All For What!

47

"Nafisa?" Sa'eed asked and in a split second, the vehicle screeched to an abrupt halt.

"Nafisa? Where is she?" Maryam asked, her voice laced with surprise.

Zainab's gaze was fixed on Sa'eed obliviously. She must have been wondering why he react that way. "What's wrong? Who is this person?" 

"Did you see her, baby? Where is she?" Sa'eed asked his daughter, ignoring both the ladies in the car.

Manal opened her mouth to speak, but ended up closing it back — as if she was afraid to speak up.

"Did you see her?" He asked. "Come on, tell me." He impelled.

"There." Manal replied, pointing outside the window.

All gazes averted to the direction she was pointing at and no one was seen.

"But, baby, no one is there. Are you sure you saw her?" Sa'eed asked for the umpteenth time.

"Yes. She was standing over there, glaring at me." She replied.

Maryam heaved a sigh and turned to Sa'eed. "I think she's only hallucinating. Nafisa can't possibly be here. Otherwise, she'd have came in to say hello. She's probably somewhere in the village right now."

Saeed looked on agnostically. If Manal had said she saw her, then she definitely did. He didn't know his daughter as a liar. In fact, she didn't know how to lie. But why was she around their environment? Was she perhaps stalking them? But why would she even do that? — questions without answers kept invading his mind. He needed to disentangle what her real motive was and soon — only then would his mind be able to be at peace.

Wordlessly, he turned the key in the ignition and when the car roared to life, he began driving. Inaudibly, he promised himself to have a talk with Manal after their outing.

"Will someone please answer me?" Zainab sighed. "Who's this Nafisa that got you all worked up by the mere mention of her name?"

"She's no one special to us." Maryam replied. "She was previously working for us."

"I see." She seemed to be in deep thoughts. "Why is Manal so afraid of her?"

"Don't mind her, Zainab. She had one humorous nightmare that Nafisa wanted to kill her and now, she sees her everywhere. Can you imagine?" She shook her head in disbelief.

Zainab turned to Manal. "It isn't real, baby. It was just a dream — a nightmare. Why'd someone want to harm a beautiful, innocent girl like you? Huh?" She asked, raising her chin. She smiled reassuringly at her.

~~~~

Walking back into the mansion after their little outing, Manal went straight to her room, gloomily. Anyone could tell she was deeply affected by Nafisa.

Zainab couldn't stop asking questions about Nafisa. She found it weird for Manal to be that scared of her.

Maryam waved the topic away, while Saeed's hunch about Nafisa grew bigger.

"I'm very tired right now. I will be in the room." Maryam excused herself.

Zainab's gaze trailed behind Maryam. "I think something is fishy." She voiced.

"What do you mean?" Sa'eed inquired.

"I noticed the way Manal was shaking visibly when she called out the name. Are you sure she wasn't maltreating her when she was here? I have heard of such stories many times than I can count."

"I really don't know, but I have a hunch. She doesn't look innocent either and that was one of the reasons I sent her away." He replied.

"Have you talked to Manal about it? I mean, have you tried to persuade her into telling you if she was indeed maltreating her?"