His silence is his Pride (ON HOLD)

Chapter Thirty One ~ "Alone"

Chapter Thirty one

"Alone"

"سيأتي نهار أحبك فيه ، سيأتي نهار فلا تقلقي إن تأخر فصل الربيع ، ولا تحزني لانقطاع المطر"

Zayed

A week later. Friday – 8:06 PM

Alone... the saddest word in every language. It crawls on one's skin and reminds us of our undesirable weaknesses. As humans, we're too selfish to walk through the mystical road of life all by ourselves. Seeking to depend on someone, we search for a shoulder that'll bare us, along with our pain. As humans, we'd rather die alone than live lonely.

And how unfortunate was she, having been sent to this Earth to complete her life... alone!

She stared at the dark blue lake, as it shone under the light of the full moon, hiding behind the clouds every now and then. Mahra was uncommonly noiseless today, deep in bitter and wistful thoughts of fighting the battle of life, all by herself and her shadow.

"You've been awfully quiet today. Is everything alright?" came Zayed's words, pulling her out of her trail of thoughts. He'd been looking at her, wondering about her odd behavior this past week, and finally he cared enough to ask.

Zayed had grown tired of Badr's non-ending advice of taking care of Mahra, which he thought he definitely did. Ever since she came clean about Noorah, and requested to lessen their differences, he has tried to at least listen to her when she speaks and respond with a few words if possible. Fortunately, day-by-day, both of them screamed less at each other, and struggled to be as bearable as they could, at least for a few months.

As Mahra turned to him, his face reminded her where they were and why they had come to this restaurant for dinner. She found it hard to remember when she'd agreed to have this dinner with him and his family, celebrating Mona's graduation. He'd brought her here early, so they sat, waiting for the rest of them, at a table for six, placed outdoors. Surrounding them was the Burj Lake, where the serene water was so close and touchable, just on the other side of the wooden railings right next to them.

Mahra appeared to have been lost in her thoughts again, then she took a deep breath and met his gaze. "It's just..." she paused and looked away. "I feel like the loneliest person on Earth, lately." She didn't know why but she came clean about what was on her mind.

From the sad look on her face, Zayed guessed what was wrong. "Well, you're not the only one. We all are born alone and prepared to die unescorted as well." He reminded.

She turned to stare at the wind-waves on the surface of the lake, not wanting to answer that, although she had one in mind. After a while of peering at the water. "These waves are so powerless, moving wherever this heavy wind takes them." She uttered, thinking of herself as the waves and the wind as the merciless people around her. "I wish they could take control and end their agony."

As she spoke, the pain in her eyes was so pure and obvious, dripping through her big brown eyes like invisible tears. She had an unusual manner of speaking when she was sad, a different air and a strange grace. Her gaze got lost into the nothingness of the wind that blew a little heavily, chilling her bones. He noticed how her dark lashes would kiss each other every time she blinked. It was nice to see her this... thoughtful!

Placing one leg over the other and getting comfortable in his seat, Zayed kept staring and examining her this side. Meanwhile, her phone began ringing. She looked at it and set the phone in silent mode after reading 'Hamad's' name on the screen. Hamad called once again and Mahra refused to reply, which definitely didn't go unnoticed. Zayed too had caught a glimpse at the caller's ID.