"Today has been tiring," Asma confessed, lying flat on the bed. Her legs were left hanging on the bedside.

"I feel the same too," Sadaf replied, blow-drying her hair. Her eyes moved to Asma's legs, "Do you want me to put them in place?"

"No, I am okay," Asma replied, closing her eyes, "I will lift them later. Waise bhi, I am glad they don't feel anything."

Hearing that Sadaf stared at her for a second, "How do you say such harsh words so casually?"

"Come again?"

"Stop saying such things, Asma," Sadaf switched off the dryer and walked up to the bed, all the while her hands working in spinning her hair into a bun. "They are not funny."

"At least let me make use of them in some way. They don't work anyway."

"Asma!" Sadaf glared, putting a hand on her hip.

"Okay! I will stop. Happy?"

"Hmm," she hummed, motioning Asma to move a little behind. Begrudgingly, Asma obeyed her.

"How was the day?" Sadaf asked lifting Asma's legs and putting them on the bed and then she moved across the room to fetch the olive oil bottle from her bag.

"It was wonderful," Asma gleamed, looking at the ceiling. The fan was spinning in circles drifting her into old memories. Each stroke rekindled the days she ran stretching her hands in the air, the visits to the terrace to soak in the sunlight even though it was strictly prohibited by her mother, cooking imaginary dishes with Sadaf in their kitchen toys, stealing her mother's stethoscope to hear Sadaf's heartbeats. For Asma, Sadaf had been her entire childhood. She was not just a friend, she was a sister Asma never had.

"Mine too," Sadaf's dreamy sigh brought Asma out of her thought cycle. "I didn't know I was signing up for this."

"You signed up for a good future, Sadaf," Asma grinned. Going to marry Samad would be Sadaf's best choice. He was a good guy after all. "But my feelings are mixed. I am happy and sad about it," Asma looked into her best friend's eyes, "You are going to stay here while I will have to leave you."

Sadaf's radiance slowly started to disappear as she took a seat beside Asma, "Do you not know how much I will miss you?" She asked, slowly lifting Asma's pants to her knees. She poured a handful of the oil into her palm and first started to massage it on Asma's legs. Even though Asma couldn't feel Sadaf's hands working on her legs, she smiled looking at Sadaf's determined face. The spinal injury Asma went through paralyzed her legs, initially, it broke Asma completely but with her family's support, she regained her strength. She started accepting the changes in her life, to the fact that she learned how to live with her disability. In a way, she accepted that what was gone cannot be retained but her family didn't. They always hoped, prayed, and cared for her every day. Sadaf always said that olive oil has shifa in it.

"I know. That's what hurts because we have never been apart from each other." Asma spoke her heart out.

Asma's reply made Sadaf go into a pondering state while increasing the intensity of her massage into physiotherapy. She had learned it for Asma, she began stroking, kneading, and using her thumb to make circular motions to put more pressure.

"Why not marry Asad?"

"What?" Asma shrieked, her eyebrows drawing together.

"Think about it, Asma. We could be twin sisters."

"Before coming here, you wanted my ship to sail with Saad. Now Asad?"

"It's such a good idea. Why have I not given it a thought before?" Sadaf wondered to herself, not replying to her friend's question.

"When are you people going to grow up?"

"Asma-"

"No, Sadaf. I am young, I don't want to settle in marriage and I am not in love," Asma said, looking directly into Sadaf's eyes," That means, you people don't have the right to tag my name with anyone."

"Acha baba, sorry?"

"Your apology is not accepted. I think Saad has a liking towards Kulsoom and who knows, Asad likes someone too?" Asma went on. "You are disrespecting them by talking like that."

Sadaf remained silent and it gave Asma more room to talk her mind, " We had such an exemplary time today. Saad and Asad are becoming my good friends. I don't want to talk about my friends in such manners."

It took a few minutes for Asma's words to sink into Sadaf's mind and when they did, she quickly sat up cross-legged, "Wait? Did you mention that Saad likes Kulsoom?"

Asma bit her tongue, regretting the slip of her tongue. "Good job, Sadaf. Of all the things I said, you only heard this?"

Since the moment she had witnessed him in tears, he had been distant from her. Keeping quiet when she was around, not meeting her eyes, he made sure they were never left alone, and looked a little flushed as if he was in constant fear of being exposed.

That evening, everyone was in a hurry. As they were leaving, some were placing the luggage in the trunk, a few were taking last-minute photos for memory purposes, and the old ladies were going through the house to check if anything was left behind. When Asma strolled into the kitchen to drink water, she found Saad washing the last of the dishes.

He immediately became tense after his eyes strayed toward her but he kept his focus on the task in his hands. His behavior pricked Asma, she didn't like the awkwardness that hung in the air.

As the kitchen was very big, it had a lot of drawers and an island with breakfast chairs. The colors of the drawers were a nice contrast to the white counters, and dim lights were on - reflecting in the pearl white counters beautifully. Asma strolled to the left side of the kitchen where the glasses were placed along with a jug but to her utter dismay, the counter was empty. Maybe someone had placed them back to clean the kitchen?

Sitting in a wheelchair, she tried reaching for the upper cabinets but her hands failed. Sometimes, her disability causes her to fail at simple tasks and it bothers her to ask for help. She likes to be independent and doesn't like the idea of depending on someone else.

When she couldn't reach for the glass, her gaze flickered toward the one person in the room, the Saad she knew, the Saad she had heard about growing up would have helped her had he not thought of keeping distance from her. She didn't realize she was staring until he turned her way. "You.. Do you need help?"

She slightly scrunched her eyes, scrutinizing him and it only made him tense more. The awkward silence filled up and Asma had never been in a place where she thought she was being avoided. So Saad's question felt like it was being forced. This was not Saad.

"No, thanks!" She cooed, her hands pushing the wheels to turn right and leave the kitchen, Saad's pupils dilated when he realized what she was doing. Immediately he felt guilty for not helping her and opting to ask what she needed. "Asma, wait."

She was ready to leave the room, leave him in his world where he thought avoiding her would somehow unburden his worries. "I am sorry," he whispered, she heard his footsteps as he started walking in her direction.

"An apology was not what I needed," Asma breathed out, calming herself. She didn't know why she was so hyped up. Why did she care if she wasn't in his good notes? Why did it bother her when he successfully avoided her for a whole day?

Saad paused walking, his steps seemed unsure. For the first time, he didn't know what to do. Should he resume their friendship as if nothing had happened? As if nothing had changed?

For Allah's sake, she saw him at a moment when he didn't want to be seen.

"What did you come for?" Saad shook his head, rationalizing his thoughts. Nothing can be fixed now, things can't be undone after they are done, and he should treat her better, she didn't deserve the pile of his sorrow or the quietness, it somehow drowned him in, "Tell me."

"I came here to grab some water," Asma said, gritting her teeth. Anger wasn't a trope she enjoyed being in but when Saad made her uncomfortable and made her feel that she is disabled, she couldn't help but feel mad about the whole scenario.

It took a second for Saad to understand what she had said and when he did, he slowly nodded, moving quickly to open the upper cabinet where he had placed the glasses when he was cleaning the counters.

"Are you embarrassed with me?" Asma questioned, clasping her hands together. She wanted to resolve the matter and put an end to it. One awkward moment was becoming difficult to live in, she didn't want to have more of them. If he was not going to talk about it, she would.

"Sorry?" Saad veered around, his fingers holding a glass.

"Are you embarrassed that I witnessed you cry?"

"What? No?" Saad whispered, turning back to catch his breath. His fingers clutched the glass tighter, he wasn't expecting her to lash out at the matter like that.

"Then why are you keeping a distance from me?"

The absurdity of her question made a crimson-colored blush take over her face, she hoped, prayed her voice wasn't fuming yet her fingers were sweaty. She quickly moved forward to add more meaning to her words to not be considered inappropriate," You know what I mean."

Saad remained quiet, making Asma breathe out in puffs. His silence was making her more awkward and angry.

"I am sorry if I made you feel like that," his voice was almost a whisper, she would have thought she had been wrong had he not said that.

He went to fill the glass with water because standing still only increased the dilemma he was facing.

His reply suddenly made her almost guilty, first, she invaded his privacy and then, she was angry over it when he started behaving differently with her, "Saad, we all have our low times. I am sorry for intruding on yours."

Had she not stumbled paths with him, they would have been good friends by now.

"Feelings are a big deal, Saad," As the words left her mouth, she almost immediately regretted it. Hearing that, Saad's brown orbs clashed with her emerald green ones. Searching for a second whether she knew about his feelings. "I mean, everyone feels things differently. Like expectations, feelings hurt too. I didn't know what you were feeling," she added quickly to mask her words. What am I speaking?

After filling the glass with water, he handed it to her. " It's okay now, I guess."

"No more awkward silences?" she huffed, feeling suffocated in the closed space. To divert her attention from him, she started sipping the water.

Saad nodded his head, pushing his harry-potter glasses up. A small smile broke through Asma's lips. "We can start fresh if you want?"

"Like?"

"Thank you for the glass of water. May I know your name because I don't remember meeting you before?" Asma grinned, looking as if she was meeting him for the first time and she had not witnessed his lowest moments.

Saad chuckled, nevertheless choosing to reply to her question, resolving the tension would be the best choice, he thought to himself. "The pleasure is mine. I am Saad Siddiqui."

Asma nodded, handing back the empty glass. Saad took the glass and while doing so his chocolate brown eyes met her emerald green ones. "And yours?"

Asma's eyes twinkled with a smile as she looked away, she was glad they were fixing the issue but she didn't know why the resolving process was making her breathless, "I am Asma."

"Just Asma?" He further enquired, his eyes still fixed on her face.

"Asma bint Aashiq."

"Asma bint Aashiq"