Chapter 13 13: A Laugh At The Mansion

Melodiously, Na im heard the sound of her voice as she recited some du as into his ear. The sound was still there, so as the pain in his heart when she began, but everything seemed to be calming down after she had ventured into the recitation of the holy Qur an and he found himself getting his calmness back as peace began to embrace his body. He closed his eyes, the pain gone as well as the sound and she kept on reciting the verses of Allah into his ears in her tiny yet melodious voice. Verily, in the remembrance of Allah, do hearts find peace. His heart found peace and he seemed calm and was about to drift into a slumber, his head still on her laps when the knock came and he knew it was Hafiz, which emanated that Sadeeq was gone. It seemed as though that sound had reminded her of who he was and she as well, before she not so gently placed his head back on the bed and rushed to where she was before. Na im took his time before he went to get the door, feeling a bit dizzy and all he wanted to do was sleep. "He s gone, let s leave. She s set, right?" Hafiz asked, but when he saw the sick look in Na im s eyes, panic began to rise in him. He knew this look, this was what Na im looked like whenever he had that thing, "Again?" He asked, because it hadn t been a month, during the preparations of Eid when he had it again and now. Before, it used to be once in years, yet it was becoming more recent these days. "I feel dizzy, Hafiz." He nearly fell when Hafiz held him into his arms and he guided him to the sofa. He went to the fridge and brought out a bottle of water, opened it before he handed it to him. Na im gulped down the water at once before he leaned on the sofa and closed his eyes. Maybe a thirty minutes nap will do. "I'll take some nap." He couldn t, due to how he kept hearing the echo of her voice into his ear and it sounded as though she was still reciting the Qur an into his ear. He stood and looked at Hafiz, "Has he left the hotel? I need to take her to that house and go back to the palace." "You re planning on leaving her alone in that huge house?" Hafiz asked, and Na im nearly rolled his eyes out of exasperation. "Should I stay with her then? As per best husband on earth or what?" He asked sarcastically and peeped into the room through the door. "Come out, we re going to leave." He didn t have to repeat himself, she was already staring at the door when he peeped through the door and he was certain she had heard what he had said. They all got down and Na im handed his car keys to Hafiz and he sat on the passengers seat. Maryam was at the back as she had her eyes fixed on the road, thinking whether they were going to where he had kept Intisar, or he had gotten tired of her and he was going to take her back to the refugee camp or the orphanage he had once mentioned about. She felt her intestines churning at the latter. She couldn't imagine living in that camp again, she d die if she did. Hafiz parked in front of the house and Na im turned to stare at him, the gate was already opened by the gateman that still hadn't left. "Aren t we getting in? I feel so dizzy to walk inside, Hafiz." "You have to walk her inside even if you don t want to. Show her around or at least tell her where the whole place is. You need energy to do that and walking into the house might help you get that. I'll be here waiting if you need something." As much as he wanted to argue, Na im knew Hafeez was right and he hopped out of the car, motioning for her to do the same. They walked into the house with the gateman greeting him as Na im told him that he could stay for tonight before the new gateman took over and they walked into the house while Maryam stared at the mysterious yet luxurious house she was in. When he turned on the lights of the humungous living room, they seemed to be blinding her eyes that she had to reopen them slowly before she adjusted to the lightness. His phone rang and when Na im saw that it was Hafiz, he sincerely wished that it wasn t another problem again, because he truly wasn t in the right state to deal with a problem now. "What is it?" He asked, the moment he picked the call and when he heard Hafiz chuckling, he knew that at least, they were safe. Or so he thought. "I'm sorry, sir, but I've left. You ve told me that Alan Gubro had said you could take two free days, right? Please do that and gather yourself together. I ll report your two days leave at the office too. She can t live there alone too, at least before you think of the perfect maid to stay with her, do that yourself. I'll send a soldier to guard you and will be sending food deliveries because I doubt if she could cook. Take care and don t hate me, bye." When he dialed the number again, it went directly to voicemail and Na im cursed him under his breathe. He showed her around the luxurious house and she seemed to be in awe despite being terrified of being alone in this house. Because deep down, Maryam knew he wouldn t stay with her, he would leave just like he had always done. When they got to a room, he said it was her room and she took tentative steps towards it. Na im waited and watched how she walked directly to the bed and after she sat down and fondled the lush blanket, if he wasn t mistaken, he saw the corners of her lips twitching into the beginning of a smile. But the moment she looked up and still found him there, the smile instantly vanished as panic took over. "Take your bathe and I'll bring something for you to eat." He didn t wait to see her expression before he left and roamed around until he found a room amidst the four bedrooms that suited his test. He slumped on the bed after he had turned on the AC and pulled his phone. 'Just take yourself to the punishment cell before we meet again, Lieutenant Hafiz. And if you dare be late in sending the food deliveries, I'll kill you myself. She needs some clothes too, bring my car over so I can buy some for her. He waited for a reply even though he knew he would never get one, knowing how strong headed Hafiz could be. As he thought about what he would do next, Na im began to drift into a slumber and peacefully, mother nature took him to a dreamland that looked dreamless yet there were dreams to be discovered by him. When he woke up, it was already dark and the first thing that crossed his mind was Maryam. What did she do for all the hours he had been sleeping? He looked at his clothes and saw that it was already thirty minutes past nine at night and he sluggishly walked to the bathroom even though he was feeling more energized than how he got into the house. He performed his prayers before he took his phone and walked out, and that was when he saw the reply he got from Hafiz. 'The mention of punishment cell made me remember about that woman, she kept begging for her release and you all know how excruciatingly painful our soldiers punishment could be. Can we release her, sir? She had already lost the job. I dare not let you two starve, I've already sent dinner and for the clothes, I know her age, so buying abayas would be easier, I've done that too. I've gotten you few clothes and toiletries as well, as for her own things, the boutique lady did everything and I'm sure it s all she ll need. Send me a message when you two need something and if you dare send something into my account, I'll reveal your secret to everyone. Na im couldn t stop himself from chuckling at the last sentence and being extremely grateful at the rest of the content of the message. 'She should be released tomorrow and be replaced with Lieutenant Hafiz Kabir for the offense of threatening his Captain for revealing his secret. Thank you, even though I can t wait to kill you. He walked out of the room after he had placed his phone back into his pocket and he walked into the living room. Everywhere was dark yet he saw a looming figure around the sofas of the living room as it moved and there were things flying around it. Na im lost his breath as he motionlessly walked to where he could remember the switches being, were there ghosts in this house? There was no way he could spend two days here! When the light engulfed the whole living room and she turned, having their eyes met; they all screamed at the same time and Maryam threw everything all over the place, terrified. And Na im screamed too, because she was the last person he had expected to see and her scream terrified him. He became silent, watching the way she screamed as she closed her eyes before he smiled and walked to where she was. She was checking the clothes Hafiz had sent, which only meant she was the one that collected the things and decided to venture into everything, all in that darkness he had found her in. Her scream subsided and when she looked up at him, surprisingly, he heard her laugh. She threw her head back and laughed heartily that without intending to, Na im had his eyes fixed on her face as he watched the way she beautifully, yet melodiously laughed at their silliness. And not knowing how or when it happened, he heard himself laughing along with her. Their laughter subsided and she stared at him with the remains of a smile on her face. She looked relaxed with the clothes all over her as she fondled the clothes that were laying on her laps and for a moment, Na im thought about how it felt to rest his head on those laps with her voice ringing slowly through his brain. He wondered where she had learnt to do that, not the recitation, but how to calm someone the way she did, because it was damn effective. She Was Beautiful.