Madawa

10

For the first time in years, Saman felt like she woke up to a beautiful morning. Power was out as usual but December mornings didn't require a fan. Winter was perfect this year.

She quickly got up and showered before getting ready for the day. She checked on her brother, who was fast asleep so she made herself a cup of tea and munched on a couple of rusks with it. She waited for Majid to come so she could leave. Now that she could afford to spare some extra money, she paid Majid to prepare breakfast and lunch for Saim too. This made it easier for her and she was able to spend the day at work He arrived a half hour later than scheduled and apologized for the delay mentioning that he had some bike trouble. Saman knew she was late. She would have to get a taxi to work because the bus would have already left.

She walked to the main road and waited for a taxi. As good as the day began, she felt like her luck was catching up now because she had been waiting for the last fifteen minutes, and not a single taxi passed. It was odd because this area is usually swarming with public transportation. That's when the realization hit her—there was a transportation strike today. How could she have forgotten this? She had to ask a colleague to pick her up today. A couple more minutes passed when a black sedan stopped right in front of her. The window rolled down to reveal a familiar face.

***
On his last day in Karachi, Maher decided to head over Umair, a friend and his second-cousin from his mom's side. He owned a law firm in the city and had called Maher the other night seeking some work-related advice. Since he was already here, Maher decided to pay him a visit. He dresses up in the same t-shirt from Asim's wedding and paired it with jeans. His hair ran wild in every which direction so he ran a hand through it in an attempt to tame it. It wasn't perfect but looked somewhat better so he let it be because he was in no mood to wash hair gel out of his hair and the end of the day. He got in his car and entered the address in his GPS. It was a 10 minute drive from the hotel. He skipped breakfast but stopped at Xander's to pick his regular drink so he got his dose of caffeine for the day.

The 10 minute ride turned out to be no less than an ordeal because he was sitting in traffic for the last 15 minutes. He stepped out of his car and upon asking around, he found out that a protest had resulted in heavy police activity in road blockade and there was no definitive answer when it would be resolved. Maher didn't know his way around Karachi like he did Islamabad so he got back into his car and called Umair. He explained to him the situation and asked if there was an alternative route.

"I think North Nazimabad wouldn't be affected by this," Umair thought out loud. "I'll text you the route," he added.

"Chalo, cool" Maher replied before ending the call.

Within a minute, he received Umair's text and following the directions, he managed to make a U-turn to get the opposite side of the road. The route was definitely longer since going through North Nazimabad meant that he drove to the opposite side of his initial route but nonetheless, to him, time spent in a moving car seemed like a better option than in a stalled one. He connected his phone's Bluetooth to the car and played his Spotify playlist. It was an amalgam of the most random song genres ever–Bruno Mars' Just The Way You Are right after Otherside by Red Hot Chili Peppers. He zoomed through the streets that were surprisingly empty.

A few minutes in, his eyes caught the sight of her. He didn't know if his imagination had summoned her or if she was really standing by the side of the road, evidently distressed. It was almost like the more he didn't want to cross paths with her the more the entire Universe conspired against him. He could just driver past her but something in him didn't let him. He pulled over the car, halting right in front of her. He rolled down the window and their eyes met; her brows furrowed. That eye lock made Maher feel something he couldn't quite comprehend.