Not That Interested

Chapter 54: The One With Cinnamon

When I got up to make breakfast, Shehzer had already left. The only indication of his departure was the absence of his Audi's key ring, and a lingering trace of his Armani aftershave.

He left without breakfast.

This information made me silently sob some more, because I didn't want to worry Rania further. She got really agitated by tears. Something she shared with her brother.

Then I called my family.

"Daddy?" I sobbed, locked in my closet to muffle the sound. "Can you send me a ticket please? I promise I will return the money as soon as I get a new job."

"Beta (child) is everything okay? Is Shehzer okay? Why are you crying?" He was nearly hoarse with his worry for me. I immediately felt guilty for the added tension I lumped on him.
See, this is why you're not ready...

I told him almost everything about our fight yesterday. He stayed quiet.

"P-please just get me a ticket! I c-can't stay with him anymore. I wanna come h-home!" I blubbered pleadingly to him. Feeling more pathetic than I have ever felt.

"Mina. We have raised you to be very self reliant. Atleast, I hope we have." His tone was soothing, calm. "You will have to fight your own battles in this marriage. And by fight, I don't mean actual battles! both of you children's behavior disappointed me. Is this how you will deal with future issues? By hurting each other through words and hands?"

I pouted at this lecture, duly chastened by it.

"You don't run away from your partner, darling. You stay there, and you fix it!" Dad rarely lectured me, usually leaving the nagging to my mother...but when he did, Oh boy, it was impactful. "You do know that the sheitan (the devil) is happiest when he causes a married couple to fight? So stop making him happy. Start being happy yourself!"

I let it flow over me, my Dad's wisdom.
"I am proud of you! And I can't wait to be a Nana (Grandpa), but you need to fix things on your own. No running back to us. No tickets for you." He stated firmly.

"How do I fix it Dad? Shehzer just rejected the best thing that's ever happened to us! How do I get over THAT?" I argue tearfully.

"Have I ever told you the story of my Dada's (Paternal Grandpa) farm?"

I sniffed, "No."

"My Dada owned apple and pear orchards in our rural family home, back in Punjab. We used to vacation during summers over there, lovely weather it used to be...and the fun we used to have..." He teases me for a while, prolonging the story annoyingly as I protested. "Anyways, during orchard trips, Dada always used to choose for us, fruits that birds had pecked over. He used to carry a swiss army knife with him, and he'd cut off the pecked bit, and give us the imperfect apple. It used to annoy me and your Auntie Salma a lot. We'd fume silently over this, thinking he did it because he wanted to sell the perfect whole ones in the market. After several repeats of this incident, we blurted out our peeve to him."

He paused for dramatic effect, as I rolled my eyes. My Dad was born for theater.

"What he told us, it has stayed with me. You see, birds instinctively know which fruit is sweeter. Hence, the bird-pecked apples and pears were guaranteed sweet. He said to us, "Never assume anything. Always ask." It's a valuable lesson my girl." Dad's tone softened with it. Letting his ideas sink in. "Shehzer is a rational, decent man so, his behavior defies his personality. I'd reckon there's a darn.good reason for it. Find out. And if you're still adamant about it, I'll send you the ticket myself. Give him a couple of months to come around."