PRESIDENT'S SON AND I

9: Morning Laugh

NASRIN

I just finished taking my bathe and thought of what to do to wheel away some time. To be honest, I'm bored as hell. I've never thought that I could live a life like this and then wouldn't scream my lungs out at any chance I got, because, what the hell? My life is practically the same every single day.

I wake up to pray my Subh salah and then stay for some time to do my azhkar. After that, I quickly get out to make sure the house is clean and then make myself breakfast. I always make the breakfast extra, and even though everyday it was like a mantra to myself that I didn't make the extra for him-I knew deep down that I could lie to anyone but myself.

I made the extra for him, because I want him to eat. Damn the man, I didn't want him to starve. But if you could ask me, I still want to dive a sword right into his chest and watch him bleed to death. But every single day, he had never eaten the meal and today marked the seventh day of me staying in the house.

No, I haven't seen him in those seven days. Maybe once or twice, I've heard his voice speaking with Jamal but I've never went out. Because I quickly come back to my room after making the breakfast and I wouldn't go out until I was sure I heard him driving out of the house.

I think that's the only free time I have, before he came back from work. I made lunch, ate, and watched the TV. And the moment I saw 4pm glaring into my eyes, I knew better than to stay in the living room and make the mistake of seeing him. And that would be the last time I'd come out of my room until the next day. Jamal came, to check up on us and that's the sweetest gesture I've ever received in a while.

Each day, he came to my room and we spoke for a minute. He loved taking Muniba and playing with her even though she didn't even understand what he was doing to her. But I loved watching him play with her. It was like the father figure she would never have. I quickly pushed that thought away as I put on my clothes in the bathroom.

Because even though Jamal had never came to my room without knocking and asking to come in, unless in the mornings, I was never free enough to come out of the bathroom without my clothes on. Maybe I was still stuck to my life in the hidden house.

I wrapped my hair roughly around my rubber band and put on my cap. With a small smile, because these days, Muniba slept very late and I was thankful for that. Because she slept in in the morning, giving me more than enough chance to get the house ready without bothering myself about her.

But the sight in front of me wasn't what I expected. I froze in front of the bathroom and stared, without blinking. I swear, I could hear the thump thump sound of my heart as it beat as wildly as it had never beat before. Okay, maybe it had beaten like this once. The first day I came to this apartment and found him sleeping in his room. I could feel my lungs trying to suffocate because there wasn't enough air getting to them.

Just that this time, I wasn't fantasizing over him. I'm freaking the hell out! What the hell was he doing in my room? Sleeping beside Muniba that chose to be waggling her hands over his body. She didn't seem to mind that Zafir freaking Anas Garko was sleeping right beside her! Girl needed to either scream or get all over him!

I needed to collect myself. I knew deep down that it wasn't dangerous, he was probably wasted and stumbled into my room, but then there was no way I could do that. First, I need to get my daughter away from his vicinity. Stealthily, I moved close to her and snatched her away from his side.

"Muniba!" I whispered and she opened her eye to stare brightly at me. "You need to scream if something like this happens, okay? He's a beast, he'd end our lives for good, okay?" She was just staring at me. Because obviously, I wasn't even understanding what I was saying for her to comprehend that too.