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File that thought under “what to tell Dr. Khan next time I see her.”
After what feels like forever, I peel my lids open. It’s still dark in the room, but my eyes burn anyway. It’s the unsatisfactory feeling I get whenever I desperately need sleep but can’t get any. I wait for a wave of nausea to hit my gut, but to my intense relief, my stomach is pain free. Maybe the elixir of life really is in that medicine.
I roll to the other side of the bed. I check my phone for the time—7:56 a.m.
I want to groan, but judging by the sound of soft breathing, Sarfaraz is still asleep. His hair is tousled from bed head, his face calm and free of the lines I was beginning to think were a permanent feature on his face. He wrinkles his nose before he readjusts his body, throwing an arm over his forehead. He looks less like a man and more like a boy: innocent and vulnerable.
I have to admit, he looks kind of cute. But maybe it’s because he’s not talking.
I get out of bed, watching Sarfaraz in case he decides to wake up. I peek out the window, only to see the outside world is nearly as dark as it was last night. Heavy rain patters against the glass and glimpses of lightning flash sporadically in the sky. The storm must’ve gotten worse overnight.
A soft knock at the door draws my attention. I look at Sarfaraz to see if he heard it, but when he doesn’t wake up, I tiptoe over to answer it myself.
When I open it, a woman stands on the other side. “Good morning.” She holds out a bag. “I was told to bring this to your room.”
“Oh,” I say, accepting the bag from her. A quick peek inside confirms it to be the clothes I bought last night, now clean and vomit-free. “Thank you.”
I shut the door and step back into the room. I pull out a top and a pair of pants, then go into the bathroom. I take a shower, then slip on a short-sleeved sunshine-yellow top and shimmy into the light brown pants. Even though I feel a lot better, I take another dose of medicine for good measure before brushing my teeth. When I’m done, I fold Sarfaraz’s T-shirt and leave it on the counter.
I step out of the bathroom, only to see Sarfaraz still asleep. I move quietly about the room, grabbing my phone from the side table, then step outside into the hall. Toronto’s time zone is six hours behind Switzerland’s, but luckily my bank has a 24-hour helpline. I explain the situation to them, and they agree to unfreeze my credit card right away. After that’s done, I pull up search results for hotels in Interlaken. I manage to snag a single room for one night at a halfway-decent price, and thankfully, the weather doesn’t seem to be as bad in the places I want to go. It might still be raining, but the reports say it’ll be gentle, if at all. Not the best weather to be exploring Switzerland in, but I didn’t exactly plan this trip. Maybe this will be one of the few times Allah feels bad for all the bad luck He gives me and says, “Here, have a good day, as a treat!”
I sneak back into the room but stagger to a stop in front of Sarfaraz’s bed.
He’s awake now, and he’s stretching his arms over his head. His shirt rides up, revealing a sliver of muscly skin. I force myself to look away from it and instead look at Sarfaraz’s face. You threw up on him, Maya, I chant in my head. Keep picturing his grossed-out face.
His eyes widen when he takes my form in. He slowly lowers his arms. “You, uh...” He clears his throat. “You got your clothes back?”
I briefly study my outfit. I clear my throat and pretend like I don’t notice he’s trying not to stare at the slight dip in my cleavage. The clothes in the stores here aren’t halal-girl friendly, but it’s either that or walk around in my dirty clothes. “Yeah, I was surprised they cleaned them so fast, too. I was worried I’d have to go out and buy more. My bank account can’t keep taking hits like this.”
He snorts, but he quickly covers it up with a cough. He lowers his gaze so he’s not looking at me anymore. “Nice. That’s, uh, nice.”
“Yeah.” I pull on my fingers. “So...what are your plans now?”
“Oh.” He sits up in bed, clearly eager to change subjects. “Probably going to stay here and get some work done.”
“Really? But you’re in Switzerland.”
“And?”
“And...” I draw out. “It’s a beautiful country. This stop may not exactly have been part of your plan, but it’d be a complete waste to not take advantage of what’s essentially a free trip to Switzerland. After all, we’re not paying for our ticket to get back on our flight to Pakistan.” I gesture to the door. “You should go experience it while you’re here. I did a whole day exploring Zurich yesterday, and while it didn’t exactly end well, I still had fun.”
Sarfaraz waves me off. “I’m good.” He tosses the blankets off and swings his feet to the floor.
I pause. He’s going to stay in here and work? We’re in Switzerland! He can’t pass up an opportunity like this. Plus, after all he’s done to help me out, the least I can do is get the man to loosen up. I don’t know much about him, but he seems coiled tighter than a boa constrictor choking its prey to death. He could probably use a good time. He can’t want to be alone. Who wants that?
I don’t like seeing people alone. It’s partially the teacher thing—I don’t like seeing a kid sitting off in the corner by themselves while a larger group of kids play. But it also makes me feel bad because I know how suffocating loneliness can be.
Sarfaraz has said more than once he likes his space, but from the way he insisted on helping me, watched over me to make sure I was okay, and took care of me, I know there’s more to it than that. Maybe he’s lonely, too, but doesn’t know how to do something about it, so when he saw a stranger in need of help, he stepped in.
He moves past me to get to the bathroom, and the words come out before I can fully process them. “You should come with me.”
Sarfaraz stops, hovering by the door. Slowly, he looks over his shoulder. “What?”
My mouth dries. “I’m going to Interlaken,” I explain. “It’s the plan I told you about last night. I’m going to go to Sigriswil and Iseltwald from there.” I play with the edges of the towel. “Come with me. We can sightsee together. You’ll get out of this stuffy hotel room, and when you get back home, you can be like, Ahh yes, I’m glad that total stranger I met on a plane made me go out and have some fun when I was stranded in Switzerland.” I hold my hands out to the side. “It’ll be fun. And I was planning to come back to Zurich very early tomorrow, so we won’t miss our flight.”
He sucks in his cheeks. “I don’t know...”
“You’re really going to tell me you’d rather be stuck in this crummy hotel room?” I cross my arms over my chest. “The answer is simple. Come with me.” At his hesitating stare, I add, “I promise I won’t be annoying.”
