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Sarfaraz sighs. “I shouldn’t have said all that stuff last night. You’re literally on the way to your wedding. It was wrong of me to try to ruin your mood just because things didn’t end well for me when I was married.” He holds out one of the cups. “Look—I even got your disgusting coffee order.”
A laugh bubbles out of my chest. “My coffee order isn’t that bad.” I drink in a deep breath. “So...even after all of that, you still came for me.”
He smiles, too. It’s a small one, but it’s there. “Yeah.”
We stare at each other for another moment before I break the spell and take the coffee from him. “Thank you,” I say, sitting back down.
Sarfaraz looks to my bag, then back to me, cleverly concealed hope in his eyes. I pick up my bag and set it on the floor.
He sits down. “Honestly, I’m so happy I found you,” he starts as he settles next to me.
My heart unexpectedly skips a beat. “Why?”
Sarfaraz flashes an annoyed smirk at me. “I’m now going to give you the silent treatment for what you did,” he teases. “Do you know how embarrassing it was to walk back into the hotel room to find someone cleaning it because the occupant checked out already?”
I snort. “Serves you right.”
“Hey!” Sarfaraz protests, but after I fix him with an expectant stare, he huffs. “Okay, fine.”
That rouses a round of laughter from the both of us. Sarfaraz digs into his bagel, and I can’t help the warmth that spreads through my belly the longer I look at him.
He gives me a once-over. “What?” he asks around his mouthful.
My cheeks redden. “Nothing.” I stuff my bagel into my own mouth, hoping the flavor of the cheese will distract me from the tingles settling in my skin.
We eat in silence for a while before I pluck up the courage to ask him a question. “I know you won’t tell me why you’re going to Pakistan, but will you at least tell me where you’re going? Are you going to stay in Islamabad?”
Sarfaraz chews for a moment, then swallows. He still doesn’t say anything, though, and as I open my mouth to tell him to forget it, he says, “No. I’m taking a bus to Karachi once we get to Islamabad.”
“What?” My jaw drops. A grin spreads on my face. “No way. I’m also taking a bus to Karachi when I get to Islamabad!”
“What?” he echoes. “That’s...a wild coincidence.”
“It is.” I open my mouth to say something, but then pause. “Wait.” I press a finger into the center of my chest. “I’m taking a bus to Karachi because it was the cheapest option. Why are you taking a bus to Karachi? I would have thought a lawyer would be able to afford a direct flight.” I sit up in my seat. “And on that note, why did you fly Jinnah International? I had to because it’s a cheap airline, but again, you’re rich. Why wouldn’t you take, like, Pakistan International Airlines?”
Sarfaraz tilts his head to the side, as if contemplating whether he wants to answer my question. “My trip to Pakistan was very last minute,” he explains. “I wasn’t planning on going, but I was convinced at the last second. There were no other flights available other than with Jinnah International. And because of that, I couldn’t get a connecting flight to Karachi, so I arranged a bus.”
I want to ask him more. More about why he’s going, and about who convinced him to come. But he’s opened up enough, and I’m afraid if I press too hard, he’ll shut down completely. “Well, then. I guess we’ll be travel companions for a while longer.”
“Aww, man,” Sarfaraz fake groans, hanging his head over the back of the seat.
My mouth drops open, but a laugh bursts from my chest as I smack him in the arm. “Hey!”
Sarfaraz sits up properly. “I’m just teasing.” Then he holds up a hand. “But promise you won’t puke on me again.”
I chuckle. “I promise.”
We drift back into silence as we finish our bagels, but this time, I don’t feel the familiar sinking in my stomach when there’s a long stretch of quiet. In fact, it’s kind of...nice. I glance at Sarfaraz from the corner of my eye. I’m excited to keep going with him. Who knows? Maybe it’ll be fun. Anything could happen in the time between us boarding the plane and getting off the bus in Karachi, but if I’m with him, maybe it won’t be so bad.
15
Maya’s Law #15:
Another thing that “almost never happens”? It’ll happen to you.
The seating assignments for the new flight are the same as the last one, so I’m technically supposed to be sitting farther back in the plane while Sarfaraz is up ahead. However, the thought of sitting by myself after being with Sarfaraz for so long unexpectedly twists in my gut, so I offer the father I initially changed seats with to switch again. He happily accepts, and while he goes to his family, I settle into the seat next to Sarfaraz.
He lifts his brows when he sees me. “I thought you were sitting closer to the back.”
