Burn the truth (ENG)

| 40 |

January 2020

[Zara]

I stared at the number on the screen of my new phone with a blurry image.  My finger hovers nervously over the green icon.

Shall I call him?

My finger reached for the green button.

He played you.

Instead of Imran, I quickly pressed another number and it rang.  Shit.

Before I could hang up, there was a recording.  "Zara?"  came my brother's voice.  "Is that you?"

I bit my lip nervously as I stared at the living room carpet.  At the memory of Faid throwing me out of the house by the arm, I decided to hang up.  I shouldn't have touched my phone.

I pulled my phone off my ear, and was about to hang up when I heard Faid's voice echo through the phone.  "Please don't hang up," he begged and I swallowed a chunk.  "I've been trying to reach you for months. Where are you? How are you? Why haven't I heard from you?"

I bit my lip as I felt tears trickle down my cheeks.  My throat narrowed as I felt a lump form in my throat.

It was quiet for a moment.  "Are you crying?"

"No," I muttered hoarsely and wiped my tears.  "I'm not crying. Everything is fine."

His tone softened.  "Zara, the reason I sent you out of the house that day was because a man was in the house with a gun to Samira's head. Looking for you."

"What," I muttered in astonishment and sat up.  "I thought- I thought because-"

Everything slowly started to click in my head.

Faid throw me out of the house.  Ryan show up afterwards..

Ryan.  He was behind this.

"Zara, breathe in and breathe out."  I heard the rumble of keys in the background.  "Where are you staying? I'll come get you now."

My eyes widened.  "You don't have to come, Faid. I'm fine wherever I'm staying right now."

"Zara, tell me where you are staying," demanded Faid.

I swallowed.  "I'm staying at Esma's house."

"Send me the address."

I pressed my teeth to my lower lip and sent the address to him.  "Sent."

"I'll be there in half an hour."

I hung up with a sigh.

A sob left my mouth as a tear slipped down my cheek.

"Oh, Zara," Esma muttered warmly and hugged me.  "It's going to be okay. Really."

~

[Imran]

With the spoon I was aggressive about the contents of the pan while in my thoughts.  Thinking.  About her.

The kitchen door suddenly slammed open and I came face to face with my mother.

I let go of the wooden spoon and frowned confused.  "Mom?"

"What does this mean?"  she demanded with a furious look, throwing an envelope at me.

I wiped my hands on my sweatpants and picked the envelope off the floor.

To Imran Tahiri, it said on the front in big letters followed by my address.

"You opened it already?"  I muttered, seeing the tear in the envelope, and looked at her annoyed.

She stared straight into mine with her brown-green eyes, identical to mine.

I took the papers out of the envelope and my eyes rolled over the letters of the pages in the stencil.

A relieved sigh left my mouth.

Manar had signed the papers.

"You are relieved?"  my mother hissed angrily and her lips took a disgruntled shape.

I held her hands carefully.  "We're not meant for each other, Mom. I married her at your request. However, I can't give her the love a man should give to her husband."

"Yeah, because you fell for her," she uttered with disgust in her tone and looked away.

I felt anger bubbling up, but I held on.  "She didn't hurt you."

Her eyes flashed into mine.  "You know damn well what they did to us."  She withdrew her hands.  "Zara, will never take you back."

A lump formed in my throat.  "I know that."