-----------------Kuala Lumpur international airport, Malaysia.
------------------------- Same day, 11:50am.
" Have a safe trip okay? and be very careful. Make sure you call me up when you arrive LA" Khalifa said with sleepy eyes as I stared at him in our video chat. It was around 6:00am there in Dubai. " I will Khalifa, you should get some more sleep okay?. We'll chat later"
" Okay then, good bye love" He called. " So what are you going to call him?, lover? Or oh Sugarplum" Raihannah added as she stuck her head into our video chat. " Move away girl" I rolled my eyes and pushed her away from us gently. " Bye honey" I ended the call almost instantly.
" You really went with honey instead of sugarplum?"
" oh come on Raihannah" She was trying to tease us.
Fun girl.
We left Ammie in good shape. We helped her look for alcohol support groups before we left her place and we also made sure she knew we were going to be there for her at anytime because she was part of our family and family always stick with each other. No matter how hard the situation was. I was happy she made things easy for us and finally communicated her true feelings and worries to us.
The world would honestly be a better place if people just expressed themselves for who they really were in real life instead of pretending just to look perfect on social media.
Khalifa and I talked and he was going to come over to LA to help me with everything I needed as soon as he was done with a very important project and I was definitely going to wait patiently.
I was going to have great company there in LA, with the Olyster family. The family that helped build me to be where I am now. Yes they hurt me and all that but the bottom line is they owned up and tried to fix their mistakes. The trust I had in them was broken but I could feel it slowly growing back again. I was going to be cautious but I just hoped they had changed.
For the better.
" You guys" I heard Firdaus's voice call from a distance and I rose my head up to see if I could find her in the small crowd. Raihannah drove me to the airport and Firdaus and Ummi were supposed to meet me here before I left. We were sitting at the departure lounge waiting for my flight to be announced. I was more than eager honestly. I knew I wasn't going to get Najmah right away but at least I was going to be closer to her. " Hey" Raihannah and I called uniformly as Ummi and Firdaus walked to where we sat.
" Oh my Faryah, please come back to us" Firdaus said, swiftly lifting me up from where I sat and giving me a very tight yet warm embrace. " I'm going to come back In Sha'a Allah. Can you guys stop acting like I'm going on a death mission" I managed to utter as I slid out of Firdaus's hug. " Well my dear you're battling drug lords here, you can say it's a death mission but don't worry Allah's with you" weren't they supposed to be cheering me on and endlessly praying for me instead of telling me the negative reality?.
" He indeed is" I really didn't want to let go of Ummi's hug and I never wanted to stop looking at her reassuring smile. I loved her so much. " You need to be very strong my dear. You're going back to where you fell in love and where you lost your trust so please my dear, control your emotions. For my grand daughters sake. For Naj Naj's sake okay?"
" Yes Ummi" Boy she was right. I had to control my emotions. " Even though you're so tiny like a pin, you have a mighty inner being" Firdaus rhymed.
How cute.
" You'll be fine In Sha'a Allah" She added and hugged me again. " I want to advice you tooooo" Raihannah chirped in and I was starting to think she was high on something.
" okay sure, your turn to advice me" I said with a little laugh as she jumped up from where she sat. She was being hyperactive. The smile on my face as she took in deep breaths and released them to the environment before she spoke up was so genuine.
Raihannah was a really great blessing in my life.
" I don't know what to tell you honestly, I'm not that much of a good adviser" Typical RiRi.
" I know you are going to overcome this battle because you are Faryah Edwards Mustapha. You have faced a lot and you can still face more In Sha'a Allah. You're so small but you're mighty. The strength in you and the faith you have in Allah can take those people down that's why I'm not too scared that you're going. Allah is always protecting you, all of us. But please be safe and follow what your heart wants and make sure you think about it with your head. Not your butt" I snickered at her last word and pulled her into an embrace.
I really couldn't imagine how my life was going to be without all of them in it. They were like rainbows in my cloud.
It really isn't what we have in our life that matters. It's the people we have in our life that matters more.
--------------------Santa Monica, Los Angeles, California.
--------------------------------Khalid's condo, 5:30pm, same day.
" Khalid, Faryah is going to be in LA by 3:15am tomorrow. Please pick her up. That time is too early for me to go out, I'm a woman" I couldn't say no.
Faryah was on her way to LA to help find our daughter. Luckily, she got a call from miss Hae Soo and she tracked her location down to LA.
I honestly thought Faryah was never going to come back to where her life was ruined.
By us.
By me.
That woman had something up her sleeve. She wanted Faryah to come to LA for a dangerous reason. A criminal mastermind wouldn't want to be found unless he had a plan. I was scared but I was more scared for Faryah.
What was going to happen if Najmah ends up losing her mother?. I have already lost her for sure but what about Najmah?
Her coming to LA was a bad idea.
--------------- Los Angeles International airport, 3:30am.
There weren't a lot of people at the airport by this time of the night. I waited patiently for Faryah at the arrival lounge. It was probably going to rain soon, one of the reasons why I loved July.
There was something sweet about the apple iPhone ringtone. There were times I actually felt like dancing to it.
Sad thing was, I couldn't dance.
Not even break dance. There were times I sat to wonder the talents I was born with but I got nothing.
Sure sure, I loved sports but I wasn't creative.
I hate reading, most especially reading poetry. I was forced to read Romeo and Juliet in middle school and that made me dislike Shakespeare. It was romantic at some point but they died because of the love they had for each other. Their death was the only way they could be together.
But think about it.
What if they end up in hell?.
Brother Shakespeare didn't think that one through. " Khalid" I heard Faryah's voice snap at a short distance from where I sat. Why was she mad?.
She just arrived and she was mad at something already.
" hey welcome" I chirped with the widest smile in the whole world on my face as I looked at the most beautiful girl in the whole world.
The fact that she wasn't mine anymore pained me to my bone marrow.
I happily got up from where I sat to meet an angry Faryah and I watched as she rose her phone to her ear.
My phone was ringing.
Again.
Oh shit. No wonder she was angry. She called and I drifted into my thoughts.
3 missed calls.
" I am so sorry Faryah please forgive me" I pleaded with her as I stopped close to where she stood. " it's okay, let's go" she was smiling now.
I had to let go of that and stay away from her. She was happy with someone else, I was just going to end up hurting myself if I tried to stay close to her. " let me help you with your suitcase"
" Thank you" she answered and we found ourselves walking out of the airport in silence.
There was nothing wrong in asking how the trip was right or how she was?. No.
Silence was better.
" It's going to rain soon, come on get in and I'll just put your suitcase in the trunk" it was getting windy already. I would give anything to play in the rain like I used to back then.
" Okay" I heard her answer as she quickly opened the door and got into the front passenger's seat.
I started the engine after buckling my seatbelt and we hit the road.
In complete silence.
" My trip was great" I heard Faryah say I drove smoothly on the free roads. She was trying to break the awkward silence. " oh cool" nothing attached.
This was all part of letting go.
It was drizzling now, the rain was going to be a heavy one. I needed to find a place to park in quickly. " I'm doing good also" I was beginning to wish she was mute again. I was trying to make things easy for the both of us here. " cool"
" are you doing okay too?" Oh my goodness. I badly wanted to stare at her and see what expression she held on her face. It would be funny but it would hurt me.
Very much.
" Yeah, sure. I'll just park the car, it seems like the rain's going to be heavy" I drove into the parking area of a grocery store. We could manage this place for now. " oh Alright"
I unbuckled my seatbelt and turned the car off. Turning on the car lights, I reached for my phone in my pocket to call Sophia up to let her know we were doing fine.
No answer.
She was asleep.
The awkward silence in the car was killing us both but hey, it was what was good for us.
I decided to play some online games until my battery died or the rain stopped.
" Have you signed the divorce papers?" I heard her ask and I nodded in reply. " you haven't sent them to the court"
" I have"
"oh" wasn't she supposed to be happy?. She sounded disappointed. Maybe I was hearing things.
Or she probably still loved me.
No.
She made it very clear to me.
She wants to be happy with Khalifa.
" Abbah said nothing about it" she whispered to herself and I could feel my heart break into tiny pieces over and over again.
I carefully took my eyes off my phone to see if I could get a tiny glimpse of her. She was staring outside the window. I couldn't get a close look at her.
Falling in love with Faryah was unexpected. Everyone back then especially Sophia wished we would end up falling in love after our marriage. I didn't want that at that time. I was crazy about Pamela.
Till date, I still don't know what truly attracted me to Faryah. Maybe it was the coffee or the fact that she was so sweet and just so innocent and she seemed perfect for me in every way.
She was perfect for me but I let her slip away and she became perfect for someone else.
I just hoped she was going to be truly happy with him and he was going to do his best to make her happy. She deserved every bit of that and I knew I wasn't going to guarantee her that.
---------4:30am.
Faryah's beauty truly couldn't be measured to anything in this world. She looked so cute in her sleep. She was snoring a bit, probably because of the flight. The dress she was wearing wasn't helping with the cold and she was lucky I had a jacket at the back seat. It was small but it could help so I used it to cover her.
The rain had reduced and we were approximately 15 minutes away from Sophia's place. I started the engine and drove out the grocery store's parking lot.
Faryah needed a comfortable place to sleep.
-----------------Los Angeles, California.
----------------------------Valentine's Residence, 5:00am.
" I love you Faryah" I felt the world stop as he said those words out loud. Was he really serious?, after all the trouble I brought upon his family, he still loved me.
He really loved me.
" I've never been more sure about anything Faryah, there's this feeling inside me that makes me happy and content whenever I am with you. You know the first day I saw you, I admired your beauty and I didn't think I was ever going to fall in love with you, but here I am, professing what I undoubtedly feel towards you. I love you so much" I didn't even realise that I was crying.
" Wake up Faryah" I watched him say calmly as he used his fingers to gently caress my cheeks. Why was he telling me to wake up?.
Shit!.
I shot my eyes open and found a pair of Khalid's cute eyes looking deeply into mine, searching for answers. " we're at Sophia's" He looked away from me a minute after trying to search my eyes for answers to questions I had zero ideas about. I was dreaming about Khalid.
First time in a few months.
" Oh okay thank you" I yawned as I sat properly and tried to fix my dress. There was a small blue leather jacket that was on my chest and I picked it off me with a smile. It was his. " Thank you" He smiled a bit as he took his jacket away from me.
He was giving me the cold shoulder.
Right from the airport till now. He was trying to ignore my existence.
It made me sad honestly. " Here, use this" He gave me an umbrella without looking at me and got down from his car.
I thought we were cool.
I got down as well and opened the umbrella. The rain wasn't falling that hard like before.
" You're getting soaked Khalid, you might catch a cold. Here have it"
" Don't worry about me, come on let's go in" He answered coolly and I sighed sadly as I followed behind him. " We could share it"
" Faryah please don't worry" He answered as he walked further to the gate.
He rang the doorbell and a security guard opened the gates the for us a little while after. " good morning sir, morning ma'am" The man greeted as he collected my suitcase from Khalid and handed him an umbrella.
" Morning" we both answered in unison and walked further to the main house. The flowers in Sophia's house were so elegant and beautiful.
" Hey guys" We heard Sophia call with baby Kimberly in her hands. I really wanted to hold Sophia's tiny replica in my hands.
We hurriedly rushed into her home and closed the door behind the two of us after collecting my suitcase from the security guard. " Faryah oh my God, I missed you so much" Sophia called as she pulled me into a big embrace. Her dark and curly hair was longer than before and she looked older but still very beautiful Ma sha Allah. I missed her vibrant self so much. " I missed you sooo sooo much too. I really never thought I was going to come back here again" I answered as she let go of me. " Well here you are so be happy about it, How're you?"
" I'm...."
" Uhh Sophia I'll be heading home now, I'll see you later maybe" Khalid cut me off as he looked directly at the woman that was standing right by my side. He didn't care to look at me or acknowledge me.
I did nothing wrong to him right. Why was he treating me like this?.
" Okay Khalid, thanks for bringing her here. We'll see you later, make sure you drop by" She walked closer to him and gave him a small hug. I wished I was in her place.
Stupid.
What are you thinking!, you have Khalifa.
"But Khalifa is not Khalid" I heard a tiny voice whisper in my head and I slapped myself on the inside. I had to control my emotions.
I was with Khalifa and if Khalid wasn't around my life lately, I truly won't be having doubts.
My heart chose Khalifa and we were going to marry him.
It was going to stay that way.
Yes.
That's final.
" you know you don't want to be away from Khalid" this voice in my head was going to drive me crazy. Ya Allah.
" I will if I want to, bye" he shut the door gently as he walked back into the rain. He didn't look at me and say bye.
Why?.
It was polite, it didn't mean anything.
Goodness.
Was it so hard for him to look at me and say " Faryah, I'll see you too later" with his dreamy eyes.
Ugh.
I was using my butt to think things.
But I really did miss him.
To be honest.