Lunchtime was a private time Tasnim. Usually,
it was just her enjoying the lunch. Sometimes, Hanna got out of her 'cave' for
a quick lunch with her. Tasnim's officemates had long given up on asking her
out for a meal.
Late lunch was always so much easy for Tasnim. There was no need to fight for space in an elevator as well as in any cafes. Not that she went to cafes anyways but she just loved the option.
Tasnim rarely met anyone from her office while she was out for lunch. Even if she did, they mostly don't have much to say; she preferred to keep everything professional. Usually, she bumped into familiar strangers.
Except for one guy. Tasnim always bumped into him; either alone or with a few of his friends. Sometimes, she noticed that the guy looked sideways at her. Of course, out of practise, she ignored that. Sometimes, she noticed that the guy looked at her while she was talking to someone. It got really annoying but Tasnim knew she cannot stop anyone from staring. Rude; yes, but as long as he did not violate any personal space, she just brushed it away.
They bumped into each other quite a lot, now that Tasnim thought of it. At one point though, he ignored her completely. But what can she do, he was at liberty to do what he liked.
And that was when things got weird. Tasnim got a feeling that people were looking at her. Not just the guy's friend, some other people too. That just drove her further inside he own shell. She was not comfortable with stares and was even more uncomfortable when she felt people sizing her up before attempting to say anything to her.
' Yes,' Johari answered when she asked about all the stares she received from Adam’s friends. So, Tasnim was not paranoid. Adam has been waiting for the coffee incident to happen and has been looking at her for a long time.
Tasnim swallowed something that was almost similar to a brick blocking her throat.
' So, everyone knew but me?' Tasnim asked, her voice raspy. They seemed to be talking for nearly an hour, Tasnim doing most of the listening. Actually, it had only been about twenty minutes.
' And you guys going out..'
' It was just for coffee,' Tasnim defended herself. Not so much as convincing Johari who was Adam's friend but more to herself.
Johari let out a weak laugh. ' Adam warned that you might do that. Anyways, that, we all knew.'
Late lunch was always so much easy for Tasnim. There was no need to fight for space in an elevator as well as in any cafes. Not that she went to cafes anyways but she just loved the option.
Tasnim rarely met anyone from her office while she was out for lunch. Even if she did, they mostly don't have much to say; she preferred to keep everything professional. Usually, she bumped into familiar strangers.
Except for one guy. Tasnim always bumped into him; either alone or with a few of his friends. Sometimes, she noticed that the guy looked sideways at her. Of course, out of practise, she ignored that. Sometimes, she noticed that the guy looked at her while she was talking to someone. It got really annoying but Tasnim knew she cannot stop anyone from staring. Rude; yes, but as long as he did not violate any personal space, she just brushed it away.
They bumped into each other quite a lot, now that Tasnim thought of it. At one point though, he ignored her completely. But what can she do, he was at liberty to do what he liked.
And that was when things got weird. Tasnim got a feeling that people were looking at her. Not just the guy's friend, some other people too. That just drove her further inside he own shell. She was not comfortable with stares and was even more uncomfortable when she felt people sizing her up before attempting to say anything to her.
' Yes,' Johari answered when she asked about all the stares she received from Adam’s friends. So, Tasnim was not paranoid. Adam has been waiting for the coffee incident to happen and has been looking at her for a long time.
Tasnim swallowed something that was almost similar to a brick blocking her throat.
' So, everyone knew but me?' Tasnim asked, her voice raspy. They seemed to be talking for nearly an hour, Tasnim doing most of the listening. Actually, it had only been about twenty minutes.
' And you guys going out..'
' It was just for coffee,' Tasnim defended herself. Not so much as convincing Johari who was Adam's friend but more to herself.
Johari let out a weak laugh. ' Adam warned that you might do that. Anyways, that, we all knew.'
Tasnim could not believe her ears. Their coffee sessions, she kept it hidden from everyone in her office. She was not too keen on having any of them teasing her if they bumped into Tasnim and Adam while going out. Not only that, it took nearly two weeks before she had the courage to tell Hanna and Khalid. To be fair, she was always on edge while talking to Hanna. She kept looking for an opening to talk about Adam.
‘ Wow..’
‘ You know, Adam was so much better when
you were there,’ Johari added, with a chuckle.
‘ But I didn’t do anything.’
‘ Maybe you didn’t need to,’ Tasnim was
confident the last line was said with Johari smiling.
2 comments:
;)
Calvin, thank you for reading
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