REMARKABLE

5

'Don't fear him, Alizeh. Trust me, I won't let him treat you like shit, again.'Amaan said trying to calm anxious Alizeh as she paced, back and forth infront of his desk, digging a whole in his Afghan carpet.

Amaan had cringed when Imad entered his office while they have been waiting for him.

'Hey! Honey, how are you? Daddy missed you so much.' Imad murmured as he kissed his daughter's cheeks. That's the first thing he had done, he had taken Sarah from Alizeh's lap as she reciprocated her father's affection, smacking her lips against his prickly cheek and throwing her arms around his neck.

'Daddy.' The soft D's melted his heart.

'God, I missed you so much.'He reiterated as he nuzzled his face in Sarah's neck, tightening his arms around his daughter. He had never spent too long apart from either one of them. They were his world and he couldn't fathom sharing them with anyone so much that he had ended up crushing it, himself.

'Will you take her?' Imad turned to Anaam who sat on his chair, looking at him with bored eyes. Imad gestured with his head towards Alizeh, willing Anaam to understand that he needed some privacy with his wife.

Anaam feigned ignorance and acted daft. He didn't owe Imad, anything and he sure as hell wouldn't leave her, alone with him just because he indicated.

'I'll take her.' Alizeh said, slowly behind him and he swiveled on his feet to face her. Her leg bounced with anxiousness as Imad looked at her, his breath stuck in his throat. She was more beautiful than the last time he had seen her but then, he'd always find her beautiful. He especially admired the rogue strands that tickled her face and feathered the length of her long, slender neck. Her hair were tied at the nape in a bun and his fingers itched to open it. Her doe eyes wide and her lips parted as a small gasp left her mouth when he seated himself and he realized, she was afraid of him.

Alizeh met Anaam's eyes and he nodded, reading the fear in her large eyes.

'Can we have some privacy, please?' Imad addressed Anaam, without looking at him and Anaam grated his teeth. Imad couldn't really stop looking at his wife, drinking her in like a thirsty man. It felt like he hadn't seen her in years when really it had just a few weeks and Anaam wanted to gouge his eyes out.

The nerve of him!

Alizeh was ready to save the day.

'No. You'll say what you have to say in front of him.' Alizeh objected, her voice hard and clear, following Anaam's instructions as she opened her arms to take Sarah from her husband.

Anaam couldn't help but feel proud of her.

'It's okay. I'll take her.' Anaam said as he rose from his seat and covered the distance between himself and Imad in a few, long strides.

His lips curled on one side as Sarah began squirming in her father's arm and extended her arms to him as Imad's lips pulled into a straight line. He'd have time to change that, later.

'Aam!' She said in baby language and Anaam chuckled.
He smiled at Imad and relished the feeling of having an upper hand. Sarah and Alizeh trusted him more than they trusted Imad.

Sarah pulled the pen from his breast pocket as soon as she was in Anaam's arms, the metallic cap had captured her attention. Anaam mourned the loss of his favourite pen as she put it in her mouth, drooling all over it.

Imad took a deep breath, trying to rein his anger as he took turned towards his wife. Anger hadn't helped him much, he needed to act calmly and rationally.

Imad sat beside her, he didn't know where to begin. Alizeh wasn't making it any easier, she wasn't even looking at him.

Alizeh willed to compose, herself even as she felt her heart jump in her throat when Imad sat beside her on the sofa.