Kubra kept staring at the digital clock on the table. 7:52 a.m. It has been five days since she’d been put in this cell. Five days of no contact with the outer world. Five days of minimal sleep. Five days of crying. Five days of cursing. Five days of simply staring at the clock as the digits changed and made her closer to going insane.

    The only person she’d made contact with was the female guard who threw the tasteless meal in her cell. She’d tried relentlessly to get to talk to her; to have something to do but the women was as mute as a fish.

    The reason it was so important to her and why she thought this was the worst punishment anyone could have ever thought to give her was that Kubra was a very expressive person. She liked to talk. A lot. Whether it was sadness, anger, happiness___ any emotion you name, Kubra expressed her feelings through words. And her language of love was physical touch. Be it the patting of her father on her back or the gentle caress of her mother, the hug of her best friend or the holding hands of a lover ___ she felt loved and made someone feel loved through these gestures.

    Five days without any of these and she was going insane. Now, whether the jury knew this aspect of her personality or simply thought it punishment suitable for a criminal like her was something she also wondered in these five days, but stopped thinking when she had no means of knowing it for certain.

    Her head throbbed from all the crying and simply the stress. Her back was starting to hurt from the hunched position. Her vision was blurry from staring at one point for a long time. She stood up and started pacing her small cell. There wasn’t anything she could accommodate herself with. A simple wooden table with a chair, a digital clock placed on it which told the time and date, a mattress on the floor, a water sink and pot were basically everything it had. There was a small cabinet on the wall which contained some sanitary items but that was it.

    The door to the cell was unlocked and she knew it was time for “breakfast”. But instead of the usual tray of bread and watery eggs, the guard announced,

    “You have a visitor!”

    She looked at her for a few moments of dumbness in which she was not able to comprehend what it actually meant. Not only had the guard said something to her, but also she had announced that she had visitors. Someone she could talk to. Most probably and highly appreciated, her parents or her best friend. “I- I have a v-visi-visitor? I have a visitor?” Quite frankly, she’d thought that they had forgotten about her. That was not wise of her to think, but what was a girl with literally nothing to do but reflect on everything supposed to do?

    The guard put handcuffs on her and guided her outside of the cell. Granted everything was grey and dim, but it was still an improvement from her cell. She was aware that she was put in one of high maintenance cells where everything was at least clean, but no one can expect her to be grateful of that.

    She was taken to the parloir where apart from her, two other prisoners were present talking to the freemen in the receivers, as a sound-proof glass was present between them to prevent any physical contact.

    The guard left her and she took a few steps until she saw a familiar face.

    And all her happiness was gone.

    What the fuck was he doing here?

    She forced her face to be impassive, refusing to show any of her problems to him. He didn’t deserve to know them now. There once was a time when she used to tell him every single detail of her life but not now. He was the reason she was sitting here behind a sound-proof glass looking and feeling like absolute shit. On the other hand, he looked like a model from Vogue in his grey suit, his pale blue eyes standing out as usual.

    She still remembered the day she’d seen him for the first time, the day engraved in her memory.

Flashback – Three Years Ago

    She was sitting in the main cafeteria of her university, sipping on a chocolate milkshake and waiting for Huma. They’d been friends for as long as she could remember. They’d met each other first in Nursery when Huma was crying over her broken crayon and she’d offered hers. Since then, they’d always been together, sharing every single aspect of their lives. Their families had grown quite close too over time and now they were inseparable.

    But since Huma had started her Law degree that year, they didn’t meet as much as they used to; a fact that she complained too much about because Huma was her only friend. Where Huma’s career was practically laid out in front of her since she had started going to school, Kubra was a person who went with the flow. She recognized her lack of interest in studies really early on in her life and decided that instead of being a bad engineer, doctor, lawyer or any other profession; she’ll become a painter where at least she wouldn’t be responsible for other lives.

    Now they were both in the same university but hardly ever saw each other. Even now, Huma was supposed to be here half an hour ago but she wasn’t. She dialed her number once more and this time, finally she received.

     “Dude, where the hell are you? Aren’t you lawyers supposed to be punctual or something?”

    “Just outside the café. See you.”

    She saw her gorgeous best friend step into the café and this may sound filmy, but eyes did turn towards her. Not only was she beautiful with her shoulder-length brunette hair with subtle highlights, her dark grey eyes which could almost pass off as black, her tall stature and her perfect figure, but also she had a reputation of being the daughter of one of the best lawyers in the country.

    “I’m so sorry, dude. The professor started having a debate with a student in the class. You know how competitive law teachers can get.” Huma sat down opposite her, setting her bag on a chair beside her.

    “You owe me a proper lunch. I’m starving!”

    “Fine, Bhukkar!”

    They both grabbed a few club sandwiches, a plate of French fries and mango smoothies. Kubra started talking instantly about her day, all the funny moments in the classes, the appreciations she’d gotten, what went in her house ___ everything.

    Until her eyes landed on a group of men behind her.

    “What is Superman doing here?” She’d always called Huma’s elder brother, Saad, Superman. That’s because once she’d seen him punch the guy who used to bully Huma and her in middle school. He’d hadn’t cared that he was seven years older than the boy he was hitting, he just knew that he’d made them cry and that was enough to make him go crazy.

    “Saad Bhai?” Huma frowned and turned her head.

    A few feet away from them, almost seven boys stood laughing and joking, demanding the attention of everyone. Especially Saad and a man of the same height and built as Saad with blue eyes, black hair, clean-shaved sharp jaw and full lips.

    “Who’s the man with the blue eyes with Superman? Damn! He’s hot!” She just told it as it was, no matter how bold people may assume her.

    “Ew! Don’t drool.” It wasn’t a surprise that she was oblivious to him. She was around him a lot.

    “Why? He’s a fine creature. I swear all the looks are in your family or the people around you guys. Who’s he anyway?”

    “He’s Yusuf Bhai. Saad Bhai’s forever best friend.” Huma informed her.

    “He's Yusuf? Wow! Lawyer?”

    “Yeah! Both he and Bhai completed their degrees together and are now practicing criminal lawyers. They’re like those legend students you would read in a novel. Both the best of their batch, always competing against each other, yet never once compromising their friendship.”

    “You sound like you admire them.”

    “I do. They’re two of the best law students this university has ever seen. And InshaAllah, one of the future best lawyers in the country. I’m proud of them.”

    She smiled. There were a few people her best friend admired. And if she idolized these people, they were indeed the best. Huma turned back and raised her arm to get her brother’s attention, wanting to introduce Yusuf to her.

    A few seconds later, they both were making their way towards their table. Kubra stood up and side-hugged Saad and politely smiled at Yusuf. Huma stuffed a few fries in her mouth and waved her hand at both of them.

    “How are you, KB? Long time”, Saad asked her, grabbing a vacant seat from the nearby table and sitting on it, while Yusuf sat on the seat Huma removed her bag from.

    “And whose fault is that, Superman?” Being an only child and daughter of working parents, she was often left alone and she never left a chance to complain about that.

    “I know, mine. I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you.” Saad had adored this girl for as long as he could remember, but never had the courage to even admit it to himself, fearing it’ll tarnish the beautiful and precious relation that they had.

     “I swear you’re all going to go off to do your lawyering and I’m going to end up lonely and eventually die alone!”

    “And there goes the drama queen!” Huma slurped her smoothie. “At least introduce your friend to her, Bhai before listening to her rants.” Like children that they both were at hearts, Kubra mocked her by pulling out her tongue and Huma did the same.

    “Yes. KB, this is Yusuf Bukhari. My best friend. Yusuf, this is Kubra Shahbaz, Huma’s best friend.”

    “Nice to meet you.” “Likewise.” They shook hands and she didn’t know if he felt the same, but she really felt those jolts of electricity running through the every nerve in her body the simplest of touch. She looked into his eyes and just knew that she wasn’t alone. She cleared her throat and took a sip of her smoothie to cool herself down because it felt as if she was suddenly transported to the middle of Sahara.

    “So, what are you two doing here? Didn’t you have a hearing at court?” Huma asked her brother.

    “The defense asked for another date. As to what we’re doing here, our professor called us. They wanted to give a live example to their students.”

    “Oh my God! Please tell me you haven’t told them that we’re related!”

    Everyone knew where she was coming from. She was already getting recognized as the daughter of Shams and Ayesha Mirza; she didn’t want the burden of more expectations that came with being a sister of Saad Mirza, the best of the best students of this university.

    Kubra couldn’t help but laugh. “Dude! Stand together and even a blind could tell that you’re related. It’s really not fair how gorgeous-looking you both are!” She wasn’t jealous of her best friend’s looks, nor was she insecure of her own. She was comfortable in her own skin with her black eyes, chubby cheeks, full lips, wheat-ish complexion, five-seven height, and beautiful smile (which was almost always on her face). She just kept mentioning it because Huma hated it. Her gaze went to Yusuf’s and found him already looking at her. So are you! But that wouldn’t be apt admitting to a complete stranger, would it?

    “You didn’t tell me this ever before, KB!” Saad teased her. He was internally pleased that the girl he liked found him pleasing to look at.

    “As if you didn’t already know it, Superman!”

    “Superman?” Yusuf spoke for the first time, his deep voice having a deeper effect on her. “I feel like there’s a funny story there.” She looked at him and he was smiling.

    “Not really. He once punched a guy in our class because he was bullying KB and me. Since then, she calls him superman”, Huma clarified and slapped Saad’s hand when he stole some of her fries.

    “Oh! Saad? Doesn’t that make you a bully? The boy must be six/seven years younger than you and you hit him.”

    “As if you were any better.”

    “How long have you known each other?” Kubra asked Yusuf.

    “Since we were in nappies. We were literally born days apart in the same hospital. Our parents are really good friends”, Yusuf explained.

    “Your parents are lawyers too?”

    "Yeah. Though mom doesn’t practice law anymore and is a housewife.”

    “Right.” She took a bite of her sandwich and sipped some smoothie.

    “What do your parents do?”

    “They run their own export business.”

    “Cool.”

    “I just remembered, Superman!” She turned towards Saad. “You owe me a treat!”

    He smiled. Kubra was one of those people who would ask for a treat just for passing a simple test. “For what, this time?”

    “You won the last two of your cases and didn’t even take us out for dinner.”

    “I agree, Bhai. That really calls for a treat”, Huma put in.

    “Okay. But because KB asked. Not you, monkey.” Saad took Huma’s smoothie and slurped it. “Plan something and let me know.”

    “You shouldn’t have asked us to decide. We’re going to put a dent in your wallet.” Kubra smirked at him.

    “Go wild, KB.” He smiled at her, and if she was any wiser, she would have seen the love in his eyes, reserved only for her. “Anyway, we have to go. Let’s go, Yusuf. Bye, girls.”

    Yusuf stood up and forwarded his hand which she shook. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Kubra. Hope to see you again.”

    “Glad to meet you too. Why don’t you come along to the dinner we’ll plan? You’ll be more than welcome.”

    “Sure. Let me know when you guys have decided the time.”

    She nodded, smiling. Why isn’t he leaving? She asked herself, but then realized. Oh shoot! She released his hand, looking embarrassed. But he didn’t look like he disliked it. In fact, he seemed disappointed at not having that hand in his. He dropped his arm and with the ‘Bye’ to Huma, he left with Saad.

    “What?” She asked in response to the disbelief Huma was directing at her.

    “Dude. You have drool on your face. Get a life!”

    “Shut up!”

End of Flashback

    Kubra sat on the chair opposite and simply stared at him. He picked up the receiver on his end and waited for her to do the same. She blinked once. Twice. Thrice. And in those three simple seconds, she saw his expression grow more frustrated than the last.

    She picked up the receiver.

    “Kubra.”

    “What are you doing here, Yusuf?”

•~•

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