clicking her tongue.

"It will be if you're ready to wait for two more months." As much as she loved to work with Muntaha, she loved riling her up so much that Maheen wished to be there with her to see her sullen face. Older by only a few years, Muntaha had been a great guide.

Stretched by a silence between the two of them, Muntaha could hear her typing on the keyboard. The thing that she disliked about Maheen, aside from Daniyal for shooting daggers at her for nothing, was her loyalty to things that drained her; turned out Muntaha knew nothing about her marriage, "Two months?"

"Jee Muntaha baji, I'm only halfway through the book." She sighed as if she was stating the obvious.

"The company is going under a major change, I need your manuscript to keep my job." Muntaha whined at her about the things happening at the publishing house she worked in. She had tried her level best to get manuscripts from other clients only to return empty handed. She didn't want to bother Maheen with the publication of another book, knowing she was in the second year of her masters and focusing on her internship but when it came to her throat, she had no other choice but to crib to her. Maheen Layah- Muntaha's bestseller.

"Change? What change?"Maheen scrunched her nose, trying to contain a sneeze- her eyes squinted.

"Administration and management, some other major publishing house is taking over."