-------------------Los Angeles, California.
-----------------------------------Khalid's Condo, next morning, 10:00am.
Zarah
I stood patiently waiting for Khalid outside his condo after knocking on his door.
The poor guy was still sober after losing his job and of course he was feeling horrible now after losing his daughter. The cute little baby I saw back in Malaysia was killed in a bomb blast. Some people were honestly heartless and cruel. A lot of people were lost in the bomb blast and according to sir Khalid, the person's cause for doing this was all for revenge.
This was something Pa Alejo would do.
I spent sometime with him when he lost his job, when we both lost our jobs. He thought I was going to be able to help him get a creative business idea but we still had nothing. We hung out from time to time, he also helped me look for where I could work again.
We grew close and to be very very honest, I was catching feelings. He's honestly a very great guy. He's undoubtedly nice, charming and he is just amazing but only one person owned his heart and that was Faryah Edwards Mustapha. I really couldn't blame him for loving her that much. From all what I've heard, she was a great person with more than a pure heart.
The way he lost her wasn't really fair to Faryah. She explained and explained herself over and over again but they couldn't trust her. Even I that didn't know her was definitely going to support her. She was pregnant and they beat her up. It was literally inhumane. I definitely wasn't going to find it in my heart to forgive them if that happened to me. She went back to Sir Khalid after the ill treatment she got from their family to be with, console him and try to make him understand things between the both of them because of the sincere love she had for him but all he did was to push her away.
She must have honestly felt so horrible.
Sir Khalid paid for doing that to her I guess, he suffered to be honest, he is still suffering and it was all because of jealousy.
Jealousy actually truly kills.
He said he tried to get his wife back when he realized she was moving on without him. Poor guy.
He still loves her, letting go of someone who you're deeply in love with was worse than a heart attack. Maybe losing them was what was going to be best for you but the fact that you were going to miss every single detail about them was enough to bring you down.
All what sir Khalid needed to do now was to calm down, rest his mind, move on and find a way to get his life back together. It was really what was going to be best for him.
He also said I reminded him of his late brother, Neill. May his soul rest in peace.
The guy was a skilled photographer just like me. Sir Khalid took me to his studio, a few days ago. The guy was really great at photography. The pictures he took were simply..
Mwah!
" hey Zarah" sir Khalid called with a wide smile immediately he opened his door for me to enter. He looked happy. Well Alhamdulillah.
" You look happy" I answered as I walked in he closed the door behind me. I was curious, the smile he held on his face made his eyes pop out with brilliance and made his cheeks rosy. He looked more than handsome. " Today's a good day I guess, do you want some coffee?" he asked me as he walked to his kitchen. " sure" I answered as I walked into his living room. There was a laptop opened up displaying a paused video.
" Here, it's not that bad" he said as I collected the cup of coffee he passed to me. " Thank you very much" I answered as he sat beside me.
It actually didn't taste that bad. The amount of milk and sugar in mine was just perfect. " I got it right?" he asked and I nodded as I enjoyed my coffee.
" why're you so happy sir Khalid?" I asked as I dropped the cup on the table I sat right in front of. " well you really won't believe this but Faryah called me up yesterday and apparently my daughter is very much alive, but on a sad note, she was kidnapped by the Korean woman. It really isn't that much of a good news but at least, we're still aware that Najmah is alive and she needs us now more than ever" Sir Khalid answered with a calmishly worried voice and my system remained shocked. " But I thought Faryah saw her get burnt in the explosion?" I inquired and he carefully explained everything to me.
" That's honestly sick, that woman in the hospital needs serious protection" I said out loud and sipped my coffee after sir Khalid explained everything to me. " well they're dealing with that over there, for now I need to send Director Malcom this video and a picture of the person that took Najmah away" Sir Khalid said as he typed on his MacBook. " Can I see?" he nodded in response as he tilted the laptop my way.
The face of the man in the video honestly looked very familiar. He was wearing a black hoodie, the usual black outfit and it wasn't all of his facial features that appeared on camera, just his eyes, nose, eyebrows and a scar by his left eye. It was very obvious that the man carrying a huge bag of bombs wasn't really an expert at what he was doing. I've been on missions like this and I always make sure to disable the camera's around the entire surrounding of where the operation was.
The only twist could be a hidden camera or the temperament gets faulty.
Luck wasn't with this dude.
" So the police haven't identified the man's face yet?"
" Yeah, but according to the lady that was attacked, the person who attacked her and this same person here have the same body build and apparently, they're the same person, this is the sketch of the person that attacked her" Sir Khalid added as he showed me a drawing of a man I knew.
Tyler.
He hadn't really changed a bit.
My heart was pounding fast and I was more than uneasy. If I told Sir Khalid I knew him, I was going to have to tell him everything about my past and I really didn't want to. All I wanted to do was to forget about it and not receive anyone's pity again.
My past was slowly catching up with me and I wasn't prepared one bit. I was in a tense position I hastily needed to get out of.
I was feeling choked up in the well aerated living room and I could feel my palms become sweaty. I coughed into my palms and got up from where I sat immediately, trying to catch my breath I tried to avoid Sir Khalid's stare as he asked what was wrong with me. " I don't feel so good sir, I think I'm going to head home now" I said with a shuddering voice as I quickly took my handbag from the couch I sat on. " I'll take you to the hospital" he offered and I declined at once. " I only need some rest sir, I'll be fine" I answered as I rushed out of his house.
I slammed the door shut behind me and tried to catch my breath. I was breathing heavily. I patted my cheeks continuously, trying to regain my strength.
I knew Pa Alejo was going to come for me but I was in dismayed. I was building a peaceful life for myself here and here he was, wrecking my life all over again.
I really wasn't ready for all this now.
--------------------Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur
--------------------------Hospital Bersalin Kuala Lumpur, next morning, 8:00am.
Everyone was happy at the same time agitated when I told them about Najmah. We were all doing all what we could so Najmah could finally come back to us. I couldn't help missing my daughter, other mothers would have gone literally insane by now but I couldn't be like that. I needed to handle all this with patience.
She was going to come back to us sooner or later In Sha'a Allah. All I could do was my make sure she was doing fine with my prayers and do my best to look for her in the right places.
I contacted my PI so he could look into the sketched face of the man that took Najmah. I didn't know how long the police were going to take and PI's were usually way faster and more efficient but expensive.
The police advised me to wait and very patient, apparently in a normal kidnapping, the kidnapper usually calls the victim's family up for ransom or to negotiate stuff.
I honestly didn't think the Korean woman was going to call me. She had enough money for herself and she probably didn't need more most especially from me. I had a feeling she was going to pull another stunt on all of us so we all just had to be prepared, very prepared.
The security at the hospital was tightened because of Aidah, I still checked up on her day by day to make sure for myself that she was doing okay and no harm was going to come her way.
"Good morning Aidah" I greeted right after I ambled into her well aerated room after walking past the bodyguards and policemen that stood by her door. She was doing fine Alhamdulillah. Her husband stayed with her every night and her siblings came during the day. I came daily, at anytime to make sure all my employees were fine. I made sure I got them all fruits and healthy supplements so they could all get well faster.
The way I was treated when I met the families of my deceased employees overwhelmed me. The way they all thanked and acknowledged the efforts of my family made me so content. I thought I was going to meet people crying and raining curses on the various reasons why their close friends and families left them but I was wrong. I guess some people accepted death well lately.
Alhamdulillah for that.
I had no work to do lately. The company was currently being renovated and I made sure we didn't lose most of our customers. We decided to postpone all our shipments and importation till further notice. Alhamdulillah most of our clients concurred and only a few reneged.
I spent most of my time with the newly weds and Miriam when they weren't busy and I called up Khalifa as well. He always brightened up my world. Our wedding plans were on hold for now, until Najmah was found. Hopefully it was going to be soon.
" How're you feeling today?" I questioned as I kept the fruits and food I got for her on her bedside table.
" I'm feeling great Alhamdulillah, any news on Najmah?"
" Nothing yet, we're still looking for leads" I returned and sat beside her on her bed. " oh okay ma'am, everything will be in place sooner or later In Sha'a Allah"
"In Sha'a Allah"
" your husband left early today"
" yes ma'am he had something to attend to" she answered.
" miss Faryah?, how does it feel to have a flawless personality?" Aidah asked out of the blue as she ate some of the fruits I got for her.
Why was she asking me that?, I asked myself silently as I peeled the skin off an orange for her. " I really don't know, I believe no one is perfect, everyone has a flaw they always try to hide"
" but you actually kind of do have a flawless personality" a little laugh escaped my lips as her nice words hit my ears.
I didn't have a flawless personality, I had made mistakes in the past that brought me where I am now. " I don't have a flawless personality Aidah"
" Well if you say so, no mother can stay calm while her child is out there in the hands of some vile person" She really doesn't know what's going on inside me.
The heart wrecking pain of being away from my daughter was too hard to hide but me wailing and going insane really wasn't the ideal thing to do. I was going crazy inside of me but I couldn't let it show.
" I believe in patience and Allah's will, and Aidah, I'm really not calm about all this to be honest. It's killing me inside that I don't know how my child is doing but I need to stay strong to be able to find her again. Me not controlling myself will just push me to make horrible decisions that might cost me the lives of people I love" I answered and watched her take a deep breath.
" Alhamdulillah for the gift of life" She said and I smiled at her. I needed to pee. " Can I use the restroom?"
" sure go ahead"
I loved the smell of lavender. I washed my hands with the nice scented hand wash as I stared at my image in the mirror above the sink. I could see the beautiful girl in white from months back. She looked so beautiful and ready to please her grandfather who didn't know that the promise he made was wrong but a promise is still a promise.
He really wasn't supposed to marry me off to a non Muslim but I'm sure he wasn't aware of that aspect. All I did was obey and that led me to my real family. My first home. Allah really has a reason for everything that comes your way.
Everyone can't be perfect in the Deen. All we do everyday is try our best, make mistakes, learn from them, repent and get back up on our feet. We all needed guidance from the most merciful.
I swiftly dried off my hands and walked back into the room to meet a nurse administering something to Aidah shiver in her stance. I looked towards Aidah and found her blinking her eyes slowly. " Good morning nurse" something was off. She wasn't answering me.
Miss Hae Soo.
My eyes widened in fear as I caught her pull out a gun from the tray that was on top of Aidah's side table.
I screamed my heart out as I heard her pull the trigger and shoot towards me and luckily she missed.
I ran back into the restroom and locked it shut with my heart beating faster than normal. I was scared Subhanallah. I heard the policemen and body guards barge into the room and a few frightening gunshots followed.
" We need backup ASAP, where's the other woman that's supposed to be in here?" I heard one of the policemen say. She got away. I quickly rushed back into the room as some doctors and nurses rushed into the room. I wasn't going to stop feeling guilty if Aidah died.
Honestly.
I just knew she had eyes and ears everywhere. " surround the whole building, we've got a culprit in a nurses uniform on the run, she's wounded on the arm and bruised on the leg, be on the lookout " I heard one of the policemen say as I was shown out of the room by the bodyguards. The woman could lead me to Najmah. There was a window in Aidah's room she probably jumped out from but if she jumped from there she was probably going to end up dead or she could use her skills to get to the second floor of this particular building because there was a balcony for all rooms at that floor.
They could get her there.
" stay outside ma'am, the building is currently being surrounded" I heard a huge man say as I placed my hand on my chest. She was wounded so she wasn't going to be fast to get to her escape route. I needed to get to that woman. I was scared but if she was going to lead me to Najmah I was ready to take that risk of course.
I took to my heels and got into an elevator that was going to take me to the exit door of the second floor. The body guards were after me but no big deal, I was trying to help.
The elevator door opened up and I got out instantly, looked to my left and I found a staggering figure walk out the exit door. She wasn't in a nurses uniform anymore. I followed behind her and caught up with her before the stairs and pulled her by the hair from her back, making her wince. The adrenaline in me was making me do things I didn't have the strength to do on a completely normal day. She was holding a gun that I throw away from her hands after a little struggle.
" where's my daughter?" I yelled as I made her face me by holding her arm very tight. She was Korean, and definitely wasn't miss Hae Soo. She pushed me to the floor by a hard punch to my stomach and continued running down the stairs.
It hurt a lot but I really wasn't going to let her go away without anything about Najmah.
I got up on my feet as the body guards arrived and I pointed towards the direction of where she ran and one of them followed. " are you okay ma'am?"
" Yes, I'm fine we need to catch up with her fast" I panicked as I took to my heels again, this time faster. The body guard that stayed behind to help me was trying to catch up with me.
On getting down at the ground floor and rushing to the parking lot, we found the woman already in cuffs and in the custody of the police. They caught her.
Alhamdulillah.
A wide, relieved smile spread across my face as I absorbed the image that was in front of me.
She was going to lead me to Najmah In Sha'a Allah.