Not That Interested

Chapter 3: The One with the Free lunch

I am riding shotgun in Areeb's  gleaming silver Camri. At first, I felt awkward sitting beside him. He looks so different. I feel like he is another person. But then he smiles his signature dimpled smile, opened the car door for me and I felt safe again.

Adiba is agitated in the back seat. She keeps complaining about Areeb's playlist. Areeb finally caved in, and handed her the data cable, so now the car is filled with eclectic pop tunes that are getting on Areeb's nerves. Figures. Both of them take their music very seriously.

"How can you ever stand listening to this crap short stuff?" He frowns disgustedly at the coldplay song. "I see that my absence has made your pathetic music taste even worse."

"Oy! you say anything bad about coldplay and I will scratch these leather seats." Adiba chirped.

I just roll my eyes. Music choice for me is very much hinged on my mood. I have such eclectic tastes, and they vary pretty much according to my emotional state. I can go from Eminem to Creed to Rihanna to Justin Timberlake in 2.5 seconds.

"Mina agrees with me, Right Min? Tell the she-devil to put on some Kings (Kings Of Leon)" he swivels his head towards me.

"Hey, keep me out of this. I am Switzerland." I raise my hands in defeat.

"How can you be neutral about music Yaar! (mate)" he elbows me playfully.

"Seriously! Stop it you two! this is getting juvenile." I'm sick of their bickering, "By the way, where are we going?"

....

We are sitting at a gallery table in Kolachi restaurant. The picturesque food paradise is right at the ocean edge. So technically water is flowing beneath our feet. The food has just arrived, and all of us are ravenously tucking in on Malai Boti (creamy chicken), Parathas and Chicken Tikkas.

"Mmm. Karachi's food beats Islamabad's food any day of the week!" Areeb is inhaling parathas like crazy. "I missed this. Missed you guys." he is staring at me all intensely for some reason.

"I didn't miss you at all." I quip back, pretending that his stare isn't effecting me at all. Like I have been pretending for the past four years.

He smirks like he doesn't believe me. He goes on to precisely slice his chicken before popping it in his mouth. I watch his graceful smooth hands expertly handling the carving.

Since when did I start noticing hands?

EMV decides to say her mind; 'Since he moved to Islamabad four years ago, and you realized you had feelings for him'

I discreetly send EMV a mental middle finger.

When Areeb announces that he is in fact paying for lunch; Adiba pretends to have a heart attack.

"Free Lunch! from the Kanjoos (Miser) Himself!! someone call me an ambulance!"

I giggle at their silly antics, as I think back to an economics lecture; "There's no such thing as a free lunch!" My business teacher had reiterated. I will soon find out what she actually meant.

.......

We walked along the beach after lunch, catching up on our stories. He has just joined a Cell phone company's tech support team. I listen to him jabbering on about "Circuits" and "Analogs" relishing in his voice, his stories. He is so full of life! recalling funny stories from his grad party week at school, and his new job.

As soon as the Azaan (prayer call) for Zuhr prayers is heard. Me and Adiba rush to find a place to pray. We know if we put off the prayer, it will be too late by the time we actually reach back to the office.

Thankfully, the Kolachi folks have a prayer room that we can use. Areeb simply snorts when he sees us so harried about prayer. One thing that our parents always instilled in us was the importance of prayer; so it came as a shock when I found Areeb mocking our prayers.

My family can be classified as moderate Muslims. We faithfully believe, and pray, and fulfill the main Islamic traditions. We might not be strictly religious, in our dressing sense, or our friendships (Areeb was most definitely NOT a Mehram for us), but Namaaz/Salah always came first.

"Organized religion is most likely a social construct; so it doesn't matter whether you pray or not. I doubt anyone's actually listening." He scoffs at us.

I am dumbstruck. He wasn't raised this way. His parents are very deeply spiritual people, and as far back as I can remember, he never used to miss a single prayer. Above all, he was never this cynical about God, and religion. It troubles me that he is having doubts about something which comes so naturally to me. Blind faith in a higher entity, and a compulsion to be thankful to that entity.

What happened to the old Areeb?

"Don't say that Areeb. Be thankful to Allah, for all that he has given you. And he has given you so much!" I try to soften him up, unsure if he'd appreciate a sanctimonious lecture from me. Religion is a pretty personal matter, and I hate imposing my opinions and beliefs on others.

"If there's a God, which I doubt. He definitely doesn't deserve a thank you." Areeb's eyes are tormented.

I want to soothe that fire. Find out what caused it; and then, I want to fix it.

"What happened to you Areeb? Where's your faith?" I whisper gently.

"Life happened to me Min." He smiles ruefully, "And haven't you heard? Life's a Bitch."

A/N:

Hey There,

The gorgeous photo is of Kolachi restaurant, at Do Darya (A place in my Hometown Karachi, Pakistan) :D amazing views, food to kill for! This is where my characters enjoyed their lunch.