Duplus

Chapter 45:

———Amaani's POV———

Weirdly, at a time like this, I was flooded with old memories. Memories of Brother Yahya, memories of little Sufiyaan and his annoying habits, dad's sweet voice and my mom's stern but very caring love. It was hard to think that I was once Camari's age and had the perfect life. Of course, I never knew the worth of it then.

After Bayen left, I tried to look for Jaber. The only person I found near the meal room was Usama leaning on the wall, completely drowned in his thoughts. He looked exhausted and it was almost shocking to see him so fed up with everything.

Frown wrinkles covered his forehead and he caressed his temples to ease his headache.

"You don't look so good." I announced my presence and he quickly straightened up. "Miss Sohail!"

I tried to smile at him but he couldn't see it much because of my veil. "Are you okay?" I asked, knowing that I couldn't dismiss it so easily. I half expected him to deny it and change the topic but to my surprise, he shook his head. "No," he sighed.

"I'm not okay. I'm facing a huge dilemma right now."

For some reason, I sensed it was because of Sumayya. He looked up at me, gentle eyes asking for help. "Now that I think about it Miss Sohail, I think you're the one who can help me better than anyone else."

I chuckled sheepishly and scratched my cheek with hesitation. "Oh really? How so?"

He geared up for the big confession, not knowing I already knew everything. I played along because well, honestly, I really wanted to know the whole story. Like, come on. Who wouldn't be up for something like this?

"Sumayya is my wife." Usama declared after a long second of internal conflict. He paused to see my reaction, expecting me to gasp or exclaim in surprise.

Realising that he was waiting for a shocked response, I quickly faked a "What?!" and gave him the cue to continue. "Yes, and the problem is; just like everyone else doesn't know, Jaber doesn't know. I'm afraid to bring it up in front of him because he won't take it so easy and now that he's sending Sumayya to this life-threatening mission, I can't even ask him to send me with her!" He blurted out finally.

I shook my head. "Wait, wait."

"Why are you afraid of telling Jaber this? It's your choice to marry whomever you like, right?"

Usama's face fell again. "That's because Sumayya is Jaber's first cousin. He thinks of her as a sister and her father gave him the responsibility of choosing a good life partner for her."

Well, that was new. I listened intently as Usama went on, explaining Jaber's background. I was always curious about his family. If they were jerks like him or if he was one of his kind. Or if he had any siblings or relatives who I knew before our migration. Sometimes, I thought we might've known each other in the past and just didn't remember.

"Sumayya and I were engaged in Nuristan but we got married right before the migration. Her uncle, who was not on good terms with her father became her guardian for the Nikah. Jaber didn't trust him much because well, he didn't have a very good history and naturally, Uncle Amir didn't want to include him in the wedding. Long story short, we got married without Jaber knowing and I don't know how to explain the situation to him. He would be very hurt, Miss Sohail."