The Name of Red

by Beena Khan

  “I have a first aid kit in the back,” Kabir said as he nodded to Aryan who let Elif go and returned back to the bar.

  Then, he helped her walk to the back lounge. There were stares and whispers, mainly about Elif, and he bristled at the harsh things people were saying.

  He glared at them, and they turned their heads away.

  It’s a good thing you own the restaurant. People fear banishment, he thought.

  He seated her near a plush chair, and he took out a suture kit out from the cabinet.

  “Did I embarrass you?” Elif asked quietly, her cheeks reddening.

  Kabir turned toward her.

  She looked like she wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole.

  Her pride was hurt.

  “It’s not uncommon for drunks to cause scenes at the bar,” he replied.

  She looked up at him surprised, but she relaxed when she saw a smile playing at his lips.

  “I’m sorry,” she said in a small voice.

  “I’m sure men loved seeing the woman who rejected them fall to her feet,” Kabir replied as he remembered the earlier stares she received today.

  She giggled, and he looked up at the sound of her laughter.

  “You got jokes, Kabir?” she asked.

  He smiled at her before looking away.

  “Apparently all your good jokes are about me.”

  Kabir frowned at her and said, “I think I’m funny.”

  “You’re kind of quiet and mysterious.”

  “Okay there, mystery girl. I still remember when the customers called you Red for weeks. It was funny.” Kabir laughed deeply as it rumbled out of his throat.

  “What about you?” she asked.

  He looked up. “What do you mean?”

  She arched an eyebrow at him. “What did you call me?”

  Kabir’s cheeks pinked. “I like Red too.”

  Elif smiled at him. “You can call me that...but only you can.”

  He grinned. “Okay...Red,” he said. He liked her name, but he liked Red too. Nicknames were personal.

  He used hand sanitizer before putting on plastic gloves. He used a sterilized, clean pair of tweezers and used them carefully to remove the shard pieces of glass that poked out from her palm. He assessed the cuts on her hand. It wasn’t damaged, but she did have a deep cut that would need stitches.

  She winced from the pain of the glass being removed from her skin. “Ouch,” she whispered.

  His eyes flickered up in concern at her face.

  “Did that hurt?” he asked.

  “Kinda... ” she replied, wrinkling her nose.

  Afterwards, Kabir squeezed her skin and she winced at his touch. He felt her bristle under his touch.

  “Sorry,” he said.

  The only reason he wanted to draw blood was in order to wash the germs out of the wound. He washed her hand with soap and mild water and began to perform stitches on her. He bandaged her palm after he was finished.

  “Looks neat, where did you learn this technique?” Elif asked.

  “I studied in medical school,” he answered, simply avoiding the topic and the conversation he knew it would start.

  I like books and science.

  She remembered Kabir’s words.

  Elif stared at him.

  “So, Dr. Kabir,” she smiled before asking, “Did you finish school?”

  “Yes. I finished medical college, but I had two year lefts of my surgical residency program.” He moved away from her and began to put his instruments and supplies away.

  She stared after him.

  He’s the mystery now.

  “Why did you drop out of the program?” she asked.

  She was drunk. She knew she was being nosy and being intrusive, but she was curious at how a qualified medical doctor with a degree and a surgical resident dropout ended up owning a restaurant and a bar.

  He paused and looked at her eager face. “Why do you drink to the point of crashing to the floor?” he asked.

  Elif’s facial expression crushed, and she dropped her eyes to the floor.

  “So much for honest truths, huh?” Kabir muttered, shaking his head.

  The conversation had ended just as soon as it had started.

  Chapter 9

  “It’s time to close the bar. We usually close by five in the morning,” Kabir said to Elif who was slurring on her fifteenth drink. She didn't want to focus on him but rather she seemed like she wanted more drinks.

  “No!” She began to whine, trying to hold her vodka bottles hostage in one hand refusing to let go. She took a long swing from her free hand.

  Kabir ran his hands through his hair, unsure of what to do. He turned to look at Aryan. “You gave her four vodka bottles?” he asked.

  “She paid for them. I couldn’t exactly refuse,” Aryan replied.

  Kabir’s eyebrows shot up. “What? It’s $100 a bottle.” He turned toward Elif again and frowned.

  How did she afford it? he thought.

  After some hesitation, he asked Elif, “Okay, can I drop you home?” She didn’t reply but soon, she began to climb off the stool. She gripped the bottles she grabbed in her hands tightly. Her legs began wobbling, and she was unable to stand on her own. Kabir held her arms to steady her. Elif protested in her drunken state. Kabir took off his coat and placed it around her. Of course, she wasn't wearing a coat even in the dead of winter.

  He escorted her out and threw a backward glance at Aryan, “Close up,” he ordered.

  Aryan simply nodded in confirmation.

  “How did you get here? Do you have a car?” Kabir asked her outside. It was a cold night, and he heard the crunch under his boots. He looked down, as he saw the slush of the snow gathered itself around his ankles, soaked through his boots. He watched as his breath grew white-puff clouds in the cold air.

  “No, I walked. I live ten minutes away from here,” she slurred.

  He was glad she wasn’t driving. A drunk couldn’t handle themself nor drive a car.

  “We'll go in my car.” He walked toward his black Jeep.

  His Jeep’s windshield was covered with snow, and he tried to swipe it away with the sleeve of his shirt and hands. The result was he couldn’t get all the snow off the windshield, and his hands trembled in the cold weather, losing their feeling and becoming numb. With his trembling hands, he helped Elif sit. The seats were cold and stiff as he sat on it, and the engine took a while before it gave in and started. The car sputtered, and it caught Kabir off guard. He turned on the heat to warm up the car and Elif.

  She sighed, and he glanced his head in her direction. Her gray dress had ridden up, and he could see her pale thighs in the darkness. He let out a cool breath and turned his focus toward his steering wheel. He dug into his pants pocket and took out his phone to input Elif’s address in the GPS.

  “Where do you live?” he asked.

  She was unresponsive to his question.

  Kabir turned to look at her. He noticed, she looked awake, but her eyes were closing. He gazed at her as he waited on her answer. Her hair clung to her face. Elif glanced at him, and he noticed her eyeliner was smudged. She reached up and swiped under her eyes but ended up smearing the kohl even more. A smile tugged on his lips. He thought she resembled a raccoon.

  A cute raccoon though.

  “Where do I live?” she repeated his question quietly.

  She angled her face toward him, and he noticed her eyes again. Not the color this time, but how they looked empty as if someone took away their light. Her eyes seemed soulless, the flame extinguished from them. They looked dead, and he was afraid. Her eyes reflected the dark charcoal night outside, her dark beauty a victim of the night.

  Is this how she gets after a night of drinking?

  Kabir waited for an answer again, but she kept silent. He assumed her mind was drifting in and out. With a sigh, he asked, “Can I go through your bag? I need your address.”

  She nodded, and he dug through her pink bag for h
er license while still keeping an eye on her.

  Elif Mazandarani

  Date of Birth: 07/02/1991

  Address: 277 Old Stream Apt #2 Long Island, NY 11264

  He threw the car in drive, and his car roared down the slushy, snowy streets.

  The road was midnight black, and he had to slow down to see where he was driving in the empty, haunting streets. The twilight had faded to blackness, and there was no rush hour at this time. There wasn't a person around in a one-mile radius, and he was able to reach Elif’s home quickly.

  He glanced over to her a few times as he drove, studying her, checking her to see if she was okay.

  She was still, so still, and she wasn’t moving.

  Kabir wanted her to move, speak, but she made no such movements. He wanted her to make jokes with him, to laugh with him, but it was as if the empty night had swallowed her whole. Her drinking, her alcoholic nature affected her like a dark substance.

  He realized, there is more to her story.

  Does she drink booze because she likes it or is there another truth behind it? he wondered.

  She was drinking it like it was water.

  He stopped in front of a three-story grey building. The building was large with natural grey stones. The windows weren’t large ones, but more on the smaller side, like you would see in houses. The entrance doors were double oak, painted in white.

  Kabir unbuckled his seatbelt, but before he could step out of the car to open the door for Elif, she walked right out of his car.

  He watched, unmoving from his car as she entered the entrance doors of her apartment building. She was drunk and staggered as she walked, but she was still standing. He gazed at the entrance and after a few minutes, he dialed her cell number which he took from Nadia.

  “It’s Kabir. Are you inside your apartment?” he asked after she picked up on the fourth ring.

  “Mhmmm,” Elif replied, slurring.

  “Take care of yourself,” Kabir said softly.

  “Bye,” she replied quietly.

  Elif’s last thought popped in her head before she lost consciousness on her bed.

  How did Kabir get my number?

  Chapter 10

  Kabir walked over slowly to the same spot Elif always sat in.

  He watched her from six feet away, but she hadn’t noticed him yet. Her back was turned toward him, but he could see the side of her face partly. She had her hand in her hair, her elbow resting on the table.

  There was something about her, he thought.

  She was mesmerizing as the winter snow that fell outside. He gazed out to the heavy snowfall outside. He turned his attention back to her again and noticed her dress.

  He shook his head at the sight.

  Does she purposefully want to fall ill?

  He took a deep breath and walked toward her, placing the book he carried with him on the table. He took a seat on the stool next to her, nodding at Aryan.

  “So, Red—are we going to talk about yesterday?” he asked Elif. He really wanted to ask her, Why do you get closed off after drinking?

  “No,” she responded, not facing him.

  “Fine...” he said slowly.

  They sat in silence drinking. Elif drank her vodka while Kabir drank his Red Bull. He glanced at her, but she was focused on her drink.

  Does she think her answers lie in her drinking?

  She was avoiding the topic, and it saddened him. She drank drink after drink as the night dragged and didn’t exchange any words with him. He sighed and moved his stool to leave.

  Then, finally as if she realized he was going to leave, she looked down at the table and noticed the book. “What did you bring me today?” Elif asked him.

  He smiled down at her as he sat back down on the stool. He placed the book in front of her—The Duchess by Danielle Steel.

  She grinned up at him as she read the title. The Duchess was a novel about a high born young woman who is exiled from her home by her brother, and she’s forced to survive in the external world.

  “I love this book. Let me know what you think of it,” Kabir said walking away.

  Elif nodded at him and began reading.

  ❖

  Later that night, Elif had read the book halfway only.

  She was too busy getting wasted in the other half.

  “So, what did you think?” Kabir asked her as he approached.

  “It was a quick, breezy read. The character Angelique is admirable,” she commented.

  “What else?” he asked.

  “The character sounds like me. Forced out of her home to survive by herself in a different country,” Elif admitted.

  Kabir was surprised. He wasn’t sure if she was still speaking about herself or the character in the novel. “What country are you from?”

  “Originally, Canada.”

  He nodded in response.

  She shared something personal.

  “Did you like the book?”

  She remained silent.

  “You can tell me if you didn’t like it. Honest truth,” he added.

  “I hated it.”

  Kabir’s face fell.

  She hates my taste.

  Elif shrugged, smiling. “You asked.”

  He changed the topic and asked her, “Who’s your favorite romance author?”

  “I always liked Nicholas Sparks in high school. Dear John was my personal favorite,” Elif responded.

  “Do you think Savannah should have waited for him?” he asked.

  “Yes. She made a commitment.”

  “What do you think about people who break commitments?”

  She glanced at him and smiled. “Someone broke a commitment with you?” she joked.

  Kabir remained silent.

  She shook her head and added, “Commitment is deep. Why commit in the first place if someone isn’t serious?”

  Kabir had no answer to her question.

  ❖

  The next day, Nadia and Elif were deep in conversation.

  Nadia was speaking about her upcoming scheduled neurosurgery, clipping off an aneurysm. It was her first solo, major surgery. Her eyes brightened as she spoke about it.

  “Don’t you feel all weird staring at the blood?” Elif asked her.

  Nadia grinned. “At first you do, but then you get used to it.”

  “When did you decide you wanted to go to medical school?” Elif asked, sipping her drink.

  “Kabir and I attended high school together. We used to study in the library together. We decided together we would attend medical school together and do our residency together,” Nadia said smiling.

  “Did you do surgeries together?” Elif asked her.

  Nadia nodded, eagerly.

  Elif studied her.

  She was cute and sweet. Eager to please.

  Eager to please Kabir, she thought.

  “Is there a reason Kabir didn't hold up his end of the promise?” Elif asked.

  “What promise?” Nadia asked, confused.

  “That you both would finish your residency together,” Elif replied. Nadia glanced at Elif, her eyes turning narrow and protective.

  “I don't mean to pry—” Elif said with a smile. “I hurt my hand last week, and he stitched it.”

  Nadia nodded. She seemed to be in deep thought before responding, “He had a dark time and he left the program.” Elif noticed Nadia didn't provide any more information, since Nadia was unaware how much Elif knew about Kabir.

  Aryan joined in the conversation as if he couldn’t resist. He was always around—the third eye, the third person.

  “He met a wicked witch. She cast her spell on him and left him miserable.” Aryan revealed without saying too much.

  Nadia threw a glare at him and turned back toward Elif, “He’s a good guy, and he deserves to be happy.” Her eyes looked sad and then turned wistful.

  “Kabir speaks about you often. He’s very fond of you and your friendship,” Elif said.

  Nadia’s eye
s beamed at her, and her cheeks pinkened.

  The pinkened cheeks reminded Elif of Kabir’s similar ones.

  Best friends indeed.

  “Nadia is Kabir’s other half,” Aryan said proudly.

  Nadia threw a playful smile at him, her previous glare wiped off from her face.

  “Our families were friends before we were even born. We attended high school, college, and even medical college together. He’s one of the best men I know,” Nadia said gazing at Kabir.

  “Why aren’t you guys together?” Elif asked softly.

  Aryan turned toward Elif, surprised. He narrowed his eyes and shook his head as if to say dangerous territory.

  Elif ignored him.

  Nadia looked up at her. “What do you mean?” she asked, surprised.

  “How come this friendship hasn’t turned into love?”

  Nadia turned beet red and looked down at the floor. Elif touched her arm, and Nadia looked up at her.

  “I apologize if my forwardness may offend you. Sometimes my honest mind gets me in trouble,” Elif said sheepishly. “I was just curious.”

  “He doesn’t look at me that way,” Nadia admitted softly.

  Elif was puzzled. Nadia and Kabir were childhood best friends, but they weren't together. The thought confused her.

  She asked Nadia, “You never told him how you feel about him?”

  Nadia shook her head no.

  “You should though. Kind, good men like him don't come often.”

  “He’ll just laugh at me.” Nadia’s face dropped.

  Elif’s eyes crinkled as she smiled. “You honestly believe a man like Kabir would laugh at you? You guys are best friends. You know each other.”

  Nadia remained silent afterwards and silently drank her orange juice. She kept gazing at Kabir throughout the night.

  ❖

  Nadia had left, and it was just Aryan and Elif at the bar.

  Her head was down, and she could feel a strong gaze on her. She glanced up, and he gave her a scornful expression as he hovered above her.

  She blinked and closed her book. “What is it?”

  “You shouldn’t give Nadia ideas that won’t come true.” His voice sounded upset.