“Must have forgotten it in the car,”Saarim smacked his forehead as he remembered he had left his files on the backseat. He quickly retreated his footsteps and pressed the elevator button. It was already coming up, had two more floors to cover. So he stood there, waiting for it to arrive. The elevator door opened and there she was, looking as brisk as always.

“Saira,” he whispered her name. His heart thumped so loudly he was afraid she might hear it too. She merely nodded at him and then stepped out of the elevator and walked away to her room.

That day Saarim struggled to keep his eyes off Saira. She looked even more beautiful than before, or maybe he just seemed to see her in a new light. He didn’t feel pity for her, because he knew that the last thing she’ll ever need from him was his sympathy. But he knew now what she had been through, what she was still going through after three years, and he wanted to make her happy. He wanted to bring back her smile. Saarim was undoubtedly in love with this girl and all he wanted was to be there for her, forever.

“Saira?” She turned to see Saarim standing behind her.

“I have something of yours,” Saarim said as he held out her notebook.

“How.. Did you take it from my office?” She looked absolutely aghast.

“I wanted to know more about you.” Saarim looked away sheepishly.

“Why?” she demanded.

“Because I like you, Saira.” Saarim had not meant to blurt it out like that. But he just couldn’t help himself. They stood silently for a moment, facing each other but none of them finding the courage to look at the other. Finally, Saira took the notebook from his hand and walked away.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

He knocked on the door. Once, twice, thrice. But there was no response from inside. He looked at the watch, it was 4 pm. Maybe it was a bit early to visit someone on a Sunday, but he knew that she lived alone, and going to her house uninvited any later than this would have been more inappropriate. He pulled out his phone and dialed her number. She picked up on the third ring.

"Hello?" Her voice was soft, almost a whisper. Had she been crying? "I'm outside your door. Please open up?" His voice was pleading. "Go away, Saarim. Leave me alone." She tried to make her command sound firm but even Saarim didn't miss the crack in her voice.

"Just once, Saira? Let me in just once. Please." She hung up the phone.

Heartbreak. Saarim had always mocked the word; "a bit of an exaggeration if you ask me." But I swear to you, there was no word in the dictionary that could better explain what Sarim felt in that moment. He winced at the pain as tiny hands gripped at his heart, pulling at the edges to tear it apart. He moved a step or two away from the door, each getting heavier and harder to take, when suddenly, he heard the door unlock and there she stood in the open doorway, the woman of his dreams. Saira was not in her best attire; she was still wearing her pajamas, her dark brown, curly hair was pulled back in a ponytail and her eyes were puffed up from the crying. But to Saarim, she was still the most beautiful woman in the world. She turned around and walked inside, leaving the door open for him. And he followed her inside, as he would follow her anywhere she would take him.

It was a small but neat and cozy little home. The kitchen was to the left of corridor, a small distance away from the entrance. The bedroom was at the end of the corridor, and towards the right was a large room which was both the living and the dining room. Saira walked across the living room to stand against the window, her face turned away from Saarim, her eyes fixated on the path leading to her door.

"Why are you here?" She asked.

"To talk to you. And I hope you'll let me complete what I came to say." He paused to look at her for a response, but she kept looking away and made no attempt to interrupt him.

"I love you Saira. I don't know how and when it happened, but the truth is that it did happen. I haven't been as sure of something in the entire 30 years of my life as I'm of it. You are the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with. You are the person I want to sleep next to every night and wake up next to every morning. "

"And I know that you don't feel the same way about me. And I know that finding love is hard, but losing it afterwards is a pain that I cannot fathom. And you have felt it, my love. You have lived through it." She wrapped her hands around her body, as if pulling together what might fall apart.

"I will never ask you to forget your past, or to move on from something as beautiful as the life you've lived. All I ask is to let me be a part of your present, and your future, if you find me worthy of it. Because I want to make you happy for the rest of our lives. And I want to hold your hand and guide you to the light through the shadows. I want to love you for the rest of my life and I ask for nothing else in return, except for you to allow it to happen." He paused to look up and met her deep brown eyes now looking at her. Her lips moved to say something, but then she decided against it and again turned her back towards him.

"I will leave now. If your answer is no, I will leave you alone forever. But if your answer is yes, I promise to be by your side, always. " Saarim took one last look at her before he turned and walked out the door.

He started to walk towards his car but turned around once to look at Saira who was still standing at the window, her eyes filled with tears this time. Their eyes met for a brief moment, and the tears overflowed and trickled down her cheeks, sparkling like precious little diamonds in the sunlight. He turned around and continued to walk down the path while Saira gazed on, watching the sun's rays reflecting off his silhouette and into her heart.