Beloved

7. (Hamza's POV)

'Which girl?' Maryam grabbed the phone from the stand and looked at me.

'No one special' I glanced at her before digging into my food.

'Doesn't sound like no one special...and besides are you sure you are feeling bad? I thought people lose their appetite after a breakup and here you are eating like a horse' She eyed me.

'His heartbreak is going on for months, I don't think starving to death will fix the issue' Jalil said on my behalf.

'She wants you to come to the party, she wouldn't have asked me to invite you if she didn't' Maryam and Jalil were still friends with her. We all used to be great friends but after we broke up, Jalil and Maryam tried to not talk about her in front of me. Until now.

'I'll talk to you guys later' I ended the call. I felt sick, I knew I was pushing people away who cared about me, but I didn't know what else to do. The girl who I was considered mine was married after cheating on me and I was the one who was feeling bad. How pathetic was I for actually thinking that one day I'll be able to move on just like her. I wasn't moving forward, in fact, I felt like I was moving back.

'Can I help you?' I saw Ayat waiting for me in front of my office before the session.

'I wanted to hand in my assignments' She handed over her assignments to me.

'I don't accept physical copies, you will have to submit it electronically' I gave her the file back and walked inside my office.

'The internet is down in my home ' She told me.

'Then use the computer in the library' I told her.

'I forgot my USB at home...today is the last day...can I just...' She entered the room without my permission. I felt like I was babysitting her half of the time she was here.

'Not my problem, submit it electronically or leave it...and please knock on the door when you enter my office the next time' I advised her, knowing that she never does as she's told.

'Thank you for being so understanding...I really appreciate your help' She stormed out of the room and almost bumped into Karim on the way.

'What happened to her?' Karim looked at me suspiciously as he entered the room.

I shrugged and made my way to the class. Today was the presentation day so I didn't have to do much. The students were picking up tips and strategies well, but I did see the need to provide them with more hands-on experience. I wanted to bring in guest speakers and take them out to different conventions and workshops to help them grow their network.

'Next' I called for Ayat and she started her presentation on content strategy for non-profit websites. Her presentation was clear, purposeful and relevant.

'Overall, the presentations were pretty solid...make sure you submit a copy of the outline by end of tomorrow...feedback will be provided to you by end of this week. Email me if you have any questions' I ended the session and I walked back to my office. Glad that one student, in particular, didn't follow me to my office this time.

'You are not leaving?' Karim asked me on his way out. It was almost 6 pm and almost everyone was out. There were a few evening class running so I knew that the college was going to stay open for a couple more hours.

'Not yet...I am going finish marking last week's submissions' I told him, and he left the office.

'It's okay Papa...I'll call a taxi or something...no don't worry, I'll see you in a bit' I saw Ayat coming out of the library on my way out. Did she stay here all this time? She saw me but didn't say anything.