A Bond Grows in the Sitting Room
The bond began to strengthen. Kelly and Ali were spending a lot of time together and an affinity had developed between the two. Kelly would often help Ali to exercise and flex his muscles. Often, during such sessions, Ali would become aware of Kelly’s petite and sensuous body. Many times, Kelly had caught him gazing at her. On one such occasion, when Kelly was helping Ali to exercise his injured arm, she noticed him looking at her lips. The moment her face came close to his, he just put his lips on hers. He made her sit in his lap and they entangled in a long and dreamy kiss. They broke it off when Mohammed entered the room.
The relationship was definitely something more than friendship, but neither was sure of the romantic angle and would simply dismiss such incidents as impulse. If Mohammed would tease them about it, they would reject the idea that their feelings for each other were anything serious, and the threesome would laugh about it. These occasional incidents had definitely made Kelly and Ali realize the lack of a romantic interest in their respective lives. Ali had never thought that he was still capable of having romantic feelings for a woman. After his wife’s death, it had been years since he had kissed a woman. It was not an everyday matter for him to interact with women. For Kelly, the drive to advance her career was the main reason she had never made dating a priority in her life. Now and then, she had been involved with men but never were these relationships very serious.
Ali and Mohammed often had in-depth conversations about their country, the Establishment, and the army. Mohammed updated him on the current scenario and helped him to understand the true nature of the current Establishment. He helped him to see and understand its true position. These conversations helped to clear the smoke screen for him. Mohammed always tried to persuade Ali to quit the path of violence and work for his country by moving on the path of peace. He would tell Ali that this would, in turn, bring peace to him.
The attempt on Ali’s life by his own people had left him feeling depressed and disillusioned. The conversations with Mohammed helped him to understand what he wanted for himself, his country, its people, and the people who had betrayed him and played him for a fool. He wanted revenge for his nation. He had resolved to himself that he would take revenge from the people who had betrayed his country. It was the resolve of a seasoned, hardened army man.