*
For a long time, both Noor and Fareed simply stared at each other. Time seemed frozen then, and neither one of them could bring themselves to break the spell. In the gathering light of dawn, man stared at woman, each enthralled at the sight of one another.
The heaviness of their silence could be felt, as it hung thick in the air.
On Fareed’s part, he was relieved that he found her. Although he’d left the mansion with the sole purpose of finding her, he truly didn’t believe that he would ever see her again. Surely Kabeer would have gathered his family about him and fled in the dead of the night. It was all he’d wanted after all.
But here she stood, with her arms crossed in front of her and, if the light would have permitted him to see, hatred in her eyes.
“Noor,” he said, her nam
