Thank you for taking your time and reading this book. This may have a lot of mistakes, bear in mind that I'm not a native English speaker so, yeah.
Hopefully this book will not disappoint you.
Happy reading 😊
The song is Iris by goo goo dolls. It's love ❤️
---------
-Family: an anchor during rough waters-
Present day..
27th August, 2016
"Are those it?"
Without looking at my Aunt, I silently shook my head. Seconds later I saw the small familiar red ribbon tied to the handle of a black suitcase on the conveyer belt, heading my way. I stepped forward and with ease scooped it, considering how heavy the bag was.
It was my aunts idea to tie red pieces of ribbons on our every suitcase so we could identify it easily. Most of the times my aunts ideas seem utterly ridiculous that is until her idea is applied and I almost find myself in a much comfortable position.
Almost. But this is not one of those times because I'm anything but at ease at the moment
Setting it down beside the rest of our luggage which consisted of three gigantic suitcases, Aunt Nina's light as fur purse, my one-the-verge-of-exploding handbag and the royal blue glittered guitar case that hung on my shoulders
Sigh. If you haven't figured it out yet..We're moving or should I say we have moved? Either way I'm not happy about it. Maybe under normal circumstances it would've been refreshing to move and meet new people and make new friends and all that made up shit people say. Generally it's pretty tiring. Especially when you shift continents!
But in the situation I currently am in, I would prolly even agree to the idea of living on Jupiter.
Adjusting my bag on one and the guitar on the other shoulder I glanced up at Aunt Nina to find her hastily typing on her iPhone which was constantly interrupted by the blonde haired toddler perched up on her left arm as she randomly poked at the glowing screen
My aunt was in her late thirties but an Arab beauty nonetheless. Her black raven hair were pulled back into a tight ponytail. She had a red layered shirt on that fell off her shoulder paired with black skinnes that matches her coal eyes
She was that optimistic type who believed 'at the end love always wins' crap, even after finding out her husband had married her just for the money. Of course it led to divorce.
She owns a clothing line called 'Hues' which had many franchises across parts of Europe and the states. But its main centre was here in the Middle East. So overall we can agree to the fact Aunt Nina is rich. Not the filthy kind. No that's me. She's just rich
"Come on, Violet. Samar is here" Nina announced before taking off with her suitcase leaving me to drag the rest behind.
Letting out a frustrated sigh, I rolled the bags behind me and followed Nina towards the exit of Dubai International Airport. The airport was huge. If I were alone I would've no doubt got lost in here.
Nina stepped on the elevator oblivious to her surroundings as she cooed at Aurora who was staring over from her shoulder, directly at me. Her sapphire eyes piercing mine
I shook my head and averted my eyes looking everywhere but her
When I was at the verge of falling from exhaustion, we finally stepped through the exit and I instantly regretted not having savoured the air conditioned atmosphere inside
The air outside was dry and it seemed like the big ass fan with the pipes sticking out on the sides, hurling moist air had little to no effect against the blistering heat. Just a minute later my back was getting itchy from the prickles I felt and my forehead was covered with a thin layer of sweat
Why the hell do they even put these fans here when they know it's not lessening the heat. Fit it somewhere it'll actually be useful!
"What did that poor thing do to you?"
Startled, I haven't noticed I was throwing glares-death glares towards the useless fans. I turned to my left and saw a brunette around my age staring at the fan then she faced me and I recognised her as my cousin
Before I could say anything she hugged me
Did I tell you hugging people wasn't my best talent? Yes hugging is a talent. Not everyone can wrap their arms around another person, lean in and inhale all their foul odours and still meet and greet them like they weren't just sniffing their armpits. Well I sure as hell cant. And not to forget how awkward it is. Pressing your chest with another humans chest that's just not something I'll ever be comfortable with. I'm always up for a handshake or a shoulder pat, sure, but embracing was never my thing
So I did what I was best at, I stood straight like I had a ramrod fitted where my backbone, rightfully, should be and waited for her to let go.
It took her a few moments, longer than I had predicted, to unwound her arms from around me. She stepped back, colour rising in her olive cheeks as she blinked at me
"Bardey" I nodded at her, taking in all her features. Chocolate eyes, big crimson painted lips and a slender figure. I noticed she was only an inch or two shorter than my 5'8. It had been four years since I last saw her
"Well, well, well. Look who finally decided to show up after all these years" A heavy accented voice drifted from my right making me turn. I came face to face with my other aunt, Aunt Samar, who also pulled me in for an embrace to which i had the same response.
She held me back at arms length clearly not noticing my discomfort or plain out ignoring it, as she shook me lightly
"Loosen up, sakheefa. We're not here to hurt you" She said followed by a forceful laugh
I scoffed silently at the 'we are not here to hurt you' part and rolled my eyes when Bardey and Aunt Nina joined in with the laughter, discussing how awfully afflicted I seemed to behave
I resisted the urge to say 'you have no idea'
"Oh Sweet!" Bardey squealed as she took notice of Aurora in Nina's arms. And just like that all the attention was averted from me for which I was glad.
But the judging look Aunt Samar threw my way didn't go unnoticed by me
****
"Crank up the volume, ma"
"This is enough, Bardey"
"But that's my favourite song" Bardey whined, Unknown to the sharp looks Aunt Samar was sending her through the rear view mirror.
I snorted at the exchange and gazed out the window as the city rushed past us. Dubai hadn't changed a lot in five years. Sand, sky high buildings and equally tall cranes. What has changed is the heat which seems to have increased a few degrees
Suddenly feeling the energy drain out of me, I slumped against the seat and closed my eyes hoping to tune out every voice inside the car; the rock song blasting throughout, the chatter between my aunts in Arabic, the giggles of Aurora as Bardey blew strawberries across her belly...
I must have fallen asleep since I was jerked awake when someone placed their hand on my shoulder, shaking it. As a reflex, I grabbed the hand and had it twisted while I pressed on the wrist where I knew it hurt the most
"Ow! Ah! Damn it! ZIA" I dropped the hand when I realised it was Bardey. Everyone was looking at me with their mouths hanging open, except for Aurora of course because she was crying
The car was parked in front of a two story villa, indicating that we had reached out destination. The house was painted a cream colour with a palm tree in the front. The grass was perfectly manicured, with wooden fences around it.
I realised it was oddly quite inside the car so I glanced back to find, Bardey inspecting her hand for any damage, and I rolled my eyes knowing there were slim chances of her even receiving a bruise
Yeah well, thats me, I wanted to call out but bit my tongue
I knew my aunts were both eyeing me, curiously but I didn't spare a look their way because it was fixated on the toddler, who was reaching across Bardey with her tiny chubby arms outstretched towards me. I stared at her as she cried wondering why the hell wasn't anyone paying any attention to her. As more of her fat tears rolled down her cubby pink cheeks, I took it as a cue and hopped out of the cruiser, trying desperately to calm the knot i felt inside my stomach
Silence fell upon us as Bardey helped me get the luggage inside the house. My aunts had went back to talking in Arabic. I wasn't great at Arabic but I could make out what they discussed as I picked out the familiar words and tried to make sense of it. Right now Aunt Samar was saying something to Aunt Nina regarding my little stunt back in the car and by the way she shot distasteful looks my way I gathered she wasn't very fond of me
I wonder if she disliked me because of what happened in the car or what happened back home...
I didn't wait to listen to their entire convo simply because I didn't give a damn about what they thought of me. I knew they called themselves my family but I knew better. In this whole 'family' that was left on mine Aunt Nina was the only one I blindly trusted and I knew she'd always have my back
I'm pretty certain all my relatives hated my guts
***
I sat on the porch step Indian style as I pulled on the filter perched between my lips, puffing out the white smoke from my nostrils
Stubbing the cigarette on the step I shifted in my position just in time to see Aunt Nina coming out of the house with a wide awake Aurora.
"I thought you were going to put her to sleep" I pointed at Aurora who had her hand tangled in Aunty's thick hair
I exhaled deep to breathe out the remains of smoke from my last drag. When I didn't hear a reply, I tilted my head up where Aunty stood, staring at me
I quirked my brow at which she just shook her head in disappointment, "Why do you do this? I don't get it. Why?" She heaved a sigh and lowered herself next to me.
I quickly shifted as far as the space allowed me. Solely for the reason that my breath wasn't really 'clean' and I didn't wanted it anywhere near Aurora
"I don't know what you're talking about" I lied, tilting my head to the side for emphasis that I had no idea what she was talking about
"I'm your Aunt, V. Don't forget that"
"Whatever you say" I muttered under my breath knowing well enough she heard it.
"What is that suppose to mean?" She asked, clearly not letting the meaningless talk go
I rubbed my eyes with my fingers suddenly drained from the journey and the dry atmosphere of the desert
"Nothing. I think I'm just gonna take a nap" I stood up slowly and turned towards the door
Aunt Samar and Bardey left five minutes after we got here.
The house was comfy and gave that homey vibe. Aunt Nina bought the house three years ago but hadn't used it much since she was always travelling because of the fashion shows and her business
My room was upstairs. It was coloured purple and black with a King sized bed. Turns out the whole house was air conditioned which just made it a thousand times better
After dropping my suitcase in my room I had walked downstairs to find Aunt Nina taking Aurora to her room saying she'd put her to sleep. I had only shrugged and came out here
"Aren't you hungry? I just ordered pizza" Aunt Nina called out
Yes I was hungry but the fatigue overpowered my appetite
"I'll eat when I wake up" With that I threw open the door but was about to step inside when Aunt Nina called my name.
Irritated, I turned to see Aurora standing a foot away from me with her arms, once again, outstretched
I felt uneasy when she pouted slightly, her eyes glazing over indicating the crocodile tears were on their way
The knot at the pit of my stomach grew tighter by the second. Aurora started spewing gibberish as she reached me and tugged the end of my shirt
I found Aunty standing with a smile tugging at her lips. I silently pleaded her at which she shook her head
"It's been four months, Violet, she needs her mama. Let the past go." Her voice was desperate as she verbally reached out and tugged at my heart.
The heart which I had started believing was frozen. Cold. But this little toddler had some effect on me. The way she stared at me from time to time, the way she would cry just because I wasn't anywhere near her.
But I couldn't be near her. Everyone I got close to gets ripped away from me.
Whatever happened to dad? And mom? And Sapphire? I am solely to blame for the downfall my life took.
And not to forget the man who was hell bent on taking my life. It's just a matter of time he will figure out where I had disappeared to and he will catch up. I had no doubts
Just hold her for now, a voice inside me said as I looked at the angel standing at me feet
It took everything in me not to reach out and hold her and shower her with love and protect her from anything that meant harm
But I couldn't. She needed to understand that
Taking a deep breath, I clenched my hands into fists as I stepped aside, spun around and sprinted upstairs not once turning back as her cries rung out through the house
***
Heyo everyone,
I hope you liked the first chapter and if you did
Don't forget to VOTE, COMMENT and SHARE
I would love to hear what do you think of the beginning?
criticism is welcomed with open arms so type away ;)
Until next time,
Nemo 💛