The Car Ride

                                    

                                          
Meerab could not sleep after the nightmare, so she had laid down next to Mari until Fajr time and got up for her morning prayers.
By seven she was dressed up for the day in a powder blue kurta.
Putting on her duppata encircling her neck instead of her usual style where she pinned it on a shoulder. 
Turning to the mirror she inspected her handiwork.
She had noticed the two streaks of red scratch marks on the right side of her neck. Meerab could not believe she had scratched herself and not felt it at that time.
They needed to be kept hidden for now. Even if they were from her own nails, she did not want to give an explanation.
She was not ready to talk about the nightmares with anyone yet because all of it still felt so unreal.
Absurdly Meerab thought that just maybe it would fade away if she did not talk about it.
Her Mama and Baba had made plans to go visiting with Ma Begum today. They wanted to catch up with some of their old friends who lived nearby.
This meant that they would be out almost all day long since they will have lunch with their friends.
Mari had to be in college for some reason and Meerab had nothing to do but sit around and think.
"What time are you going to college Mari?"
"Im leaving around nine, why?" Mariyam called out from the open bathroom door.
 "I will come to drop you off then."
"Ok, fine." Came the muffled reply from inside.
"Hurry up Mari! lets go have breakfast, I need food."
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Murtasim was woken up around four in the morning. He burrowed further into his blanket, too sleepy to get up yet.
Slowly stretching out in his large bed, he wondered why it smelled like flowers around him.
Opening his eyes he checked around him to see if there were any flowers nearby.
The vase Ma Begum kept in his room was near the windows and it was the dried kind which would not have any scent.
His sleep addled mind tried to form a connection between the floral scent. A hazy memory from last night came to him, of Meerab sitting wrapped up in his blanket on the balcony.
He groaned as he understood what the scent was, it was Meerab's fragrance on his blanket.
It felt like she was right next to him.
Murtasim had no idea that it was the scent of Gardenias, a perfume oil Meerab occasionally used. 
Murtasim decided he rather liked this scent early in the morning 'I wouldnt mind sharing my blanket with her just to get her perfume on it' was his absurd thought. 
'Woah, where did that come from' he tried to reason with himself before giving up and heading to the bathroom for a cold shower.
                           _________
After breakfast, Mariyam and Meerab went out to the waiting car, expecting to see one of the Haveli drivers to be in the driver's seat.