Chapter 13 XIII

"Babe, I am so tired I could fall asleep on your couch right now," I say lying down on one of the couches in Fatima s office. "I have been going for interviews for the past two weeks. I am so tired of saying the same thing to different people. I could lose my mind doing this," I say getting comfortable on the couch. "I am fine, thank you for asking and work is great," Fatima replies sarcastically. "I m sorry, Fatima, I did not ask you how you are doing. Let s start again. As-Salamu Alaykum, how are you, Fatima? How is work?" "Wa Alaykum salam, now that s better. I am doing fine, and work is work. So now I would ask you how your day is, but I already know. Sorry about all the interviews. Don t worry, In Shaa Allah, you will get the visas," Fatima says. "How are things with Udar?" I ask recalling her telling me they had a few issues. "Like I always say, better than you working with Ismail." "That s not true, and for your information Ismail and I don t fight anymore." "Are you serious?" Fatima says looking at me with disbelieve. "Yes, I am. And now that I think of it, it s weird that we don t fight anymore." "It s not weird. It s what normal people do," Fatima says in an exasperated tone. "We are normal people." "Yeah, right! But anyway, I am happy you guys are getting along. Now my ears can take a break," Fatima says smiling. "Hey! I don t complain about him that much," I defend myself. "You sure do, Umit!." "Maybe I do, but anyway… I am sorry," I say knowing I can be a handful when I start complaining. "It s fine. I agreed to it the day I became your best friend." "This is why I love you," I chuckle. "And this is why I don t," Fatima says laughing. "I know you do and that s why you are going to get me something to eat while I rest," I say getting comfortable on the couch. "The only reason I am getting you something to eat is because..." she says getting up from her seat. "Is because you love me," I laugh, interrupting her. "I guess I do then," she says chuckling while stepping out of her office. I am dreaming when I hear my name called, reluctantly waking me up. "Umit, Umit, you need to wake up," Udar says, trying his best to wake me up. "I m up, I m up," I mumble, waking up with a jolt when I realise the voice belongs to Udar. "Where am I and why are you waking me up," I say forgetting how I ended up sleeping on a couch. "You are in Fatima s office. Ismail asked me to remind you about the meeting you guys have in an hour, and to be ready when he gets here." "Oh, why didn t he call me?" I say picking up my phone, "You don t need to answer that. He called," I say seeing the missed calls I have from Ismail. I did not hear it ring because my phone is on silent. I am sure Fatima did it so I could sleep and not be disturbed. "I m sorry you had to come and wake me up," I say feeling bad Ismail made him come all the way here. "No, it's fine," he says shrugging his shoulders. "Alright. How are you?" I say trying to sound normal after all the new information I have been told about him. Just because he might have done something wrong does not give me any right to judge him. "I am fine, and I know why you sound like that," he says. "How do I sound to you?" I ask, wondering if I spoke my thoughts aloud. "I don t know how to explain it. But I want to tell you something since you seem to know everything now," he says walking towards the door. "Which is?" "There are always two sides to a story," he says walking out of the office leaving me wondering what in Allah s name he is talking about. I will think about it later. Now I need to make myself look presentable before Ismail gets here. I bet I look a fright because sleeping on a couch is not the best place to sleep. I freshen up and pray Dhuhr prayer before Ismail gets here. Ismail picked me up a couple of hours ago. We finished the meeting half an hour ago. I am currently working in my office when I get a knock on the door. I ask the person to come in, and I am shocked to see Austin walk into my office in that arrogant manner he has. But something feels off about him today. I wait for him to speak before saying anything. "Hi Umit, I am sure you are shocked to see me here," he says. "I won t lie. I am, but please have a seat," I say courteously. "Thank you and how are you?" he says taking a seat in front of my desk. "I am fine, how about you?" I wonder why in Allah s name he is here. "I am good, but I have been better," he says sounding miserable. "Why do you say that?" "I would be better if your lovely friend returned my calls." "Oh, and I am guessing the lovely friend of mine is Emma." "Yes, that s why I came here to talk to you. Please, could you talk to her and get her to answer my calls? It s critical she does," he says looking a bit stressed. "I don t know what is going on, but for you to come all the way here I am guessing it is important. I will talk to her and ask her to answer your calls, but I am not making any promises." "Wow, thank you. Why did you agree to talk to her without even knowing the reason?" "One, because it s none of my business, and two, one look at you I can tell you re miserable and I don t like that look on you," I answer. Even though Austin isn t one of my favorite people, I don t like seeing him stressed out and unhappy. "Thank you so much, Umit. You really are a wonderful person, like Ismail says," he says getting up to leave. "You are welcome. Wait, Ismail thinks I am wonderful?" I am surprised Ismail thinks well of me. "Yes, he does. Bye. See you later," he says leaving my office. "Bye." I m left confused to hear Ismail thinks I am a wonderful person. I need to ask Fatima. Maybe she can answer why he would think that, but first I need to speak with Emma.