Meant To Be Yours!

Chapter VIII

I was returning from inspecting one of the cafés that had a leakage problem when I saw the one and only Hafeez Qadir waiting for me on the visitor's bench. He was the last person I was expecting to see, just seeing him brought back many memories, good ones. 

Our eyes met and he smiled so wide that made me laugh. "Nikki, you are taller than I remember", he said hugging me. I barely reached his shoulder. "Hi Uncle Hafeez, I see the teasing has not stopped, just so you know, I'm wearing heels", "Oh, that answered my question then", he said a smile still on his face. "I don't mean to be rude but what are you doing here?", I asked pulling him to my office. "Well, Zahra told me about you and I thought I should come and take you to dinner like old times. Before you say no, Zahra is looking after the twins, I dropped her at your apartment myself before coming here", he said with so much confidence that made me reminisce on the times we used to hang out. "Well then I guess we're going to dinner", I said with a smile.

We went to a restaurant that was by the beach. It was a seafood restaurant which was not a surprise considering he loved seafood. "Their chicken schnitzel is amazing just in case you still hate fish", "I don't hate fish, they give me allergies so technically, they hate me", I tried making my point earning a laugh. We sat right by the ocean, it was an amazing view. "Welcome, my name is Molly. I will be your waitress for the evening", a bubbly waitress told us a few minutes after we sat at the table. "Great Molly, we will start with any sweet red wine. Then I will have a seafood platter with mashed potatoes, she will have the famous chicken schnitzel with french fries", he finished with a huge smile that he always had whenever he talked about food. "Coming right up", the waitress said then disappeared. When the food came we ate quietly with him asking if I liked the food a couple of times. It was nice having dinner with him again. There was a point in my life when I considered him a father to me because we were that close, but even he was not able to protect me from his wife. He encouraged me to keep hoping, he said that she would change. He said she needed time, I trusted him, he was part of the reason I remained by Abdul's side despite the insults. There were times when he tried to make her stop but it only stopped when he was around, which was not that much. 

"Nikki, As much as I missed spending time with you, there's a reason why I had to meet with you today", he said with a more serious tone. It was the second time this was happening. The first time was when I told him that Abdul had a drug addiction. Abdul didn't want me to tell anyone but he was not ready to change either so I had to tell someone. I made his father promise not to say how he knew. The good thing was he got the help he needed and the bad part was Abdul found out and didn't speak to me for three months. They were the worse three months of my life. 

Back then we used to do everything together. He used to pick me up from school, and I used to go with him to the basketball court, watch him play and the circle just went on and on. "I know Abdul still loves you, I know you love him too. And I also know that you are scared of Fatima. I love my wife, and you know that. What you don't know is, I also love my kids. Their happiness means the world to me. I love them more than anything. With that being said, I have never seen Abdul more broken and lonely than I have in the past five years, he is cold, not just to his mother but to his siblings too. It was the most difficult thing I had to endure in a very long time. All that changed the moment I went to his office yesterday, the moment I mentioned your name, I saw his face light up, it had hope written all over it. You can bring my son back, bring a brother back to Zahra and Amira, they miss him and I see them try to get close to Abdul but get disappointed every time. Nikki, I know you're afraid because you have kids now but one thing you can count on is Abdul doing whatever it takes to be with you. I'm sure he's ready to go against his mother too. I won't stop him", he said releasing a breath as it pained him to say such a thing. 

"Uncle Hafeez, I don't think I have enough energy to go through that again. I've been through a lot and am on my own right now. I tried being in a relationship and ended up with twins, no father, my family disowned me and now am left alone struggling to feed my kids, pay the nanny and Nate's... Nate has to do therapy it-", "Why does a four year old need therapy Nikki?", he interrupted, instead of answering I felt a tear betray me, and I wiped it away making sure not to draw attention to myself. "He has Autism, they were born at seven months and Nate faced some complications so yeah. I'm sorry but I can't give Fatima more reasons to hate me. I will always be the woman that is after her son's money", I grabbed a tissue to dry my tears making sure to face the ocean side so that people wouldn't see me cry, it was a fancy restaurant after all. "I am so sorry Nikki, I'm sorry I wasn't there for you, I know Mason has a temper but disowning a daughter just because she got pregnant is absurd, even for him... I want to be there for you Nikki. You're not alone ok? Do you understand me?", I couldn't answer I just ended up nodding my head. "You're like a daughter to me Nikki and I want you to know that I will support whatever decision you make when it comes to your relationship with Abdul, is that clear?", he asked urging me to turn and look at him. "Y-yes. Thank you", I replied trying to master a smile. "You're welcome, now let's get you home", he said offering me his hand.