JAUDAH

CHAPTER 21

Jaudah has been busy with her school while Zain has been busy with his work and at the same time, planning Jaudah's upcoming surprise birthday party which is in two days. Jaudah has invited her friends Aysha, Fifi, Kausar and Fareeda to come celebrate her birthday with her even though she's not going to have a party. She just want to atleast cut a cake and appreciate the day she was born into this world. She wanted to remind Zain that her birthday is around the corner but she decided not to. Her thought was he didn't have anything to do with her birthday and since she told him once,  he didn't even show any sign of being interested.

She came back late from school today, all exhausted. She went up to her room and freshened up before coming down to the kitchen and hurriedly prepared a simple dinner for Zain before going back up to her room. She brought out her jotter and wrote down some things she will need to bake a cake. She was planning on going to the super market tomorrow after school to get them, she checked the note thoroughly to be sure that she didn't forget anything and with a sigh, she kept the jotter on the bedside drawer and inaudibly said "who bakes her cake on her birthday?"  She shook her head and stood up walking to her walk in closet to change into her nightwear. Minutes later, she came and prayed, when she was done, she switched off the lights and went to Zain's room 'cause she's feeling sleepy and can't wait till he gets back. She hasn't eaten and didn't bother to, all she needs at that moment is rest.

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ZAIN'S POV

I came home from work around 9pm only to see Jaudah fast asleep, I didn't bother waking her up, I freshened up, went down to have dinner and went to my studio to finish up what I've started. I want it to be perfect and that's why it's taking time but hopefully I will complete it today.

I finished up what I was doing around 12am and I was happy with the outcome. I looked at the sketch in my hand smiling widely "she's surely going to love this", I said to myself and kissed it. I might look crazy kissing an ordinary sketch but it's worth it, it looks amazing and perfect. I gently kept it  aside and started packing up. When I was done, I left the sketch there with the intention of wrapping it up tomorrow.

I went to the kitchen, drank water and went up to our room only to see Jaudah in a state I can't explain, she's having another nightmare, and this time around it seems worst than the last. She's crying but I'm pretty sure she didn't know she was crying 'cause her eyes her closed tightly, she was calling onto someone, I slowly walked closer to her bringing my face down to hers, my ears right next to her lips so I could hear what she's saying, "Ya Faruq please stop him, don't let him do this to me" My chest heaved immediately, "what's she talking about?" I asked myself.

I remember Faruq, he's her brother who's studying in Cyprus, "does her nightmare have anything to do with him?" I asked myself again. I immediately moved my attention to her as she jolted out her sleeping, she was shaking and tightly holding the duvet to her chest. I sat next to her bringing her to my body and hugging her tightly, she was fighting it at first but later calmed down and I could hear how her heart was beating out of proportion.

"I'm sorry for making you worry" she said crying, she's fully awake now  and she's aware of her surrounding.

I looked down at her face and wiped away her tears.

"It's ok, there's nothing to apologise for, come-on let's go back to sleep", I said in a comforting manner.

This is not the right time to ask her about her nightmare but I'm getting curious and want to know what happened in her past.

"Is Faruq aware of this?" I mentally asked myself.

I laid down while cuddling up with her to keep her safe, she seems scared and all I want at that moment is to protect her. I don't know how she managed to find her way through my heart, she makes me worry about her more than I should. I promised myself I won't interfere with her but here I am, cuddling with her, keeping her warm and safe. She finally went back to sleep after so many soothing words, I kissed her forehead and closed my eyes hoping sleep would come soon.