His silence is his Pride (ON HOLD)

Chapter Thirteen ♥ "Payback"

                                        Chapter Thirteen

                                        “Payback”

 

“Mahra”

I sat there facing Fatima in her cabin, and telling her the tale of my mistreatment this past week. She was a patient listener and a really good nodder, always gasping and frowning at the right times. Her sympathetic reaction and those awed eyes comforted and somehow encouraged me to share such a secret with her. I don’t know why but I liked having someone on my side, someone who’d listen to me without judging me. Someone, a friend!

When I finished my story, she grew silent and simply stared at me. After a short pause she apologized. For what? I seriously don’t know. May be because she felt sorry for me, friends do that, right? But I am damn sure if I were her, I’d probably be abusing Noorah. But seems like Fatima is my total opposite!

“I can’t believe she did that? I didn’t know she was that jealous.” She finally said the words that comforted me. I sighed and nodded.

“I didn’t know either. If she was that desperate about Khalifah then to hell with both of them, she can go on and have him, but why would she say such things on my character? And to who? To my own sister!” I hissed and was about to complete but her expressions didn’t encourage me. Looks like she knew if I carried on, I would lose my cool.

“How do you think she knew about the proposal?” She questioned after a while.

“How else do you think she’ll know? Her side-kick, Hissa saw me and Khalifah talking that day.” I remembered seeing Hissa standing by the hallway door the day when Khalifah had proposed. I rolled my eyes and decided not to worry about that now, now that it was over, and me and my siblings were in good terms.

“What about the promise you made with your brother? Are you seriously going to accept the next man who comes your way?” Fatima asked, innocently. May be it was her expressions or my own wild thoughts that made me smile then, which confused her. “What?” She added, a little put off.

“I think when the time comes, I am just going to emotionally blackmail him.” We both laughed at that, “He has a really good heart, he won’t pressurize me.” I stated, with a smirk. She looked at me as if I were crazy.

“Don’t you ever think that they might be right about the whole marriage thing? And you might regret it later in life?” She said it more like a statement and less like a question.  I frowned.

“Even if I did regret it, it’ll be my decision. I don’t want to regret someone else’s decision that was thrust upon me.” I stood up to get to work. It was time someone notices and chastises us for this little chit-chat during working hours.

“Be careful.” Fatima’s serious voice warned. Suddenly, the look in her eyes had changed and she seemed a lot more mature now. “Mahra, you really have been too spoiled, and haven’t seen life’s cruelty. But you should know when reality hits, it hits really hard.  It opens blind eyes and hurts young hearts.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, mother.” I ridiculed.

We stared at each other for a good two minutes and then I left her without saying a word. I noticed her trying to tell me a message, the same message that Reem and Hamad had been trying to give me. But don’t they think I already know that? Don’t they know I have felt pain as well? Wasn’t I the one who lost both my parents? The one who never saw her birth mother, never heard her voice, never saw her smile. Don’t they think I know how cruel life’s been to me?