Embraced (#2 Natives series) #ProjectNigeria

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

"TROUBLE IN SOYAYYA PARADISE?"

Having completely forgotten that there was still an inconsiderate jerk around, Fatiha was startled to see that Munir Adam was still rooted to his previous position. Had he seen her being turned down? Now he had another thing he could use to degrade her.

"Are you okay?"

The question was irritatingly harmless and devoid of the playful jest that always accompanied his normal tone, yet it spiked Fatiha.

"Why are you here?" she demanded, springing to her feet. "What do you want?! Were you listening in on my conversation?"

Munir's eyes widened a fraction at her tone of voice. He looked shocked but he overcame that instantly. "That was not my intention," he assured her.

Fatiha scoffed. "Yeah, right." She tilted her chin up. "Nothing's ever your intention, but bad things tend to happen regardless if you're around." She accused.

"You can't blame me if your boyfriend -"

"Fiancé!" Fatiha seethed.

Munir pressed his lips together then closed his eyes. Fatiha could measure the heights of his breathing through the rise and fall of his chest. "Alright, fine." He mocked. "You can't blame me if your fiancé stood you up. I was only out here to get some fresh air."

"Fresh air? Right. Like that makes any sense. Couldn't you get that fresh air, I don't know, somewhere else?" She flung her arms out in exasperation. "Don't you know what it means to give someone some privacy? Aren't you old enough to eavesdrop?"

Fatiha watched Munir's face contort into a frown. "This isn't your room." He bit out, his voice strained. It was as if he was trying to tame his anger. Well, that makes two. "You don't own the streets, princess and I wasn't eavesdropping. If you're looking for privacy why don't you go home and go to your room?"

Called it!

Annoyance spiked her anger towards him but she couldn't deny the fact that he was right. So, Fatiha settled instead for glaring hot coals at him. If he wasn't the most frustrating person on planet earth, then he was in Fatiha's life.

"I was only asking because you suddenly looked like something bad had happened. It's not like I care."

"Well, it's none of your business, so I'm glad you don't care." Fatiha gritted out.

She wasn't sure if something bad had happened but she was suddenly reminded once more of the drastic changes she had noticed in Faisal's behavior. She knew something was definitely wrong except she didn't know what. As her question continued to increase so did her doubts.

Fatiha felt the lack of self confidence she had buried away the day she had said yes to Faisal begin to resurface. She felt sick to her stomach. She could suddenly hear the snickering voices of her childhood monsters at the back of her mind whispering and taunting her. She turned away from Munir and closed her eyes, taking in deep breaths, her hands on her hips as she tried but failed to control the rapid beating of her heart.

"Fatiha?" Munir called again and she wished he'd just leave her alone. "Are you alright? Is something wrong?"

Fatiha blew out a sigh, then turned to her side. She looked up at him and after a while of deliberating, finally she answered. "Yes," then added, "and no."

"What is it?"

Fatiha snorted. Like she would tell him anything. She narrowed her eyes then pointed a hennaed finger his way. "You." She responded simply. "You're what's wrong. What are you doing here and what's your business sef? You said you didn't care." She clucked her tongue and began to walk away from him.