Scarred For Life

Chapter 30

"The deed is done, Afrah," he said. "You'll be mine, even if I have to endure your temper for the rest of my life. I know what I'm getting myself into, but I'm willing to go the distance if you are. Your mother told me everything. Well, not everything, but the important bits of the story. I understand why you are the way you are, and I am willing to help you. I want to try and help you, because I..."

"I don't need your help," she cut him off, feeling her heart dropping down into the pits of her stomach. "I don't care what she told you, but I am not a broken object that needs to be fixed. When will any of you understand that I am not what you think I am?"

"Is that you talking, or is that the little voice in your head telling you to stay away from all men?"

This time, Afrah flung the phone across the room so hard that it shattered against the wall. She turned away from it, fighting back the tears which had pooled in her eyes. In the end, she lost the battle and they came pouring out, unbidden and yet unhindered.

It wasn't fair. It simply wasn't fair. Why did her mother hate her so much that she would cause her to go through all this pain? What would she gain in the end?

It was selfish, she decided. And it hurt even more that it came from the person who claimed to love her more than anything else. Why did things have to be like this?

The knock on the door startled her. She tried to wipe the tears hastily, but almost immediately her aunt was standing in front of her, holding her phone in front of her.

"Afrah, it's your mother," she said. When her eyes fell on Afrah however, and the tears and anguish in her eyes, she stopped dead in her tracks.

"What's going on here?" she asked, her eyes shifting to the phone which was lying on the floor. Afrah said nothing. The tears returned swiftly, and she collapsed beside the bed, clutching the sheets as she let them flow freely.

"Halima, I think I'll call you back," her aunt said before hanging up. Cautiously, she walked over to the bed and sat beside Afrah. Gingerly, she placed her hand on her head, while the latter shook from the tears.

"It's okay, Afrah," she said. "Tell me everything."

*

"Good morning, sir," Patience said, her voice echoing across the empty lobby. "How may I help you?"

"Where is my father?" Adnan asked.

"Oh, you must be Mr Adam's son. He did mention that you would be coming in today."

"Where is my father?" he repeated, his expression cold and distant.

"Your father arrived several hours ago to have a meeting with some clients," she said. "They should be done in about an hour or- where are you going?"

Adnan had stepped around her, striding towards the bank of elevators with purpose. His father's office was on the ninth floor, as he faintly remembered Nafisa mentioning a while back.

He stepped into the elevator impatiently, his eyes hardened and his shoulders squared. It seemed to move at a painfully slow pace, causing the anger in Adnan to build up with each second. An eternity later, the doors slid open finally and he stepped into a large lobby, all white, grey and surrounded by glass. A pale woman sat behind a tall and dark desk, filing her nails and muttering irritatingly. Clearly, she wasn't pleased at being called in on a Saturday.

She looked up sharply as Adnan's footsteps filled the lobby, hastily hiding the file in her hands by slipping it between a pile of papers. Quickly rearranging her facial expression, she smiled at him.