«𝕴 𝖆𝖒 𝖏𝖊𝖆𝖑𝖔𝖚𝖘 𝖔𝖋 𝖆𝖓𝖞𝖔𝖓𝖊 𝖜𝖍𝖔 𝖈𝖆𝖓 𝖒𝖆𝖐𝖊 𝖔𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖗 𝖕𝖊𝖔𝖕𝖑𝖊 𝖈𝖆𝖗𝖊 𝖘𝖔 𝖒𝖚𝖈𝖍...»
~𝕯𝖆𝖛𝖎𝖉 𝕷𝖊𝖛𝖎𝖙𝖍𝖆𝖓
INAYAH
"I'm leaving the pharmacy in your care for tonight. I'm way too exhausted and I also need to clean my apartment a little bit." Maya said, hiding another yawn of hers with her hand.
"Go girl, you need some rest and I understand. Don't worry, I will handle the rest." I reassured her, knowing damn well she was way too tired to even understand what I just said.
I watched her getting ready to leave, a feeling of pride building up inside me.
The pharmacy was her dream and we made it together. When she thought she was alone, I made sure she didn't give up on her own dreams and now seeing how successful she became, made me feel like a mother watching her child conquering the world.
Maya worked hard her whole life. In fact, we both did but she was one of the few persons in my life who meant so much to me and I could wish nothing but the best for her.
I continued with my work, letting her get ready to leave, the idea of working alone this evening somehow cheering me up. It was easier to work alone at this time than in broad daylight. Less customers meant less work. And as far as my security mattered, I had nothing to worry about. Alhamdulillah.
Everybody here knew each other and they were all friendly. It wouldn't be hard to seek for help if I needed to and I was more than grateful for that.
"And how would you go back home?" Maya asked, giving me a concerned look.
"Don't worry about me, Maya. I will take a cab, it's not like we're complete strangers here right. Now you just go and get some sleep," winking at her, I added, "oh and don't forget to dream of your Sebastian."
At the mention of her new neighbor, her cheeks turned crimson red but she acted like she didn't hear what I just said.
Too bad for her, her body language already betrayed her.
"I wonder what would I ever be without you, Inayah." she whispered, ready to leave.
"Trust me, I ask myself the same thing everyday." I softly replied, giving her a tight hug before letting her go.
Standing by the door, I watched her drive away, a faint sigh escaping my lips.
The day has been filled with so much emotions that I didn't think any word in the whole dictionary could ever describe how I was feeling. Suddenly a thought crossed my mind and I rushed to my phone, guilt surging within me as I remembered I completely forgot to call my mother to tell her about the contract.
I waited for her to take the call, silently praying she wouldn't scold me for forgetting. As unpredictable as she was, I could only hope she was in a good mood right now.
"Habibti, Assalaamoualaikoum. How are you? I was just on my way to call you, I almost thought you forgot about your own mother today. Aye, before you say anything, I have something very very very important to tell you."
My eyebrows furrowed, not knowing whether to take her tone as a sign of excitement or something else.
"Wa'alaikumusalam Mama. Alhamdulillah, I'm fine. How are you?"
"I'm very very fine. Guess what your Mama has to tell you."
There she was, definitely excited for something.
My mother was an adorable woman and she really meant the whole world to me but when it came to talking, she would never let anyone speak until she was done. She was the social butterfly of the family and this was what made her more of a cheerful person.
I decided to shut up and to let her talk first, not that she would even let me talk.
"In two weeks' time, me, your Baba and Zain, will be settling down with you Inshallah."
FINALLY....
"OH MY, REALLY?"
Excitement and immense joy coursed within me at the thought that I was finally going to be reunited with my family again.
I've missed them so much after coming to live in Lindau that I always craved for that rural Germany every single day.
But now that my parents and brother were finally going to be with me again, I wouldn't feel homesick anymore.
"Yes Inayah, yes. And I can't wait to see again you, my annoying daughter."
"I can't wait to meet you all either, Mama." I chuckled.
Tears overwhelmed my eyes again and I quickly wiped them off. It was unprofessional to cry during working hours, right?
"Now tell me about you, my dear."
My heart thumping in my chest, I felt myself grinning like an idiot, impatient to spill everything to her.
"I-"
"Excuse me, isn't there anyone here to attend customers?"
A deep familiar voice resonated within the room and a feeling of disappointment slowly sank in at the thought that I would have to keep my mother in suspense.
"Mama, I will talk to you later. There's a customer here, I'm so so sorry."
"It's fine, don't worry. Work comes first and I understand. Just take care and I love you."
"I love you even more, Mama."
I disconnected the call and walked to the front, my eyes on the screen monitor in front of me.
I lifted my head to serve the customer but when my eyes crossed with cold dark brown ones, filled with so many secrets and mysteries, my heart fluttered and I honestly didn't know why.
This was exactly what this man was.
Filled with the darkest secrets, mysterious, cold but also annoying and short-tempered.
But what made him even more intriguing was what an angry and arrogant man like him, Hashim Yilmaz, doing in this pharmacy? At this time....
***********
HASHIM
I was on my way to pick up Aylin from Ezra’s house when she called me to tell me Aylin was having a mild fever since she came back from school and she had no medicine to give her.
Annoyed by such carelessness from Ezra, I told Omer to wait for me while I went to grab a few medicines for Aylin in the pharmacy of Ezra’s neighborhood.
I was not used to this place and well, for a first time, I already had a bad impression considering there was no one to assist me, a normal customer.
"Excuse me, isn't there anyone here to attend customers?"
I waited, trying to control my patience even though I was not really a patient man, I hated to wait. I completely loathed it and I knew if I had to wait for few more minutes, I might create a chaos here.
A woman came from the store, her head lowered, not even sparing a glance at me as she focused her attention on the monitor in front of her, typing something really quick.
With her hijab well tied on her head, I
had a feeling I saw her before but I couldn’t exactly recall where or who until she finally lifted her head and her hazel brown eyes met mine, recognition flashing within her gaze.
Inayah, the woman I grew tired of hearing because of Aylin and Ezra.
But there was a more important question haunting my mind right now.
Did Ezra knowshe was working at a pharmacy? If not, then this only meant I was right about her, she was not who my little sister thought she was.
One point for me after I warned her not to trust Inayah easily.
“You.” I mused and she rolled her eyes at me.
She. Rolled. Her. Eyes. At. Me.
Seriously? If she was not glaring at me, she was rolling her eyes at me.
Who did she think she was, huh?
“You snatched this word from me.” She spoke and well, I realized this was the very first time I heard her voice. Not that I expected her to be mute anyway.
“You work here? Aren’t you supposed to be a writer?” I asked and she squinted her eyes at me.
“What makes you think I want to reply to your nosy questions?”
So, this was it.
She was a bold and confident woman who thought I would be scared of
her easily but that was where she was wrong. I didn’t fear anyone, moreover a woman like her. I’ve definitely dealt with more dangerous persons than her for sure.
“Does my sister know about your real profession, though?” Because I doubt she does.
This time she smiled and stared back at her monitor.
“May I know what brings you here, Mr. Yilmaz?”
Oh, so now she was playing a game?! After glaring at me, she was now playing the polite lady.
Such a maddening woman she really was.
"I'm here for my daughter."
Her smile immediately disappeared from her face and she looked back at me, her face filled with concern and I knew enough about body languages to know that her concern was actually genuine enough.
Was she... worried about Aylin?
"What happened to her?"
Part of me felt something at that moment and I didn’t really understand why.
How does it feel to have someone who barely knew you, caring so much about you Aylin?
Ignoring this sudden heart ache, I successfully maintained my cold composure and replied, “Just a mild fever she had since she came back from school.”
Inayah muttered something under her breath but her voice was too low for me to catch anything. She quickly rushed at the back again and took only few seconds to come back with few medications specialized for children but none of those seemed familiar to me.
“Give her those once you get to her but make sure she drinks them with a full stomach.”
“I never gave her those.” I coldly said and she glared at me again. For the second time.
“I don’t know what you usually give her but these medications are based on natural remedies and they will heal her much quicker than those made from pure chemicals.”
“I said I never gave her those- "
She angrily clapped her hand on the counter, interrupting whatever I was saying.
“Mr. Hashim Yilmaz, who’s the pharmacist here? Me or you?”
I sighed and my knuckles turned into a fist at her tone. She was calm but the fury in her eyes couldn’t be unnoticed.
She expressed her anger just like me.
“And I’m her father. I’m not taking the risk to give my daughter a medication she has never taken before.”
“This just proves clearly who’s the pharmacist between the both of us. If you don’t take these right now, I would just call Ezra and deal with her myself while you just sit in the corner
and watch us taking care of your daughter because apparently her father is just too stubborn and thinks that only one specific medication can heal his daughter.”
Did she really just try to threatened me? And did Ezra know she was a pharmacist?
“Are you threatening me?” I sneered at her, fury burning within me.
“For Aylin, yes.” She confidently responded, handing over the medications and bill to me.
“It would better for both of us to never cross each other’s path again, Ms. Inayah.”
“Trust me, Mr. Hashim. It’s none of my attention to meet you ever again. My business is with your sister, not you.”
Taking the medications in my hand, I threw her a cold glare but unlike all persons I ever glared at, she didn’t even flinch. Instead, she glared back at me. Again.
Climbing back in the car, I looked at Omer through the rear-view mirror and coldly ordered, “I want a full background check about this woman there, Inayah. I need to know every
single detail about her. And you have till tomorrow morning.”
She messed up with the wrong man.
She really did.
***********