It was early morning, and downtown Toronto was hustling with a rush of people trying to reach their workplace, fighting polar winds and gusts of the snowy storm. Rizaan walked from his subway station towards his office, which he had recently joined. The temperature was -11 celsius. He had never experienced such cold in his entire life as he shifted recently to Toronto. Rizaan Walks towards his office, regretting not wearing a pair of gloves and forgetting his neck scarf. His hands were freezing, and he wished for some coffee. It was going to be a long day ahead; he knew it already.
Rizaan waited for a moment; then
the barista asked: "What can I get you?"
"I want an Americano,
please."
The young girl smiled and nodded.
Then, she made Rizaan's drink and handed it over to him.
He sat on the corner table in
the coffee shop just beside the window. He took a sip and observed the mess on
the streets. People line up at bus stops, waiting for their buses. Rizaan's
phone chimes with a notification from Twitter, and the tweet was from Toronto
Transit System; "sorry for the interruption in service; due to severe
storm, the public transport system will be shut down for two days".
A man came inside and ordered
himself a coffee and a sandwich. A few minutes later, another one did the same.
After watching all these, Rizaan realised how difficult this city would be to
live in during the Winter.
The coffee shop was packed in a
few minutes, and people were now lining up for coffee. Somehow, Rizaan has to
return home as he has no other alternative to reach his office. As he stepped
outside the coffee shop, a sudden gust of chilly wind trapped him from all
sides, he started walking with a half-finished Americano, and this was when someone
tapped him from behind; He turned around to find a beautiful woman standing
there. She smiled at him. He smiled back. At the same time, he felt
butterflies. He knew her from not very distant past, but he knew her.
"Aminah," said Rizaan.
"When did you arrive in
Canada?" weren't you in Singapore?- She asked
Rizaan has now forgotten how
cold he was feeling. His hands were numb, and he almost couldn't feel his nose.
"Yes, I have been here only
three months ago."
"Oh! That is good. Where
are you staying?"
"I am living in the south
of downtown. Forty minutes walk from here."
"You better get going. This
is going to get rough."
Rizaan, with his numb hands,
shook her hands. "see you around".
And he started walking towards
his place.
He walked on the streets covered
with snow; everything was now
covered with whiteness; as the
temperature dropped further, winds blew more snow, and soon visibility dropped
to zero. Soon he will not be able to walk. But he was walking. Somehow, his
legs were dragging with the warmth he felt at that time.
He remembered how it was ten
years back when he first saw Aminah. Since then,
their lives have changed entirely.
***
Aminah was waiting for her bus
along with the other passengers. She heard someone talking behind her that
public transport was
suspended due to the storm. So, she got out of the crowd and walked towards the coffee shop; this
was when she noticed a familiar face sitting inside that cafe, staring out of the window. She did not
believe her eyes at first, "is he him?". She wanted to turn away at
first, but the storm was getting more robust, and she immediately wanted
something to warm her up. She thought it was her destiny to face him after so
many years. She had no idea what she would say to him, but she remembered one
thing Rizaan used to say often: "Maktab", which means everything is
written. Two storms were brewing that day, everyone could feel the coldness of
one, and another was inside her; that storm was only for her.
She was there, wondering if he could recognise her or
if she was overthinking it. Is it fate that they meet
again after all these years? Or just a coincidence? No matter what the reason was, she decided to find out. She
decided to sit and talk to him. She approached the
cafe when she saw that Rizaan had stood up from his place and started leaving
the coffee shop.
Now he was outside, she noticed
that he was not wearing any gloves and his jacket was not for Winter. Instead,
it looked like he was wearing a fall jacket and unprepared for the severe
weather. She immediately realised that he had just moved to Canada and still
needed to learn how bad the weather could be here.
She was standing on the street,
where people were running towards their cars to avoid being stuck in traffic,
while she was standing there waiting for her heart's
calling. The coldness from the wind penetrated her
bones. She ran towards Rizaan as he stepped out of
that shop and started walking opposite Aminah.
She tapped his shoulder, and he
turned around, and she could see his eyes and
frozen nose, which was turning blue. He was holding a coffee cup, and she knew it would be
a cappuccino. It was his favourite. She was looking
at him, observing every single detail. He had grown a beard since the last time. When she smiled, he
smiled back.
Rizaan broke the silence and called her name in amazement, "Aminah".
***
They both started walking their
way; as Rizaan left, she went into the coffee shop, still thinking if it was
all real.
Aminah
was lost in thoughts, trying to recollect how he met Rizaan ten years back and how their lives changed. Wasn't
it just a coincidence? What are the chances of meeting him here?
It was summer ten years back when
they met in Karachi, Pakistan, at a University
function. She had seen Rizaan before, and Rizaan also knew her from one of their class in which they
were together. Though
they never spoke to each other.
She saw him talking to one of
her's friends, Sarah, during the function. So she went to them and stood with
them. This is when Rizaan saw her and greeted her. She greeted him back. Sarah
was Rizaan's best friend, and they often hung out
during university. At one point, there was a rumour that they were in a relationship.
Aminah also thought the same at first. She became Sarah's friend recently as they took the same class for that
semester. Aminah remembered that day so clearly as
it had happened yesterday; even she remembered what he was wearing and which
book he was holding. Sipping her Cappuccino in that cafe, she smiled,
He was wearing a white shirt and
dark jeans and holding a big red book in one hand. That book was special to him
as he always had that book and often read that. He used to say that reading it soothes him. After a few months, he told her why that book was so important.
Sitting at a coffee shop, which was bustling with people, she was lost in her
thoughts, sipping her coffee with an apparent gap; she felt different. This
storm, something is spiritual about it. She felt like someone had written this,
and with this thought, she felt something strange which gave her chills to her
inner core. Did he know this ten years ago that we would meet one day again
like this? She opened her email immediately and
read the last email
from Rizaan; it was
just a quote from Rumi; "And don't think the garden loses its ecstasy in Winter. It's quiet, but the roots
are down there riotous. In Winter, the bare boughs that seem to sleep Work covertly, preparing for
their Spring."
He often quoted Rumi, but why his
last email was about winters? After that, he never tried to contact her, and neither did she.
***
Rizaan, after fighting the winter storm,
somehow found his way to the grocery store, which was
in the middle of downtown, and bought some stuff for dinner. But still, the weather outside was terrible, and no
transportation was available. So there were people
inside sitting on the
floor and were adamant about not leaving that place. So Rizaan thought, waiting for the storm to pass a sane thing. He roamed around
the store, bought some water, and sat down on the floor where everyone was sitting.
To be Continued ......
