"Where do I go from here?" Nafisa asked herself as soon as she stepped a foot out of the gate. She didn't have any family in the city to turn to and going back to her village was a total no for her. Her mother would not allow her in due to disappointment - she knew. And even if she would allow her, she had no plans or desire to go back to her lifestyle in the village. Her dream of becoming very rich no matter what she had to do, good or bad, overclouded her rational thinking.

The sound of her phone beeping in her handbag pulled her out of her reverie. Her lips tugged into a duchenne smile as she stared at the caller ID - Mukthar. Why didn't she think of him earlier? He was the only person she could turn to.

"Hello, babe." Nafisa replied in a very low voice.

"Hey! What's wrong, sweetheart? Your- you sound sad. Are you sure you're alright?" He asked.

Nafisa didn't fail to notice the worry in his voice. "To be honest, I'm not."

"Why? What happened to you, sweetheart. Please don't hide anything for me. You know how worried I always get about you." He rambled on.

"I ran away from home." She blurted the first thing that came to her mind.

"What! You ran away from home? Why would you even do that?"

"I can't bear staying in that house anymore. My aunt wants to send me back to Cyprus, but I don't wanna go and leave you. My life will be worthless without you in it."

"Your aunt? Wait... What! Cyprus? I thought you lived with your parents."

Nafisa puffed out air from her mouth and heaved a sigh. She mentally cringed. How could she had made the mistake of mentioning 'aunt' Instead of 'mum'! Now she would have to rectify that mistake. "I don't live here with my parents. Haven't I told you before?"

"No."

"It must have slipped my mind. Yeah, I don't live with them here. My parents live overseas and they practically shoved me into the plane to come stay with my aunt and her family for a year or so."

"Wow! I didn't know that."

"That's because I didn't tell you." Nafisa rolled her eyes.

"Oops!"

"My mum phoned my aunt yesterday and insisted I go back to them, because she misses me a lot. I overheard them talking over the phone and decided to run away from home today. I don't want to go back anymore." Nafisa finished. She mentally patted herself on the back for her well cooked up story - a job well done. She had no idea she could come up with such a perfect lie.

"I'm sorry to ask, but don't you miss your parents?"

"What kind of a question are you even asking me? Of course I do. I'm doing all these because of the love-"

"Don't get me wrong, sugarplum, I'm glad you stayed back for me and that's why your love keeps increasing in my heart daily. I also can't imagine my life without you. As we speak, where are you?"

"I'm on my to you."

"Just stay right where you are. I will come pick you up, okay?"

"Alright and please be quick. I'm so exhausted standing under this sun for so long."

"Your wish is my command, babe. See you in a jiffy."

"Alright." Not waiting for his reply, she ended the call and gnashed her teeth, as the memory of how Maryam threw her out of the house moments ago invaded her mind once more. "You all will pay for the way you threw me out of your house like some piece of trash, especially that brat, Manal." She swore.

• • •

As promised, Sa'eed returned from work earlier than usual and ambled straight to their room. As expected, he found Maryam seated on a stool scribbling something on a piece of paper with a scrunched up face. He knew he would find her angry and that was exactly what happened.

He dropped his briefcase on the bed before walking to his wife and kissing her on the forehead. "I'm back, habibty."

Absentmindedly, Maryam replied. "Welcome." And continued with what she was doing before he interrupted.

"How is Manal's health?" He inquired.

"Fine." She replied, curtly.

"And you, how are you and our little baby doing?" He asked, but got no reply in return. He took no offence at all, for he knew it would be the outcome of him forcing her to quit her job. He knew just how much she liked working and he deprived her of that which made her happy. He also wasn't happy, but he had to constantly remind himself why he was doing all these. "How was your day?"

Maryam's gaze averted from what she was scribbling and darted to Sa'eed. "It was boring. What do you expect? This house reeks of boredom."

"Don't worry, habibty, to make up for your boring day, we're going to go out on a date tonight. Just you and I." He cupped her face, caressing her cheeks in the process. "What do you think?"

"I don't want to go."

"Who should I go with then?"

"You can go with Manal or alone, I don't care."

"Ouch! that hurts. You don't care about what I do anymore." Sa'eed's attempted to lit up the mood in the atmosphere. "I would have gone with Manal, but she isn't very well right now and I simply can't go alone, now, can I?"

"Then don't go. It's as simple as that."

Sa'eed sighed. They hardly had enough time to spend with each other and he missed her terribly. He was trying to make an effort in spite of how tired he was, but Maryam wasn't complying. He really didn't know she was this adamant. He was getting to see new sides of his wife. But being sincere with himself, he couldn't blame her even if he wanted to. It wasn't an easy thing to quit doing what one is used to doing and loved doing. He knew she would have a hard time adjusting and being the understanding husband he was, he excused all of her rude remarks and behavior.

He made her stand on her feet and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her hair. "Please, habibty. I miss you." He poured out his heart to her. He didn't like the way things were presently going. Maryam's anger towards him was like a punishment he couldn't bear. He missed his old loving, caring and romantic wife. She was with him, yet far from him. If this was his punishment for forcing her to resign, then it was too much for him to take even though he tried he suppress his feelings, he failed miserably.

He drew his breath in, inhaling the intoxicating scent of his wife's hair. His felt a pang in his heart each time she ignored him and whenever she got angry. Momentarily, he felt like taking back his words and allowing her do what she so much loved, if that would bring back his old habibty.

Pulling back and gazing into her eyes, his eyes conveyed the message his lips couldn't. So many things he wanted to say to her, but couldn't seem to do. Her sadness was not only affecting him mentally, but physically as well. "I love you." He reminded, his gaze never wavering from hers. He stared right into her eyes without blinking for even a second. He wanted to read her. To know her feelings at that exact moment, but Maryam seemed to have a mind of her own. She quickly averted her gaze from him and freed herself from his hold. She was about to walk away, but he stopped her by grabbing her wrist before she could. "I said I miss you. I love you."

"And I heard everything you said. Please let go of me, I need to go and check up on Manal." She remarked emotionlessly, but Saeed's grip only tightened around her wrist.

"Don't you miss me as well?" He asked, despite knowing what the answer was. He knew she only missed him, but her anger would not allow her admit it. But he wanted to hear the words leave her lips. It had only been about two days, but how much he missed her showing her affection for him.

"I see you everyday." She pointed out.

"But not the way it should be."

"It's no one's fault, but yours." Sa'eed heard her mutter under her breath, but chose to ignore it.

"You should get ready for our date." He changed the topic in the hope of not stirring up an argument with her. He just wanted some peace of mind even if it's for a while.

"I told you already, I don't feel like going anywhere. You can go alone and please-" with her other hand, she yanked his hand away from hers. "Stop touching me." She finished venomously.

"Alright. Since you don't want to go anywhere, we can have the date here in our room and-"

"Please, just leave me alone, ha-Saeed!" She yelled and walked out of the room before he could comprehend.

He stood there, completely flabbergasted as his gaze trailed behind her. She didn't call him 'habibi' she called him 'Saeed'. He knew his wife was only doing all she was on purpose to hurt him because she knew her silence and sadness was punishment to him. It had not even been up to a week and yet he felt the burden of her anger was too much for him to carry..

~~~

SAEED : 100 comments, 80 votes and I won't give in to my wife's wish to neglect Manal once more 😉

MARYAM: please don't give him 100 comments, I want to resume working 😭😭😭

NAFISA: I don't give a damn whatever you guys do, but no one should insult me 😈

MANAL: please do as my abi wants 🙏 I don't want ummi to go back to work, Nafisa might just come back and harm me 😢😢

deey_jah: (sips coffee and observe)