He knew the CCTV setups here, knew the security wiring, and he was no stranger to stealth climbing, thanks to Atharva’s drills.
He hesitated, for just a second, before bracing himself and jumping a wall.
Samar climbed trees and walls, treading under the radar until he had jumped and landed outside her window. She had initially rented the top floor, then shifted downstairs because of water issues. Samar knew too much about Aamir Haider’s house’s plumbing and heating at this point.
The lights in her room were off.
What a waste.
He had a desire to knock nonetheless. To call her. Wake her up.
But she was running on just as much fatigue as he was.
He turned around and sat there, under her window, leaning back against the wall. He would leave in some time.
If he had ever thought that he would find himself sitting outside Amaal’s window in his dead enemy’s house, Samar would have run as far as he could, as fast as he could from her. But here he was, not only unable to run from her but unable to leave the vicinity where she slept.
“Just for a minute,” he told himself, inhaling the hot Srinagar night. The garden was ripe with so many flowery smells that it was getting difficult to decipher them all. Jasmine was the heaviest, and he realised why. The shrubs were planted right there in a bed under her window. He wasn’t sure if she had a hand in that, but knowing about it gave him joy. She deserved to get time for her gardening. She deserved flowers and leaves and muddy hands that she could rub all over him.
Samar smiled, and began to reach for one white flower, then stopped.
“Oye shaitaaneya, raat nu phull na toddein, biba.[123]”
His stomach flipped.
Mummy
The window over his head stuttered open. Samar glanced up, and Amaal’s happy face peeked down at him. Their eyes met. The tired colour of her skin suddenly brightened, and her smile kept growing until she was beaming.
“Still coming to yell outside my window?”
“How did you know?” He circled his arm around his folded knees, getting comfortable. She climbed over and leaned out, her hair falling down the sides of her face. “I opened my window to air the room, and a thief was plucking my flowers.”
Samar felt his smile wobble but held on — “I did not.”
“Because I caught you red-handed.”
“I thought you had gone to sleep.”
“I was at Atharva and Iram’s…”
His smile dropped.
As did hers.
“He told you about his funding threats for Himachal?”
Amaal paused, looking conflicted.
“Talking about this with you feels like betrayal to him…”
He sighed. “Fine. Let’s never talk about them.”
“Don’t get like that…”
“I am serious, I am not throwing a fit.”
“I cannot ever imagine you throwing a fit.”
