Samar’s hand grabbed hers from his neck and pinned it down to her chest — “He is drunk-dialling you.”
“No.” She got her hand free. “He is tired.”
“Not the way to call you.”
“He is a friend and an ex two times over…”
“Quiet.” Samar put his finger on her lips, his eyes fire. “He is nobody.”
“What about all the women you have been with?!”
His finger slipped from her mouth. His expression went hard, then blank, then unyielding.
“You are already throwing it in my face…” he began to turn his head. She grabbed his head and turned it back — “No! I am reminding you that we both have history.”
“And mine does not call me in the middle of the night!”
Amaal quietened. He had a point.
“Fine,” she nodded. “He is nobody where my heart is concerned. But he is still a valued media contact and an old friend. And you will not dictate that part of my life.”
“As long as you show him his limit, and he doesn’t cross it.”
She narrowed her eyes at him, but nodded. Amaal leaned her head back on his chest, splaying her palm on the warm skin of his chest beneath his neck. She set her phone on the top of his knee, breathing the peace in after their fight. It wasn’t their first fight, not as a couple, and definitely not as acquaintances of six years. It wouldn’t be their last. But even the aftermath of this fight with him felt peaceful.
His hand came to cup hers over her phone. He patted it. “Should have forgotten it at Rajbagh,” he muttered.
Amaal chuckled, relenting her mobile into his hand as he set it on the floor and brought his hand back up to clasp with hers.
“Let’s talk about something other than the world, work or… distasteful things,” she said.
“Hmm.”
“What are you outside of your work, Samar?”
“You are asking the wrong person.”
“Meaning?”
“Iammy work.”
“And whatisyour work? Can you define it?”
“Doctor, KDP President, karyakarta who opens and closes the office nowadays, emasculated donor wooer.”
“And if it all goes away tomorrow, then?”
“It almost did go away not very long ago.” He paused. “I couldn’t handle it well.”
“Hmm,” she turned her eyes up and let her head fall back, getting a more comfortable view of his face. His jaw tilted down to press into her forehead. That gesture felt so affectionate.
“What about me?” She asked.
“You call yourself work?” He smirked.
“What do you call me?”
“Amaal.”
